EVERYONE HAS POTENTIAL...

A small story for you

A poor boy loved a rich girl. One day the boy proposed to her and the girl said, “Hey! Listen, your monthly salary is my daily hand expenses. How can I be involved with you? How could you have thought of that? I can never love you. So, forget about me & get engaged to someone else at your level”.

But somehow the boy could not forget her so easily. Sometime 10 years later, they stumbled into each other in a shopping mall. The lady said, “Hey! You! How are you? Now I'm married and do you know how much my husband's salary is? $17,000 per month! Can you believe that? And he is also very smart.” The guy's eyes got wet with tears on hearing those words.

A few seconds later, her husband came but before the lady could say a word, her husband seeing the guy, said, “Sir you are here? Meet my wife.” Then he said to his wife, “This is my boss, I'm also one of those working on his $100 million project. And do you know a fact my dear? My boss loved a lady but he couldn't win her heart. That's why he has remained unmarried. How lucky would that lady have been if she had married him? These days, who will love someone that much?” he said to his wife.

The lady looked in total shock but couldn't utter a word.

Life is so short and it's just like a mirror. You can only see as much as it reflects. So don't be too arrogant and proud of yourself by looking down on people because situations change with time! Nobody knows about tomorrow! Don't under estimate anyone, because EVERYONE HAS POTENTIAL...

Why do you need a guru?

People generally go to guru, "Sir, I have got some pain. Give me some ashirvad so that my pain may be cured." "But why you have come here for curing your pain? You can go to some doctor, or you can take some tablet. Is it the purpose of coming to guru?" But generally they come to guru and ask for blessing for some material benefit. It is not the guru's task to supply gold and medicine. Not that "I have got some pain here, I have some trouble or some..." These are not problems. This problem one should tolerate. They do not know what is the problem of life and why go to guru. And the so-called gurus also take advantage of this ignorance of the public. The guru does not know what is his responsibility, and the public do not know what for one should go to guru. This is the difficulty. You should be intelligent. Why do you accept so many cheaters as guru? First of all you know what is the subject matter of knowledge. Just like if you want to become a carpenter, you should go to an expert carpenter. If you want to be a medical man, you must approach the medical college. So first of all, you do not know what you want. Therefore you get so many cheaters. You do not know what is the aim of human life. To be happy? You do not know what is happiness. Your happiness is that you do not like to die: but you die. You do not like to become old man: you become old. This is unhappiness. Intelligence is that "I do not want death. Why death comes upon me?" This knowledge will lead you to understand what is happiness.

Ref: Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.18- Vrndavana, November 6, 1976

Paradox of our time in history

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.

Are we going to take some time to think where we are up to??

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God is missing...!!!

There were two little boys, 8 and 10 years old, very mischievous and naughty. They were always get into trouble and their parents knew that, if any mischief occurred in their city, their sons were probably involved.

Boy's mother heard that a clergyman in city had been successful in disciplining children, so she asked if he would speak to her boys. The clergyman agreed, but asked to see them individually. So the mother sent her 8-year-old first, in the morning and 10-year-old in the afternoon to see the clergyman .

The clergyman, sat the younger boy down and asked him sternly, "Where is God?".

They boy's mouth dropped open, but he made no response, sitting there with his mouth hanging open, wide-eyed. So the clergyman repeated the question in an even sterner tone, "Where is God!!?" Again the boy made no attempt to answer. So the clergyman raised his voice even more and shook his finger in the boy's face and bellowed, "WHERE IS GOD!?"


The boy screamed and bolted from the room, ran directly home and dove into his closet, slamming the door behind him. When his older brother found him in the closet, he asked, "What happened?"

The younger brother, gasping for breath, replied, "We are in BIG trouble this time, dude. God is missing - and they think WE did it!"

IF YOUR MANAGEMENT HAS DECIDED TO SCREW YOU, THERE IS NO ESCAPE..... ... :-)

Hope you like this...





Once PVNR (PV Narasimha Rao), L.K.Advani and Laloo Prasad Yadav were
travelling in an autorickshaw. They met with an accident and all three of
them died.
Yama Raja was waiting for this moment at the doorstep of death.

He asks PVNR and Advani to go to HEAVEN.

But, for Laloo, Yama had already decided that he should be sent to HELL.
Laloo is not at all happy with this decision.

