Investment

What is an investment?

Is it only restricted to money? or beyond it beyond it and covers emotions, time, efforts and many more.

For me:

I invest my money in books and experiences.

My emotions and efforts in the well-being of my family and friends.

My time in the growth and improvement of myself and people around me.

The Question is where are you investing your life?

Lessons from year 2017.

2017 was filled with loss, pain, tough times and some good memories. Following are the lessons learned in this year:

1) Pain and loss are inevitable and one cannot avoid it in life.

2) Take action on whatever you think within 5 sec.

3) Tomorrow never comes.

4) Take preventive actions as far as health for your family members is concerned.

5)Stop daydreaming and go in solitude and develop a plan and stick to the plan.

6)Go with the flow of life.

Think Big

An average human being gets 60000 thoughts a day. To a very large extent our environment, circumstances, past experiences, upbringing, people around us and our values shape our thought process. However, if you observe carefully your thoughts define your action, your action define your character and your character shapes the way a person interacts with the world. Our thoughts are the driving force of our lives, so create them carefully.  I believe we have the capability to think big ideas and rising above small thinking originating out of jealousy, ego, discrimination, poverty of ambition, which stops us from living up to our full potential. Thinking my dear friends is free ;) so why not think big and think different from what you have been thinking before.  Following are few different ideas that one can follow. Feel free to share yours in the comment section and kindle an action of change:

Think about making beautiful memories on a daily basis.

Think of following your passion and doing what makes you happy.

Think of including your wives surname in your name. ;)

Think planet earth as your home and you will never feel homesick.

Consider every human being as your family member.

Think of making a home rather than a big house.

Think of pursuing happiness instead of small mundane things.

Think about solving problems of the world rather than cribbing about small problems.

Think beyond money.

Think about changing the world and making a dent in the universe like Mandela, Gandhi and Dr. King.

Think about problems and adverse situations as a means to develop yourself and be grateful of having faced them.

Live life on a daily basis rather than years.

If possible be a job creator rather than a job seeker.

Celebrate in others happiness.

Respect insects and animals because of whom human beings are able to exist.

Be content with your present life but never be satisfied with learning and growing.

Think about spreading happiness by being happy yourself.

Think of facing your fears head on and enjoy the kick of overcoming them.

In any relationship, think in terms of "us" rather than YOU and I.

Think of exploring the unexplored.

Think of setting an example to the society.

Think of being a leader rather than a follower.

Think of living with compassion, love, respect and admiration.

Think of settling down abroad on different planets rather than countries.

Think of exploring your own potential by challenging yourself.

Think of generating the feeling " I am even luckier than Bill Gates and I am the luckiest person ever born on this planet"

Think of being the best human being on Planet Earth and develop a great character.

I am confident by "thinking big" one can live a life full of adventure, hope, satisfaction, inspiration, innovation which will help push the human race forward to another level. In my opinion, it is a sin to think small which is the surest way of not living your life to its full potential. So my dear friends, think bold, beautiful and different.

This post is my gratitude to people who have helped me shape my thought process and attitude towards life.

Feel free to share you "Think big" moment in the comment section.

The Connection.

The connection.

Can you feel the connection?
When you are in my thoughts.

Can you feel the connection?
When I pray for your happiness to Gods.

Can you feel the connection?
When we share our deepest secrets.

Can you feel the connection?
When you accept each other with flaws.

Can you feel the connection?
When I share my happiness with you.

Can you feel the connection?
When I fight alongside you in war.

Can you feel the connection?
When we show our deepest scars.

Can you feel the connection?
When eyes speak it all.

Can you feel the connection?
When your smile is one of his/ her goals.

Can you feel the connection?
When you gift a present called time.

Can you feel the connection?
When you want to evolve for her/ him.

Can you feel the connection?
When you fear to be apart.

Can you feel the connection?
When butterflies fly in your stomach and pupils dilate for him/ her.

Can you feel the connection?
When you experience heaven on earth in her/ his arms

Goofiest mistakes of my life.

I love living life on the edge and go by my instinct and listen to my heart, brain, soul or my childlike curiosity which gets me in trouble lot of time but the best part is that it has made me live life completely different. I count the quality of life by being out of your comfort zone. Even though, if it involves committing mistakes out of actions without thinking or thinking. In my case, my mistakes are usually funny since I laugh about them upon my own silly attitude. Following are some silly moments of my life.


Goofiest mistakes:

1) Biting hand of the principal of my school on being to told to sing ringa ringa roses. It was the first time, I was introduced to classes of moral science.

2) Visiting a haunted well in the middle of the jungle where my car started rolling on its own even though it was parked with caution. I have never visited that place again.

3) Out of curiosity to be like fish, trying to take out breathing equipment of scuba 40 feet underwater.
4)  Trying to touch venomous scorpionfish out of curiosity only to be saved by scuba diving instructor.

5) Jumping in high tide waves of the Arabian sea on being challenged by the boatman. Later I realised he did not jump and was playing a prank. Thank god I concentrated during my swimming lessons.

6) While jogging in the middle jungle, I tried to tease few monkeys by making funny faces.That was the last time, I ran like Usain Bolt.

7)Visiting a 500-year-old haunted fort during dusk and cracking jokes about the king who ruled the place. I experienced the phenomenon of being followed by unearthly beings and later on had to leave because of crumbling of leaves behind me. I have started respecting kings after that except for british ones ;).

8) Taking lift from a 24-year-old crazy driver (he wanted to be a pilot) who was hallucinating due to lack of sleep while driving during the night and was continuously calling me co-pilot.  I doubt whether he was driving the car or the car was driving him.

9) Telling a girl " she has put on some weight". Never ever say such a thing.

10)  To make a girl feel secure and safe, I told her "I am Batman" and impersonated his voice. It was the first time, I witnessed human being's immense potential of decision making. She took the decision to leave in microseconds even faster than the speed of light. Never say you are 'Batman" out of excitement.

11) Grabbing a Scorpio during low visibility thinking it was a cricket ball.

12) Volunteering on being asked to fight a beautiful karate instructor for a demonstration session to martial art students. I don't know how many of my bones she broke including the heart. :)

13) Travelling half way across India for a girl not once but twice as I had promised her. At least railway appreciated my loyalty and gave me a discount for a third trip which I did not avail.Lessons were learned.

14) Standing at the edge of a door to breath fresh air in a train running at 120 km/hour which suddenly crossed a bridge 150 feet high with turbulent water flowing down the river. I become colder than liquid nitrogen at that moment out of fear.

15) Asking wife of a CEO of a company that whether she takes decision for the company. I thought she was like Michelle Obama, which was not true. I almost crashed the deal we were about to sign with that company.

16) Having vodka shots a night before the exam and turning up prepared for the wrong subject the next day. I failed of course in the exam but succeeded in making a memorable moment.

I am now going to conclude this post, even though I might require a book to cover all of them but it is enough for today.

As you would realise by now that almost all of the mistakes could have been avoided, were also attributable to my own disregard of not thinking before taking any actions and trusting the universe blindly; but then to get out of the 'normal zone' is my speciality.

We can not enjoy life by being in comfort zone or by being afraid of committing mistakes. If you feel like doing something just do it. Like I do every time, each time, without fail. Sometimes with mistakes and sometimes without.

A wise man once said- mistake are stepping stone to success.

Power of she

One of the biggest life changing lessons has been taught to me by some incredible women in my life from my mother, sister, aunts, cousins to my friends.  I have always admired women all my life and has been awestruck and inspired by their courage, compassion, smartness and intelligence.Having been lived on this planet for 25 years, I had been a  keen observer of society including men, women, and children. One of the observations I have noticed is that women are slightly more stronger than men in all dimensions of an existence of human being. Be it emotional, physical (endurance), spiritual and intellectual. I have seen women working shoulder to shoulder tirelessly with their male counterparts in 50-celsius heat as a construction worker to leading a nation to greater heights with sheer determination and courage. In my opinion, it is a crime for women to think that she is less than a man just because society is patriarchal or men are muscular. Such societies lack knowledge about what women have achieved over the period of history and have poverty of thoughts in its citizens.  It is the right time for men of such societies to come out of their cocoon of insecurities and accept the fact that a woman has equal right to have similar pay as men, to take leadership roles, to take their own decisions and dare to dream big dreams and achieve them and of course be cool with a women not changing her surname after getting married. Following are some of the examples of women who have done something different just by sheer grit, passion, and courage to take the road less traveled. There are numerous other extraordinary examples including the lady construction worker pushing her limits in 50 deg celsius heat to feed her kids and return back home after work to cook food and feed them.

