The Power of Self Confidence

A short piece of inspiring story shared by one of my friend through email. It portraits the  hidden powers of the self confidence. Though not at such large scale, we too often encounter such phenomena in our life.
***
A business executive was deep in debt and could see no way out.  Creditors were closing in on him. Suppliers were demanding payment.  He sat on the park bench, head in hands, wondering if anything could save  his company from bankruptcy.

Suddenly an old man appeared before him.  "I can see that something is troubling you," he said.  After listening to the executive's woes, the old man said, "I believe I can help you."  He asked the man his name, wrote out a check, and pushed it into his hand saying,  "Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me  back at that time." Then he turned and disappeared as quickly as he had come.

The business executive saw in his hand a check for $500,000, signed by John D. Rockefeller,  then one of the richest men in the world!
"I can erase my money worries in an instant!" he realized.Nonetheless, the executive decided to  put the check in his safe first. Just knowing it was there, would give him the strength to work  out away to save his business, he thought.
With renewed optimism, he negotiated better deals and got extended terms of payment from  creditors. Soon he could close some big sales. Within a few months, he was out of debt and  making money once again.

Exactly a year later, he returned to the park with that uncashed check. The old man did not  appear for some time yet the business executive decided to wait for a while more.

A while later  the old man came along the way but seemed to be unmindful of the business executive. He stopped  the old man and was about the hand over the cheque with a few words of thanks as well as share  his success story.

At the same time, he saw a nurse come running up and grabbing the old man. "I'm so glad I caught  him!" she cried. "I hope he hasn't been bothering you. He's always escaping from the rest home  and telling people he's John D. Rockefeller." And she led the old man away by the arm.

The astonished executive just stood there, stunned. All year long he'd been wheeling and  dealing, buying and selling, convinced he had half a million dollars behind him. Suddenly, he  realized that it wasn't the money, real or imagined, that had turned his life around. It was  his new found self-confidence that gave him the power to achieve anything he went after.  He understood that Confidence is nothing but the distant vision held positively no matter what  comes in between. It comes from one's own commitment and dedication and entirely internal.

"Our duty is to encourage everyone in his struggle to live up to his own highest idea, and  strive at the same time to make the ideal as near as possible to the truth"

Love Your Irritations

A piece of interesting collection shared by one of my friend through email . This is a good one, that guides us to have introspection of our weaknesses and a simple way that motivates us to overcome those negative traits. I am just sharing it here with thanks to the original source.
*****
Khalil Gibran, one of the greatest thinkers, once wrote: "I have learned silence from the talkative, tolerance from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet, strange, I am grateful to those teachers"
***

A psychiatrist was consulted by a man whose marriage and career were both in serious trouble. His problem was his constant irritability and bad temper. He was concerned about this himself, but if any one tried to discuss it with him, he exploded in anger. He constantly told himself that everyone was picking on him and that he had to defend himself against them.
To counter the negative auto suggestion, he advised him to use positive autosuggestion. Several times a day in the morning, noon, and at night prior to sleep he was to repeat to himself.

"From now on, I shall grow more good-humored. Joy, happiness, and cheerfulness are now becoming my natural states of mind.
Every day I am becoming more and more lovable and understanding.
I will be center of cheer and goodwill to all those around me, infecting them with my good spirits.
This happy, joyous, and cheerful mood is now becoming my normal, natural state of mind. I am grateful "

 After a month, his wife and his coworkers remarked on how much easier he was to get along with.

 The things that drive you crazy are actually giant opportunities. The people who press your buttons are actually your greatest teachers. The issues that make you angry are actually your biggest gifts. Be grateful to them. Love them.
The people or circumstances that take you out of your power have extraordinary value: they reveal your limiting beliefs, fears and false assumptions. The celebrated psychologist Carl Jung once said: "Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." Powerful point. The things that irritate, annoy and anger you are entry points into your evolution and elevation as a human being. They are signposts for what you need to work on and the fears you need to face. They are gifts of growth. You can blame the people who trigger you and make it all about them. Or you can do the wise thing and look deeply into yourself to discover the reason for your negative reaction. Use the challenges to grow self-awareness. Because how can you overcome a fear you are not even aware of? And how can you transcend an insecurity you don't even know you have?
As you begin to shed light on your personal weaknesses and take responsibility for them, you actually begin the very process of shedding them. You become stronger. More powerful. You begin to see the world through a different set of eyes.

Kindness...timely display..!

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry.

He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house.
However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. 

She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large
glass of milk He drank it slowly, and then asked, "How much do I owe you?""You don't owe me anything," she replied "Mother has taught us never to accept payment for a kindness."

He said... "Then I thank you from my heart." 
As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt; stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit. Years later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease. Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation.
When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room. Dressed in his doctor's gown he went in to see her. 

He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation
room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day he gave special attention to the case. After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval.

He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room. She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally, she looked, and something caught her attention on the side as she read these
words...... 

"Paid in full with one glass of milk." (Signed) Dr. Howard Kelly.
Tears of joy flooded her eyes & happy heart.
****


(.....A collection from one of the  mails I got )

The Present

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs.His bed was next to the room’s only window.
The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.
The men talked for hours on end.
They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their
involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.
Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up,
he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.
The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods
where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity
and color of the world outside.
The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans
played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young
lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.
As the man by the window described all this in exquisite details, the
man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine
this picturesque scene.
One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Days, weeks and months passed.
One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only
to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep.
She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away
As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be
moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.
Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his
first look at the realworld outside.He strained to slowly turn to look
out the window beside the bed.It faced a blank wall.
The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased
roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window.
The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.
She said, ‘Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.’

Epilogue:
There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled. If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can’t buy.

‘Today is a gift, that is why it is called The Present".

(A collection from my emails, shared by my friends)

WHAT IS MOTIVATION

An excerpt from one of the mails i've received..

WHAT IS MOTIVATION

When I woke up this morning lying in bed, I was asking myself;
What are some of the secrets of success in life?
I found the answer right there, in my very room.

The Fan said ... Be cool
The Roof said .... Aim High
The window said .... See the world
The Clock said .... Every minute is precious
The Mirror said.... Reflect before you act
The Calendar said.... Be up-to-date
The Door said... Push hard for your goals
And GOD said
HAVE FAITH IN ME

***

Carry a Heart that Never Hates.
Carry a Smile that Never Fades.
Carry a Touch that Never Hurts.

NAIL IN THE FENCE

Once there was a little boy who had a bad temper.

His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

On first day, the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence.

Over the next few weeks, as the boy learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.
Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all.

He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.
The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.

He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger,they leave a scar just like this one. You can puta knife in a man and draw it out.It won't matter how many times you say "I'm sorry", the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.Friends are very rare jewels, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share words of praise and they always want to open their hearts to us."

Please forgive me if I have ever left a hole...!

The Other Side

"A Father was reading a magazine and his little daughter every now and then distracted him. To keep her busy, he tore one page on which was printed the map of the world. He tore it into pieces and asked her to go to her room and put them together to make the map again. He was sure she would take the whole day to get it done.
But the little one came back within minutes with perfect map.
When he asked how she could do it so quickly, she said, 'Oh… Dad, there is a man's face on the other side of the paper. I made the face perfect to get the map right."" she ran outside to play leaving the father surprised.."


Moral : There is always the other side to whatever we experience in this world. Whenever we come across a challenge or a puzzling situation, look at the other side...You will be surprised to see an easy way to tackle the problem... !

Working with Detachment

It’s the action, not the fruit of the action that’s important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.
Quoted by : Mahatma Gandhi
inspired by Bhagavadgita

LIFE

Read Somewhere...
To make money we lose our health,
and then to restore our health we lose our money..
We live as if we are never going to die,
and we die as if we never lived...

And to add.. a line from Orkut.
" Study as if you were to live forever.
Live as if you were to die tomorrow"

WHAT IS SUCCESS

WHAT IS SUCCESS
What is Success ?
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people
And the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics
And endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beuty;
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by
A healthy child, a garden patch
Or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed
Easier because you have lived;
This is to have succeed.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

The lines look simple .. but to achieve such success, we have to have enormous conviction, tremendous insight and courage to change the distorted views of success which are harbouring in our minds so far...
I would like to share few words from my story, "గెలుపు"
(ఈనాడు 04-11-1999 ఆదివారం సంచికలో ప్రచురితమయింది- ఆర్థర్ గోర్డాన్ ప్రేరణతో వ్రాసిన కథ అది)
" ఓ ప్రభూ
ఇంతకాలం ప్రపంచాన్ని గెలవాలనుకొన్నాను
కాని ఇపుడు
అంతకంటే ఆనందం కలిగించే పని చేశాను.
అది..
నన్ను నేను గెలవడం "

(to read it : click here to download the pdf file)

Letter from Dr. Devi Shetty

Dr. Devi Shetty needs no introduction. Recently, he has written a letter to the 4000 children who have undergone free heart surgery under his care.
(About Dr Devi Shetty : Devi Prasad Shetty is an Indian philanthropist and a renowned cardiac surgeon.He is originally from the erstwhile Kinnigoli, South Kanara District of Karnataka state in India (now divided into Dakshina Kannada and Udupi District). After completing his graduate degree in Medicine and post-graduate work in General Surgery from Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, he trained in cardiac surgery at Guys Hospital in the United Kingdom. He returned to India in 1989 and initially worked at B.M. Birla Hospital in Kolkata in Eastern India. Later, he moved to Bangalore and started the Manipal Heart Foundation at Manipal Hospital, Bangalore. In 2002, Shetty founded Narayana Hrudayalaya (NH), a multi-specialty hospital in Bommasandra on the outskirts of Bangalore City (Karnataka State) in South India)

A LETTER TO 4000 CHILDREN WITH A SCAR ON THE CHEST

My Dear Children:
I have been planning to write this letter for quite some time. May be I just waited for you all to grow up to understand what I am trying to convey. The story goes back many years. When God sent you to this world it was perhaps the best thing that had happened to your parents. Every little nudges and kicks in your mother's womb opened up a new world of happiness and expectations. Then one day, a miracle happened...You were to begin a new journey. From the warm, happy, secure world of your mother's womb to a world that is cold and full of insecurities. Nevertheless, the joy that your parents felt after this journey knew no bounds.. They were on top of the world. But, unfortunately, this happiness was very short lived. That very day you started turning blue in colour. The doctors had found a hole in your heart that shattered the dreams of your parents. They were devastated and could not understand why they were being punished in this way. They had no choice but to accept the inevitable reality and decided to give you the best possible medical care.
Before that they had to overcome two major hurdles. They could not afford the cost of your heart operation and they could not wait since you were turning blue every time you cried. I guess this is a penalty you have to pay for being born in a third world country. Yes, when you were ten days old you had a price tag on your life. If your parents paid the price, they can have you, if not you would have to go back to where you came from. Your mummy and daddy went through phases of self-pity, denial, mutual accusations and anger towards the society, which was indifferent to their problems. Your daddy was most upset since he knew that the price tag on your life was less than what his boss would spend on a Saturday evening party. But that is life and one has to accept it. Time was running out and your daddy was getting desperate until he came to know about me. The first thing he told me when we met was "I heard you love children". Yes, I love children and I have four of my own. My profession is giving hope to people suffering from heart diseases and giving them a chance to start life in a fresh new way. I am essentially a technician who can cut and stitch people's heart; they call me a heart surgeon.
When I met you first you were barely 10 days old, cuddled in a warm blanket close to your mother's heart. Except for a bit of rapid breathing and bluish nails on your finger, you looked like an angel. I am sure you cannot remember but I asked you a question "do you want to be my friend"? This is the question I ask all the children I see. I did want to be your friend and I worked so hard to gain your friendship. I clearly remember your mother's face when she was handing you over to the operation theatre nurse. She kissed you and looked at my face with an ex-pression that she is handing over her most precious possession to me; also with the total confidence that I will take care of you. It was a different sort of love triangle between your father, mother and myself with you at the centre. We would have done any thing in this world to get you back. It took me six hours of intense concentration to operate upon your heart and so many sleepless nights before you started smiling again. God was kind to you that time and you made a marvelous recovery. It was a big day for your family when you were being discharged from the hospital. Both your mummy and daddy would have thanked me a million times before they left the hospital. But they didn't have to tell me anything since I knew every word what they wanted to say. Tears of joy rolled down their cheeks. But you were blissfully unaware of what was going on clinging on to your mother's chest. My eyes began to swell with tearsand I turned my face the other way since a cardiac surgeon is not supposed to cry. Through the corner of my wet eyes I saw your face one more time and I knew I found one more friend. Your friendship and love is the only fee I expect for treating you.
As a heart surgeon I have performed more than 4000 operations on children like you suffering from heart disease. Most of them came from poor families.Despite their backgrounds, I treat all for free. I think this is the best way I can repay God who has given me everything I wanted, a good family, a wonderful wife and loving children. For me this world is such a happy place to live in and in my own small way I strive hard to make it happy for others around me who are not so fortunate.
You must be wondering what inspired me to take this path.I guess, I became a doctor because of the recurrent illness of my parents.My childhood was spent with the fear of losing my mother. My father who was a diabetic had multiple episodes of diabetic coma. In the life of the nine of us God was a distant image and his clear image was that of Doctor who could save the lives of our parents.
Another childhood incident left a lasting impression on my young mind. I remember, it was a Saturday afternoon; I was trying to build a car, I think, out of matchboxes and sticks, like all the other children in my village. My mother was speaking to a distant relative of ours in Bombay. This lady was telling my mother about a particular surgeon who apart from saving her child's life also offered his service completely free of cost. I could hear my mother blessing the mother of that surgeon for giving birth to such a wonderful person and ended up saying that this world is still a wonderful place because of people like him.

That was the time I found the purpose to my life, the purpose of bringing happiness to all the children of this world. I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time.I was trained to be a heart surgeon at Guy's Hospital, London. My colleagues there called me an "operating machine" since I loved heart surgery.

I left England in 1989 to start a state-of-the-art heart hospital called BM Birla Heart Research Centre at Calcutta. It was a great experience to set up a heart hospital, which soon became one of the best heart hospitals in India. And almost immediately after we set up the research centre we started the pediatric cardiac surgical facilities to take care of children suffering from heart diseases. Little did I know that this centre was to rewrite medical history? My mother at that time was living in a small town near Mangalore. It was my father's death anniversary and she spent almost the entire day in the prayer room. In the evening, my sister who was watching the news at the national network, all of a sudden screamed out for my mother. My mother hurried to the living room to see her son on TV with a nine day old baby who underwent a successful open-heart surgery.He was the youngest baby at that point of time in India to undergo a successful open-heart surgery. It was the beginning of heart surgery on newborn babies in India. I guess at that time many mothers too would have prayed for my mother's well being.
Let me tell you about another incident.Do you know the definition of a paediatric cardiac surgeon?The dictionary says he is a surgeon who specializes in the treatment of heart ailments in children.A few years ago, when Mother Teresa suffered a heart attack I was put in charge of her heart care. One day, Mother, who at that point of time was convalescing in the intensive care unit of the hospital, saw me examining a blue baby. After few minutes of thought she turned towards me and said; "Now I know why you are here. To relieve the agony of children with heart disease, God sent you to this world to fix it". To my mind, this is the best definition ever given of a paediatric cardiac surgeon and perhaps the best compliment that I have ever received.

One day you will become an adult and probably a very important member of our society. You will have lot of responsibilities and commitments. All I ask you for is, can you spare few moments of your precious time every day for someone who needs it? And that too without expecting anything back in return. Do you know, to save your life, a few hundred people worked sincerely without expecting any remuneration other than the joy of making your family, friends and relatives happy?

Dear children, we are all creation of the God and He is in control of all the events happening in this world. Unfortunately he is not supposed to be seen, heard or felt.So, he runs this world using people like you and me. And when you do your work without expecting anything in return, just for the joy of bringing happiness to others, that's when you'll realize it is not your hands, which do the job, it is the hands of God.

Yours lovingly,
(Dr. Devi Shetty)

Have a nice time...

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said:

'I am blind, please help.'

There were only a few coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, 'Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?'

The man said, 'I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way'.

What he had written was:

'Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it.'

Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?

Of course both signs told peop le the boy was blind.
But the first sign simply said the boy was blind.
The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story:
Be thankful for what you have.
Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively.



Have A Nice Time ...............

FAMILY

From one of the mails i have received recently :

F A M I L Y

I ran into a stranger as he passed by,
'Oh excuse me please' was my reply.
He said, 'Please excuse me too;
I wasn't watching for you.'

We were very polite, this stranger and I.
We went on our way and we said goodbye.

But at home a different story is told,
How we treat our loved ones, young and old.
Later that day, cooking the evening meal,
My son stood beside me very still.

When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.
'Move out of the way,' I said with a frown.

He walked away, his little heart broken.

I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.

While I lay awake in bed,
God's still small voice came to me and said,

'While dealing with a stranger,
common courtesy you use,
but the family you love, you seem to abuse.
Go and look on the kitchen floor,
You'll find some flowers there by the door.

Those are the flowers he brought for you.
He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue..

He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,
you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes.'
By this time, I felt very small,
And now my tears began to fall.

I quietly went and knelt by his bed;

'Wake up, little one, wake up,' I said.

'Are these the flowers you picked for me?'

He smiled, 'I found 'em, out by the tree.
I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.
I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue.'

I said, 'Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today;
I shouldn't have yelled at you that way..'

He said, 'Oh, Mom, that's okay.
I love you anyway.'

I said, 'Son, I love you too,
and I do like the flowers, especially the blue.'

FAMILY

Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company
that we are working for could easily replace us in
a matter of days.
But the family we left behind will feel the loss
for the rest of their lives.
And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more
into work than into our own family,
an unwise investment indeed,
don't you think?
So what is behind the story?

Do you know what the word FAMILY means?

FAMILY =

(F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU

Perspective on life

This is one of the inspiring mails i have received recently.
One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.
They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.
"Oh yeah," said the son.
"So, tell me, what you learned from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered:
"I saw that we have one dog and they had four.
We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.
We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night...
Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.
We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.
We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.
We buy our food, but they grow theirs.
We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them."
The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added,
"Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.
Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends!