Twenty-five ways to improve life ...
by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Courtesy: The Week, www.the-week.com

1. Review the context of your life.

2. Know life's impermanence.

3. Make your smile cheaper.

4. Be enthusiastic and praise others.

5. Make meditation a part of your life.

6. Go to the most beautiful place.

7. Communicate effectively.

8. Take out time for your self.

9. Better the world around you.

10. Nourish your emotions.

11. Plan short and long term goals.

12. Prayer is a vital tool.

13. Implement the changes if needed.

14. Identify your limitations.

15. Do not lose your friends.

16. Don't look for perfection.

17. Let us be unpredictable.

18. Have a sense of humour.

19. Don't be afraid to make mistakes.

20. Overcome your prejudice.

21. Feel that "I am blessed".

22. Do random acts of kindness.

23. Be a student always.

24. Dream the impossible.

25. Compare your performance.


1. Review the context of your life.


Look at your own life in the light of time. Millions of years havepassed and millions will come. What is your life ? 60, 70 or 100years? Span of life is insignificant. It is not even a drop in theocean. In terms of space you simply don't exist! This understandingdissolves the ego. Ego is ignorance of your reality, ignorance of yourexistence. Now, just to know this, do we have to do something else?Just open your eyes: "Who am I? How I am on this planet? Whatis my life time?" Awareness dawns in the mind, and you will stopworrying about little things like, " this person said this thing to meand that person broke away with me and this happened with that personand I am going to say this." All smallness will simply drop away, andyou will be able to live every moment of your life.
Your life reels around your context. You should be happy in life. Allother business involve ups and downs which is very natural. If thereis a body, then it will get cold, cough, fever or something else andit will go away. But take care to see that happiness is alwaysestablished in you. That is known as purashaartha. Our love, faith andbelief should be deep-rooted, then everything else moves on its own.How many events take place in life? Are you able to maintain yourequanimity always? Not everything in the world is sweet. If you aregrounded with faith, like the husk with grain, you will progress.
Take this decision: "Whatever happens I will be there. I will begrounded. God's protection is there on me. Whatever happens, I willnever go down. I always have God's hand with me." Keep your mind inpeace in all situations. The rest will be taken care of. You have totake at least one step forward, which is to be in peace andequanimity. "Oh! Nothing happened. Nothing of my work happened." Ifyou are able to laugh in such a situation, then understand that youhave protection with you! The world is filled with love. Everybody haslove inside them. You have to see that in your mind.
Your head will be in the mud in a few years; don't put mud in yourhead while you are still alive! If you review the context of yourlife, the quality of your life will improve.


2. Know life's impermanence.


See the impermanence in this life. That is the truth. Turn back andsee that all that you did is like a dream. All have passed, the wholething is finished.
Tomorrow will pass. Now and then, a pinch of unpleasantness comes. Itmakes you aware of your pleasantness. Suppose you never had unpleasantmoments in life, you would have never pleasant ones. Your life wouldstagnate in utter boredom and you would become like a stone. So, inorder to keep you alive, now and then, here and there, nature givesyou a little pinch. It makes life more lively. Accept it.
You don't have to be afraid in life. There is always support. So,every pinch that you are having in life is for the best, to make yourlife more lively and enjoyable. Day and night you work so hard. Thewhole week is spent working, coming home tired, eating, going to bed.The same routine the next day. Weekends have become another routine.
If you're awake, then you see there is so much foolishness! Just watchwhen four or five people get together and have a gossip session. In agossip session, you can immediately change the topic of conversation.This is the thing with a crowd. If ten people are talking about theweather and you change the topic of stock markets, everybody willimmediately talk stock markets, whether they know about them or not.It is great fun.
Being aware of this impermanent nature of our life, you find thatthere is something in you that has not changed. There is a referencepoint by which you can say things are changing. That reference pointis the source of life. That is wisdom. With wisdom, your life improves.


3. Make your smile cheaper.


A research done in England found that a baby smile 400 times a day, anadolescent 17 times and an adult doesn't smile at all! The moresuccessful one keeps a very stiff face. Is roughness a sign ofsuccess? Is being stressed a sign of prosperity, growth or dignity?
You should smile more. Every day, every morning, look at the mirrorand give a good smile to yourself. You know what happens when yousmile? All the muscles in your face get relaxed. The nerves in yourbrain get relaxation, and you get the confidence, courage and energyto move on in life.
You know, your smile is so fragile! Just one telephone call is enoughto take it away! But what is the big deal about your feelings? Bundlethem up and thrown them into the ocean! Once you are rid of your'feelings' you can be happy. Just see why your spirits go down?Because somebody said something stupid to you. And why did they say astupid thing? Because they had some garbage they needed to throw outand you were there, ready to catch it! And once you have caught it,you hold on to it so passionately ! Come on! Wake up! Don't let yoursmile be snatched away by anybody!
Usually, you give your anger freely and smile rarely as though a smileis costly. In ignorance, anger is cheaper and smile costly. Inknowledge, a smile is free like sun, air, and water and anger isextremely expensive, like a diamond. Make your smile cheaper and angerexpensive! You are here for a greater
cause. Just remember that. Take a challenge: " Come what may, I amgoing to smile today and be happy!" Smile more.

4. Be enthusiastic and praise others.

Enthusiasm is the nature of life. We often have a tendency to putcoldwater on other's enthusiasm. Reverse this tendency. Take everyopportunity to praise others and support their enthusiasm. If you putdown other's enthusiasm, the same may happen to you. As you sow, soshall you reap. Recollect how much enthusiasm and joy you had when youwent to the primary school. Someone without enthusiasm is like acorpse. But as you mature, the enthusiasm curve declines. Asenthusiasm declines, we stop communicating.
How would you like to see your self? Happy and bubbling withenthusiasm or dull and difficult to please? Often, you like to bepleased, appeased and cajoled. So you put up a tough, upset face andact difficult to please. If a person has to appease and please tenpeople all the time, it will be so tiring. People
who keep a long face and expect others to cajole and appease them makeothers run away. Lovers often do this. They expend a lot of energy incajoling, and this brings down the joy and celebration of the moment.
If you feel down, appease and please yourself. Your need to beappeased by someone else is the sign of grossness. If you wantattention, all you get is tension. It is not possible to attain DivineLove with a complaining face. Become one whose enthusiasm never dies.

5. Make meditation a part of your life.

The higher goals in life can only be realized through a few minutes ofmeditation and introspection.
What is meditation?
Mind without agitation is meditation.Mind in the present moment is meditation.Mind that has not hesitation, no anticipation is meditation.Mind that has come back home, to the source, is meditation.Mind that becomes "no mind" is meditation.
Deeper you are able to rest, dynamic you will be in activity. Eventhough deep rest and dynamic activity are opposite values, they arecomplementary. Before the body leaves you, you learn to leaveeverything. That is freedom. What are you looking for? Are you lookingfor some great joy? YOU ARE JOY!
I will give you an example. Have you seen dogs biting bones? You knowwhy they bite bones? Biting wounds their mouth. Its own blood comesout and the dog feels that the bone is very tasty! Poor dog spends thewhole time chewing the bone but getting nothing out of it! Any joy youexperience in life is from the
depth of your self, when you let go all that you hold on to and settledown being centered in that space. That is called meditation.Actually, meditation is not an act; it is the art of doing nothing!The rest in meditation is deeper than the deepest sleep that you canever have because in meditation you transcend all desires.
Meditation is letting go of anger from the past and all the planningfor the future. Meditation is accepting this moment and living everymoment totally with depth. Just this understanding, and a few days ofcontinuous practice of meditation can change the quality of our life.
The best comparison of the three states of consciousness - waking,sleeping and dreaming - is with the nature. Nature sleeps, awakes anddreams! It happens in a magnificent scale in existence, and it ishappening in a different scale in the human body. Wakefulness andsleep are like sunrise and darkness. Dream is like the twilight inbetween.
And meditation is like the flight to the outer space, where there isno sunset, no sunrise, nothing! I am sure that deep within, every oneof you feel that you have not grown, meaning you have not changed, notgrown old. This indicates the soul in you, the depth in you, thespirit in you doesn't change, doesn't grow old, it's not aging. Thebody is aging but something in you is not aging. Getting in touch withthat something that doesn't age brings beauty in life.
That is meditation.

6. Go to the most beautiful place.

Only if there is alertness and presence of mind can your life improve.For this, you need to cultivate the habit of listening. Most of us arenot good listeners. When you are listening to somebody, the speaker'svery first sentence triggers some conversation within you. You areconstantly agreeing or disagreeing with the speaker. Have you everwondered whether you can listen without any thoughts or pre-conceivednotions? To cultivate the habit of listening, you have to "go" to aplace where everything is beautiful.
Where is the place? That most beautiful place is within you! When youcome to this place, then any place is beautiful. Then, wherever yougo, you add beauty there.
Learning something about our breath is very important. Our breath hasa great lesson to teach us: for every rhythm in the mind, there is acorresponding rhythm in the breath, for every rhythm in the breath,there is a corresponding emotion. So, when you cannot handle your minddirectly, through breath you can handle the mind. Neither at schoolnor at home does anybody teach you what to do when you are upset orangry or depressed. The first thing we did when we
came to this planet is that we took a deep breath and then we startedto cry. The last thing we'll be doing: we'll breathe out and makeother cry! In between, the whole life, we are breathing in and out,but, we have learnt very little about our breath! No breath, no life -know breath, know life!.
We need to learn a little bit about our breath. We need to know alittle bit about all the layers of our existence -- body, breath,mind, intellect, memory, ego and the self. This is what I call Art ofLiving, learning a little bit about ourselves, the seven layers of ourlife. And that makes you be in the present moment, and it helps us tomaintain the innocence that we are all born with, and feel at homewith everybody, anywhere. What I would suggest is, take
one week off every year for yourself, like you take your car forservicing. During that time, align yourself with nature, wake up withthe sunrise, do some exercise, eat proper food, just as much food asnecessary, some exercises, a few minutes of singing, and then somesilent moments, enjoying the creation.
Book yourself on a trip to this most beautiful place in the universe.Then you find that every day is a vacation and a celebration! .

7. Communicate effectively.

Learning to communicate effectively with everyone is a skill worthpossessing. Most of the time you find that you are out of place.Communicating without prejudice is vital for success.
If you are faced with someone who knows more than you, be like a childand keep your ears and eyes open for learning. If you are faced withsomeone who knows less than you, be humble and strive to make them asgood as or better than you. Play with a small child as you played whenyou were a child. Talk with an elderly person remembering that one dayyou will be like that. Communicate with a person of your age grouplike you are his / her best friend.
This world is varied beyond our imagination, and there's alwayssomething to share, learn and teach. When you are centered, you becomea powerful communicator. And when your communication improves, yourlife improves.

8. Take out time for yourself.

If for the whole day you are engaged in only gathering information,you do not take out time for yourself to think and reflect. A fewquiet moments are sources for creativity.
Some time during the day, sit for a few minutes, get into the cave ofyour heart, eyes closed, and kick the world away like a ball. But,during the day be 100 per cent attached to the work. Eventually, youwill be able to be both attached and detached. This is the skill ofliving, the art of living.
Renunciation refills your energy. Creativity cannot happen only justthrough efforts. There is a beautiful story about Chhatrapati Shivaji.At one time Shivaji became so frustrated about ruling his kingdom thathe went to his guru Samarth Ramdas and told him that he is fed up andthat he just wants to renounce everything. Ramdas told him that he canrenounce everything. Shivaji became so happy and relaxed at the verythought. Then Ramdas told him: "Now I am the king and you are myservant. Will you do whatever I ask you to do?" Shivaji replied: "Foryou I am ready to do anything." Ramdas said: "Very good.
Will you run this country for me? Shivaji replied: "Yes, I will runthe country for you!" Total renunciation has brought zeal andenthusiasm in him.
Creativity springs up when you are relaxed. You have to renounce allwork you have done the whole day, only then can you rest in the night.
Though many times pain, struggle and frustration have brought outcreativity in some people, these are not the only reasons for a personto be creative.
Millions of people in the world are struggling or frustrated, but theyare not creative. So, taking out some time for yourself improves thequality of your life.

9. Better the world around you.

A river needs two bunks to flow. The difference between flood andnormal river is that water flow is regulated in a river. Duringfloods, water has no direction. Similarly, the energy in our lifeneeds some direction to flow. If you don't give direction, it is allconfusion. Today, most people are confused
because there is no direction in life. When you are happy, there is somuch of life-energy in you; but when this life-energy doesn't knowwhere to go, how to go, it gets stuck. When it stagnates, it rots. Forlife-energy to move in a direction, commitment is essential.
Life runs with commitment. If you observe every small thing or bigthing in life, they go with certain commitment. A student takesadmission in a school or college with a commitment. Needless to say, afamily runs on commitment: mother is committed to the child, child iscommitted to the parents, husband is
committed to wife, and wife is committed to husband. Greater thecommitment you take, greater the energy/power you gain to fulfill thatcommitment. Greater the commitment, easier things are. Smaller thecommitment, suffocating it is for you. Smaller commitments suffocateyou because you have more capacity, but you are stuck in a small hole!
When you have ten things to do and if one thing goes wrong, you cankeep doing the ten things; the thing that has gone wrong will setitself right! But if you have only one thing to do and that goeswrong, then are you are stuck with it. Usually we think we should haveresource and then we will commit. Greater
the commitment you take, greater the resources will come to youautomatically. Whatever you are committed to brings you strength. Ifyou are committed to your family then your family supports you, if youare committed to society, you enjoy the support of society.
Commitment will always bring comfort in the long run. Make acommitment to make this world a better place to live.

10. Nourish your emotions.

A person without emotions is like wood without any juice. You need tomake your interesting to make people be with you. This will happenwhen you nurture yourself with music, prayer and service.
The way to expand from individual to universal consciousness is toshare others' sorrow and joy. As you grow, your consciousness shouldalso grow. When your expand in knowledge with time then depression isnot possible. The way to overcome personal misery is to shareuniversal misery! The way to expand personal joy is to share universaljoy. Instead of thinking "what about me" and "what can I gain fromthis word?", think "what can I do for the world?".
Silence heals and rejuvenates. Silence gives you depth and stabilityand brings creativity. Service leads to the dynamic experience ofheart. It creates a sense of belongingness. Lack of service can land aperson in depression. Pain is physical. Suffering is mental. If youare not sensitive to others' pain, then you are not a human being.That is why you need to serve. Service alone can bring contentment inlife, but service without silence tires you. Service withoutspirituality will be shallow, and cannot be sustained for a longperiod. The deeper the silence, the more dynamic the outer activity.Both are essential in life.
When you bring some relief or freedom to someone through seva, goodvibrations and blessings come to you. Seva brigs merit; merit allowsyou to go deep in meditation; meditation brings back your smile. Whenyou sing and pray from your heart, your emotions are nourished and youbecome "lively".

11. Plan short and long term goals.

At any given point of time, our mind is oscillating between the pastand the future. Either it is angry or sad about the past or anxiousabout the future.
Whatever actions you do in this state of mind, you regret after sometime. This is how you get caught up in the same old cycle. Does itmean that you should not plan your future? No! You should plan yourshort and long term goals. Then, and only then, life gets a channel, adirection to flow. When the mind is totally in the present, the rightplanning happens. Not only should you plan your goals, but plan themeans and methods to work towards them. Where would you like to seeyourself after three years? After 20 years? After 40 years? Don't befeverish about the results. Give your 100 percent. If you are feverishabout the results, it will lead you to disappointment.Do not make a list of all the things you want to achieve. Select fewthings that really matters. Once a teacher brought a glass jar to theclass and a bag with some big stones, some small stones and some sand.He asked the students to put all the contents from the bag into theglass jar. Some students put the sand first, then small stones and bythen there was no place for the big stones. The teacher laterexplained that had they put the bigger stones first, then the smallerstones. There was always space around the stones for all the sand inthe bag. This example teaches us an important lesson in prioritizingthings.
If we put things that will give us maximum fulfillment in the longterm, smaller things will automatically fall into place.Among all planets in the solar system, the earth is privileged to hostlife in its many forms, and among all the species, humans are mostprivileged, for,they can host knowledge. Again and again you rememberthat you are peace, you are love, you are joy and that you are hostingthe creator. If you do not realize that you are the host, you livelike a ghost!.

12. Prayer is a vital tool.

Prayer is a vital tool to improve your life. It also nurtures valueslike integrity and honesty. Prayer happens in two situations, or in acombination of situations. When you feel grateful or when you feelutterly helpless. If you are not grateful and prayerful, you will bemiserable. In either case your prayers will be answered.What you cando, you do.What you cannot do, you pray for!It is said the divine dawns in you when you pray for it, when you cryfor it, when you sing for it. The divine is only waiting for you todig a little deeper into yourself. Because, it can then fill you withmuch more nectar! Divine wants you to create more space in you. Cryfrom your soul for help. This is for those seekers who are weak. Thoseseekers who are strong with the power of knowledge can sing with thatjoy of what they have achieved! The moment you sing in gratitude, inglory of the divine, it immediately dawns in you, and fills you upagain. One type of people is grateful for all their growth. The othertype is helpless and weak. Both will be helped.
Spirituality is not some ritual, or doing something. It's a verypleasant, uplifted state of being and seeing that the whole world isall spirit or consciousness. Use prayer to bring integration in yourpersonality. Whatever you do, know that the higher power has the finalsay and it will always be for the best.

13. Implement the changes if needed.

Sorrow simply means that viveka (discrimination) is overshadowed.Viveka means knowing that everything is changing. Your body, youremotions, the people around you and the world - everything ischanging. Tie and again you have to awaken to this reality. You areoften fearful of change. Change is inevitable in many fronts throughsecurity is hooked on to stability. You know there is a need forchange to improve your life, but you feel secure in the old pattern.You need the courage to implement changes whenever it is necessary.You have to evaluate the pros and the cons. You have to see whetherthat gives you short-term joy and misery in the long run or short-timepain and joy in the long run.
Life is a combination of both change and non-change. So, use yourintelligence and courageously implement changes when you feel thatthere is a need for change.

14. Identify your limitations.

Every time you are unhappy or miserable, you are just coming in touchwith your own boundaries! And what can you do? You can just feelthankful: "Oh, I came in touch with my boundary, my limitation. Thiswas my limitation." You just turn the whole situation into a prayer:"Let there be peace, not just in me but in everybody." Prayer is thatmoment when you come in touch with your limitations, your boundaries.
You are peaceful, you are joyful, you are happy as long as you havenot come in contact with your boundaries. At that moment what can youdo? You can just say, "My Lord, my God, You made me become aware of myboundaries. You bring peace. I am giving it all to You." That verymoment you will start smiling.
However hopeless the situation is, you will walk through it, singthrough it, dance through it! This is love.
In Hindi, love is written with two and a half letters. They say, "Whois a master, who is a pundit, who is a wise person? Not one who hasstudied a lot of scriptures, but one who has studied the two-an-a-halfletters is at this moment. It is a test of the moment, when you comein touch with your limitations, your boundaries. You are happy,peaceful. Are you in the boundaries? Or are you maintaining yourboundaries and the innocent love in the heart? Is it remaining? If itis, then nothing can rob you of peace.

15. Do not lose your friends.

Mistakes keep happening all the time. Often you want to correct them.How much can you correct? There are two situations when you correctothers' mistakes.
1. You correct someone's mistake because it bothers you. But even ifyou correct it, this does not work.
2. You correct someone's mistake not because it bothers you, but fortheir sake so that they can grow.
To correct mistakes you need authority and love. Authority and loveseem to be contradictory, but in reality they are not. Authoritywithout live is stifling. Love without authority is shallow. A friendneeds to have both authority and love but they need to be in the rightcombination. This can happen if you are totally dispassionate andcentered. When you allow room for mistakes, you can be bothauthoritative and sweet. That is how the Divine is, the right balanceof both. Krishna and Jesus had both.
Don't make a mistake by pointing out mistakes!
Once a lady came to me and said her husband had lied to her. She wasvery upset. I asked, "Why does your husband lie to you? Because heloves you, and is afraid to lose your love or hurt you. If he did notlove you, he wouldn't lie to you!".
Do not tell a person a mistake he knows he has committed. By doingthis, you will only make him feel more guilty. A magnanimous personwill not pick on the mistakes of others and make them feel guilty; hewill correct them with compassion and care.

16. Don't look for perfection.

Many a time, you become angry or miserable because of the feverishnessfor perfection. If you are too much of a perfectionist, you are boundto be an angry person.
In a state of ignorance, imperfection is natural and perfection is aneffort. In a state of wisdom or enlightenment, imperfection is aneffort; perfection is a compulsion and is unavoidable! Perfection istaking total responsibility, and total responsibility means knowingthat you are the only responsible person in the whole world. When youthink that others are responsible, then your degree of responsibilitydiminishes. When you are in total vairagya ( dispassion ), you cantake care of even insignificant things with such perfection.Perfection is the very nature of the Enlightened one. When we arejoyful, we don't look for perfection. If you are looking forperfection then you are not at the source of joy. Joy is therealization that there is no vacation from wisdom. The world appearsimperfect on the surface but, underneath, all is perfect. Perfectionhides; imperfection shows off.
The wise will not stay on the surface but will probe into the depth.Things are not blurred. Infinite actions prevail in the wholeness ofconsciousness, and yet the consciousness remains perfect, untouched.Realize this now and be natural.
In this world, everything cannot be perfect all the time. Even thebest, the greatest of actions, performed with the noblest ofintentions, will have some imperfections. It is but natural.Unfortunately, the tendency of our mind is to grab the imperfectionand hold on to it. And, in the process, we end up
making our moods, our minds imperfect and our souls reel with thisnonsense. It is imperative to get out of these cycles, and to becomestrong and courageous from within.

17. Let us be unpredictable.

We often behave like machines. A compliment makes us smile and aninsult makes us frown. We don't have to react in the same way always.You have the freedom to respond differently. You don't have to answerall questions posed to you. As people have a right to question, youhave the right whether to answer or not.So, be unpredictable!

18. Have a sense of humour.

You are endowed with certain naughtiness as a child. Keep it alive.Humour will grease all tough situations. One who has humour can sailthrough any conflict. Humour is the buffer that saves you fromhumiliation. If you refuse to be humiliated, you become invincible.Humour brings everyone together, while humiliation tears them apart.In a society torn with humiliation and insult, humour is like a breathof fresh air.
Humour should be coupled with care and concern. Humour can keep thespirit high, yet if overdone it leaves a bad taste. Humour withoutwisdom is shallow.
Humour without sensitivity is satire - it comes back to you with moreproblems.
The wise use humour to bring wisdom and to lighten situations. Theintelligent use humour as a shield against humiliation. The cruel usehumour as a sword to insult others. The irresponsible use humour toescape from responsibility. And fools take humour too seriously!
How does one cultivate a sense of humour?
Humour is not just words, it is the lightness of your being. You donot have to read and repeat jokes.
Taking life not too seriously (because you will never come out of italive)!
Having a sense of belongingness with everybody, including those whoare not friendly.
Practicing yoga and meditation.
Having unshakable faith in the Divine and in the laws of karma.
Being in the company of those who live in knowledge and are humourous.
A willingness to be a clown.

19. Don't be afraid to make mistakes.

Whenever a boundary is broken, it creates some fear. The fear createsdislike. This dislike puts us back in the boundary. And to keepyourself in the boundary you put forth defenses. When you try todefend your position, it is such a stress. Every time you try todefend your position, it makes you more and more weak. Drop all yourdefenses. When you are totally defenseless, that's when you'll be strong.
Your knowledge of a mistake comes to you when you are innocent!Whatever mistake has happened, do not consider yourself a sinnerbecause in the present
moment you are again new, pure and clear. Mistakes of the past arepast. When this knowledge comes, you are again perfect. Often, mothersscold their children and afterwards feel so guilty. Okay, you gotangry at your kid once or twice. Why? Because of a lack of awareness!Awareness was missing, so the anger came up. Knowledge of the self,truth and skills can bring out the best in you, So, don't be afraid tomake mistakes, but not the same mistakes. You
have got to be innovative even in your mistakes!

20. Overcome your prejudice.

Your prejudice against gender, religion, caste and class does notallow you to mingle with everyone around you. Often, you don't sitwith people who are not economically or socially at par with you. Youhave to learn to break that barrier. Also, there is age prejudice.Teenagers don't like to have fun with
elderly people and vice versa. Gender prejudice is more prevalent inrural areas. Cast system is present even among the royalties ofEurope, the UK and Japan .
Religious prejudice is well known. There are good people and badpeople in every community, religion and every section of society.Don't be prejudiced against them. At the same time don't be shy aboutyour identity. When you overcome prejudice, you will be very natural,and your quality of life will improve.

21. Feel that "I am blessed".

There is so much talk about success. Have you ever thought whatsuccess is? Success is simply ignorance about one's capabilities.Success is ignorance about the power of the self. Because you assumeyou can do only this much. If there are obstacles, you are clear aboutyour objective. With a calm and serene mind, think of manypossibilities. Know that failures are stepping stones for greatersuccess. Actually, there are no failures in life. All the seemingfailures are only stepping stones for greater success. If you feel theobstacle is too much, deep prayer can work miracles. The feeling that"I am blessed" can help you overcome any failure.
Once you realize that you are blessed, then
- all the complaints disappear,- all the grumbling disappears,- all the insecurities disappear,- a sense of not being loved disappears, and- wanting love disappears.
Ego is always ambitious and wants to do tough jobs like climbing MountEverest . Whereas in a simple act like watching a butterfly, wateringthe garden, watching the birds or the sky, can bring deep relaxation,and relaxation connects you with your source. Seemingly trivialactions open a new dimension and bring in immense peace and rest. Justcome out of your little shell and feel free.
There is a saying: Behind every successful man is a woman. I willmodify this: Behind every success there is the Divine saying " I ambehind you".

22. Do random acts of kindness.

Abiding in the self you become the valentine for the whole world.Spirit is the valentine of matter, and matter is the valentine ofspirit. They are made for each other. They uphold each other. If youdo not respect the spirit, then matter is not pleased. If you honourthe spirit then you will care for the world, and when you care for theworld it will take care of you.
You are the Christmas tree. At the time of year when no tree bearsanything, it has many gifts to offer. A Christmas tree bears the giftsand the lights you are carrying in your life are for others. Anyonewho comes to you, you offer them your gifts. When you show kindness,your true nature comes into play. Have you ever done acts of kindnesswithout expecting anything out of it?
Our services should not be mechanical. Once some boy scouts were at aSunday service, when the priest said, " You should serve." They asked,"What is this service? Could you give us some example? "He said,"Suppose an old woman wants to cross a road, go and help her cross theroad.
So the boys went and looked for a whole week, but there was no oldwoman trying to cross a street. Finally, four of them found a womanwalking on a footpath.
One of the boys went and asked her, "Madam, would you like to crossthe road?" She turned and said, "No." He was disappointed. So anotherboy went and asked her again, thinking, perhaps, that the first boyhadn't asked properly. The woman was now a little bit confused. Shewondered why she was being asked this.
So, she said, it was all right for him to take her across the road.Once they had reached the other side, a third boy came and asked her,"Would you like to cross the road?" Now it really bothered her. Whenthe fourth one approached her, she almost screamed and ran away! Shealmost screamed and ran away!!
You don't have to plan acts of kindness. Just do somethingspontaneously. When you do random acts of kindness, you come in touchwith your true nature.

23. Be a student always.

Know that you are a student forever. Do not underestimate anybody.Knowledge may come to you from any corner. Remember the ancient saying"let knowledge flow to me from all sides". Each occasion teaches youand each person teaches you. The world is your teacher. When you arealways looking to learn, you will stop underestimating others.Humility will dawn in your life.
There is a nice story. A man earned a lot of money and them gave allhis property to his son. The son then built a small house behind hisbig house and told
his parents: "Now you have to stay there." So the old couple stayedthere, while the son and his family lived in the bungalow. One day,while playing, the grandchild came to his grandfather' s home, whereeverything was in pathetic condition. The grandchild said, " Grandpa,be careful with your plate and chair.
Don't break them." When he asked why, the child said, "Becausetomorrow, my father will need
them." One does not realize this fact.You are also going to be old one day.

24. Dream the impossible.

Unless you have a dream, you cannot realize it. Every invention hascome out of a dream. Dream the impossible. Obviously, dreaming employssomething which is beyond your perceived capacity. Consider thefaculty which is the preceptor of the dream. Some dreams have impactedyour daily living and others have not.
Some dreams you remember, and others you have forgotten.
We are all born in this world to do something wonderful and unique;don't let this opportunity pass by. Give yourself the freedom to dreamand think big.
Have the courage and determination to achieve those dreams that aredear to you. Many a time people who dreamt big were ridiculed, butthey remained strong to achieve their goals.
Do something creative. Not a year should pass without doing somethingcreative.

25. Compare your performance.

As we flip the calendar, we need to keep flipping our mind as well.Often, our diaries are full with memories. See that you don’t fillyour future dates with past events. Allow the space for creativity todawn. Celebration of the New Year allows you to be wise. Learn andunlearn from the past, and move on.
In the past year, how many days were you in sanyas? How many dayswere you struggling being caught in maya? Turn back and remember thewhole year. Do not run away from anything. Do not reject anything.Do not go away from anything. At the same time, let your attention beon the self. This is a delicate balance. That balance is yoga.
A poor man celebrates the New Year once a year. A rich man celebrateseach day. But the richest man celebrates every moment.
How rich are you? If you celebrate every moment, you are the Lord ofCreation. Review the year while you celebrate. This is yourhomework. Compare your performance in the year before last and smile.
The year 2007 is fortunate because you are living at this time!!!!When you are living for the sake of the world, the world is fortunate.Let time celebrate your presence. You keep smiling as ever.
When you let time celebrate you, you are a witness amid celebration.The heart always longs for the old, the mind for the new. Life is acombination of both. Let the New year bring into our life ancientwisdom and modernity, as life is incomplete without either of them.Don’t feel shy to speak about human and spiritual values. The time has come now to call the whole world!
Be ever new, happy you!!!!

Courtesy: The Week, www.the-week.com