Thank God

A rich man looked through his window and saw a poor man picking something from his dustbin ...
He said, Thank GOD I'm not poor.

The poor man looked around and saw a naked man misbehaving on the street ...
He said, Thank GOD I'm not mad.

The mad man looked ahead and saw an ambulance carrying a patient ...
He said, Thank GOD am not sick.

Then a sick person in hospital saw a trolley taking a dead body to the mortuary ...
He said, Thank GOD I'm not dead.

Only a dead person cannot thank God.

Why don't you thank GOD today for all your blessings and for the gift of life ... for another beautiful day.

What is LIFE?
To understand life better, you have to go to 3 locations :

1. Hospital
2. Prison
3. Cemetery

At the Hospital, you will understand that nothing is more beautiful than HEALTH.

In the Prison, you'll see that FREEDOM is the most precious thing.

At the Cemetery, you will realize that life is worth nothing. The ground that we walk today will be our roof tomorrow.

Sad Truth : 

We all come with Nothing and we will go with Nothing ... Let us, therefore, remain humble and be thankful & grateful to God at all times for everything.

Finding good

A teacher entered the class and said, "Today we will play a game that you all enjoyed in your childhood." While saying that she displayed two images on the screen. 

As soon as they saw the two images everyone got excited. Their favorite game of finding the difference was on display.

The teacher then said, "Today you will play this game differently. You will not look for differences but you will focus on finding similarities."

One of the students asked, "How many similarities should we find? They both look almost similar."

Another student argued by saying, "Finding the difference is more exciting but finding the similarities does not sound appealing."

Another student said, "If we start counting similarities who will be the winner."

The argument continued.

Finally, the teacher asked, "What have you learned?"

All the students went quiet until one spoke. The student said:

#1 - When I count differences, I compete and want to win. I forget to look for other things that can make me happy. I think about how different am I from others and how can I beat others. When I count similarities, I appreciate everyone and everything, and instead of winning the game, I focus on playing the game well.

#2 -  If I look for differences there will be a handful of them. If I look for similarities there are unlimited similarities that exist between all of us. I always have a choice to focus on what I want, differences or similarities. 

#3 - We are trained to look for differences but rarely are we told to enjoy the similarities. Both are equally important.

Hard Work

Mark Spitz created a new world record in swimming by winning seven gold medals at Munich. Some people thought it must be his lucky day. Mark Spitz was at Mexico in 1968 and won three gold medals.

He was happy but unhappy. 

From 1968 to 1972, from Mexico to Munich, he trained 10,000 hours and if you're good at maths, it translates to 2,500 hours per year and if you are good at calculus that translates into close to 8 hours per day, no Sunday.

You go sit in the water 8 hours per day for the next four years, your body will shrivel.

Did he get lucky? Luck is not designed to deliver you these things in life.

An athletes train 15 years for a 15 second performance. Go and ask them if they got lucky. 

There is no substitute to hard work.

Most people want to win in life but very few are willing to pay the price to prepare to win.
If you are willing to train 10,000 hours, like Mark Spitz, probably you could be at the olympics too. The question is,

Are you willing to do it?

Success is not

something

 that you run into by accident. 

It takes a lot of preparation and character.
It takes sacrifice and self-discipline.
The harder you work, the luckier you get.

If people knew how hard I had to work to get my mastery, It wouldn't seem wonderful at all.

Eggs

Breakfast, in the Army, was usually a hurried affair for a young officer. The interval between morning physical training and office barely gave time for a quick shower and change of dress. This was followed by a brief stopover at the officer’s mess for a quick breakfast. Unlike a corporate guy who could take a quick bite of a sandwich in his car on the way to work the poor subaltern had to follow a regimen that gave no concessions. The Officer’s Mess was still steeped in Victorian tradition and a normal breakfast would stretch at least 30 minutes. It was an elaborate affair. One had to be seated and wait patiently while the mess waiter went about his job. He would walk up to your seat and fill a glass of water before popping the ubiquitous question.

“Sir, how would you like your egg?”

This seemingly innocuous query might seem very normal to us. After all, it was a very plain and simple question. There was a finite number of ways in which a person could have eggs for breakfast. Therefore it was only a matter of one’s individual taste and choice.

It was my friend Manoj who exposed me to the intricacies behind this mundane question.

“Ramesh”, he asked me “have you ever wondered about how important this question is for us as leaders?”

The dumbfounded expression on my face would have convinced him that I had never given any thought to it, for he quickly clarified further, “This is perhaps the first decision that a leader takes every morning. You can get a good insight into the decision-making capabilities of leaders by just observing the way he responds to this question.”

Manoj was about my age. This conversation took place in the early eighties and both of us were in our early twenties. Manoj was a couple of years senior than me in service. Moreover, I had grown to respect his intelligence. Behind the thick-rimmed glasses, I was aware of a brain that was razor sharp. I decided to take his words seriously and started observing the officers at the table over the next few days. My research was constrained by the small target group available for research. However, it didn’t deter me. I soon realized that there were some distinct characteristics that put people under different groups.

The first lot consisted of those who clearly knew what they wanted.

“Two poached eggs please,” or “One scrambled egg,” they would bark out in their finely clipped accents even before the waiter had completed his query. A closer observation revealed these leaders to be very decisive. They knew what they wanted and they wasted no time. I also observed another startling fact. Some of them never varied their choice. It was poached eggs for them every single day of the week. Though good at making decisions, these were the leaders who were prone to the weakness of applying set templates. For them, every problem had just one solution. This solution was always the most apparent one. These were the leaders who excelled in military tactics and sand model discussions.

“I am sorry sir but we do not serve eggs on Tuesday. We serve only vegetarian meals today.”

Now this was very interesting. Suddenly the self-assured gentleman would be thrown out of balance. A new factor had been added that needed reassessment. Just like a software programmer who is told to add a new feature and made to rewrite the entire program, our gentleman too would find it hard to conceal his mild irritation. But he is usually quick in taking stock of the changed situation.

“Give me a cheese cutlet,” he would state nonchalantly.

The second lot consisted of those who found it difficult to decide what they wanted to eat.

“Eggs?” They would repeat with a confused look, “What all are the options?”

This is from someone who has been dining at the same table for a few years.

“I shall have fried eggs”, they would say, “or perhaps I shall have an omelette.”

“Fine sir.” The waiter would mouth it quite inaudibly but he would continue to linger around without executing the instruction because he knows what to expect within a few minutes.

“Just a moment. Please cancel the omelette and make it fried eggs.”

“Deep fried or sunny side up sir?”

“Deep fried, please. No. Hold on. Please make it single fry.”

We have seen enough leaders like this around us. They are not only indecisive but also prone to change their minds quite often.

The third category was quite interesting. They were the ones who were quite quick in taking decisions.

“I shall have a boiled egg”, they would state immediately on being seated. They would then spend some time exchanging pleasantries with others at the table. When the boiled egg is finally served, they would suddenly lose their temper.

“I had asked for an omelette”

“I am sorry sir. I might have misunderstood you. I shall get you an omelette.”

“No problem. Now that you have got it, I might as well have it. Next time please be more attentive while taking orders.”

Once the waiter is out of sight, they would roll their eyes dramatically and say, “These waiters! I wonder who trains them.”

Another category. consists of leaders who set high benchmarks.

“I shall have an Egg Benedict.”

“Sir, I am sorry but the cook does not know how to make one. Would you like to have something else?”

“What? He does not know Egg Benedict? Who made him a cook?”

Now these are the tricky ones. They set high expectations without taking stock of the resources in hand.

I found yet another type. These were the ones who would quickly look around the table and see as to what others were having.

“I shall also have a boiled egg.”

Now these are leaders who do not take decisions themselves. They are the democratic types who believe in decision-making through consensus.

Having studied and categorized the leaders, I finally had a difficult question in front of me.

Who is the better leader of the lot?

I found it very difficult to come out with a clear answer. However, I tracked the careers of these leaders for a couple of decades and found some interesting facts.

The leaders who were decisive were the ones most likely to reach top management.

The indecisive ones had lacklustre careers.

The ones who were impulsive and prone to change their minds were hated by subordinates. Some rose to middle management but got stagnated thereafter.

The ones who asked for Egg Benedict were the ones who aspired to become Generals but failed to make the cut to Colonel.

The democratic ones were good in the field and loved by their men but they too failed to reach the top.

My friend Manoj was one of the very few who managed to reach the top. I realize today that I had erred while taking his advice. Instead of spending my time on research, I should have followed his leadership style.

But then it is not too late in life to change one's choice of eggs.

SOS

An Airbus 380 is on its way across the Atlantic. It flies consistently at 800 km/h at 30,000 feet, when suddenly a Eurofighter with a Tempo Mach 2 appears.

The pilot of the fighter jet slows down, flies alongside the Airbus and greets the pilot of the passenger plane by radio:   "Airbus, boring flight isn’t it? Now have a look here!"

He rolls his jet on its back, accelerates, breaks through the sound barrier, rises rapidly to a dizzying height, and then swoops down almost to sea level in a breathtaking dive. He loops back next to the Airbus and asks:   "Well, how was that?"

The Airbus pilot answers: "Very impressive, but watch this!"

The jet pilot watches the Airbus, but nothing happens. It continues to fly straight, at the same speed. After 15 minutes, the Airbus pilot radios, "Well, how was that?

Confused, the jet pilot asks, "What did you do?"