Here it goes: 

Anu Vaidyanathan- India's first triathlete to have completed Ironman.

 An entrepreneur, author, and athlete, she has completed Ultraman Canada (swim 10km-bike 425.6km -run 84.4km ) and has a record of completing her PhD in 2 years.

Nungshi and Tashi Malik: First twins to scale seven summits and reach north pole and south pole.

At the age of 24, these twins have climbed all the highest peaks of each continent and traveled to north pole and south pole by walking. They have followed their passion for setting an example and are presently working for women empowerment.

Colonel Nicole Malachowski- First female Thunderbird pilot.

She has flown F-35, F-16 and flew in number 3 as only women fighter pilot in one of the world's best aerobatics team in the world called Thunderbirds.She is commanding a squadron of 25 fighter planes.

Dr. Seema Rao - India's only female commando trainer

She is the only female commando trainer in CQB in India to have trained special forces, paramilitary and national security guards. She has mastered 6 types of martial arts and the only trainer of jeet Kune do in all of Asia. An avid skydiver, she has numerous national awards to her name.

Sunita Williams- Commanded International Space Station.

She has done more than 50 hours of spacewalk and has been commander of more than two expeditions to international space station. She has been a helicopter pilot and has completed a marathon in space by running on a treadmill in space station.

                                 

Arunima Sinha- First female amputee to scale Mt Everest.

She has conquered all odds and proved her grit by scaling mount Everest after losing her leg in a train accident.She is also a seven summiteer just like the Malik sisters and is presently opening a training school for athletes in India.

Archana Sardana- India's first base jumper.

She is a skydiver, scuba diving instructor, and India's first base jumper. She has done more than 200 skydives and has more than 20 base jumps to her record.

Shital Mahajan- Skiver and 5 World record holder.

She has skydived over the north pole and south pole in -40 deg celsius without trial attempts. She has 5 World records and 12 national records to her name.

There are thousands of examples like them but if I cover them all it may take ages to write and might exceed the limit of my blog. From breaking hearts of lovers, bones of criminal and records of Gunness book of world records, women has achieved the impossible and has reinvented societies, companies, families, men, kids and themselves.  In the end all I have to say is 

"If women can produce a new human being they can do anything impossible" 

I rest my case.

This post is dedicated to the women in Uniform and all the  lovely and strong ladies whom I have had the honor of knowing and the fortune of spending my time  with them.

The Joy of values

One of the biggest joys of life is waking up early in the morning and looking yourself in the mirror and feeling grateful for the moral values you were instilled by your parents and friends.  Having the freedom to live your life the way you want and having your ethical values and principles shaping your moments, hours, days, months and eventually, our life gives a great deal of joy and makes you feel different from the crowd. Moral values combined with your personality makes you a remarkable individual and agent of change who could change this World into a better place in their own respective ways.  One of the biggest gift from me to myself is self-respect which is nothing but a reflection of your moral values.
Here are few of the thoughts which originate from the values that have been taught to me by people who had been an integral part of my life. These thoughts have given me immense joy to me ultimately making my life wonderful and this journey called life a fantastic experience.

Thoughts:

Be a man of honor, respect yourself and other human beings.

Live life with compassion, kindness and love for fellow human beings.

Be a person who could be useful to others.

Support other human beings during tough times.

Take care of planet earth and animals around you.

Don't judge anyone one the basis of someone's caste, religion, education and amount of wealth they pose.

Think good for others and rejoice in their success.

Be grateful for the freedom you enjoy.

Take pride in your own nationality.

Live life with integrity and always do the right thing.

Stand up for those who are weak and protect them.

Empower other people and lift them up.

Treat people the way you want yourself to be treated.

Be brave and stick to your promises.

Fight your demons and defeat them

Avoid gossiping about others.

Out of approx 60000 thoughts I experience on a daily basis, these are one of the most important ones which have shaped me as a  human being and continues to make me better with every passing day.
No matter how many sports car, big houses or private jets you own, only one thing that you create by your own and defines you and shapes your life are your thoughts, values, and principles. So learn and create them with pride, love, and happiness.
I would like to end this post by a quote by Winston Churchill:

The only guide to a man is his conscience; the only shield to the conscience is the rectitude and sincerity of his actions. It is impudent to walk through life without this shield because we are so often mocked by the failure of our hopes and upsetting of our calculations; but with this shield, however, the fates may play, we always march in the ranks of honor.”
: