Essay - Failure in Life

Encountering failure is one of the biggest challenges known to mankind. Not everyone is good at handling failure. One may overcome the biggest challenges to achieve success but when it comes to handling failure, not everyone can tackle it. Each individual has his own way of tackling failure. It is a whole different story for each one of us. Some may accept failure and learn to fight a way through it by trying again. Some take failures as graciously as they could while some miserably mess things up. Here is a story that I recently learnt which tell us about how not having the strength to handle failure could lead to serious repercussions. 

There was a very brilliant boy, who always scored 100% in Science. He got selected for IIT Madras and scored excellent in IIT. He then went to the University of California for MBA and got a high paying job in America and settled there. 

He got married a beautiful Tamil girl and bought a 5 room big house and luxury cars.

He had everything that made him successful but a few years ago he committed suicide after shooting his wife and children.

So, WHAT WENT WRONG?

California Institute of Clinical Psychology Studied his case and found “what went wrong?”  The researcher met the boy’s friends and family and found that he lost his job due to America’s economic crisis and he had to sit without a job for a long time. Even after expecting a job with less salary than his previous, he didn't get any. 

Since he couldn't manage keeping steady his house installments, the family lost the home. They survived a few months with low money and then he and his wife together decided to commit suicide. He first shot his wife and children and then shot himself.

The case concluded that the man was programmed for successes but he was not trained for handling failures. Now let's come to the actual question, 

"What are the habits of highly successful people?"

People often share their success stories but very few share their battles and struggles to success. Many fail miserably in their early attempts of success and then rise to shine.  Nothing is predictable in life. There are risks and possibilities. At any point of time, one may lose what he owns. Here is a quote that speaks the same, 

" Life is like a river, 

sometimes it sweeps you gently along and 

sometimes the rapids comes

out of nowhere."

What this means is that when we plan to start something new, nobody can predict how things would go on. We can desire success, but we should learn to accept failures too. Failures make us who we are. They help us learn things and give us experiences that we knew nothing about. Hence one of the most important success habit to share is to learn to handle failures. 

Same lesson applies to the kids. We want our children to gain success in everything they do. Seldom we teach our child that it is okay to fail. When a child fails we get disappointed which in turn disappoints the child. But instead of programming our child to be successful we should prepare them to handle failures which is one of the most important life lesson you could teach your child.

What it Means to Let Go?

When we say we want to let go of things, what does it really mean? Letting go means a lot more than one can think. The let go meaning is all about taking care of yourself and keeping oneself from getting hurt. Just came across this wonderful post and felt like sharing. Please do read...

To "let go" does not mean to stop caring.

It means I can't do it for someone else.

To "let go" is not to cut myself off.

It's the realization that I can't control another.

To "let go" is to admit powerlessness,

which means the outcome is not in my hands.

To "let go" is not to try to change or blame another.

It's to make the most of myself.

To "let go" is not to care for, 

but to care about.

To "let go" is not to fix, 

but to be supportive.

To "let go" is not to judge, 

but to allow another to be a human being.

To "let go" is not to be in the middle, arranging all the outcomes,

but to allow others to affect their own destinies.

To "let go" is not to deny, 

but to accept.

To "let go" is not to nag, scold, or argue, 

but instead to search out my own shortcomings and correct them.

To "let go" is not to adjust everything to my desires,

but to take each day as it comes and cherish myself in it.

To "let go" is not to regret the past, 

but to grow and live for the future.

To "let go" is to fear less and to love more.

The Beautiful Moon Poem

This 'The Beautiful Moon' Poem is beautiful. This poem refers to the moon as 'she' and talks about her loneliness but still about her ability to lock up her emotions and guiding those who are in need of light to show them the way. I hope everyone enjoys this poem the way I did!

The Beautiful Moon Poem

 - By Unknown

How beautiful is the moon,

Glowing bright in the night skies.

Hiding herself during noon,

So you'll never know if she cries.

Alone she sits in the sky,

Guiding those who need the light.

Warming the hearts of those who cry,

But always keeping herself locked up tight.

Though surrounded by many stars,

In solitude she rather be.

A consequence produced by scars,

Shh... Can you hear her silent plea?

Away from people, away from pain,

She hides herself, in plain sight.

I've told you once and I'll tell you again,

The story of a beautiful moon

Whose light glows brightest at night.

Thinking is Like a Seed

Thinking is like a seed. Thinking about something is like planting the seed in your heart. What you think, grows within you. Thinking about the same thing everyday is like watering the seed of thought everyday to germinate and take the shape of a plant.

Once you start to overthink, you nurture the plant with your energy which acts as a fertilizer to grow more and more branches and blossom.So it is all about how much importance you give to this thought that shapes the future of this plant which will grow as a creeper and cling to every part of your mind and your brain. This creeper is nothing but a parasite that firstly, feeds on you to grow  and then overpowers you.

Once it does that it engulfs around you and there is no escape. The dark energy from this overthought creates its own space which do not leave a space of our own. What follows is a series of bad thoughts that scare us to the core.

Instead what one can do is absorb positive energy which can blossom the plant with positivity. The power of positive thought is unimaginably great and it helps people to gain courage and hope. Once you believe about being positive you summon courage to cope with life problem's more optimistically.

As this quote goes,

"A happy thought is like a seed,

that sows positivity for all

to reap."

Always try to find things that keep you grounded and to develop those strong beliefs. This way no matter how crazy the winds of life blows at you, you will stand tall, firmly planted and not easily uprooted.

Essay - The Change in Gender Role

In this evolving world, not only women but men too must prepare themselves for the change. Today's scenario one witnesses a lot of change and confidence building in women. Women are meeting challenging roles successfully, but one can't say the same about the men. It has been a matter of two generations especially in the urban scenario, where women changed their gender based role. It could be the result of perfect parenting where women were raised to be confident and made aware to stand for their rights. But has this parenting been biased when it came to boys? Has it been made clear to them about the change that was imbibed in women and how it was going to effect in the future run?

 When the daughters of the house were taught to shape into this new role, no one bothered to notify the men that their sisters were changing and evolving. No more the women in the house needed the so-called protection and dependency. Where women were taught to grow beyond their roles in kitchen and work in male dominated areas, men were never taught to cook and house-keep. Why is cooking and housekeeping considered solely to be a women's job? If women can work and walk hand in hand with men today by earning equals, men don't seem to approve the idea where they could cook and clean when their wives or mothers were out working.

Theoretically men accepted the role of their wives or mothers or sisters as working women; but they were completely unprepared for the role of a homemaker. Men were never taught to honor and accept living with women who earned more. Men were never taught that it was okay to stay home and manage the house and kids while their wives continued to work. A women is so good with multi-tasking. She can successfully handles a field job, prepare reports, manage house, manage kids, prepare lunches, come home and cook dinner. But men seem to lack this potential.

 When a woman gets a promotion or a career boost which may take her away from the city or which may mean less family indulgence, it gets quite clear that she has to select her family first and turn down such opportunities. But have the men been taught to do the same? No. And hence men need to be made aware that they too need to come out of their shelves and evolve. When we speak of empowering women, we must also help men to prepare for the change in gender role so to set their expectations right.

The Bird With Two Heads Story

The Bird With Two Heads Story

Long time ago, there lived a strange bird on a tree just near the banks of a lake. The bird was strange from the rest of the other birds because it had two heads.

Once when the bird was flying around searching for fruit, the first head saw a beautiful red colored fruit.  The bird plucked the food with the same head and started eating it. But the second head was curious and bit jealous.

So the second head of the bird grumbled,"Looks like a delicious food! Share some with me." But the first head that was enjoying the fruit replied,"You or me! What difference does it make? Whoever eats the fruit would go in the same stomach. So why share? Let me share half the fruit with our wife." This reply made the second head sad. From that day onward the second head kept to itself and didn't talk much.

One day the bird with two heads again wandered around in search of food. The second head saw some fruits and got delighted. But the fruits came from a poisonous tree. When the first head realized this, it immediately warned the other head to not eat the fruit.

But this time the second head wasn't going to miss the chance of mocking the first head by finishing the fruit himself. And so the other head finished the entire fruit. But as the fruit was poisonous, the bird with the two heads suffered and eventually died.

Moral of the story  - It is better to live in agreement or to suffer severely like the bird did.

I am Standing Tall Poem

Recently I read a proverb that made me think over. The proverb goes like this:

"When the roots are deep,

there is no reason to fear

the wind."

Making a use of this proverb and adding some words of mine, here is a poem I plant to share that comes to my mind.

I am Standing Tall Poem 

"I have weathered many storms

and often, had to stand alone.

Though many leaves have fallen,

I look to my roots and say to myself..."

I am still standing tall..

"When the roots are deep,

there is no reason to fear

the wind."

Who worries about uproot

when all I think is to sway..

Sway around in happiness,

Sway around in peace..

When I look at things around me

I sway around in bliss.

Who cares what could happen

Who cares if I fall one day,

For I shall always remember these moments

That made my heart swell.

- Sangs