Motivational Quotes - 2

• Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.

         Charles R. Swindoll

• In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can. 

           Nikos Kazantzakis

• It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.

           Confucius

• Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later. 

           Og Mandino

• It always seems impossible until it's done.

              Nelson Mandela

• We should not give up and we should not allow the problem to defeat us. 

           A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

• Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines. 

                 Robert H. Schuller

• You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. 

                   Les Brown



Cheers...............

Teachers Day : Significance..........(Why do we celebrate it on September 5?)

Why do we celebrate it on September 5?

First Teachers' Day was celebrated in India in 1962. This is the year when Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan began serving as the second president of India. To celebrate his esteemed position, his students suggested that his birthday be celebrated as 'Radhakrishnan Day'.

Every year, on September 5, classrooms across India fill up with greeting cards, chocolates, flowers and performances as student showcase what their teachers mean to them. We all appreciate the vital role that teachers play in shaping the future, but do we really know why we celebrate Teachers’ Day?

The first Teachers’ Day was celebrated in India in 1962. This is the year when Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan began serving as the second president of India. To celebrate his esteemed position, his students suggested that his birthday be celebrated as ‘Radhakrishnan Day’.

However, he declined this move and suggested that “Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my proud priviledge if September 5 is observed as Teachers’ Day.”

Radhakrishnan was born in 1882 in a town called Tirutani in Andhra Pradesh. Though his father wanted him to take on the role of a priest, the boy’s talents brought him to join schools in Tirupati and Vellore. He eventually joined Christian College, Madras, in order to study philosophy.

He believed that the study of Indian philosophy and its interpretation in western terms would cast off imperial inferiority complex and give countrymen a new sense of esteem. As a professor at the Presidency College in Madras and the University of Calcutta, he was popular among students and was seen as an evocative teacher.

He later served as the Vice Chancellor of both Andhra University and Banaras Hindu University and was recognised by Oxford University when he was called to fill the Chair of Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions. In 1939, he was elected Fellow of the British Academy.

“He has served his country in many capacities. But above all, he is a great teacher from whom all of us have learnt much and will continue to learn. It is India’s peculiar privilege to have a great philosopher, a great educationist and a great humanist as her President,” Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru once said on Radhakrishnan.

He became the first Vice President of India in 1952 and took on the role as the nation’s second Prsident in 1962 until 1967.

Radhakrishnan was awarded India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1984 and the British Order of Merit in 1963. He passed away on April 17, 1975 and has till date been nominated eleven times for the Nobel Peace prize.

Despite all his achievements and contributions, Radhakrishnan remained a teacher throughout his life. Teachers’ Day is celebrated to honour the memory of India’s first Vice President and to commemorate the importance of teachers in our lives.

Cheers.................................

Ganesh Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chaturthi Wishes to All

Ganesh Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chaturthi, the birthday of Lord Ganesha, is one of the most popular Hindu festivals celebrated throughout India and by Hindu around the world. Ganesh Utsav falls on the fourth day of the bright fortnight of the month Bhadrapada (August-September). The origin of Ganesh Chaturthi also explains why Ganesha has an elephant head.

According to Hindu Mythology, once Lord Shiva was out hunting with his ‘Ganas’ or attendants. Parvati, Shiva’s consort, was alone and desired to take a bath. But since there were no attendants to guard the entrance of the house, Parvati created a handsome young Ganesha from mud and asked him not to let anyone inside.

Soon, Lord Shiva returned and found an arrogant guard stopping him from entering his house. In a fit of fury, Lord Shiva cut off Ganesha’s head.

When Parvati came to know about the fate of Ganesha, she was overwhelmed with grief and Lord Shiva soon realized the grave mistake had committed in anger. He asked one of his Ganas to bring the head of the first animal he saw sleeping with its head towards north.

The Gana returned with an elephant’s head and Shiva placed it on Ganesha’s body and restored his life.

All these extraordinary events of Parvati creating Ganesha from mud and Lord Shiva chopping Ganesha’s head and replacing it with an elephant’s head took place on the fourth day of the bright fortnight of the month Bhadrapada (August-September).

