**The Alphabet of Happiness:----------

Please note that the below writing is not mine. While surfing on internet, I came across an interesting writing which I am sharing here with you.

I don’t own a single word of this article and all credit is still with the original writer. 

A – ACCEPT

Accept others for who they are and for the choices they've made even if you have difficulty understanding their beliefs, motives, or actions.

B – BREAK AWAY

Break away from everything that stands in the way of what you hope to accomplish with your life.

C – CREATE

Create a family of friends whom you can share your hopes, dreams, sorrows, and happiness with.

D – DECIDE

Decide that you’ll be successful and happy come what may, and good things will find you. The roadblocks are only minor obstacles along the way.

E – EXPLORE

Explore and experiment. The world has much to offer, and you have much to give. And every time you try something new, you’ll learn more about yourself.

F – FORGIVE

Forgive and forget. Grudges only weigh you down and inspire unhappiness and grief. Soar above it, and remember that everyone makes mistakes.

G – GROW

Leave the childhood monsters behind. They can no longer hurt you or stand in your way.

H – HOPE

Hope for the best and never forget that anything is possible as long as you remain dedicated to the task.

I – IGNORE

Ignore the negative voice inside your head. Focus instead on your goals and remember your accomplishments. Your past success is only a small inkling of what the future holds.

J – JOURNEY

Journey to new worlds, new possibilities, by remaining open-minded. Try to learn something new every day, and you’ll grow.

K – KNOW

Know that no matter how bad things seem, they’ll always get better. The warmth of spring always follows the harshest winter.

L – LOVE

Let love fill your heart instead of hate. When hate is in your heart, there’s room for nothing else, but when love is in your heart, there’s room for endless happiness.

M – MANAGE

Manage your time and your expenses wisely, and you’ll suffer less stress and worry. Then you’ll be able to focus on the important things in life.

N – NOTICE

Never ignore the poor, infirm, helpless, weak, or suffering. Offer your assistance when possible, and always your kindness and understanding.

O – OPEN

Open your eyes and take in all the beauty around you. Even during the worst of times, there’s still much to be thankful for.

P – PLAY

Never forget to have fun along the way. Success means nothing without happiness.

Q – QUESTION

Ask many questions, because you’re here to learn.

R – RELAX

Refuse to let worry and stress rule your life, and remember that things always have a way of working out in the end.

S – SHARE

Share your talent, skills, knowledge, and time with others. Everything that you invest in others will return to you many times over.

T – TRY

Even when your dreams seem impossible to reach, try anyway. You’ll be amazed by what you can accomplish.

U – USE

Use your gifts to your best ability. Talent that’s wasted has no value. Talent that’s used will bring unexpected rewards.

V – VALUE

Value the friends and family members who've supported and encouraged you, and be there for them as well.

W – WORK

Work hard every day to be the best person you can be, but never feel guilty if you fall short of your goals. Every sunrise offers a second chance.

X – X-RAY

Look deep inside the hearts of those around you and you’ll see the goodness and beauty within.

Y – YIELD

Yield to commitment. If you stay on track and remain dedicated, you’ll find success at the end of the road.

Z – ZOOM

Zoom to a happy place when bad memories or sorrow rears its ugly head. Let nothing interfere with your goals. Instead, focus on your abilities, your dreams, and a brighter tomorrow.

** 8 types of  employees in the office ** --------- 

Please note that the below writing is not mine. While surfing on internet, I came across an interesting writing which I am sharing here with you.

I don’t own a single word of this article and all credit is still with the original writer.  

1. The believer

Every employer's dream — the believer — is dedicated, committed and loves his job. Such employees are utterly motivated and give their heart and soul to their work. Their innate element of loyalty to the company and the team binds him to the organization. Believers have a way of getting jobs done effortlessly, inspiring their colleagues and giving their best to every task at hand. Bosses should not take them for granted, and instead, nurture and encourage them.

