A Chapter of "L" - 'Life'

"The challenges in our lives are there to STRENGTHEN our CONVICTIONS. They are NOT there to run us over" (Nick Vujicic)

I was just talking to my sister yesterday on ups and downs in life. One thing that we both agreed upon is life is worth living only because of ups and downs. Without the hardships the life would become boring and not worth living. And I think it’s right too. This post is prompted by the recent suicide case of Jiah Khan and motivated by the person whom most of we know - Nick Vujicic

Nick Vujicic was born without any arms or legs. There was no medical reason for it but it was also a condition that would break most of the persons. But this person learned to live with it, not only learn to live with it, he also overcame it. Today he is a very famous motivational speaker. He motivates people with all their limbs intact. From his own website, "I won’t pretend my life is easy, but through the love of my parents, loved ones, and faith in God, I have overcome my adversity and my life is now filled with joy and purpose". This is the attitude towards life. Being born without any limbs was a chapter in his life. But he decided to move out of that chapter and move ahead rather than being stuck in that chapter of his life.

Another very inspirational personality to overcome hardships is Bethany Hamilton, a pro surfer with only one arm. In the sport of surfing where balance is everything a surfer with one arm is at a severe disadvantage. But she overcame that disadvantage and showed that there is no limit to the life. There is a movie on her called "The Soul Surfer". It’s one of my all time favorite and really motivational movie. I would recommend everyone to watch it.

Unlike him there are many people who just can’t bring themselves out of a sad chapter in life. The recent Bollywood suicide case is one example. I won’t pretend to preach or understand the reasons behind the suicide case and talk about whether it was right or not. But I would definitely say that nothing is worth ending one's life. Many great people have become great only after being toiled in the adversities of life. If they would have ended their lives we would not have such great people. And more importantly if life is not worth living then why the hell the entire medical community daily works towards saving life. 

Ending one's life is not the solution to anything. Sadly the thought that there is nothing more to live for has crossed many of us. Out of those many a good percentage actually thinks of committing suicide and out of that good percentage a small number of people actually go ahead and commit suicide. But did they get rid of their problems. Oh yes but in the background they created problems for many others. Not to mention the emotional trauma their death causes to their loved ones.

There is always something to live for. I am a big fan of Nick Vujicic. I have watched many of his videos and when I am low I think that if that person can carry on without any limbs I don't even get the right to say that my problems are huge and great. There is a way of dealing with problems. It’s the attitude that matters. Living is more fun than dying any day.

So let’s not get stuck in the sad chapters of life and move ahead to find the happy chapters and live them fully.

Thanks,
Genie Signing off
email: arunesh.genie@gmail.com

Missing "K" - 'Kindness'

"Kindness and compassion towards all living things is a mark of a civilized society.Conversely, cruelty, whether it is directed against human beings or against animals, is not the exclusive province of any one culture or community of people" (César Chávez)

Hi Everyone,

Think for a second that you are on a road and someone from behind comes and kicks you and beats you. Grim scenario, right? The moment someone will do something like this we will start voicing our protests and may be in return get violent too. But we will voice our protests. But ever thought about how a being which is not able to voice its hurt and opinions, will feel. Yes friends I am talking about the treatment which we dish out to the animals. And when i say animals i am not only talking about the stray animals, i am talking about the pets too.

Let’s be blunt here most of us are not considerate towards animals or give a damn about their feelings. I have seen people taking out their anger on their pets and sometimes on stray animals too. But is it their fault? What wrong that animal has done to deserve that treatment? Nothing?

Many people like to keep pets. And I have come across people who keep their pets with great love and care and also those people who bring the pets but forget to take care of them. People forget that when they bring a pet in the family they have to treat them like a part of the family and family member. Pets require great deal of care and affection because they are not in their natural habitat and hence extra care is needed. I personally don’t like to have pets because I know I don’t have the patience to take care of them. So why bring them in home? This is what many pet owners fail to understand and when the condition of the pet deteriorates they leave them in unknown places too. Many such cases have happened. When this happens then its up to the local municipal organizations to collect them and take them to holding cells which I have seen are not great in any sense. They keep animals in cramped spaces.