The large scale public celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi Festival was started by Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1893 in Pune. The main intention of Tilak was to galvanize support for India’s independence movement. The modern day celebrations are a continuation of Tilak’s version of Ganesh Chaturthi festival.

HAPPY VINAYAKA CHATURTHI...........................

The Power of Concentration

The Power of Concentration If concentrating sunrays through a magnifying glass could cause a piece of paper to burn, imagine what could happen if all the powers of your mind could be focused on any one thing. Your life is controlled on what you focus on. If you focus on problems you’ll have more problems, but when you focus on possibilities you’ll have more opportunities.  How do you make up your mind to concentrate on the job in hand, when our mind wanders to distant thoughts?

·  How do you conserve your energy and not let it dissipate on irrelevant notions?

·  The needle of concentration is supposed to be sharp for all individual who want success- students, researchers, doctors, businessmen, etc.

 How many times have you thought of going to the gym, but not get up in the morning?

·  How many times have you thought of quitting smoking, but ended up finishing a whole pack?

·  How many times have you thought of finishing the racing track in a minute, but have never achieved the target?

·  How many times have you thought, but your actions haven’t been mastered by your thoughts?

·  The mind resists discipline- you will be tempted to quit, postpone the task or feel too lazy.

·  Master your mind or let it overpower you, controlling you instead.

 Let’s find out what your body actually needs-some mental exercises, to put your mind into a proper place. If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing to do is wake up early in the morning. Find yourself a calm place, where no outside noises can disturb you. Sit down, with your legs crossed and back absolutely straight. Take a couple of deep breaths, relaxing each muscle from the head to the toe for about 20-30 minutes every day. Let happy thoughts come into your mind, think about things that you want to achieve, changes you wish to bring into the society, your family, your friends, yourself. And each time you breathe out, say-“I’m alive.”

 The restless mind Thoughts claim our attention constantly, wasting our time and energy on unimportant and useless matters. They actually, rule our life. We have become so used to this condition that we regard it as natural. While breathing, we do not need to pay attention to each inhalation and exhalation. We become conscious of the process of breathing, only when we have some difficulty with breathing, such as when our nose is clogged, due to a cold, or when we are in an unventilated room. It is the same with thinking.

We become conscious of the constant onslaught of our thoughts, and of our inability to calm them down, only when we need to concentrate, solve a problem or study. We are also acutely aware of them, when we have worries or fears. The benefits of developing the power of concentration There are many benefits to developing the power of concentration.

Here are a few of them: 

·  Control your thoughts.

·  The ability to focus your mind.

·  Peace of mind.

·  Freedom from futile and annoying thoughts.  The ability to choose your thoughts.

·  Better memory.

·  Improved Self-confidence.

·  Inner strength.

·  Stronger Willpower.

·  Decisiveness.

·  The ability to study and comprehend more quickly.  Inner happiness.

·         “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” 

Count Your Blessings............

Count Your Blessings Tiny thoughts...........
Poet: Unknown


Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.
Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes. 

Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.
Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean. 

Count your health instead of your wealth;
Love your neighbour as much as yourself. 

cheers.............

Creative Thinking - Lil story

In a small  town,  a small business owner owed a large sum of money to a loan-Amar. The loan-Amar was a very old, unattractive looking guy that just so happened to fancy the business owner’s daughter.

He decided to offer the businessman a deal that would completely wipe out the debt he owed him. However, the catch was that we would only wipe out the debt if he could marry the businessman’s daughter. Needless to say, this proposal was met with a look of disgust.

The loan-Amar said that he would place two pebbles into a bag, one white and one black.

The daughter would then have to reach into the bag and pick out a pebble. If it was black, the debt would be wiped, but the loan-shark would then marry her. If it was white, the debt would also be wiped, but the daughter wouldn’t have to marry the loan-shark.

Standing on a pebble strewn path in the businessman’s garden, the loan-Amar bent over and picked up two pebbles. Whilst he was picking them up, the daughter noticed that he’d picked up two black pebbles and placed them both into the bag. He then asked the daughter to reach into the bag and pick one.

The daughter naturally had three choices as to what she could have done:

1. Refuse to pick a pebble from the bag.
2. Take both pebbles out of the bag and expose the loan-shark for cheating.
3. Pick a pebble from the bag fully well knowing it was black and sacrifice herself for her father’s freedom.