2. The soldier

Dedicated and committed, the soldier is the most bankable type of employee. Give him a task and consider it done. Soldiers show unstinting loyalty to their companies and often stick around at their jobs for years. While their stability is a benefit, they can be hard to manage during times of change. Soldiers make great team players but may lack leadership skills. Organizations love soldiers not only due to their devotion to the job but also because of the stability they bring to an organization. However, their managers must encourage them to take the initiative rather than simply waiting for orders.

3. The idea champion

Constantly buzzing with new ideas and thoughts, idea champions love taking the initiative and kick-starting projects. They love to think big, differently and proactively push innovative ideas to the fore. At the same time, they find it difficult to stay with a project while it is being executed, often jumping to other newer, more exciting ideas instead. While they are excellent at visualizing and seeing the bigger picture, they tend to miss out on the finer details.

4. The climber

Focused on making it big and impatient to rise through the ranks in corporate world, the climber can be identified in an office owing his/ her apparent thirst to be recognized. One can find them networking with people who matter and their particular interest to work on the more 'visible' projects. Climbers also tend to hop jobs frequently in their quest to swiftly climb up the organizational hierarchy. While their glory-seeking ways may cause resentment among other colleagues, a leader who can harness their drive will be able to get the best out of them.

5. The doormat

Easily bullied and pushed around; the doormat asks for sympathy but always gets the raw deal. Very often, they are new to a team and hence branded as naive. Doormats need to learn to stop avoiding confrontation and speak up when injustice is meted out to them.

6. The troublemaker

Troublemakers don't like their job and ensure that everyone around them is well aware of this resentment. This makes them quite difficult to handle. Their ire for the job is obvious in such signs as reporting late to work, taking time off at the drop of a hat, lagging behind on deadlines, not taking initiative and frequently speaking ill about the company and team. The presence of a troublemaker on a team can be toxic. People dealing with such colleagues should try and find the root cause behind their dissatisfaction and resentment and address it. Communicate to them that their behavior is not acceptable. Sometimes, a change of profile or team can be helpful.

 
7. The materialist

This is the employee who works just for the salary. They have lost their interest in the job and lack the motivation to work. Yet, they stay put in a company because they have reached a comfortable place in the organization and need the money to trickle in every month. He does the least amount of work possible and leaves office exactly when official working hours end. Challenging as it may be, team leaders and companies should look for ways to motivate them. A good way is to link performance to monetary benefits.

8. Mr. OCD

Highly obsessive and compulsive, Mr. OCD gives perfectionists a bad name. They fuss over the extra commas in a presentation and endlessly recheck the numbers in a spreadsheet. Tireless and relentless, they are excessively dedicated to work. Although they bear the brunt of backbiting and criticism, they grudgingly command respect from peers and subordinates due to their eye for detail. Be sure to keep this type of employee motivated as his quest for perfection can be very helpful to the team. Managers should ensure that other colleagues do not take advantage of such an employee's traits to turn in sloppy work, knowing that the perfectionist will clean up their act.

* Living in Present  -----------------

Can you identify the base on which our future depends? You can refer to the paragraph given below -

‘Always concentrate on your present thoughts as they would be turning into your words. Be careful about your words as they would make you to act. Check your actions as these are to be taken as your habits. Review your habits as your habit is your character. Keep a watch on your character as future lies within it.’

GOT IT?  ……………    It’s nothing but our PRESENT.

It looks so simple, at least to read. But it’s really tough to follow. We are always indulged either in our past happening or in our future planning. It’s very hard to find a person who lives in present. It’s really hard. In a way, I can say that we are always getting ready to be a rich, happy but never live happily and enjoy what we have now.

Life is what happens to us when we are busy making some other plans. Osho once said – ‘Being is enlightenment, becoming is ignorance.’ True to the essence of these words, ‘to be’ & ‘to become’ are those two words (or verbs!) within which our whole life resides & revolves.

‘If I get this, I will be happy.’ ‘Had that happened in this way to me, I would have become happy.’ These two sentences are quite familiar to all of us as we are always either anxious about our future when we think of that first sentence or become depressed while remembering the past. The core reason why we cannot be happy is not the incident or a situation but our thoughts & views about that situation. In all this, where is the place for THE PRESENT which is present at present?

