Meeting the challenge ..

"Life is not the way it is supposed to be. It is the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference" . There's beauty and ecstasy , there's sorrow and grief. It's just that no one is sure , what's going to come when . The challenge remains to maintain your success rate irrespective of all this.
For this, it is essential to identify the priorities and the key issues. Having priorities sorted out always helps in taking decisions at crunch times, when a challenge is thrown open. By key issues I mean , what performance and preparation level you are ready to accept.It will not always happen that the performance levels are reached for each challenge face, a tolerance policy is important. This helps to categorize a failure.Each below par performance(even a good performance) will surely provide pointers to what needs to be improved , what needs to be changed. Keeping a clear picture of the key issues in your mind will help to create an awareness, as awareness precedes change, a change for the better is on the horizon.

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No new posts until 29th April :)

Expectations.

Hmmm..expectations are of two kinds : external and internal. External expectations are part of the environment in which you live. They are thrust in your face during almost every conversation. Matthew Hayden once said , that when Sachin Tendulkar goes out to bat - "It is beyond chaos - it is a frantic appeal by a nation to one man" . This is what external expectation is, completely summed up. Sachin manages this very well and hence is a successful person. Now, none of us have a burden of expectations comparable to Sachin but the idea remains the same- Manage your external expectations well. It's important that you play your own game and not somebody else's.
Internal expectations are derived from within yourselves , from your past achievements. This is very similar to your self-image. How highly do you rate yourself? There is a fine line in being unreasonable and cautious in this case.
The key is to manage expecations, to arrest the emotional engagement in expectations. It's important to remove yourselves from the environment briefly and reset your goals. This is one way to manage external expectations. Internal expectations can be controlled but external expectations can' t be.The greatest indicator that you are going along well , even when the external expectations are rising is the test of 'Quality-decison-making' . This is called 'Composure'. With the rising external expectations, it's imperative that your decision making isn't affected. There can be cases when you meet the external expectations but not your internal expectations, this isn't success. A few poor performances or a few poor results may drastically bring down the external expecatations, but you yourself know how good you are , so your internal expectations may continue to soar.

Koshish karne waalon ki haar nahin hoti..

Lehron se darkar nauka paar nahin hoti,
koshish karne waalon ki haar nahin hoti,

Nanhi cheenti jab daana lekar chalti hai,
Chadhti deewaaron par, sao baar phisalti hai.
Mann ka vishwaas ragon mein saahas bharta hai,
Chadhkar girna, girkar chadhna naa akharta hai.

Aakhir uski mehnat bekaar nahin hoti,
koshish karne waalon ki haar nahin hoti.

Dubkiyaan sindhu mein gotaakhor lagaata hai,
jaa jaa kar khaali haanth lautkar aata hai.
Milte nahin sahaj hi moti gehre paani mein,
badhta duguna utsaah issi hairani mein.

Mutthi uski khaali har baar nahin hoti,
Koshish karne waalon ki haar nahi hoti.

Asaflta ek chunauti hai, isse sweekar karo,
kya kami reh gayi, dekho aur sudhaar karo.
Jab tak naa safal ho, neend chain ki tyago tum,
Sangharsh ka maidaan chhodkar mat bhaago tum.

Kuch kiye bina hi jai jaikar nahin hoti,
koshish karne waalon ki haar nahin hoti.

by Harivanshrai Bachchan

Mental Toughness

What is mental toughness?.. it's the ability to make quality decisions. This counts at crucial phases. If the performance of an individual is affected by a decision or a series of decisions then this becomes crucial. A good decision can be made , if at the present instant, the entire brain-power is devoted to making that decision . The compartments of the brain which are irrelevant to the task at hand should be locked.
I imagine that the human brain is made up of compartments or sub-systems. There is a separate compartment for business,friends,family,hobbies,education etc. While doing a task A, all mental resources at a given time , must be dedicated/utilized for that task itself.Otherwise , the ability of making decisions while doing A would be seriously affected and so would the outcome of A. It's just so important to fill each compartment with appropriate knowledge,information,skills and confidence. It's also important to know which compartment should be unlocked at the given time and also to how to lock other compartments .
Most decisions are validated only my implementing them, it's difficult to know what 'this' decision would result into.That's the whole point, if your compartments have been trained with all the necessary knowledge and skills, the chances of getting a good decision out of them is pretty good, but it may still fail!

Dream ..

A dream to fly with the wind,
So that I dont fall behind,
A dream to be the everest,
Beyond the reach of any sorrowful harvest.

A dream to rise above the ocean of defeat,
And not use the ejection seat,
A dream to sing my song,
Tirelessly as I travel along.

A dream to find that special being,
May the search not turn heart-robbing,
A dream to discover that obsession,
Alongwith that long lost passion.

A dream to venture out into the untread,
And follow the directions my heart said,
A dream to get the prize coveted,
Propelled by desire deep-seated.

A dream to live my dreams,
As I flow with my faith streams,
A dream to continue dreaming,
To enjoy life with dreams enchanting!!

By RT.

Make 'others' redundant.

4th in the series .. "if better is possible"...

Well...this is what applies to my day..today. I ask myself, "When people speak rubbish..does that mean they think rubbish too?" . The answer to this question, in my opinion is a firm YES. Any decently intelligent human being will not give any weight to such 'other' people. If you really care for and respect a person then his/her's opinion matters. There are a bunch of 'others' wherever you go and what they say is mere noise.It was never required of them to speak, their opinion wasn't required and if 'others' still wanna say something, it is just noise and it should not affect your thinking or for that matter even your vision(if your vision does get affected, it actually wasn't a vision).
The thing which you need to do is to isolate 'others' and don't even listen to them. By not listening to them I mean you don't evaluate what they say and so there is no chance of you actually giving their thoughts any importance. The people who matter, their words, should be evaluated but not necessarily acted upon. Because it's all up to you as a person , as an individual. The advice, the idea must be in sync with your vision and your mental framework must agree with it , then only you follow the advice.
The key is to make 'others' redundant, they don't exist or their words don't matter. Then your brain is open to only important ideas(important to you) and the chances of you being benefited actually increase.

Hope.. :)

I hope you never lose that fire
Never let this bitter ambience subside your desire
Let your heart free,channelize your emotions
Live your heart and enjoy the stimulations
For you have to walk this way only once
Enjoy the wrong turns and the rough embrace
May faith engulf your beliefs

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance...


I hope you carry that flavour
Never let go off your ardour
Let your thoughts guide you , use your creative imagination
I hope reason never stops you in your levitation
But life will befuddle and impede
I will be there to make it lucid
Remain a gem , a special being


And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance....

By RT.

The vision is Everest..

Hmmm...limit to human imagination!...there isn't one. I think you can be an imaginative-visionary.Now 'others' would question your practicality!... this doesn't count. The argument is simple , you know yourself better than others. What others say is a mere conjecture. It's just about creating an environment around you and culture of clear thinking which is unaffected by any uncongenial factor, so to speak. It's a powerful thought - ' You come this way but once'.
If you want your life to be big enough to be 'counted' follow a vision and the vision should not be an adjustment or a bargain. Aim to be the kindest person you know, the most intelligent you know, the most generous person you know, the most successful(your definition of success will vary, must go by your pre-set success criteria) person you know and so on.Now comes the imagination part, one thing we can't afford in life is to lack imagination. Imagination is an idea, an idea is thought, thought is an action in the making. All great inventions were ideas, someone must have imagined them one fine day.
Just step out, with a vision as high as possible , brimming with youthful energy and confidence. It will just be a matter of time when you scale 'that' Everest.

Out of your comfort zone.

It almost always pays to move out of the 'safe and comfortable world which we call ours' into a world unknown to us at least in a relative sense. This is how we learn new things,this is how we learn how to drive a car, this is how a baby learns to crawl-walk-run, this is how we elevate ourselves , this is how we rise how we learn. Yes, you may fall but that was just 'extra-learning' which you needed in order to go ahead..simple ..right?
At the time of your 'fall' , your vision matters. Its almost your driving force . The fall might cause you to tamper with your modus-operandi but the beauty of it all ->'you just don't know'. The focus must remain on the fall, because it is the fall which makes you retreat. It's a matter of prestige for any leader to take his people to a place 'which they haven't seen before' . This would define a good leader. The words 'out of your comfort zone' have a inspiring effect but this inspiration is drawn from your vision in life, which I call your driving force. Thats it!...Have a vision!

...first in the series...'if better is possible'....

I think.........

I think you are one of His wonderful creations,
You are there in all of His constellations,
Graced are the virtues that manifest in you,
Look above and see the angels smile as they wave at you.

I think your eyes say a million words of innocence,
Even when you are taken over by a wave of reticence,
Your speech is an amalgam of truth and purity,
Your words are fragrant with your unbounded beauty.

I think you are the most lovable friend of mine,
Still echo in my ears those pleasant sounds of thine,
You hardly know but you are always there as a comrade,
With my eyes closed I see your memories in their cavalcade.

I think you met me to fulfill a dream,
Still fresh is that soft gaze of your eyebeam,
Within me,a feeling has surfaced that I fulfill this cherished desire,
Hear the depths of my heart call to you,come and fill it entire.

I think I will get a coveted chance to be for you,
Glad and fortunate,my heart would say that I live for you,
You are a person with a thousand beautiful colours,a bundle of bliss and gaiety,
You are thought!My thought!!Me your reality.

...Written by RT....2008

The most magical aspect of human nature......

A smile,

Envisages the beauty of a flower bud new born,
Blooming with innocence , softening the thorn.
Warms dreariness with cheer and levity,
Brimming the ambience with spontaneous vitality.

Permeates my heart with tender feelings of warmth and affection,
Making my heartstrings resonate with transmissible compassion.
Makes a feeling of bliss and amity cover me then,
Imagining myself in the wonderful garden of Eden,


Gets me out of my melancholy of what transpired before,
Letting my eyes marvel at something they have never seen before.
Reveals the pleasant aroma enfolded within you,
Unfolding a visual miracle,magnificient like you.

Harmonizes the ambivalence in my heart,making my uncogenial emotions reconcile,
Giving me also a reason to smile as I thank you for that beautiful smile!


....written by RT .... 2007