OFTEN WHEN THINGS ARE NOT GOOD FOR US....
WE ALWAYS HAVE THE TENDENCY TO BLAME GOD...
WHY THIS IS HAPPENING TO ME....AND ME ONLY??
READ....ON......
Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player who won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever, was dying of AIDS. What had happened was in 1979, Ashe had suffered a heart attack, an event that surprised the public in view of his high level of fitness as an athlete. Unfortunately it was discovered that he had inherited the heart disease and even his superb fitness could not have saved him from the attack. In 1988, Ashe discovered he had contracted HIV during the blood transfusions he had received during one of his two heart surgeries.
From world over, he received letters from his fans, one of which conveyed: "Why does GOD have to select you for such a bad disease"?
To this Arthur Ashe replied:
The world over :–
5 crore children start playing tennis,
50 lakh learn to play tennis,
5 lakh learn professional tennis,
50,000 come to the circuit,
5000 reach the grand slam,
50 reach Wimbledon,
4 to semi final,
2 to the finals,
When I was holding a cup I never asked GOD "Why me; and today in pain I should not be asking GOD "Why me?"
Being optimistic or pessimistic is a matter of choice and so is admiring the brighter side of life or choosing to wallow in self-pity and grief all the time. Be thankful to GOD for the good things in life!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
It's a fishy life....
The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. But the waters close to Japan have not held many fish for decades. So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went farther than ever. The farther the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring in the fish. If the return trip took more than a few days, the fish were not fresh. The Japanese did not like the taste.
To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen and they did not like frozen fish.
The frozen fish brought a lower price. So fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull, but alive. Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish,not sluggish fish.
So how did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem? How do they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan?If you were consulting the fish industry, what would you recommend?
How Japanese Fish Stay Fresh:
To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks. But now they add a small shark to each tank.The shark eats a few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state. The fish are challenged.
Have you realized that some of us are also living in a pond but most of the time tired & dull, so we need a Shark in our life to keep us awake and moving? Basically in our lives Sharks are new challenges to keep us active and taste better.....
The more intelligent, persistent and competent you are, the more you enjoy a challenge. If your challenges are the correct size, and if you are steadily conquering those challenges, you are Conqueror. You think of your challenges and get energized. You are excited to try new
solutions. You have fun. You are alive!
Recommendations:
1. Instead of avoiding challenges, jump into them. Beat the heck out of them. Enjoy the game. If your challenges are too large or too numerous, do not give up. Failing makes you tired. Instead,
reorganize. Find more determination, more knowledge, more help.
2. God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but he did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears and light for the way.
3. Disappointments are like road bumps, they slow you down a bit but you enjoy the smooth road afterwards. Don't stay on the bumps too long. Move on!
4. When you feel down because you didn't get what you want, just sit tight and be happy,because God has thought of something better to give you. When something happens to you, good or bad, consider what it means. There's a purpose to life's events, to teach you how to laugh more or not to cry too hard.
5. No one can go back and make a brand new start. Anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.
To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen and they did not like frozen fish.
The frozen fish brought a lower price. So fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull, but alive. Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish,not sluggish fish.
So how did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem? How do they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan?If you were consulting the fish industry, what would you recommend?
How Japanese Fish Stay Fresh:
To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks. But now they add a small shark to each tank.The shark eats a few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state. The fish are challenged.
Have you realized that some of us are also living in a pond but most of the time tired & dull, so we need a Shark in our life to keep us awake and moving? Basically in our lives Sharks are new challenges to keep us active and taste better.....
The more intelligent, persistent and competent you are, the more you enjoy a challenge. If your challenges are the correct size, and if you are steadily conquering those challenges, you are Conqueror. You think of your challenges and get energized. You are excited to try new
solutions. You have fun. You are alive!
Recommendations:
1. Instead of avoiding challenges, jump into them. Beat the heck out of them. Enjoy the game. If your challenges are too large or too numerous, do not give up. Failing makes you tired. Instead,
reorganize. Find more determination, more knowledge, more help.
2. God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but he did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears and light for the way.
3. Disappointments are like road bumps, they slow you down a bit but you enjoy the smooth road afterwards. Don't stay on the bumps too long. Move on!
4. When you feel down because you didn't get what you want, just sit tight and be happy,because God has thought of something better to give you. When something happens to you, good or bad, consider what it means. There's a purpose to life's events, to teach you how to laugh more or not to cry too hard.
5. No one can go back and make a brand new start. Anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Learning To Get Back Up.....
Bringing a giraffe into the world is a tall order. A baby giraffe falls 10 feet from its mother’s womb and usually lands on its back. Within seconds it rolls over and tucks its legs under its body. From this position it considers the world for the first time and shakes off the last vestiges of the birthing fluid from its eyes and ears. Then the mother giraffe rudely introduces its offspring to the reality of life.
In his book, A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond describes how a newborn giraffe learns its first lesson:
The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she positions herself directly over her calf. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable thing. She swings her long, pendulous leg outward and kicks her baby, so that it is sent
sprawling head over heels.
When it doesn’t get up, the violent process is repeated over and over again. The struggle to rise is momentous. As the baby calf grows tired, the mother kicks it again to stimulate its efforts. Finally, the calf stands for the first time on its wobbly legs.
Then the mother giraffe does the most remarkable thing. She kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up. In the wild, baby giraffes must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with the herd, where there is safety.Lions, hyenas, leopards and wild hunting dogs all enjoy young giraffes, and they’d get it too, if the mother didn’t teach her calf to get up quickly and get with it.
The late Irving Stone understood this.He spent a lifetime studying greatness,writing novelized biographies of such men as Michelangelo,Vincent van Gogh, Sigmund Freud and Charles Darwin.Stone was once asked if he had found a thread that runs through the lives of all these exceptional people. He said, “I write about people who sometime in their life have a vision or dream of something that should be accomplished and they go to work. “They are beaten over the head, knocked down, vilified, and for years they get nowhere. But every time they’re knocked down they stand up. You cannot destroy these people. And at the end of their lives they’ve accomplished some modest part of what they set out to do.”
In his book, A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond describes how a newborn giraffe learns its first lesson:
The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she positions herself directly over her calf. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable thing. She swings her long, pendulous leg outward and kicks her baby, so that it is sent
sprawling head over heels.
When it doesn’t get up, the violent process is repeated over and over again. The struggle to rise is momentous. As the baby calf grows tired, the mother kicks it again to stimulate its efforts. Finally, the calf stands for the first time on its wobbly legs.
Then the mother giraffe does the most remarkable thing. She kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up. In the wild, baby giraffes must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with the herd, where there is safety.Lions, hyenas, leopards and wild hunting dogs all enjoy young giraffes, and they’d get it too, if the mother didn’t teach her calf to get up quickly and get with it.
The late Irving Stone understood this.He spent a lifetime studying greatness,writing novelized biographies of such men as Michelangelo,Vincent van Gogh, Sigmund Freud and Charles Darwin.Stone was once asked if he had found a thread that runs through the lives of all these exceptional people. He said, “I write about people who sometime in their life have a vision or dream of something that should be accomplished and they go to work. “They are beaten over the head, knocked down, vilified, and for years they get nowhere. But every time they’re knocked down they stand up. You cannot destroy these people. And at the end of their lives they’ve accomplished some modest part of what they set out to do.”
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Some famous failures
A candidate for a news broadcaster's post was rejected by officials since his voice was not fit for a news broadcaster. He was also told that with his obnoxiously long name, he would never be famous.
-He is Amitabh Bachchan.
-----------------------------
A small boy - the fifth amongst seven siblings of a poor father, was selling newspapers in a small village to earn his living. He was not exceptionally smart at school but was fascinated by religion and rockets. The first rocket he built crashed. A missile that he built crashed multiple times and he was made a butt of ridicule. He is the person to have scripted the Space Odyssey of India single-handedly
- Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.
----------------------------
In 1962, four nervous young musicians played their first record audition for the executives of the Decca recording Company. The executives were not impressed. While turning down this group of musicians, one executive said, "We don't like their sound. Groups of guitars are on the way out."
