The House is on Fire....

A man who has gone out of his town comes back and finds that his house is on fire.    

It was one of the most beautiful houses in the town, and the man loved the house the most! Many were ready to give double price for the house, but he had never agreed for any price and now it is just burning before his eyes.

And thousands of people have gathered, but nothing can be done, the fire has spread so far that even if you try to put it out, nothing will be saved. So he becomes very sad.

His son comes running and whispers something in his ear:

"Don't be worried. I sold it yesterday and at a very good price ― three times.

The offer was so good I could not wait for you. Forgive me."

Father said, "thank God, it's not ours now!" Then the father is relaxed and became a silent watcher, just like 1000s of other watchers.

Please think about it!

Just a moment before he was not a watcher, he was attached.

It is the same house....the same fire.... everything is the same...but now he is not concerned. In fact started enjoying it just as everybody else in the crowd.

Then the second son comes running, and he says to the father, "What are you doing? You are smiling ― and the house is on fire?" The father said, "Don't you know, your brother has sold it."

He said, "We have taken only advance amount, not settled fully. I doubt now that the man is going to purchase it now."

Again, everything changes!!

Tears which had disappeared, have come back to the father's eyes, his smile is no more there, his heart is beating fast. The 'watcher' is gone. He is again attached.

And then the third son comes, and he says, "That man is a man of his word. I have just come from him. He said, 'It doesn't matter whether the house is burnt or not, it is mine. And I am going to pay the price that I have settled for. Neither you knew, nor I knew that the house would catch on fire.'"

Again the joy is back and family became 'watchers'! The attachment is no more there. Actually nothing is changing!

Just the feeling that "I am the owner! I am not the owner of the house!" makes the whole difference.

The Moral : This simple methodology of watching the mind, That you have nothing to do with it.

Everything starts with a Thought!

Most of the thoughts are not yours but from your parents, your teachers, your friends, the books, the movies, the television, the newspapers.

Just count how many thoughts are your own, and you will be surprised that not a single thought is your own. All are from other sources, all are borrowed ― either dumped by others on you, or foolishly dumped by yourself upon yourself, but nothing is yours.

Sow a thought, you reap an action.

Sow an act, you reap a habit.

Sow a habit, you reap a character.

Sow a character, you reap a destiny..!"

The Balloon......

A group of 50 people attended a seminar. 
Suddenly the speaker stopped and started giving each person a balloon. 
Each one was asked to write his/her name on it using a marker.  

Then all the balloons were collected and put in another room. 
Now these delegates were let in that room and asked to find the balloon which had their respective names written on within 5 minutes. 
Everyone was frantically searching for their names, pushing and colliding with each other, and there was utter chaos. 
At the end of 5 minutes, no one could find their own balloons. 
Now each one was asked to randomly collect a balloon and give it to the person whose name was written on it. 
Within minutes everyone had their own balloons. 
The speaker began: This is exactly what is happening in our lives. 
Everyone is frantically looking for happiness all over the place, not knowing where it is. 
Our happiness lies in the happiness of other people. 
Help them Find their happiness and you will get your own happiness too. 
And this is the purpose of human life... Learn to put a smile on someone's face, and you will also smile in due course.​ God bless you all.

Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar

I was waiting in line for a ride at the airport in Dubai. When a cab pulled up, the first thing I noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for me.

He handed me a laminated card and said: 'I'm Abdul, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.'

Taken aback, I read the card. It said: Abdul's Mission Statement:

To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew me away. Especially when I noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Abdul said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.'

I said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.'

Abdul smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, lassi, water and orange juice.'

Almost stuttering, I said, 'I'll take a Lassi.'

Handing me my drink, Abdul said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The NST , Star and Sun Today.'

As they were pulling away, Abdul handed me another laminated card, 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.'

And as if that weren't enough, Abdul told me that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for me.

Then he advised me of the best route to my destination for that time of day. He also let me know that he'd be happy to chat and tell me about some of the sights or, if I preferred, to leave me with my own thoughts.

'Tell me, Abdul ,' I was amazed and asked him, 'have you always served customers like this?'

Abdul smiled into the rear view mirror. "No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard about POWER OF CHOICE one day."

Power of choice is that you can be a duck or an eagle.   

'If you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. Stop complaining!'

'Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.'

'That hit me. really hard' said Abdul.

'It is about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes, slowly ... a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.'

'I take it that it has paid off for you,' I said.

'It sure has,' Abdul replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on it.'

Abdul made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like a duck and start soaring like an eagle.

Start becoming an eagle today ... one small step every week..next week... And next...And....

A great Thought..

"You don't die if you fall in water, you die only if you don't swim.

Thats the Real Meaning of Life.

Improve yourself and your skills in a different way.

Be an eagle. .not a Duck.

Lions never bother about the flies

Flies are flies. They don't spare anyone, not even the king of the jungle. And these flies bother the king especially when, it is just sitting and doing nothing. ..           

But lions are just not bothered about them. They will simply lift their tail once in a while, swing it this way or that way, to make the flies, fly away  and then just forget about them. 

Just imagine, what will happen if a lion decides to teach a lesson to these troublesome flies by trying to catch them and then kill them. 

Obviously, firstly he will have to forget that he is a king , instead he would need to act like a monkey  and then just run after these flies to catch them and kill them. 

Will he ever be able to do so. Of course not. Why?  Because most of the flies are near its tail and hence if the lion has to catch these flies, he will need to reach his head closer to his tail, which obviously he cannot. And even if he could do that, he would still not be able to catch the flies because of the unique shape of it's  head and mouth. 

So in case if a lion decides to kill the flies, he will keep running in circles, going round and round, reach nowhere, start looking funny and finally collapse out of frustration. 

Sometimes, this is what exactly happens in our lives too. There are so many small small things (flies) happening in our life and bothering us. And what do we do?  We forget as to what our life goal is, instead we start wasting our time and energy on them. In the end, we miss our goal, reach no where, and finally collapse out of frustration, because it is just not possible to catch those flies. 

And remember, these flies bother the lion, only when he is lying dormant. But when the lion is in action, up and running, these flies do not come anywhere close to the lion and they can't also. 

So what to do. Just be aware of the fact that flies do bother a lion, but only when he is sitting idle, dormant and in an inactive state. 

But when he is active, up and running, the flies never come any close to him. 

Therefore, remain fully active, focused on your goal and these small small problems (flies) will stop troubling you and you will be able to realise your main Goal. 

And always remember, "Lions never bother about the flies"