Speech by Chetan Bhagat at Symbiosis ......

Don’t just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a BALANCED,SUCCESSFUL life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health,relationships, mental peace are all in good order.

There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if yourmind is full of tensions.

"Life is one of those races in nursery school where you have to run with amarble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no pointcoming first. Same is with life where health and relationships are the marble.Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you mayachieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive,will start to die. ……………….

One thing about nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously. Life is not meant to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so workedup? …………….

It's ok, bunk a few classes, scoring low in couple of papers, goof up a fewinterviews, take leave from work, fall in love, little fights with your spouse.We are people, not programmed devices........." :)

"Don't be serious, be sincere."!!
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Keep smiling, it makes people wonder what you are up to!!!

HAND BOOK 2009!

HAND BOOK 2009 - No one will be happier than your family, if you follow this -

Health:

1. Drink plenty of water.

2. Most Important - Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.

3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

4. Live with the 3 E's - Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.

5. Make time to practice meditation, yoga and prayer.

6. Play more games.

7. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

8. Sleep for 7 hours.

9. Take a 10-30 minutes' walk every day. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:

1. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

2. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

3. Don't overdo. Keep your limits.

4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does. 5. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.

6. Dream more while you are awake.

7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

8. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.

9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.

10. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

11. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn.

13. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

14. Smile and laugh more.

15. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:

1. Call your family often.

2. Each day give something good to others..

3. Forgive everyone for everything.

4. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.

5. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

6. What other people think of you is none of your business.

7. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:

1. Do the right thing!

2. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

3. GOD heals everything.

4. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

5. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

6. The best is yet to come.

7. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.

8. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Know-Hows - 12 Simple Powers!!

While I was surfing the net found some beautiful wisdoms which were real good one n thought of sharing this piece of tips with my circle of friends - Worthy to mark them, carry out in our daily life for our betterment!

#1 YOU ARE THE CEO OF YOUR LIFE
No one is coming to save you. No one cares about you and your life as much as you.
Create your life in the way that YOU want it.

#2 LIFE LIFE CREATIVELY
The days of “I’m going to work at the company until I’m 65, then retire with a pension” are over. The days of “I’m going to get discovered and someone will create and manage my career for me” are virtually over. First, decide what you like/want/have a passion for, then figure out how to do it. Life is a work in progress - your goals may change as you go down the path.

#3 FIND A MENTOR
Some mentoring relationships happen naturally, some don’t. You may need to seek out a mentor. Look for someone you respect, trust, is interested to invest their time with you, and who you get along with well. Be the kind of person a mentor would want to work with: motivated, talented, someone with a good work ethic and open to ideas/advice/suggestion. Also, consider being a mentor to others.

How can a mentor benefit you?
A mentor will believe in your talents and abilities
A mentor will offer advice, guidance, counsel
A mentor will teach you
A mentor will be a friend, confidant, supporter
A mentor will inspire you
A mentor will help keep you on track - moving forward in a good direction
A mentor may refer you to professional contacts or opportunities

#4 FOLLOW THE BINGO EFFECT
The bingo effect is that “A-ha! That’s it!” experience we feel when something really hits home and feels right. Whenever you experience the bingo effect, pay close attention, especially when you’re considering choices of any kind. Use it as a guide for what direction to go when you’re building a life in music.

#5 A USEFUL EQUATION:
INSPIRATION + IMAGINATION + CHOICE + ACTION + COMMITMENT = MOVING YOUR LIFE IN THE DIRECTION YOU DESIRE.

Example:
INSPIRATION: I LOVE that. It thrills me.
IMAGINATION: What can I create in my life to do/have/be/express/experience/share THAT?
CHOICE: I choose to do/have/be/express/experience/share THAT.
ACTION: What steps need to be taken for me to do/have/be/express/experience/share THAT?
COMMITMENT: I commit to taking the steps needed to do/have/be/express/experience/share THAT.

#6 YOU WON’T GET SOMETHING FOR NOTHING
Effort/intention = result. Practice = you sound better. Paying the dues = getting the reward. Most successful people have a very strong work ethic. It doesn’t feel like work though if it’s born from the desire to realize your dreams and passions.

#7 NO ONE CAN BE YOU BETTER THAN YOU
Showcase what YOU do best, and what YOU love and who YOU are. No one does it better. Don’t be shy to do/be/act/think/listen/relate in the way that’s unique to YOU, complete with both the beautiful parts and the warts.

#8 DO YOUR BEST
Always. With everything. Never settle for “it’s good enough.” Settling for “it’s good enough” takes you out of in integrity with yourself. Doing your best, even if it’s not perfect, always makes you stronger and more fulfilled.

#9 BE EVER EVOLVING
Some of the best musicians in the world are some of the most eager to learn new things, continue practicing passionately, and explore new sounds and styles. Be hungry to learn something new. Study. Then keep studying, for the rest of your life. This is an important key to maintaining aliveness.

#10 YOU ARE THE CHOOSER IN YOUR LIFE
Your life is built by the choices you make. Very little in life is out of your control, and even within those situations you still have choices. Accepting responsibility for being the chooser in your life is very empowering. Notice how this manifests in language:

Instead of: I can’t go to the movie because I have to practice.
Say: I’m not going to the movie because I’m going to practice instead.
Instead of: I have to finish grading the papers on my desk.
Say: I’m going to finish grading the papers on my desk.
Instead of: This is really hard.
Say: This is a challenge.
Instead of: I’ll try to finish up that term paper tonight.
Say: I’m going to finish up that term paper tonight.
Instead of: I’m not very good at scatting.
Say: I’m going to practice scatting so I feel more confident about it.

#11 THERE IS NO SOMEDAY
You only have NOW. Whenever it was then, it was actually now at the time. And whenever you get there, it will be now then too. Deal with life and what you want now, not “after I graduate,” “once I make enough money,” “after I’m married,” “when we have kids,” “once the kids have grown up,” “when I retire.”

#12 DO MUSIC BECAUSE YOU LOVE IT
Do anything and everything because you love it. Proceeding any other way steers you away from your heart’s desire, and leads you toward a life path of banality and dissatisfaction.

- Michele Weir

Benefits of sharing - What is sharing?

A man from his village decides to go to the other village and starts his journey.In the mid way,finds a shortcut and takes that route thinking he would reach early. This route happens to be a thick desert after walking for a while.Walking, walking, strained, completely tired and fully exhausted, throat entirely dried up looks around for little water to fulfill his thirst but finds nothingexcept sand and sun. Burning sun and killing heat the man falls down on his knees and scotches on the ground. He sees a water pump at a distance, some how pushes himself further crawling on the sand and manages to reach the place. He finds a small glass of water kept on the pump and a message written on it saying: “Pour the glass of water inside the pump to get more water”

At this junction, what would you feel the man should do? Imagine if you or I were in this situation, tired, feeling thirsty, only one glass of water and that one glass of water should be poured inside the pump in order to get more water and god knows if this is done, it would yield more water or no water.. What would you do?There is a Risk to be taken here my friend and a Message to pass on. Take few moments think about it from the heart.
What would you do? The man risked himself, stood up, poured the glass of water inside the pump,gripped the handle and started pumping once, twice and thrice. Initially therewas no sign but after sometime started feeling the pressure of water. With enthusiasm moved the handle few more times and suddenly water gushed out in abundance. With joy, excitement he drank and danced in the water. He was so happy about the present, so happy about himself, so happy about everythingwhatever happened. And after that he decided to share his extreme happiness and joy with the people who experience the same situation, soon filled the same glass completely with water placed it on the pump and also wrote a message saying: “It Works!!”

It is our humble duty to share our happiness and joy found in abundance with the people who are in need of it but unaware and struggling in their lives.Remember, one seed of an apple we sow yields abundance of apples.
“Learn – Practice – Teach“.

Happy & Healthy Marriage Life with eternal love

The idea to do a small study on marriage topics came from a conversation I had with a few people. I have never written anything of this extent, but I’m hoping you’ll get some useful information out of this. Keep in mind, these are only my opinions.

"A merry heart does good, like medicine"

A successful marriage is like a good recipe whose main ingredients are love, commitment, understanding, concern and togetherness. It is meeting your soul mate and the saga of falling in love over and over again. Feel the thrill of being in love ... experience the magic of sharing and caring. Marriage is just not a social ritual but a lot more. It is that holy fastener which not only braids two individuals but unites two souls in the most vibrant way. Marriage is therefore just not only the idea of finding the right person to face the cloudy and clumsy weather in life together but is also an effort of being that right person to share, care and above all to LOVE,.

The following thoughts will help keep you focused on developing a healthy, happy marriage –

1. Commit “till death do us part” — you have made a vow to God and to another much-loved human being. [Editor's note from Marriage Missions: Make the vow with each other not to let the word "divorce" be a part of your vocabulary or even your inner thoughts or it will start eroding away at your marital relationship.]

• Dream together—look forward to things
• Be loyal to your mate at all costs
• Care more about what your mate thinks of you than what your friends do

2. Develop a common spiritual commitment

• Pray for your mate regularly
• Pray together regularly
• Worship together

3. Want what is best for your life mate

• Focus on what’s right with your mate, not what’s wrong with him/her
• Work as a team—rely on each other’s strength
• Serve your mate

4. Spend time with model couples who have been happily married ten to twenty years longer than you

• Develop a relationship with a personal mentor to help you when times are tough, giving you wise counsel
• Spend time with peer couples that have healthy, happy marriages

5. Understand that no marriage is perfect and no partner is perfect. Give grace to be different

• No one wants to fail. Your mate is doing the best he/she can at the moment
• Don’t take all emotional explosions personally. Sometimes your mate just needs to let off steam!
• Let the relationship breathe. A couple needs time together and away. When things get tense, you may just need a few hours or days away

6. Cooperate and compromise:

• Adjustment is needed in almost every sphere of life and when it comes to marital relationship – ‘’adjustment’’, ‘’cooperation’’ and above all ‘’compromising’’ becomes a necessary part
• Never impose; accept your partner the way he/she is after all at the day’s end you have to adjust to make yourself and your partner happy

7. Find time to communicate—walking on the beach, telephoning, traveling together

• Communicating your heart:

- Listen to your mate’s heart, not just to words
- Let your mate vent emotions without feeling you have to “fix it”!

• Settling differences:

- Don’t pout; stay and talk it out
- “Clarify” your concerns if you don’t like to “confront.”
- Listen carefully. Allow the other to complete his/her thoughts without you interrupting, moving off the subject, or waiting impatiently to make your point

8. Admiration:

• Few things boost self-esteem or make people want to succeed in the truly important things of life more than hearing that their good qualities are noticed and admired
• Sharpen your appreciation of the wonderful person you married, and watch him or her become even more wonderful.
• To make your marriage all it can be, dwell on each other's good qualities and always look for ways to bring out the best in each other

9. Develop common interests

• Enjoy hobbies and friends
• Do fun things together—concerts, plays, picnics
• Travel together whenever you get a chance

10. Get to know your mate at the deepest level possible

• Study your mate—what turns her/him off and on sexually, nonverbal signals, foreplay, moods, cycles, etc.
• Know precisely what your mate needs from you.

11. Avoid:

• Negative kidding—saying negative things you don’t really mean that secretly hurt and do serious damage to one’s confidence and one’s natural love;
• Conditional love—basing love on actions of any kind;
• Waiting for your mate to meet your needs before you will meet hers/his;
• Talking negatively about your mate’s parents.

12. Be romantic, not just sexy

• Splurge occasionally.
• Do small things which communicate “Thinking only of you… Thought of you while I was away… You are the center of my universe!”
• Start foreplay 10 minutes after climax, not ten minutes before climax
• Talk with a loving, caring, tender tone in your voice, not an angry, harsh, bitter tone

Above all, wake up each morning and remember how lucky you are to have a loving partner to share your life with. And every night, let him or her know that you still feel that way before going to sleep. It’s a wonderful way to end their day!

PS: Would love to see all of your valuable inputs in this topic (will help me as well :D )

As Always,
I invite YOU to Live Joyfully!

Qualities of a Good Mentor from Debra - Good one!

People who want to be their best often seek out mentors – people in their profession who have “been there and done that” and are willing to share their experiences to the end of shortening the learning curve for the seeker.

1. Authentic – the mentor “practices” what he “preaches.” A good mentor will not only tell you what the best approach is, but is utilizing the approach himself. He doesn’t send you in one direction while he goes another saying, “you have to learn the hard way.” The purpose of working with a mentor is to learn from his mistakes.
2. Personally Involved – the mentor should take a personal interest in the mentoring relationship. She should get to know you, how you work, what your goals are, what your strengths and weaknesses are, and any other pertinent information that you (the mentee) believe to be relevant.
3. Listens – a good mentor will genuinely listen to your concerns and not be eager to get the conversation over. You shouldn’t be a list item on your mentor’s day sheet. He should know your current projects by name and be able to ask you, first hand, how things are going.
4. Continues to Learn and Grow – a good mentor knows that he couldn’t possibly know everything there is to know in any given field today – the world has become much too complex. Things change, people change, circumstances change – and it’s all great. A good mentor will remain open to new ideas and even try them.
5. Assumes You’re Great – a good mentor doesn’t assume that you’re a loser just because you are coming to him for advice. He recognizes that you have talent and are successful already, (otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to afford his fee!). At the very least, he should see your potential or otherwise not take you on as a mentee.
6. Builds You Up – A good mentor is tuned in, tapped in, turned on, and in their wholeness, they will uplift you. When someone fosters insecurity in you, they are not tuned in, tapped in, turned on, and they’re not a good mentor for you in that moment.

Before entering any mentorship/coaching program, ask for references and query them on these 6 attributes. If you’re not comfortable with the answers you receive, run, don’t walk, as fast as you can in the opposite direction!

25 Random Things about me!!!

I gave a try to think n put up 25 random things about me when I was tagged by my friend Janani over Face book. So the rules of the tag are:

Once you been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts,habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people of be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, its because I want to know more about you.
(To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click post:)

Here we go.....

- I am blessed with creative thinking, being passionate about things that I do & fun-loving with pleasing personality

- I urge myself to be fit always & conscious about my health n beauty

- People always envy by looking at my hair texture - Lucky to be one ah!? ;-)

- It puts me off to the core, if people start bullshitting & even who can’t keep up their words

- I like tall n well-favored hunk possessing intelligence (I wish soon ;o))

- I am fairly good at organizing things well & looking forward to lead an organized life soon :D

- I am not all that gr8 cook but would love to be one soon

- I have learnt basics of karnatic music but ended up with singing western songs :P

- I enjoy networking and personally feel that I m good at…

- If I could be anyone, any time, I’d be a Pilot. I want more adventures

- I am fortunate enuff to cover most of d places within India but eagerly looking forward to fly overseas anywhere that comes my way

- I enjoy most of the sports but any day Soccer gives me immense pleasure ( Man Utd the 'Best Club' so far so good! :))

- Passionate about Sir Alex Ferguson's religious leadership style - A complete 'Package' of succeeder plus makes to play attractive football

- Topmost things that I blv in - One nurturing the mindset healthily without getting influenced by external things and other not to hurt anyone unnecessarily

- I always look for a person who strives hard in their life n comes up with flying colors

- Knowledge is my greatest treasure & want to possess more n more

- I used to draw cartoons, assist with cloth designing, apply bridal mehandis and now started up with pot n glass painting

- I've slowly started up blogging but wanna contribute more towards that by giving good insights to the people

- I would love to try different modes which are trendy and I m comfortable with

- Exploring to shopping malls n buying stuffs or long drives or even dancing drives me crazy anytime

- I love wearing skirts along with classy boots n cool sunglasses. Wouldn't mind to pick up if clothes made with thin fabrics or even that has with nice logo

- I just hate d way I smile while I am posing, Pathetic! :-X

- Snakes freak me out. No, seriously. They. Freak. Me. Out!!

- Happy to acknowledge my pal ‘V D’ & Sis who has lightened up my being to accomplish much better things in life

- Lastly, I am confident enuff to say - SOWMYA-IS-NOT-IMPOSSIBLE

Now its your turn :))