Il faut cultiver son jardin; Cultivate the Garden within.  - Voltaire, Candide

Spring is here heralding the appearance of the darling buds of May. The Cherry blossom trees are in full bloom with the perfume of the petals spilling out into the surrounding yards and streets and while the beauty of the flowers is fleeting, the fragrance seems to linger on.

Somehow this season symbolizes growth to me. There is the freshness of growing grass around us, little baby rabbits and chipmunks abound in the fields and hills around us. The trees are in leaf, with all of them bursting forth into delicate pale green foliage at the same time in response to some hidden conductors cue.

Everywhere I walk, there is the enticing smell of freshly watered soil, the refreshing moistness of freshly mowed grass, newly planted saplings and flower beds and even the weeds are topped with delightful sunny yellow and bright blue flowers. Every garden I see holds the promise of growth and beauty. Read More→

To do two things at the same time is to do neither – Publilius Syrus, Slave in the first century, B.C.

Spring came reluctantly but it is here at last with fresh green grass on the slopes of the hills around us and bouncy little rabbits popping out of holes eveywhere.

Our little dog Ginger is perplexed. She cocks her little head in bewilderment, first this way and then that, at how the bunnies pop in and out of the field, give her a come hither flicker of tufty tail and then disappear swiftly into the ground.

She goes quite crazy chasing first this rabbit, and then that, catching neither in her hot pursuit of  the cheeky little teases. Never having caught a wild rabbit either, I was wondering if I was qualified to give her tips on how to chase one rabbit at a time , with single minded focus, in order to stand a chance of  catching it! Read More→

An unfortunate thing about this world is that the good habits are much easier to give up than the bad ones.  -  W. Somerset Maugham

Habits, as Agatha Christie once said, are curious things. People themselves don’t  know they have them! So what is a habit? It is something that we have been doing for so long that we fail to notice it at all – its as though we are in autopilot mode and the habits are now what are leading our lives.

Some of these may be good habits, usually ingrained in the discipline of childhood- such as brushing our teeth in the mornings, keeping our commitments , washing our hands when we come in from the outdoors. We don’t usually wake up and say, what if I did not brush my teeth today. The habit will eventually force you into getting them cleaned sooner or later. Good habits protect us and make us successful. Read More→

Sitting quietly, doing nothing, Spring comes, and the grass grows by itself – Zen Proverb

In a world that favours being busy doing something over Doing nothing, close observation would reveal that much could be achieved by that forgotten art of Doing Nothing.

We strive to achieve results, to get ahead in life and our accomplishments are no doubt made the sweeter by our toil and efforts. However, as in nature, there is a season for everything – a time to be busy and a time to be still. And when all your efforts seem to bring no results, it is not the time to double your efforts, but to be still and do nothing.

A wise woman once told me that when Nothing works, Do Nothing!  Here are some instances when doing Nothing is the most expedient thing to do! Read More→

Spectacular Achievement is always preceded by unspectacular achievement. – Robert H. Schuler

Have you ever found yourself expending a lot of time and effort on something and find yourself getting nowhere? Do you find yourself giving up on something you deeply want to accomplish, just because  you gave up halfway though the process when you hit a few early obstacles?

There is some truth in the oft repeated message to us, there is nothing you cannot achieve if you want it badly enough and if you stick to the achievement of the baby steps with complete discipline and Focus. Great oaks are felled with little strokes! Read More→