- The group was called The Beatles.
------------------------------------------
In 1944, Emmeline Snively, director of the Blue Book Modelling Agency told modelling hopeful Norma Jean Baker, "You'd better learn secretarial work or else get married." She went on and became
....Marilyn Monroe.
----------------------------------------------------
In 1954, Jimmy Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Opry, fired a singer after one performance. He told him, "You ain't goin' nowhere....son. You ought to go back to drivin' a truck."
He went on to become Elvis Presley.
---------------------------------------------
In the 1940s, another young inventor named Chester Carlson took his idea to 20 corporations, including some of the biggest in the country. They all turned him down. In 1947, after 7 long years of rejections, he finally got a tiny company in Rochester, NY, the Haloid company, to purchase the rights to his invention -- an electrostatic paper copying process.
Haloid became Xerox Corporation.
--------------------------------------------------------
A little girl - the 20th of 22 children, was born prematurely and Her survival was doubtful. When she was 4 years old, she contracted Double pneumonia and scarlet fever, which left her with a paralysed left leg.At age 9, she removed the metal leg brace she had been dependent on and began to walk without it. By 13 she had developed a rhythmic walk, which doctors said was a miracle. That same year she decided to become a runner.
She entered a race and came in last. For the next few years every race she entered, she came in last. Everyone told her to quit, but she kept on running. One day she actually won a race. And then another. From then on she won every race she entered.
Eventually this little girl - Wilma Rudolph, went on to win three Olympic gold medals.
-------------------------------
One day a partially deaf 4 year old kid came home with a note in his pocket from his teacher. "Your Tommy is too stupid to learn, get him outt of the school. His mother read the note and answered, "My Tommy is not stupid to learn. I will teach him myself,". And that Tommy grew up to become the great Thomas Edison. Thomas Edison had only three months of formal schooling and he was partially deaf.
-----------------------------------
The Moral of the above:
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved. All success stories are stories of great failures. The only difference is that every time they failed, they bounced back.
“Failure is the highway to success!"
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Weakness or Strength???
Sometimes your biggest weakness can become your biggest strength. Take, for example, the story of one 10-year-old boy who decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident.
The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn't understand why, after three months of training the master had taught him only one move.
"Sensei," the boy finally said, "Shouldn't I be learning more moves?""This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know," the sensei replied.Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training.
Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament.Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to
win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals.
This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced.For a while, the boy appeared to be overmastered. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened. "No," the sensei insisted, "Let him continue."Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake:
he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him.
The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion. On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind. "Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?"
"You won for two reasons," the sensei answered. "First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second,the only known defence for that move is for your opponent to grip your left arm."The boy's biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.
Some Philo :P
Often we feel dejected when we see our weaknesses coz they expose us for the mortals that we are and not the heroes that we see ourselves as in our dreams and fantasies. However there exist those precious few who acknowledge their weaknesses and then try to see how they can use it to advantage. On a lighter note there exists in our hostel a student who has converted his weakness of extraordinary mugging to everlasting recognition and fame among our faculty!Any guesses who? :)
The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn't understand why, after three months of training the master had taught him only one move.
"Sensei," the boy finally said, "Shouldn't I be learning more moves?""This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know," the sensei replied.Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training.
Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament.Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to
win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals.
This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced.For a while, the boy appeared to be overmastered. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened. "No," the sensei insisted, "Let him continue."Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake:
he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him.
The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion. On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind. "Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?"
"You won for two reasons," the sensei answered. "First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second,the only known defence for that move is for your opponent to grip your left arm."The boy's biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.
Some Philo :P
Often we feel dejected when we see our weaknesses coz they expose us for the mortals that we are and not the heroes that we see ourselves as in our dreams and fantasies. However there exist those precious few who acknowledge their weaknesses and then try to see how they can use it to advantage. On a lighter note there exists in our hostel a student who has converted his weakness of extraordinary mugging to everlasting recognition and fame among our faculty!Any guesses who? :)
How sheer determination built a bridge!