Is it that we have removed the word ‘present’ from our dictionary of life? Can we remain fully there wherever we are at present and enjoy the situation as it is? Can we stop regretting for our past mistakes and instead learn something from them to make our present happy? Can we stop becoming over apprehensive about our future?

Yes we can!

But, how?

Just observe small children. Children dwell neither in past nor in future; they enjoy the present. Whatever children do, they do it in present for present. Small children neither keep on regretting for their past mistakes nor have we seen them becoming anxious about their future.  They truly live in present merrily.

So why can’t we? We call ourselves matured adults, we call ourselves techno savvy, we call ourselves smart but can we ever feel ourselves contented? No we just can’t. Why so? Because we still have to achieve lot many planned things to become so called happy L

‘Yesterday is a history, tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift and that’s why it is called the PRESENT.’ Are we matured enough to accept this gift? Are we smart enough to accept this present? If the answer is NO, then we have to make it YES by starting to live in present.  

How to live in present?

If we choose to live either in past or in future, the gift in the form of our present will surely be looted by our regret or anxiety.

So let’s remain in present by following these simple steps –

-      Accept the things as they are.

We just can’t change what has happened. So, accept it as it has come to us.

-      Be the part of solution and not the problem.

Whatever happened is happened. Just regretting on that won’t make any difference to our future. So let’s remain in present & start thinking about its solution.

-      Split our future plan into simple, achievable, realistic and time bound steps. These steps can only be achieved if we stop day dreaming and start working in present.

-      Never ever compare our life with anyone. We just can’t realize what pain others must have gone through. Fair Competition can only happen with our own performance to get ourselves better equipped for the actions to come.

-      Be optimistic…….Be positive.

This is the most important factor to be in present. We should always have strong desire to be positive. We should always be a keen observer and should remain open to experiment. Our body language mirrors our state of mind. So we should always be positive through our body language as well.

To do this, we should always remain with positive people. Positive vibrations make a great impact on our behavior & thought process. It keeps us active & fully involved in whatever we do at present.

-                      -  SMILE.

Let’s start our day with a smile. It’s free and eternal. A simple smile quickly reduces all stress and controls our anxiety. This is the best tool to remain in present.

SMILE PLEASE …………… JJJJJJJ

Are we developing or just growing ….?

Everyone who takes birth grows… its natural in a way. Growth is one aspect often looked into & struggled for. Growth can be said as a stimulus to live life lively. But while concentrating on this aspect of life, many of us tend to muddle up the word DEVELOPMENT with GROWTH.

I really feel to share; what I learnt from ‘Vivekananda Kendra – a spiritually oriented service mission’; on these two quasi similar words…… growth & development. 

By growth we should mean net increase in the size, in proportion, disappearance of old features and acquisition of new ones. Growth takes place due to the multiplication of cells. Thus, the term is used in purely physical sense & the changes produced by growth are subject to measurement. They may be quantified.

Again, growth does not continue throughout the life. It stops when maturity has been attained. Most important thing is growth may or may not bring development.

So just growing is not & should not be the aim of our life. The name of the aim is DEVELOPMENT.

Development refers to a process of change in growth and capability over time as a result of maturation, experience and surrounding environmental exposure. Thus, development is a wider and comprehensive term and refers to overall changes in an individual. It continues throughout the life and is progressive. Development implies improvement in functioning & behavior and hence brings qualitative changes. Development may happen without growth.

It is believed that there are 5 steps or folds of development which can be achieved in our life. When all these 5 folds are successfully achieved, the human being can be said to be a Complete Human. If we really want to struggle to make us complete, we have to thus understand what all are the 5 folds of development.

The first fold is Physical development.

This is the initial phase of development but will always have some or the other changes every day as we start growing. It starts with the development of muscular control. Slowly our muscle tones and accumulates strength. The quality & range of movements improve and forms the base for overall physical development. 

Proper nutrition & exercise gives us health and fitness. So we have to be very curious about these two important factors i.e. proper nutrition & exercise. To understand it, we need to study our own daily routine & energy requirements. Basis that only, a set of diet & exercise should be chosen. Lack of physical activity at early ages surely brings negative impact in long term.

