Archive for May, 2010
The Vice of Entitlement
Posted by: | CommentsDon’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first. – Mark Twain
Now, I know that many of us are affected by the Global Economic meltdown and that most of us naturally feel helpless when things happen beyond our control, that are not of our own volition or choosing and not directly caused by our own actions. Under such circumstances it is easy to feel as weak as a rag doll flapping in the wind.
I have met people, who immediately lean upon the support of others, – their relatives, their friends, the government and whichever passing stranger may offer a hand. They feel “entitled” to support from other people or from outside resources without understanding a basic fact of life. The world , however kind, does not revolve around them. People may stop and listen to your troubles for a while, lend a helping hand for a space of time, but that none but the extremely helpless deserve any more attention beyond that. Read More→
Seizing Opportunity: Taking the Leap
Posted by: | CommentsIf we listened to our intellect, we would never have a love affair.We would never have a friendship.We would never go into business, because we would be cynical. Well, that is nonsense. You have got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down. – Ray Bradbury
As in all matters, there is a time to play it safe and there is a time to take a risk and to seize an opportunity when it presents itself.
I have developed my risk tolerance since an early age at School. I went on stage to perform in a poetry recital without having learnt my lines well , completely blanked out and made up a poem on the spur of the moment. My elocution teacher was dismayed, but my English teacher was delighted and clapped the loudest. Better yet, I did win a prize – for spontaneous improvisation!
Later in life , I accepted a scholarship to Paris, France at a time when my fellow University students were getting jobs or getting married! Everyone cautioned me that I was being foolish and turning down opportunities (to be employed or to settle down) that may never come again. Contrary to their beliefs, my decision to take the risk launched my career in directions that I never expected. The world suddenly beckoned to me with open arms and opportunities abounded. Read More→
On Being an Original
Posted by: | CommentsYou were born an original. Don’t die a copy! – John Mason
How many times has someone told you to be different in order to be acceptable – by themselves, by the school system or the world at large? For the strangest reason, we are becoming more and more afraid to be ourselves. We run with the crowds trying to be like everyone else simply in order to fit in – and forget who we were meant to be!
Be Yourself. The World worships an original. – Ingrid Bergman
This article is being written to give you the courage to stand up for yourself and to unapologetically “Be an Original” ! If you look closely nobody who ever was a thundering success ever tried to be someone else. They stood up for who they were, warts and all – and the world adored them, for an original is worth more than a copy!
No matter how much our friends and family try to advise us to be more like them, or different than who we naturally are, we have to remember that we may try and modify our actions , our behavior , practice to improve our skills – and all of that could serve us very well for a while.
He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away – Raymond Hull
But if in doing so, we find that we have put ourselves into a straitjacket of our own making, then something has to give somewhere – and the only one responsible is you! You will know it by your own discomfort and unhappiness.
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Reading – Let’s Go To the Lighthouse!
Posted by: | CommentsBooks are Lighthouses erected in the great sea of time – Edwin P. Whipple
For as far back as I can remember I have loved reading and books were often a gateway into undiscovered imaginary landscapes and exotic places that fed into my constant habit of daydreaming. As a skinny little girl with thick glasses and a voracious appetite for reading, when I was not out playing with my friends, I spent many a holiday afternoon curled up in the shade reading a book.
I started with the usual children’s books – stories of adventure and the classics, which were required reading at school, and as my horizons expanded, I discovered that there was an endlessly fascinating amount of literature and knowledge to be consumed by my enquiring mind. One of the books that I found rather thought provoking was Virgina Woolf’s “To the Lighthouse”. It is a story of a family torn apart by the death of the mother and how each one gradually finds their way back to a discovery of who they are, their identity amidst strife, and eventually to acceptance of themselves.
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A Dog Day Afternoon!
Posted by: | CommentsLast Thursday was a very special afternoon in our lives. Long have I dreamed of this day !
My little dog – a heartbeat at my feet ! – Edith Wharton
I have not had a dog of my own since I was eight years old. And a Jolly little soul he was ! Growing up in the years where dogs were free to roam the outdoors and come home when they were ready, meant we often encountered adventures of the most unusual kind. He was prone to chasing the neighbours chickens and often left a flurry of feathers and a bunch of irate neighbours in his wake- just for the fun of it.
Going to school without him was an impossible task as he somehow almost always managed to escape and follow me to school and excitedly chase the hysterical girls in the schoolyard . I remember many schoolday afternoons spent listening to lessons taught by exasperated schoolteachers , from outside the classroom door with my dog. The one exception was my Science teacher who, incredibly, thought he was very well behaved (which he was most definitely not) but he lived up to her expectations by being as good as gold in her class and was allowed to sit or lie down in the aisle next to me, his tail thumping contentedly whenever she addressed him.
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