In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.
Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.
Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.
The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move.
"We told those so “,” Crazy men and their crazy dreams"; "It’s foolish to chase wild visions." Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever.
He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.
It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.
He touched his wife's arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.
For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man's indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.
Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.
Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life, our hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realised with determination and persistence, no matter what the odds are.Even the most distant dream can be realized with determination and persistence.
Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.
Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.
The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move.
"We told those so “,” Crazy men and their crazy dreams"; "It’s foolish to chase wild visions." Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever.
He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.
It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.
He touched his wife's arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.
For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man's indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.
Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.
Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life, our hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realised with determination and persistence, no matter what the odds are.Even the most distant dream can be realized with determination and persistence.
Monday, February 23, 2009
A small addition to blogspot..a giant step for me...
Hiya all, after afflicting most of my friends; the bug for blogging has also bitten me. But regrettably most of the goings-on in my life are either:
Yet on the other hand unlike a friend of mine who delights in leaving cryptic clues to his personal life via blogspot, I definitely do not aspire for the admonishments that are certain if I were to blog about some realllly blogable stuff in my life.
So what will I be blogging about?
Apart from spending the significant majority of the daily 24 hours doing total random TP stuff like waiting on Gtalk & longing to strike up chats with people who don't exist on my list, going swimming when I have a real bad cold, bunking lectures just when it is the season of surprise tests, checking my email every 15 minutes waiting for someone to confirm an accommodation for me in Berlin during my summer internship and giving missed calls to my friends in the LTs(Lecture Theaters for the uninitiated) hoping that someone will have forgotten to keep his cell on silent (I am really a very nice and lovable guy-just not always and hearing about compiler and interpreted languages (PLCC really does suck bigtime!) for more than 30 minutes always brings out a hidden malicious streak in me :P )...some more "constructive" things that I do are:
As such you can expect to find gr8 stories, anecdotes, quotes, links to inspirational ebooks,songs,ppts,wallpapers and much more on my blog. You are welcome to further plagiarize the already plagiarized stuff! My only intention is brightening up the day(or nites for owls like me) of all the people who visit my blog with a daily/nightly dose of motivational inspiration!
Something to think about......
Once all village people decided to pray for rain.On the day of prayer all people gathered and only one boy came with an umbrella...That's FAITH!
- too mundane to sustain the enthusiasm with which anyone may visit my blog OR
- far too sensationally gossip provoking
Yet on the other hand unlike a friend of mine who delights in leaving cryptic clues to his personal life via blogspot, I definitely do not aspire for the admonishments that are certain if I were to blog about some realllly blogable stuff in my life.
So what will I be blogging about?
Apart from spending the significant majority of the daily 24 hours doing total random TP stuff like waiting on Gtalk & longing to strike up chats with people who don't exist on my list, going swimming when I have a real bad cold, bunking lectures just when it is the season of surprise tests, checking my email every 15 minutes waiting for someone to confirm an accommodation for me in Berlin during my summer internship and giving missed calls to my friends in the LTs(Lecture Theaters for the uninitiated) hoping that someone will have forgotten to keep his cell on silent (I am really a very nice and lovable guy-just not always and hearing about compiler and interpreted languages (PLCC really does suck bigtime!) for more than 30 minutes always brings out a hidden malicious streak in me :P )...some more "constructive" things that I do are:
- watch movies
- read novels on Indian mythology
- cycle, jog, swim
- mull over stuff like MBA vs MS and why one shouldn't use gmail when sentimental
- read motivational, inspirational stuff-stories, quotes, pics-sab kuch...
As such you can expect to find gr8 stories, anecdotes, quotes, links to inspirational ebooks,songs,ppts,wallpapers and much more on my blog. You are welcome to further plagiarize the already plagiarized stuff! My only intention is brightening up the day(or nites for owls like me) of all the people who visit my blog with a daily/nightly dose of motivational inspiration!
Something to think about......
Once all village people decided to pray for rain.On the day of prayer all people gathered and only one boy came with an umbrella...That's FAITH!
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