The second fold is Intellectual or Mental development.

It can be analyzed as one’s ability to think about and understand his/her world. Intellectual development also adds the ability to understand other people’s point of view, and makes us more open to other perspectives and ideas. The way in which we take and process this, relates to our past experience & surrounding. So analysis without prejudice is very important here.

Understanding a particular subject is very important before giving any opinion. It is just like identifying the gray areas between the black-and-white issues by using logic and reasoning abilities. Abstract thinking abilities to define the path of traverse should so be linked with the plan of action. Thus, apart from an intelligent talk, proper planning & implementation is must here.

Reading fuels this development. Reading helps us to think and have thoughtful discussions about any subject of our interest.

The third fold is Emotional development.

Emotions play very crucial role in our life. Decision making always has the factor of emotion intervening with the practical aspect. It is thus very important to learn how to exploit the positive side of emotion and at the same time deal with stress, anger, sadness, depression, over-excitement and over-confidence as excess of anything is always bad.  

It is very essential to express our own feelings honestly as well as respect others’ feelings when we are going out in public. Lack of emotional control might tend people dabble in more serious risk behaviors such as self-harm, drinking alcohol, trying drugs or even suicide.

Yoga, meditation & prayer make a person emotionally stable.

The fourth fold is Social development.

Human being is a social animal. We just can’t skip our society no matter what happens. Society plays fundamental role in building a personality. Socially developed person can & should develop strong conviction regarding social issues. ‘I don’t care’ attitude disappears when social development roots itself in the brain. Our each & every action in our daily routine should now add to the welfare of society. One may become deeply committed to service and social change. Some may even become activists for causes they believe in.

The feeling of ‘The entire universe is my family’ slowly generates as we start taking care of the society. The same feeling takes us towards the last phase of development which is known as Spiritual development.  

The fifth fold is Spiritual development.

As we mature, we spend time thinking about the meaning of life, why we are here, how we treat others and ourselves, and what we value. Our answers to these questions are always evolving, and they help shape our personal beliefs and personalities.

Spirituality has thus nothing to do with religion. Irrespective of the religious belief one has, spirituality runs common through all like blood. It is just a matter of observing our own thoughts by being more introspective and inculcating the feeling of oneness in all species. It’s important to remember that spirituality can be expressed in a multitude of ways, regardless of the religious tradition that our family recognizes.

It is spiritual development which makes us really humble & down to earth personality. The feeling of welfare becomes universal and at that point of time, our positive vibrations chant the only prayer that is ‘May the entire universe be happy, content & healthy. May the entire universe be full of positivity. May the entire universe be devoid of pain & grief.

This is the zenith of the development and YES; this can be achieved!

Thus a PERFECT & COMPLETE HUMAN is the one who is physically fit, intellectually strong, emotionally balanced, socially acceptable & spiritually oriented.

'Swami Vivekananda - The Man on Mission – The Lessons to learn'

- It’s our DEEDS and not DAYS what matters!

The journey of the Man on Mission, which was started on 12^th January 1863 in Kolkata, came to the halt in just 39 years on 4^th July 1902 in Belur math. Though ‘Bile’ fulfilled his prophecy that he would not live forty years, he truly lived his life, as he lived just for others!

He believed that all living beings are an embodiment of the divine self; therefore, service to God could be rendered by service to mankind. Throughout his life he did exactly the same what he used to preach and that’s why his thoughts are no wonder alive & still vibrating. He never believed anything blindly & always tried to see the truth from all angles before trusting it. He even tested his spiritual guru Swami Ramakrishna before prostrating in front of his divine power & wisdom who eventually taught Naren to pray for true knowledge and devotion. 

The only mission in front of him was to serve his motherland where starvation and poverty was stalking millions of people. He wanted to bring his dream of seeing Mother India regaining her old glory into reality. For that, he repeatedly addressed social issues such as uplifting the people, eliminating the caste system, promoting science and industrialization while addressing the widespread poverty. The backbone of his actions was his thought – ‘Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached.’

Swamiji believed that a country's future depends on its people thus his teachings focused on human development. He struggled to set in motion, machinery which was supposed to bring noblest ideas to the doorstep of even the poorest and the meanest.

His guiding lines, “Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life; dream of it; think of it; live on that idea. Let the brain, the body, muscles, nerves, every part of your body be full of that idea and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, and this is the way great spiritual giants are produced.”, still fits perfectly for all those who want to live a real life.

He, with his quest of achieving wisdom, truly realized the hidden strength within. The strength was in his understanding, “All power is within you; you can do anything and everything. Believe in that, do not believe that you are weak; do not believe that you are half-crazy lunatics, as most of us do nowadays. You can do anything and everything, without even the guidance of any one. Stand up and express the divinity within you.” 

 He emphasized on inner strength and always used to say that you would become the greatest sinner if you think you are weak. It is not weakness but the fearlessness that can bring Heaven even in a moment. So, don’t be afraid of anything and you will do marvelous work.

While accumulating such a power, he warned all to be aware of a few things which may make them weak either physically, intellectually or spiritually. He compared such things with poison & directed all to straight away reject those.

 A clear thought process and analysis of eternal might made Swamiji a strong pillar of strength for generations to come. His guidance on life & death with the words “Strength is Life, Weakness is Death. Expansion is Life, Contraction is Death.  Love is Life, Hatred is Death” has lit a strong flame of self confidence, love & belief among everyone.

 The highlighted & so developed inner strength ought to be used for self growth & development. Swamiji always trusted that we have to grow from the inside out. None can teach us, none can make us spiritual. There is no other teacher but our own soul. To achieve this, he asked everyone to closely monitor their thoughts. It is very true that we are what our thoughts have made us.

 He narrated clearly that not getting success is just a phase of life through which everyone has to pass. Every step we take towards development has to pass through the stages — ridicule, opposition, and then acceptance. He said that we have to understand it as those who think ahead of their time are sure to be misunderstood!

 While doing so there are chances of us to become a copycat of someone. To avoid this, Swamiji clearly said that we have to learn everything that is good from others, but bring it in, and in your own way absorb it; do not become others. This was his success mantra which still has its own shine & influence. 

 We have to accept it that Swamiji was undeniably a magnetic personality and a divine force which was destined to leave his mark on the history of India.

---PRAYER ---

Each and every letter we know has the power to become a prayer but the missing link is a capable mind which can convert those letters into a prayer.

Prayer is peace. Prayer is devotion. Prayer is dedication. Prayer is a journey towards completeness and fulfillment. It’s a path which takes us from abstract to concrete. It’s a home to the Divine Truth & Wisdom.

We devote our time in praying, concentrating on the origin of power. The pristine source of knowledge & happiness which we feel is within us, guides us towards the Abode.

Prayer rinses all vices and brings serenity to the soul which by its very nature stands pure but gets dirty by the coats of our actions we perform in this mortal life.

Prayer helps us to understand the unknown self, deep hidden in the fathom of the ocean of a mind. As we start to understand this never known self, the true power of mind reveals itself in front of us, ready to be used for the betterment of the entire universe.

Prayer brings concentration and sharpens our senses. It creates a whole gamut of positivity around us which can never be hidden and eventually starts spreading a ray full of hope from our mere presence.

Prayer pulls us away from the deep darkness of ignorance & negligence & lifts us towards the wisdom & the ultimate Truth. The journey from start to start (Yes, I mean it!) hence begins.

Let there be peace in the universe, no one should be without water, food, clothes, shelter & a healthy life. Let there be happiness everywhere every time … every time ………. every time ……………..  

  My point of view - 

Dear Readers,

I can very well understand that starting a new blog is just like adding a drop of water to the existing ocean of the blogs.

So, why one more blog? 

What I feel is, once a drop is added to the ocean, it becomes ocean. 

Basis this, It will be my sincere efforts to share with you, my point of view on valuable topics, may be from past, present or related to future concerns.

Your questions, suggestions, opinions will stand as my fuel to write more. So Do supply with it .... 

Thanking you in the mean time,

Sachin :)