The AirBus pilot laughs and says:   "I got up, stretched my legs, walked to the back of the aircraft to use the washroom, then got a cup of coffee and a chocolate fudge pastry."

The moral of the story is:  *When you’re young, speed and adrenaline seems to be great. But as you get older and wiser, you learn that comfort and peace are more important*.

This is called S.O.S. : Slower, Older and Smarter.

Dedicated to all my senior friends.....it’s time to slow down and enjoy the rest of the trip.💜

You will have reasons or results

RealLife
This is Jim Thorpe.

Look closely at the photo, you can see that he's wearing different socks and shoes.
This wasn't a fashion statement.

It was the 1912 Olympics, an American Indian from Oklahoma represented the U.S. in track. On the morning of his competitions, his shoes were stolen.

Luckily, Jim ended up finding two shoes in a garbage can. That's the pair that he's wearing in the photo. But one of the shoes was too big, so he had to wear an extra sock. Wearing these shoes, Jim won two gold medals that day.

This is a perfect example that you don't have to resign to the excuses that have held you back. 

So what if life hasn't been fair?
What are you going to do about it today?

Whatever you woke up with this morning; stolen shoes, ill health, failed relationships, failed business, don't let it stop you from running your race.

You can experience more in life if you'll get over the excuses and get on with living.

You can have reasons or you can have results.

Better off alone

During a prank, a student stuck a paper on his classmate's back that said "𝗜'𝗺 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗽𝗶𝗱", and asked the rest of the class not to tell the boy.

Thus the students began laughing on and off...

Came afternoon math class started and their teacher wrote a difficult question on the board.

No one was able to answer it except the boy with the sticker.

Amid the unexplained giggles, he walked toward the board and solved the problem.

The teacher asked the class to clap for him and remove the paper on his back.

She told him: "It seems that you don’t know about the paper your classmate has pasted on your back."

Then the teacher looked at the rest of the class and said:

"Before I give you a punishment, let me tell you 2 things:

First, throughout your Life, people will put labels on you with many nasty words to stop your progress.

Had your classmate known about the paper, he wouldn't have gotten up to answer the question.

𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻, 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳."

"Second, it’s clear that he doesn't have any loyal friend among you all to tell him about the sticker.

It doesn't matter how many friends you have - it is the loyalty you share with your friends that matters.

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸, 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳f alone.

when you grow old..

Imagine the retired, elderly you.

On a porch in a rocking chair. 

Looking back on your life.

Got that image? Good. Now I would love to talk to you about this. 

Studies show that, the biggest regret elderly people have, is not what they did, it is what they didn't do. They never spoke about what they wanted to do and who they wanted to be.

How sad would it be to get to the end of your life, and realize you never truly lived. To only then realise that this is your life, nobody else's.

No matter how much your society, your parents, your friends, or whoever want you to live or the way they want you to live, you run the show!

When you shut your eyes, and go to sleep at night, the entire world ceases it to exist. And when you wake up, it's born again.

This IS your life and you are in control of it. You have to do what feels right in your heart.

Now, go back to the rocking chair.

Think what would your future self say to you right now. About the ideas you never created, the books you never wrote, the words you never spoke.

All because you are tired or you are scared, or you want to ‘fit-in and be cool’. 

But greatness isn't about being cool, and great men or women would never fit in, because they stand out.

But I get it! You want it easy.

But if greatness was so easy, you would see a lot of successful people. And a lot of great people.

Astronauts, professional athletes, or even superheroes!

But you don't.

You see a lot of people within mouse, trying to get likes.

But they don't even like themselves!

See. The difference between winners and losers is persistent, and isn't talent, it's persistence.

My teacher told me about the bamboo tree. After planting the bamboo seed, it takes five years for it to break through the ground. That's five whole years of attention, care, and water everyday. If you miss a day, it dies right there. But once it breaks through the ground after those five years, within five weeks, it grows ninety feet tall.

So your journey isn't going to be easy. It's going to take time.

And when you have a dream, people are going to laugh at you. Simply because they don't see what you see.

They'll say, "What is that idiot doing watering the ground?"

They're incapable of seeing a plant that is planted inside of you.

They have sight, but no vision. Only you have that vision.

So let them laugh. They'll say, "Get real, be real with it!"

But realism, is often an in-excuse to a pessimist. And you can't let others people's opinion define your reality. So let them laugh!  

But I do guarantee you, you won't find one successful person in history that people didn't laugh at. 

Stop worrying about your reputation. Your reputation is only what people think about you. 

You care first about who you are! Make that commitment. To yourself. Whole-heartedly. Stop thinking and just do it. Do it for you, the real you. Because you deserve it.

You don't get to do life over. So live your dreams. 

You don't have to be great to get started. But you have to start to be great.