Parents

A call from the old age home to her only son in the Gulf.
 

The son says" It is recession here don't ask for any donation or financial help."
 

The old age home manager says "Who asked for donation? Your mom has breathed her last a few hours ago..."
 

Son: Then I shall come as the landed property is to be dealt with..."
 

Manager: " No it is sold two years ago to meet the medical expenses of your ailing dad"
 

Son: Oh, I was not aware.....I may send some money to conduct mom's last rites in that case.
 

Manager: "No, she has donated the body to the medical college and some compensation may be received for that. I want your account number, to remit the cash....that's why I called you.."


Total silence from the son...!!!

Perceptions

A teacher teaching Maths to a six-year-old asked him, “If I give you one apple and one apple & one apple, how many apples will you have?”

With a few seconds the boy replied confidently, “Four!”

The dismayed teacher was expecting an effortless correct answer (three).

She was disappointed. “May be the child did not listen properly,” she thought.

She repeated, “Please listen carefully. It is very simple. You will be able to do it right if you listen carefully.  If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?”

The boy had seen the disappointment on his teacher’s face.

He calculated again on his fingers.

But within him he was also searching for the answer that will make his teacher happy.

This time hesitatingly he replied, “Four...”

The disappointment stayed on teacher’s face.

She remembered that the boy loves strawberries.

She thought may be he doesn’t like apples and that is making him lose focus.

This time with exaggerated excitement and twinkling eyes she asked ...

“If I give you one strawberry, and one strawberry, and one strawberry, then how many will you have?”

Seeing the teacher happy, the young boy calculated on his fingers again.

There was no pressure on him, but a little on the teacher.

She wanted her new approach to succeed.

With a hesitating smile, the young boy replied, “Three?”

The teacher now had a victorious smile. Her approach had succeeded.

She wanted to congratulate herself.

But one last thing remained.

Once again she asked him, “Now if I give you one apple and one apple and one more apple how many will you have?”

Promptly the answer was “Four!”

The teacher was aghast.

“How.... tell me, How?” she demanded in a little stern and irritated voice.

In a voice that was low and hesitating young boy replied, “Because I already have one apple in my bag.”

Lessons to Learn: When someone gives you an answer that is different from what you are expecting, it is not necessarily they are wrong.

There may be an angle that we may not have understood at all.

We need to learn to appreciate and understand different perspectives.

Quite often, we try and impose our perspectives on others and then wonder what went wrong.

The next time someone gives you a different perspective than yours, sit down and gently ask: "Can you please help me understand?"

Neighbouring Houses

The husband stood at the window of his neighbors and watched. There they were busy doing their own thing. The wife was in the kitchen cooking, and the man sat at the table writing. The phone rang, and the man jumped up and headed to the hallway to get it.

On his way he bumped into a vase, it fell and broke. He got down to his knees and started picking up the pieces. The wife ran into the room from the kitchen. She also kneeled down and started helping her husband to pick them up.

The man said to his wife:

“I am so sorry. I rushed to get the phone and bumped into the vase. It fell and got broken.”

The wife replied:

“No, honey, it is my fault. I put it there on the way. That’s why you bumped into it.” They kissed, and that was over. Both got back to what they were doing.

The man who watched them returned to his wife. She wanted to know what the secret of their happiness was. 

What he said was fantastic. “I know it now. In their family they both are guilty and in our family both of us are always right!”

That’s the secret of family happiness!

Food for thought....

The "trick" isn't in not wanting to take responsibility, but rather in not claiming right.

There are times you need to forfeit your right to win your peace: depends on which you cherish most.

This recipe is applicable, not only in the home, but also at work and in all relationships.

Enjoy Your Short Journey

"It is not necessary to argue over something so insignificant, our journey together is so short"

If each one of us realized that our time here is so short; that to darken it with quarrels, futile arguments, not forgiving others, discontentment and a fault finding attitude would be a waste of time and energy.

Did someone break your heart?
Be calm, the journey is so short.

Did someone betray, bully, cheat or humiliate you? 
Be calm, forgive, the journey is so short.

Whatever troubles anyone brings us, let us remember that our journey together is so short. 

No one knows the duration of this journey. No one knows when their stop will come. Our journey together is so short. 

Let us cherish friends and family. Let us be respectful, kind and forgiving to each other. Let us be filled with gratitude and gladness. 

If I have ever hurt you, I ask for your forgiveness. If you have ever hurt me, you already have my forgiveness. 

After all, our journey together is so short!

Ten Minute Mantra

My dad once told me, “You can apply the 10 minutes mantra to turn around your life in a tremendous way.”

I didn’t understand at first. “What’s the big deal in 10 minutes?” I asked.

“There’s indeed a big deal about it. 10 minutes, believe me son, can create a marvellous difference in our life,” my dad offered wisely.

“Elaborate please, dad,”

“I’ll tell you. But first, you’ve to get up tomorrow at 6.00 am.” My dad conditioned. I agreed.

Next day, as I woke up at the agreed time, my dad came to my room.

“What’s the time?”

“6.00 am” I replied.

“Okay, so before you can follow the 10 minutes mantra, you have to follow the art of being aware about the clock,”

I was confused. My dad continued, “Look at the clock. It’s 6.00 am. Now within 10 minutes I ask you to do the following - Arrange your bed and your table; drink two glasses of water, wash your face and brush your teeth. But keep looking at your clock while doing these. That’s it”

“Well…Okay,” I said, what could be the catch my dad wanted me to capture.

I began and started doing all he asked. All the time, I kept glancing at the wall clock. Finally after 10 minutes (or 30 seconds earlier to be exact) I had finished it all.

“Well done, boy. You have turned around your life!” My dad praised, patting on my back.

“What?” I was astonished and puzzled, unable to grasp, and asked earnestly “I didn’t get you, dad.”

 “Think, son, think!” My dad urged, “Recall your earlier days. How did your day started off?”

I racked my brains and pondered over. Usually, I wake up at 6.00 am. Then, I wander off, yawning lazily and even sleep for some more minutes or sit idly on my chair, my thoughts in thousand directions. And, by the time I finish the above activities, it was already past 7.00 am.

“And today, it’s just 6.10 am” my dad said as if he read my mind.

“Yes!” I exclaimed, starting to understand.

“So what made you do it?” my dad asked.

I thought. What made me do it? Because my dad told me to do? No, no. There was more to it. And then it hit me.

“The art of being aware about the clock!” I almost shouted.

“Yes and also ten minutes.” My dad said, smiling at my wonderstruck face.

My dad explained: “By setting your eyes on the clock and thinking about 10 minutes, your mind got focused in that span of 10 minutes. It was just like a deadline or a due date. The “10 minutes” deadline kept your mind in the present; in the “NOW ” and prevented you from wandering off.”

I was impressed. Just a matter of meagre 10 minutes had such a mighty effect! I had completed all those routine activities on time.  Now, I felt I have so much time ahead (as compared to 7.00am, it was just 6.10 am!). With so much time saved, I could work on creative and productive activities, instead of loitering around aimlessly. Time is indeed, the most precious thing on earth.

 A question piqued my curiosity, “Dad, why only 10 minutes. Why can’t we divide our activities into 1 hour slots?”

“Good question,” my dad said, “we can. But Shorter the time, more productive you will get. Imagine, if I told you to do those routine activities in 1 hour? Your mind will make your actions slower because you’ll think you have enough time to do it. Even if an activity takes 1 hour, you can segment it into 10 minutes slots.”

“Give an example,” I was eager to know more.

“You can, for instance, segment your workout time,” my dad resumed. “10 minutes- warm-up; 10 minutes- stretching and 10 minutes-yoga,”

“Really amazing, dad; this 10 minutes stuff can make your life on a roll! Instead of long bouts of inactivity, once can benefit from the short bursts of creativity!”

“Yes. The 10 minutes stuff is just an idea. You can also make it 15 minutes or 20 minutes but not longer than that.” My dad paused and continued :

“The 10 minutes mantra can be applied in every aspect of life. A student, a professional, a businessman or anyone can apply this simple but successful technique. Take an example of student. The student can allot 10 minutes time for a topic. After that, he/she can take 2 minutes rest and resume for another ten minutes. He or she can also take time off and read a good book for 10 minutes or allot just 10 minutes for walking. All a student has to do is to be aware of the clock.

Elaborating it further, we humans have a tendency to keep on delaying small things. We know we have to pay bills on time, and still we delay it beyond the due dates. We are aware that our bike’s tyres need to get pumped, yet we don’t care to stop by the car-shop we pass every day. We promise ourselves to go to a temple on a particular day, yet we never seem to keep our own promise on time. Why? Because our mind wanders off and deems such things as unimportant. If we vow to take just 10 minutes or 20 minutes of our entire 24 hours, we would never procrastinate and our life will be million times better.”

My dad concluded: “The 10 minutes, if followed consistently, can have a tremendous effect in anyone’s lifestyle. Procrastination and Idleness will vanish away replaced by Focus and Intensity. People will tell you they are short of time. No time for the loved ones, no time for pursuing their dreams, no time to eat, no time for their health as if they are the most busiest people on earth! It’s the lamest excuse one can give.

The 10 minutes mantra can keep us organized, keep our otherwise disoriented thoughts in check, Balance our life fruitfully and help us to have enough time in our hands. So follow this 10 minutes mantra and see your life turn around at a miraculous pace.....!”