She drew out a pebble from the bag, and before looking at it ‘accidentally’ dropped it into the midst of the other pebbles. She said to the loan-Amar; Oh ! how clumsy of me. never mind , If you look into the bag for the one that is left ,you will be able to tell which pebble i picked.

The pebble left in the bag is obviously black, and seeing as the loan-amar didn’t want to be exposed, he had to play along as if the pebble the daughter dropped was white, and clear her father’s debt.

Moral of the story : It’s always possible to overcome a tough situation through out of the box thinking, and not give in to the only options you think you have to pick from.

Cheers.............

Being Happy Sayings and Quotes.....

The only thing that will make you happy is being happy with who you are, and not who people think you are.

Goldie Hawn

The talent for being happy is appreciating and liking what you have, instead of what you don't have.      

Woody Allen

The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things.

Henry Ward Beecher

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.     

Frank Tyger

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.     

Denis Waitley

Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.      

Nathaniel Hawthorne

cheers...............

Motivational Quotes by Famous Indian People

• “All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.” 

         Gautama Buddha.

• “The tree laden with fruits always bends low. If you wish to be great, be lowly and meek.” 

          Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

• “We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.” 

        Swami Vivekananda

• “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” 

        Mahatma Gandhi.

• “To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal.” 

      Abdul Kalam

• “The biggest problem in the world today is not poverty or disease but the lack of love and charity and the feeling of being unwanted.” 

        Mother Teresa

• “Winners don’t do different things; they do things differently” 

        Shiv Khera

Quotes About Change

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” 
― Mahatma Gandhi


“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” 
― Leo Tolstoy



“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” 
― Albert Einstein




“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” 
― Barack Obama




“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” 
― Mother Teresa


“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” ~Thomas A. Edison

Cheers...........

HAPPY UGADI 2017

HAPPY UGADI

It is believed that the creator of the Hindu pantheon Lord Brahma started creation on this day - Chaitra suddha padhyami or the Ugadi day. Also the great Indian Mathematician Bhaskaracharya's calculations proclaimed the Ugadi day from the sunrise on as the beginning of the new year, new month and new day. The onset of spring also marks a beginning of new life with plants (barren until now) acquiring new life, shoots and leaves. Spring is considered the first season of the year hence also heralding a new year and a new beginning. The vibrancy of life and verdent fields, meadows full of colorful blossoms signifies growth, prosperity and well-being.

UGADI PACHCHADI 

It is a season for raw mangoes spreading its aroma in the air and the fully blossomed neem tree that makes the air healthy. Also, jaggery made with fresh crop of sugarcane adds a renewed flavor to the typical dishes associated with Ugadi. Ugadi pachchadi is one such dish that has become synonymous with Ugadi. It is made of new jaggery, raw mango pieces and neem flowers and new tamarind which truly reflect life - a combination of sweet, sour and bitter tastes!

Ugadi is celebrated with festive fervor in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. While it is called Ugadi in A.P. and Karnataka, in Maharashtra it is known as "Gudipadava".

KAVI SAMMELANAM

Some find a different way of celebrating the festival. Kavi Sammelanam (poetry recitation) is a typical Telugu Ugadi feature. Ugadi is also a time when people look forward to a literary feast in the form of Kavi Sammelanam. Many poets come up with new poems written on subjects ranging - from Ugadi - to politics to modern trends and lifestyles. 

Practices

The Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Kodava, Tulu and the Konkani diaspora in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa, Tamil Nadu and Kerala celebrate the festival with great fanfare; gatherings of the extended family and a sumptuous feast are 'de rigueur'. The day begins with ritual showers, rubbing the body with perfumed oil, followed by prayers.
Preparations for the festival begin a week ahead. Houses are given a thorough wash. People buy new clothes and items for the festival, decorate the entrance of their houses with fresh mango leaves. The significance of tying mango leaves relates to a legend. It is said that Kartik (or Subramanya or Kumara Swamy) and Ganesha, the two sons of Lord Siva and Parvathi were very fond of mangoes. As the legend goes Kartik exhorted people to tie green mango leaves to the doorway signifying a good crop and general well-being.

It is noteworthy that we use mango leaves and coconuts (as in a Kalasam, to initiate any pooja) only on auspicious occasions to propitiate gods. People also splash fresh cow dung water on the ground in front of their house and draw colorful floral designs.^[2] People offer prayer in temples. The celebration of Ugadi is marked by religious zeal and social merriment. Special dishes are prepared for the occasion. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, eatables such as "pulihora, bobbatlu (Bhakshalu/ polelu/ oligalu), New Year Burelu and Pachadi" and preparations made with raw mango go well with the occasion. In Karnataka too, similar preparations are made but called "puliogure" and "holige".

Special dishes

Bobbattu or Bhakshalu/Holigey -prepared on Ugadi in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, a special dish called Bobbattu (Polelu) (Puran Poli) (Oliga) are prepared on this occasion. This special dish is called Bhakshalu in Telangana. These are eaten along with the Ugadi Pachchadi mentioned earlier. In Karnataka a special dish called Obbattu, or Holige (ಹೋಳಿಗೆ / ಒಬ್ಬಟ್ಟು), is prepared. It consists of a filling (gram and jaggery/sugar boiled and made in to a paste) stuffed in a flat roti-like bread. It is usually eaten hot or cold with ghee or milk topping or coconut milk at some places of Karnataka.

Greetings

In Telugu, the greeting is "kroththa yeta" / "ugadi panduga" palukarimpulu, or "ugadi subhaakankshalu" - "క్రొత్త ఏట" / "ఉగాది పండుగ" పలుకరింపులు, లేదా ఉగాది శుభాకాంక్షలు (Greetings for the festival of ugadi) and "Nutana samvastara shubhaakankshalu" -నూతన సంవత్సర శుభాకాంక్షలు (Greetings on the new year).
In Kannada, the greeting is "Yugadi Habbada Shubhaashayagalu" - ಯುಗಾದಿ ಹಬ್ಬದ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳು (Greetings for the festival of Yugadi) or "Hosa varshada shubhashayagalu" - ಹೊಸ ವರ್ಷದ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳು (Greetings on the new year).

Having a Best Friend

Having a Best Friend

A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.

The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand “Today my best friend slapped me in the face”.

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone “Today my best friend saved my life”.

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?” The other friend replied “When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”

Moral: Do not value the things you have in your life. But value who you have in your life.

cheers...........

12 Steps Towards Happiness

1. Focus on health: the Physical, cosmetic, mental and spiritual health. Be fit, try to look good, feel good and think good!

2. Social connectedness: Real and Virtual. Meet people, interact with others, show up and try to have your own circle of people who make you feel good. Do not isolate yourself!

3. Sense of mastery and satisfaction: Try to have some goals for life and slowly and steadily work towards them. Try to develop a sense of mastery and competency at work and home. Do not run away from hard work.

4. Spirituality, prayer and social service: Try to keep some time for inner reflection and introspection. Search for a higher cause of your existence and develop your own ways towards your spirituality, internal peace and service towards society.

5. New experiences: Seek out new experiences in the form of travel, learning something new, meeting new people and learning to improve one's perspective at looking at the world!

6. Spend time with family and loved ones: Keep aside the busy schedule, push work away sometimes and stay around with family. Family is certainly more important than earning money! Seek that quality time with family!

7. Stop being judgemental of others.Break away the prejudices in your mind! Be genuine and helpful towards all!

8. Work for earning some money for daily and monthly expenses. Work for saving some money for larger investments. But remember money is not everything and does not necessarily follow that simple an equation of more money, more happiness! It is a rather very complex equation!

9. Have a zero conflict policy! Have maximum expectations from self and minimum expectations from others!

10. Develop a strong value based system.Stand up for your choices.

11. Develop alternate thinking pathways! Look at new perspectives! Put in questions such as "So what?", "Why not?", "' Big deal", "It happens; Its life" once in a while when complex events confront you face to face! Try to look at things from an intellectual perspective as well!

12. Try to be creative! Seek out hobbies and interests such as photography, cooking, art, travelling, reading, etc! Keep time for leisure activities and relaxation on a regular basis

This article was originally published on Practo Health Feed by Dr. Darpan Kaur, Psychiatrist

Cheers.................