A breakthrough!!!

For over two decades, a beggar was sitting on a box placed outside a temple, pleading for alms from every shadow that passed by him. One day a master, who was coming out of the temple, walked up to the beggar and enquired, “What is inside this box?” 

Knowing that he had never received any change from the master, the beggar was not too interested in paying attention to the master. So he disinterestedly mumbled, "what do I know?" never cared to look. I found this box when I turned up here for the first time and ever since I have been sitting on it". 

The master said,"Just open it and see!"

With years of practised lassitude, the beggar was too reluctant to even get rid of the box and look into it. He did not pay much heed to the master's words. Repeating, "Some change, please..." he eyed the next object that passed by him.

The master, the beggar opened the box, 'Lo and behold'! 

The box was filled with treasure.

The same applies to all of us, but the master can be the almighty or our inbuilt confidence or strength. When we are born, we were given this whole world as our birthday gift. Consumed by the preoccupation of the begging, most people leave this planet without even ripping open the gift wrapper of this providential gift called life.

The responsibility of every master is to remove from us that which we never have had but always believed we have and also give that which you always have but believe that we did not have. A Master does not add any riches to us but reveals the riches that we already have. A breakthrough is never growth added but is growth revealed.

So, just open your box and see!

With smiles... 

Swathi Mohan 

(Investing completely in the art of living)

desire and goal

Some few years back I got a marriage invitation through a post from my friend with whom I spent few years of my schooling. So, I pinged her immediately out of shock to ask her what made her get married so earlier. I could call up those days when I  was seriously competing for the 1st rank with her. But truly she was an over much competitor that hardly twice I overcame her! Another thing which intended me is that I know how difficult it is to grab a seat in topmost medical college in TN, especially through government quota. And nothing more, I was disquieted with the reply she gave me. She told me that she has got a princely alliance with gilded family so that her mother doesn't want to miss the boat. 

I had nothing to tell rather than to congratulate her for her wedding.

 A few days back, she found me on Facebook and pinged me. 

When I queried about her marriage life, she was unhappy. She told me like she is compelled to quit her studies and emigrate along with her spouse who is working abroad. But she desires to continue her studies. I was in the sorry state of affairs and again I had nothing except my regrets for her. 

I told her, "whenever you feel indecisive, just relax and then rethink & if you just can't get rid of it, share with me, so that it might be halved. 

Everyone has their desires and goals which need to be fed and cultivated frequently.But, the choice is ours and every choice has an end result. Like a debate where we can choose which side of the team we would like to be on and argue for or against, we do have a choice to the next step that we take. But the choice we make has to be in congruence with what we want to achieve in life.

We wish to get motivated for the day by listening to achievers and reading success stories, but we end up spending a lot of time reading sensational crime news which is very often depressing in nature.

We long to feel loved and all it takes is to relate to people in our immediate environment. Instead, we end up relating to the characters from some godforsaken imaginary story on the screen where everyone cheats on the other and imbibe those exaggeratedly negative emotions.

We aim to move up the professional ladder but suck at taking on the responsibilities and pass the buck to another.

 We yearn to drive the swankiest of cars, dine in the classiest of restaurants and long to go for that dream holiday, but it tears us apart to see the temporary dent it causes to our pockets.

We dream of excelling in a sport or an art form but are not willing to subject ourselves to any rigorous discipline.

We want to focus on what we think is of utmost importance to us, but end up saying yes to a dozen other issues that distract us away from our progress.

We hope to be clubbed up with the intellectual lot, but spend all our spare time watching insipid mundane movies where logic is conveniently forgotten.

We seek the centeredness of a Buddha under any circumstance but keep postponing that small period of time for sitting in silence.

We aspire to become a legend but, hesitate to go beyond the finishing line in everything we do.

Are we even aware of that, our desires and goals perpetually fight in our head? Do we have the maturity to choose what is essential for our growth at any point in time, rather than what we desire? Do we have the willpower to feed the one that will take us higher and starve the one that will pull us down?

Is our process in congruence with what we want?

With smiles...

Swathi Mohan

(Investing myself completely in the art of living)

Pain & pleasure

I could call back now when I was studying grade five, every time when I was about to board the school bus, I used to have a rational motive, plainspoken and lie that I suffer from stomach ache shamelessly. My papa knows me very well and despite all my stupid reasons he would nudge me into the bus and wave his hands at me with a smug glow in his face.

Have you also suffered from this "School bus stomach ache"?

Well, you are not alone! 

Many at times, I hear the alarm buzz but, I hit the snooze button few times and eventually ask my mom to wake me up & rush to the school without having my breakfast! Now if this too describes your morning routine? Oops, you are not alone!

So often I take an oath that in order to stay healthy I should workout & take healthy foods. It actually sounded simple enough in words, but I then discovered that it wasn't as easy as taking the oath. I would make up my mind not to eat the panipuri & pastry but the moment I see it, all my discipline would go for a toss. 

If these are also your thoughts, you are not alone!!

Well! I'm neither talking about eating right nor about exercise nor undergoing regular health check-ups. I'm touching off your mind about what you believe!

Life can be navigated by two indomitable forces called "the pain" & "the pleasure".

The inherent nature or instinct is to avoid pain and embrace pleasure. Only on these forces, we determine what actions we take on a daily basis. Okay! let me be very simple to you.

For the pleasure of staying in bed every morning, we ignore the wake-up call. At the same time, to avoid the pain of punishment that we are bound to receive when we go late to the school, we eventually get out of bed.

For the pleasure of eating, we enjoy the butterscotch Icecream. To avoid the pain of being overweight, we end up on a binge diet.

But the fact is about how our beliefs and activities get to associate with the pain and pleasure.

Say, while you think of a fad diet, raw vegetables, less food and damn workouts we associate pain with that activity. But when we think of having another scoop of Icecream, we get to associate pleasure with that activity.

So, now where the problem exists?

I leave the answer to you.

And if you ask me, I would say, after all, it's just a matter of reprogramming your mind!

(PS: I'm an ECE engineer:P)

With smiles...

Swathi Mohan

(Investing myself completely in the art of living)