Tag Archives: mind
‘Just Do It’: Live Moment to Moment!
Reblogging this one 🙂
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift; that’s why they call it the present” (Eleanor Roosevelt).
Take a minute to think about a normal day in your life. What are you doing? … How are you feeling? … What are you thinking? … Where are you going? … Who are you with? We all spend a lot of time thinking about things that have already happened – the past, and planning for or worrying about things that might happen – the future. Why did I end up in an argument with my friend last night? … When will I get to ring the bank about that loan? … When will I get the time to complete the report for my manager? … What date is the training course next month that I need to apply for? … Will I get home this evening to cook…
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Sleep and Laziness: The demons that lure you…
Sleep and laziness are the two demons that lurk frequently in the corridors of solitude. Sometimes veiled in an illusion of momentary comforts, sometimes disguised as ‘breaks’ to relax your back, or even in the form of ‘power naps’, they just keep looking for an opening in your determination, a chink in your perseverance. And they keep coming back until they find one.
They lure you first with an innocently comfortable stance on the chair. Then just a minute of lying down. They let you believe that everything is under control. That you can get up whenever you want, while slowly delivering you into the arms of a deceptive comfort. That soft fabric of the bed. That cozy pillow smelling fresh of detergent. The moderately cool air. The sweet sensation of easing down of the muscles. Everything points that there is something wrong here. That it is too good to be nice. Yet they boggle down your mind with inflated beliefs of your will power. They convince you that you still hold the reins while they push you down to the depths of lethargy.
Then, you suddenly start realising that time is passing too quickly. You decide to end it. They try to convince you that its not yet time and a few more minutes wouldn’t do much harm. By this time the demons have put you on a sledge sloping down into the warm pool of laziness. Still you make a disheartened attempt to get up. But, you realise it has been too late. You are falling too fast. All your will power, all your mental strength fails to overcome the immense pleasures of the bed, the sweet nectar of comfort flowing in the muscles and joints. It’s all too hard to give up. And then you start thinking of Plan B. The will to fight against the demons is replaced by the zeal of making up for the lost time after you get up. That’s right. It feels easier this way. You feel good imagining yourself doing hard work tomorrow to make up for the lost time today. It all feels good. Everything is settled now.
And before you know the demons have you at their leash, subduing you at the petty pleasures of senses, making you a slave of comfort. You sleep while the perseverant burn the midnight oil. You float in your kingdom of dreams while the others move a step closer to their own. You are sleeping soundly while the demons dance upon you, guffawing at their yet another success
Where the mind is without fear…
Today I would like to share with you a beautiful poem written by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore…In fact my blog is named after a certain phrase from this poem…
A brief background about this poem is that it was written in the pre-independance struggle of India. It was a time of national struggle to free ourselves from bondage and the dominance of Britain…It was a time where in a lot of visionaries of India united with one common goal in mind..That is to form a free India which would one day rise to be a strong nation. Today is the 64th Republic Day of India.. I’m blessed to be Indian and proud of my cultural heritage..
It is also a time where in we must reflect on this great poem.. How have we actually progressed as human beings on a larger perspective? Are our values as strong as our forefathers or are they dwindling down? Most importantly how do I free myself and my country from the various evils that cloud us.. It’s time we start a personal revolution…A revolt against all the things that make us slaves and dominate us…A fight to be free in the truest sense….
Let’s ponder on these points as we read the poem :-
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not be broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost it’s way
into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee
into ever widening thought and action-
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
-Rabindranath Tagore
When your mind plays tricks on you…..
Today I’ll be sharing a story which I read years ago which keeps coming back to my mind every now and then.It’s got a beautiful underlying message of love and sacrifice. Please do read it with your full attention and put aside any distraction for 5 mins before you start. Only then will you enjoy the story and cherish the meaning of it for the rest of your life! 🙂
Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain the fluids from his lungs. His bed was next to the room’s only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.
The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed next to the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.
The man in the other bed would live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the outside world. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake, the man had said. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.
One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Unexpectedly, an alien thought entered his head: Why should he have all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never get to see anything? It didn’t seem fair. As the thought fermented, the man felt ashamed at first. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy eroded into resentment and soon turned him sour. He began to brood and found himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window – and that thought now controlled his life.
Late one night, as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room, he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running. In less than five minutes, the coughing and choking stopped, along with the sound of breathing. Now, there was only silence–deathly silence.
The following morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was saddened and called the hospital attendant to take it away–no words, no fuss. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.
Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed.It faced a blank wall.
-Author Unknown
How often do we compare our lives with the lives of others….. Is it really worth it?……….. Definitely worth thinking and reflecting atleast . 🙂
Spread your arms and Fly!
Spread your arms and fly
upon the wings of a hurricane
Step outside the race for a day
Let your mind roam free
to where you’d like yourself to be
Dream escape but never get away
You’re going to run
You promised you would
Break the ties, if only you could
The lines on your hand
like rivers that flow
Can change form where they have to go
Spread your arms and try
to ride the waves, the rising tide
Scattered straws of the life you wanted to lead
Everytime you feel
the undertow pull you down
Lose it all and walk across the sea
You’re out on the ledge
it’s a long way down
A leap of faith on the wings you’ve found
The lines on your hand
melt into the road
And take you where you want to go
now that you know…..
Spread your arms and try to ride the wind
Spread your arms and try to ride the wind
Lyrics:
Band-Indus Creed (India’s first mainstream Rock Band)
Song-Fly
Clear Stream of Reason 