He asks Yama as to why this discrimination is being made. All the three of
them had served the public. Similarly, all took bribes, all misused public
positions, etc.

Then why the differential treatment?

He felt that there should be a formal test or an objective evaluation before
a decision is made; and should not be just based on opinion or pre-conceived
notions.



Yama agrees to this and asks all the three of them to appear for an English
test.

PVNR is asked to spell " INDIA " and he does it correctly.

Advani is asked to spell " ENGLAND " and he too passes.

It is Laloo's turn and he is asked to spell " CZECHOSLOVAKIA ".

Laloo protests that he doesn't know English.

He says this is not fair and that he was given a tough question and thus
forced to fail with false intent.



Yama then agrees to conduct a written test in Hindi (to give another chance
assuming that Laloo should at least feel that Hindi would provide an equal
platform for all three).

PVNR is asked to write "KUTTA BOLA BHOW BHOW". He writes it easily and
passes.

Advani is asked to write "BILLY BOLI MYAUN MYAUN". He too passes.

Laloo is asked to write "BANDAR BOLA GURRRRRR.... ."
Tough one. He fails again.



Laloo is extremely unhappy.

Having been a student of history (which the other two weren't),he now
requested for all the 3 to be subjected to a test in history

Yama says OK but this would be the last chance and that he would not take
any more tests.

PVNR is asked: "When did India get Independence ?". He replied "1947" and
passed.

Advani is asked "How many people died during the independence struggle?".

He gets nervous. Yama asked him to choose from 3 options: 100,000 or 200,000
or 300,000.
Advani catches it and says 200,000 and passes.

It's Laloo's turn now.
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Yama asks him to give the Name and Address of each of the 200,000 who died
in the struggle.
Laloo accepts defeat and agrees to go to HELL.

Moral of the story: IF YOUR MANAGEMENT HAS DECIDED TO SCREW YOU, THERE IS NO ESCAPE..... ... :-)

Think of what you have than what you want

One of the most pervasive and destructive mental tendencies I’ve seen is that of focusing on what we want instead of what we have. It doesn’t seem to make any difference how much we have; we just keep expanding our list of desires, which guarantees we will remain dissatisfied. The mindset that says “I’ll be happy when this desire is fulfilled” is the same mindset that will repeat itself once that desire is met.

We want this or that. If we don’t get what we want we keep thinking about all that we don’t have -- and we remain dissatisfied. If we do get what we want, we simply recreate the same thinking in our new circumstances. So, despite getting what we want, we still remain unhappy. Happiness can’t be found when we are yearning for new desires.

Luckily, there is a way to be happy. It involves changing the emphasis of our thinking from what we want to what we have.
Each time you notice yourself falling into the “I wish life were different” trap, back off and start over. Take a breath and remember all that you have to be grateful for. When you focus not on what you want, but on what you have, you end up getting more of what you want anyway.

Make a note to yourself to start thinking more about what you have than what you want. If you do, your life will start appearing much better than before.

Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita 2.70
A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires—that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still—can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires.

Amitabh Vs Rajnikant !!!!

Rajnikant was bragging to Amitabh Bachchan one day, "You know, I know
everyone.
Just name someone, anyone, and I know them.

Tired of his boasting, Amitabh called his bluff, "OK, Rajini how about
Tom Cruise?"
"Sure, yes, Tom and I are old friends, and I can prove it" Rajini said.

So Rajini and Amitabh fly out to Hollywood and knock on Tom Cruise's
door,
And sure enough, Tom Cruise shouts: ---

"Thalaiva! (my Hero) Great to see you!
You And your friends come right in and join me for lunch!"

...Although impressed, Amitabh is still skeptical.



After they leave Cruise's house,
he tells Rajini that he thinks Rajini knowing Cruise was Just lucky.



"No, no, just name anyone else" Rajini says


.."President Obama", Amitabh quickly retorts


..."Yes", Rajini says,
"I know him."


And off they go.



At the White House, Obama spots Rajini on the tour and motions him,
saying
:----
"Rajini, what a surprise, I was just on my way to a meeting, but you and
your friend come on in and let's have a cup of coffee first and catch
up. Your movie Endiran (Robot) is awesome, I have seen it already 5 times.
Going again with my senate members this weekend. "



Well, Amitabh Bachchan is much shaken by now, but still not totally
convinced.



After they leave the White House grounds, he implores him to name anyone
else.



"The Pope," Amitabh Bachan replies



..."Sure!" says Rajini,
"My folks are from Italy and I've known the Pope a long time".



Rajini and Amitabh are assembled with the masses in Vatican Square when
Rajini says,

"This will never work.
I can't catch the Pope's eye among all these people.
Tell you what, I know all the guards so let me just go upstairs and I'll
come out on the balcony with the Pope."


And he disappears into the crowd headed toward the Vatican ..
Sure enough, half an hour later Rajini emerges with the Pope on the
balcony.


But by the time Rajini returns,
he finds that Amitabh Bachchan has had a heart attack and is surrounded
by paramedics.
Working his way to Amitabh Bachchan's side,


Rajini asks him,
"What happened?"


Amitabh Bachan looks up and says,

"I was doing fine until you and the pope came out on the balcony and the
Italian man next to me asked,

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"Who's that on the balcony with Rajini?"

HOW TO HANDLE BAD NEWS??

At dawn the telephone rings. "Hello, Master Carlos? This is Arnaldo your country house caretaker"

"Ah yes, Mr. Arnaldo. What can I do for you? Is there a problem?"

"Um, I am just calling to advise you, sir, that your parrot died"

"My parrot? Dead? The one that won the competition?"

"That's the one."

"Darn! That's such a pity! I spent a small fortune on that bird. Oh well...what did he die from?"

"From eating rotten meat."

"Rotten meat? Who was so mean as to give him meat?"

"Nobody. He ate the meat of one of the dead horses."

"Dead horse? What dead horse Mr. Arnaldo?"

"Why, those pure breed ones that you had, sir. They died from all that work pulling the water cart."

"Are you insane? What water cart?"

"The one we used to put out the fire."

"Good Lord! What fire are you talking about, man?"

"The one at your house! A candle fell and then the curtain caught on fire."

"What the.....!!! But theres electricity at the house!!!! What was the candle for???"

"For the funeral."

"WHAT BLOODY FUNERAL???!!!!!"

"Your mother's! She showed up one night out of the blue and I thought she was a thief, so I shot her."

Points of wisdom

Don’t make decisions when you are angry.

Don’t expect life to be fair.

Don’t be worried about losing a battle, if it helps you win the war.

Don’t be afraid of saying, “I don’t know” or “I am sorry”.

Loneliness is a state of mind.

Treat everyone as you would like to be treated.

Much of your growth as a person will come through hardships and challenges. Embrace those and know you will be better, stronger and wiser because of them.

Learn to listen, it is an art.

There are no coincidences and no accidents in life. Everything big and small is for a reason. Lord is in control.

Get rid of hatred and bitterness, they do you more harm.

Do one thing at a time and do it well.

Be thoughtful and careful what comes out of your mouth since with those words you create your reality.

Perfection of Life

When one goes to prison he has to put aside his usual dress and take the prison dress. Similarly, anyone who comes into this material world has to take a material body. This is the law. Unless you have this material body, how can you feel pleasure in material sense enjoyment? It is just like performing on stage: if you are going to play a certain part, you have to dress accordingly. Therefore, this material body is compared to a dress. For example, every lady and gentleman; every one of us; has a different dress.

But our dress is superficial. As human beings we are one. Similarly, each one of us has a different bodily dress, but spiritually we are one. And this is true of all living entities: they are in different bodily dresses only.

The dresses are calculated to total 8,400,000 different forms. In the water there are 900,000 different dresses, and there are 2,000,000 different types of trees and plants. There are 1,100,000 species of insects, 1,000,000 types of birds, 3,000,000 types of beasts, and 400,000 forms of human beings. In this way, the living entity is passing through different dresses.

And the best dress is this human form, because in this dress you can understand what God is, what you are, and what your relationship with God is. Then you can act in that relationship and go back home, back to Godhead. In this human form of dress you have developed consciousness.

But if you miss this opportunity to understand God, then again you will be put into the cycle of the evolutionary process. We should not, therefore, misuse this human form. We should utilize it properly to understand the unlimited God and our relationship with Him, and to act on this knowledge. That is the perfection of life.


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Your own moods can be extremely deceptive

They can, and probably do, trick you into believing your life is far worse than it really is.

When you’re in a good mood, life looks great. You have perspective, common sense, and wisdom. In good moods, thing don’t feel so hard, problems seem less formidable and easier to solve. When you’re in a good mood, relationships seem to flow and communication is easy. If you are criticized, you take it in stride.

On the contrary, when you’re in a bad mood, life looks unbearably serious and difficult. You have very little perspective. You take things personally and often misinterpret those around you, as you impute malignant motives into their actions.

Here’s the catch: People don’t realize their moods are always on the run. They think instead that their lives have suddenly become worse in the past day, or even the last hour.

Ignorance is no excuse

At present everyone is suffering due to ignorance, just as one contracts a disease out of ignorance. If one does not know hygienic principles, he will not know what will contaminate him. Therefore due to ignorance there is infection, and we suffer from disease. A criminal may say, "I did not know the law," but he will not be excused if he commits a crime. Ignorance is no excuse. Similarly, a child, not knowing that fire will burn, will touch the fire. The fire does not think, "This is a child, and he does not know I will burn." No, there is no excuse. Just as there are state laws, there are also stringent laws of nature, and these laws will act despite our ignorance of them. If we do something wrong out of ignorance, we must suffer. This is the law. Whether the law is a state law or a law of nature, we risk suffering if we break it.

The guru's business is to see that no human being suffers in this material world. No one can claim that he is not suffering. That is not possible. In this material world, there are three kinds of suffering. These are miseries arising from the material body and mind, from other living entities, and from the forces of nature.

The guru sees that suffering is due to ignorance, which is compared to darkness. How can one in darkness be saved? By light. The guru takes the torchlight of knowledge and presents it before the living entity enveloped in darkness. That knowledge relieves him from the sufferings of the darkness of ignorance.

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Expectations and Frustrations

We have to understand the link between our expectations and our frustration levels. Whenever we expect something to be a certain way and it isn’t we’re upset and we suffer.

On the other had, when we let go of our expectations, when you accept life as it is, we’re free. To hold on is to be serious and uptight. To let go is to lighten up.

A good exercise is to try to approach a single day without expectations. Don’t expect people to be friendly. When they’re not, you won’t be surprised or bothered. If they are, you’ll be delighted.

Don’t expect your day to be problem free. Instead, as problems come up, say to yourself, “Ah, another hurdle to overcome.” As you approach your day in this manner you’ll notice how graceful life can be.

Rather than fighting against life, pretty soon, with practice, you’ll lighten up your entire life.

Grateful when feeling good & graceful when feeling bad

The happier person on earth isn’t always happy. In fact, the happiest people all have their fair share of low moods, problems, and disappointments. Often the difference between a person who is happy and someone who is unhappy isn’t how often they get low, or even how low they drop, but instead, it’s what they do with their low moods. How do they relate to their feelings?

Most people have it backward. When they are feeling down, they roll up their sleeves and get to work. They take their low moods very seriously and try to figure out and analyze what’s wrong. They try to force themselves out of their low state, which tends to compound the problem rather than solve it.

When you observe peaceful, relaxed people, you find that when they are feeling good, they are very grateful. They understand that both positive and negative feelings come and go, and that there will come a time when they won’t be feeling so good. To happy people, this is okay; it’s the way of things. They accept the inevitability of passing feelings. So, when they are feeling depressed, angry, or stressed out, they relate to these feelings with the same openness and wisdom. Rather than fight their feelings and panic simply because they are feeling bad, they accept their feelings, knowing that this too shall pass.

Rather than stumbling and fighting against their negative feelings, they are graceful in their acceptance of them. This allows them to come gently and gracefully out of negative feeling states into more positive states of mind.

The next time you’re feeling bad, instead of panicking, you can be graceful and calm. Know that if you don’t fight your negative feelings, if you are graceful, they will pass away.

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Reason we are tempted to put others down

You have chances to point out to someone their mistakes, things they could or should have done differently, ways they can improve. You have chances to “correct” people, privately as well as in front of others.

However, most of the time, the reason we are tempted to put others down, correct them, or show them how we’re right and they’re wrong is that our ego mistakenly believes that if we point out how someone else is wrong, we must be right, and therefore we will feel better.

Actually, however, if you pay attention to the way you feel after you put someone down, you’ll notice that you feel worse than before the put-down.

Avoid putting others down, correct them, or show them how you are right and how they are wrong. Do it only when it is absolutely necessary and when it is your duty as a parent, guardian or a friend to do so.

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The power of words

A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, "Did you not hear us?" The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

This story teaches two lessons:
1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day.
2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them.

Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. The power of words... it is sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue in difficult times. Special is the individual who will take the time to encourage another.

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Let us shape ourselves first

There was a millionaire who was bothered by severe eye pain. He consulted so many physicians and was getting his treatment done. He did not stop consulting galaxy of medical experts; he consumed heavy loads of drugs and underwent hundreds of injections.

But the ache persisted with great vigor than before. At last a monk who was supposed to be an expert in treating such patients was called for by the millionaire. The monk understood his problem and said that for sometime he should concentrate only on green colors and not to fall his eyes on any other colors. The millionaire got together a group of painters and purchased barrels of green color and directed that every object his eye was likely to fall to be painted in green color just as the monk had directed.

When the monk came to visit him after few days, the millionaire's servants ran with buckets of green paints and poured on him since he was in red dress, lest their master not see any other color and his eye ache would come back.

Hearing this the monk laughed and said "If only you had purchased a pair of green spectacles, worth just a few rupees, you could have saved these walls and trees and pots and all other articles and also could have saved a large share of his fortune. You cannot paint the world green!"

Let us change our vision and the world will appear accordingly. It is foolish to shape the world, let us shape ourselves first.

Let’s change our vision first..!!

Actual fearlessness & freedom from all worries

Death was walking toward a city one morning and a man asked, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to take 100 people." Death replied.

"That's horrible" the man said.

"That's the way it is." Death said. "That's what I do."

The man hurried to warn everyone he could about Death's plan.

As evening fell, he met Death again. "You told me you were going to take 100 people," the man said, "Why did 1,000 die?"

"I kept my word" Death responded. "I only took 100 people. Worry took the other...."

Worry is, and always will be, a fatal disease, for its beginning signals the end of faith. Worry intrudes on God's compassionate ability to provide & protect us. When we allow our problems to overshadow God's promises, we unknowingly, doom ourselves to defeat.

That was never part of God's eternal plans. Release the regrets of yesterday and refuse the fears of tomorrow.

Although the time factor is fearful to everyone, fear personified is afraid of the Supreme Lord, who is therefore known as abhaya, fearless. Taking shelter of the Supreme Lord brings actual fearlessness & freedom from all worries. - Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.9.21

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We Simply Wait for Our Chance to Speak

If you observe the conversations around you, you’ll notice that, often, what
many of us do is simply wait for our chance to speak. We’re not really
listening to the other person, but simply waiting for an opening to express
our own view. We often complete other people’s sentences, or say things
like, “Yeah, yeah,” or “I know,” very rapidly, urging them to hurry up so
that we can have our turn.

This harried form of communication encourages us to criticize points of
view, overreact, misinterpret meaning, and form opinions, all before
ourfellow communicator is even finished speaking. No wonder
we are so often annoyed, bothered, and irritated with one another.
Sometimes, with our poor listening skills, it’s a miracle that we have any
friends at all!

You’ll be pleasantly amazed at the softer reactions and looks of surprise as
you let others completely finish their thought before you begin yours.
Often, you will be allowing someone to feel listened to for the very first
time. You will sense a feeling of relief coming from the person to whom you
are speaking – and a much calmer, less rushed feeling between the two of
you.

No need to worry that you won’t get your turn to speak --- you will. In
fact, it will be more rewarding to speak because the person you are speaking
to will pick up on your respect and patience and will begin to do the same.

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Tips for keeping Good Health

Take 10 - 30 minutes walk everyday.

Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is
manufactured in plants. Take more of sprouts and salads.

Drink plenty of water.

Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.

Forget issues of the past. Don't remind yourself of mistakes of the past.
That will ruin your present happiness.

Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control.

Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply
part of the curriculum that appear and fade but the lessons you learn will
last a lifetime.

Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.

Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is
all about.

What other people think of you is none of your business.

However good or bad a situation is, it will change.


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