One of my team mates has dogs, one of which is genetically retarded but the care given to both the dogs are same and it can be reflected in the behavior of the dogs. The dogs also adore the family equally. This is how one should take care of their pets. Their requirements should not enjoy the lowest priority; rather they should enjoy the same priority as other family members. 

When I was around 10 years old, i read a historical story about Rome, where they were saved by the ducks. The story goes like, the soldiers used to feed ducks every day, even if they did not have anything to eat. One day in the cover of night the enemy army decided to attack the fort, but the animals and birds have keen sense of danger, so the ducks started making noises and this got attention of one of the soldier. As soon as they knew that there is enemy hidden in the darkness of the night they got ready and the tables were turned. So the moral of the story is that if you take care of the pets, they take care of you.

Also many people crossbreed animals, something which is allowed in our country but banned in foreign countries (allowed only to registered people). This might create breeds of genetically hampered offspring. But they don’t worry about it and keep on cross breeding. it is actually atrocity on the animals. 

So the gist of this blog is that we should treat animals with kindness and care, specially the pets because they are very loyal to the ones which are kind to them. Let’s not bury our kindness towards them. There was so much more i wanted to write on this matter but the blog is getting long, so

Thanks
Genie Signing Off,
email: arunesh.genie@gmail.com

A Career Like "J" - 'Juggler'

"When you walk to the edge of all the light you have and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown, you must believe that one of two things will happen. There will be something solid for you to stand upon or you will be taught to fly" (Patrick Overton) 

                             

Hi Everyone,

When I was very small, may be in standard 3rd or 4th (don't remember exactly), my father took us to a circus show that was being held in the city. There was one show that captured my attention most and that was the juggler show. Now that I am old enough to think about things from various angles I can relate what a juggler does to many other things in life.

If one views a juggler in action closely then we will see that he starts with two balls, then three, then four and sometimes I have seen jugglers playing with up to 12 balls together and not one of them falls. Once they are done with balls they use bowling pins to do the same. Then they raise the stake by using knives to juggle, then the stakes are raised even further and they use lit torches to juggle. But not once they get hurt or fail.

They know that with each increase in object and with each change of object the risk of failing and getting hurt increases. But he still goes on and the more risky stakes are in juggling the more famous and popular a juggler becomes. Now why I am telling this story? Because I find a stark similarity between the profession of a juggler and our normal careers.

When was the last time we took a big risk in a career and took that 'leap of faith'? For most of us it would have been a very long time. Normally when we start our careers we are very enthusiastic at the beginning but then later on the enthusiasm decreases and we get into comfort zone and don't bother taking risks in careers. By taking risks I do not mean uncalculated risks or rash decisions. But yes I am definitely talking about having the guts to leave the comfort zone and get moving ahead to actually achieve what we have wanted and not just trying to compromise our dreams by what we have.

I have heard people a lot saying that they would like to be as rich as a celebrity or as famous as some person. But do they even think for a moment the arduous life journey these successful people have gone through to reach where they are. There is a school in Lucknow called CMS which has a Guinness Book of world record for having maximum number of students in a single city. But do you know how hard was the life of the owner of the school was? Mr. Jagdish Gandhi, the school owner, used to study under street lamps because he did not have enough means to live a comfortable life. If he would have accepted that as his faith and not done that extra we would not be having such a good school at present.

People whine a lot but they are not ready to do the efforts, walk that extra mile, leave the comfort zone, take some risks and take a 'blind leap of faith'. If we are not ready to do these things then I don’t think we have a right to complain. Some people really do have genuine issues and problems but for most of us we don’t and we simply don’t want to make that effort.

We don’t have an unlimited life and our years are limited. If we take a look at all the successful persons we will feel that most of them had to struggle a lot to reach where they are, so let’s make that effort to fulfill our dreams and desires. We should remember that, "If we do not go after what we love to do we will be forced to love what we do"

Let’s be like the juggler and raise the stakes from time to time because calculated risks can be very rewarding with some setbacks on the way too.. But in the end the result more fruitful than not.

Thanks,
Genie Signing off
email: arunesh.genie@gmail.com