With a strong will power and determination of Indian Space Scientists enabled themselves to send unmanned space vehicle to the moon. The mission is known as Chandrayaan I. The success of Chandrayaan mission has enthused the ISRO scientists to explore Mars. Now, we are ready to fast track the Mars mission.

The fastest runner in the world is Usain Bolt who is a Jamaican. Though he hailed from a poor country and a humble background, with a strong will power and grit, he has been able to maintain the Numero Uno position in the field of athletics.

Will power acts as a perennial source of energy and power to achieve. The world-famous Bull taming game was recently held at Alanganallur, Madurai district in South India. The popular game is called JalliKattu (bull taming). The participants of the event are not necessarily able-bodied. But they could tame the charging bull with their strong will power and grit. All the bull tamers are greeted with a standing ovation by the audience.
History has time and again proved that a strong willed person could achieve many things.

During the Emergency period in 1975, the Indira Gandhi unleashed tyranny and suppressed the democratic rights of the people of India. At that time, the strong-willed Jayaprakash Narayan took the lead and organized masses across the nation and took on Indira Gandhi government. Ultimately, in the 1977 elections, Indira Gandhi was decimated. Subsequently, Janata Party came to power with the leadership of Morarji Desai. Jayaprakash Narayan’s organizing ability is another good example for the efficacy of will power of a leader.

Indira Gandhi had a strong will power and perseverance. She had a will power to catch the power again. At personal level she was known for her uprightness. With her will power, she campaigned length and breadth of the nation and assumed power in the 1980’s General Elections. She had attained self improvement with her will power. Her administrative capability was boundless which fetched her fame across the globe.

In the early 90’s, Kutraleeswaran a 12 year old boy crossed the Palk Straits, a distance of 16 nautical miles, by swimming. He started at Thalaimannar in Sri Lanka at 6 Am and reached the Indian shoreline at 12 Am. With a strong will power and determination, he was able to achieve such a difficult task.

We all need to remain strong-willed and determined, ready to take on challenges of the real world. Will power can fetch success in personal, professional, social and spiritual fronts.
I’d like to conclude by quoting an age old English proverb, “Where there is a will, there is a way.”

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Art by Sangeeta Suneja

The punctured balloons of belief burst,
on our faces,
the airy dreams do not drizzle,
but fumigate the eyes,
we do not fill those again for a while,
but then, what else one may do,
if not filling a warm air moist,
inflating the balloon,
illuminating the brighter side,
and swinging along taking few buoyant rides,
in the universe, the epitomes of faith, in an another sanguine stride!!

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Achievement in a specific and limited sense may be any and all of these.But does achievement begin or end with any of these? What is the essence of achievement? What is the hallmark of all forms of achievement?

The hallmark and essence of every form of achievement and peak performance, to my mind, is a capacity for complete absorption in the task at hand. The athlete, the surgeon, housewife, the writer, every individual among millions of such individuals on this planet, is at their moment of achievement, absorption and peak performance, completely engrossed in the moment, in the activity at hand. This capacity of the mind for complete absorption enables achievement. Complete absorption is a characteristic of the mind that has the freedom born of total awareness, pure perception, without the division of the observer and the observed. This unitive, total awareness, this complete absorption of the mind, is the source of all achievement everywhere.

The specific nature of the activity is secondary. Whether it is washing the dishes, watering the plants, baking a cake, winning a championship or being a head of state, what characterizes peak performance, excellence, love, effortless ease and supreme contentment is the complete absorption of the mind in the task at hand. This capacity and absorption, moment to moment, every moment of our lives, in all our activities, great and small, in success and failure, in victory and defeat, in honour and dishonour, in prosperity and adversity, in happiness and sorrow, this unbroken absorption of the mind is, to me, the essence and basis of all achievement.

The achievement of wealth, by itself, is an achievement in a limited sense. How that wealth has been earned, how it will be spent and utilized, what effect it has on the individual’s development and the course of his life – all these are as important as the wealth itself. Most important, is there contentment? Is there awareness from moment to moment? Or is the accumulation of wealth, the beginning of the end? Does wealth, its blinding quality, its quality of fostering attachment and greed, will these eventually hamper the individual’s development, his evolution, his growth, his ability to be absorbed and remain absorbed in an activity that gives him pleasure and fosters his inner growth? Wealth, by itself, is neutral. Its use and the effect on the individual’s life and development is the key to its value in his life.

The same holds good for all external symbols of success – status, popularity, fame, recognition etc – do they contribute to the further development of the individual or do they arrest his growth and drag him downhill? Material wealth, rightly earned, is a
byproduct of excellence and ability in some form. Therefore, the individual’s continuing excellence and ability is fundamental.This, however, is not judged merely by his external status symbols.

Is he contented, is he happy, is he peaceful, free from conflict, from the burden of anxieties? Is he wrapped up in his own small world of petty likes and dislikes, pride, prejudice, egoism and so on? Or is he free from these? Does his environment and his external status and achievement further his inner growth or hinder it? Is he following his own thinking, his conscious choice or is he merely acting as a conditioned animal, conditioned to achieve and succeed, a joyless performing machine? These are some of the questions which come to mind.

Wealth springs from virtue. In other words, success is a byproduct of excellence in our chosen field. What is primary, however, is our inner contentment and joy. This comes from continuing challenges, excellence and achievement, from moment to moment. This comes
from awareness of ourselves and our world – people, places, events – awareness and absorption from moment to moment. This awareness and absorption may often be,invisible and meaningless to a society neck deep in superficialities and which glorifies the symbols of success. This society, through conformity, through institutions, through media, through education, through sheer weight of numbers, often subverts the process of self awareness and discovery. These forces foster denial, disownment and self alienation in an effort to achieve mindless conformity and glorify the symbols of success. Herein lies the ultimate challenge for every individual. In a quest for complete self awareness, he stands completely alone.

Finally, the important turnaround comes when a man assesses his own inner world, his mind, the happiness and sorrow there, the success and the failures there and focuses his attention and awareness on these. At this stage, his self development, in external terms, takes a back seat, as he goes to the source of his joys and sorrows, his trials and his tribulations, his own mind.

This turnaround, maybe unseen and unfelt by others, is also development, achievement. A single advance on this steep climb may be a giant achievement, achieved after many failures. Indeed, the slippery slopes of our conditioning, thinking habits, likes and dislikes, pride, prejudice and egoism, our fears, anxieties, insecurities, are much
more treacherous territory than arduous mountain climbing, for the man seeking to be completely aware. Since the challenge is enormous, so will be the achievement.

This achievement has little to do with symbols and externals. However, it will profoundly impact the course of our entire life and every single detail in it. The impact will be far reaching and revolutionary, within ourselves.

How can we become aware of the terrain of our own mind, the steep slopes and ravines, the elation and dejection, likes and dislikes, the dichotomies, the patterns, the whole process of conditioning, the fragmentation, the thought, the seeking, which thwart total
peace, contentment and joy within ourselves here and now? How can our minds know a wholeness which external symbols cannot bring?

Again, there is no method but our own awareness, constant observation, unbroken discrimination, detachment and faith in ourselves, to observe our own minds, understand the processes therein and be free. To me, this freedom born of complete self awareness and understanding is achievement. Achievement, in the final analysis, is not what we have but what we are.

Copyright © Ashok Gollerkeri
Image Courtesy: definedbypassion.tumblr.com

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Hold on for a second. Are you tripping on the wrong skateboard? Just have a look downwards. Turn out what is troubling inside. Perhaps you need a break.
Did you ever feel that you just ducked your head under the mud and kept assuming life too dirty and sticky? Soar truths of self, need to be addressed.
You are not alone in this crisis. Every now and then, we duck our heads in mud.
Perhaps, human nature is like that!
This is the reason why we look for motivational snippets now and then!
May it be an article or a film…
May it be an advice or a discussion…
We sort out things burning inside with some or the other panacea.
Aspects, which trigger the occupation, can be categorized into different types.
However, we do not tend to categorize. We tend to complicate things.
This melancholy shuffles the inner stamina and pulls it down.
Now, what is the remedy for such a still pool?
I would suggest….
Take a break!!!

Insatiable covert
We boast around saying that we are too stable. We do not need an internal brushing up activity. We are all OK! Soul is always an insatiable covert. It needs many nutrients but still acts as if it is well nourished for lifetime. How many of us recognize this very own subject of need?

Measure the intensity
Problems can be solved. The eternal truth that every lock has a key and every problem has a solution stands stern. This absolute truth takes the form of a deed only when the brain is in its original stands.
We do not always recognize the dislocation of thoughts and brain waves until a failure greets us with its villainy laugh.
There, you get either yourself down or try to elevate yourself from the situation. However, did you ever measure the intensity of the problem? Did you ever measure the intensity of the damage caused to the thinking tank?

Mixed results
Sometimes it is worth weighing the thinking tank by its virtues and failures. The origin of failure is linked to the result obtained off late.
What to do to analyze the mixed results?

Dwindling numbers
A cent percent ability carrier, called your life suddenly or slowly starts dwindling. You realize it or not but when it approaches the base line of zero, the intensity of the problem is diagnosed.

Statistics of the body and mind
I trust in the statistics of the body and mind. The graph drawn on a thought will let you know the real statistics of them.

Are you boasting about your ancient success?
Then, you need to look into yourself. Are you boasting about your success stories you achieved long back? Pat your shoulder once but rethink. Where is the contemporary “YOU” and your contemporary success?
Something is wrong then!

Survival is your choice
Nag it or drag it…
Sweep it or brag it…
Walk confident with it or make it feel proud of you
Survival is your choice!

Open the book named “YOU”
It might sound funny. However, sit back and think.
Assume yourself a book. Did you ever try to read “YOU”?
Are you aware of every chapter related to you and your life?
An extensive reader finds it easy to write.
An extensive observer finds it easy to solve problems.

Trafficking of commotions
You might have experienced this in your life. Your commotions might take root in the brain but they are trafficked from one system to the other and finally affect the living.
I am sure you are nodding your head by now in agreement. So, how can we control this trafficking? The innumerable moments that go by without asking our permission leave a mark behind to let us know the eternal truth that “we reap what we sow”

Time for a break!
Yes! Time for a break! Put a stopper on the occupation. Let the daily life go on. However, plan it for a break. Leaving aside all the work and just living life of a sloth does not refer to taking break. Taking a break should have a purpose to be fulfilled.

Before giving a break, we should know for what we are taking a break!

To take rest
Take physical as well as mental rest for a while. Rejuvenate the system with some silence and introspection.

To concentrate
Concentrate on your abilities and plan on activities, which can lessen your drawbacks. Concentrate on the inner senses and try to listen to what they have to say!

To recuperate
Recuperate from the lashes you faced. Feed the nutritious food the brain needs. Learn from the lessons taught.

To spend time with yourself
This is what many of us neglect. Spending time with self is quite necessary.

To analyze
Analyze the life and its activities until now. Write the positive and negative points on your diary. Analyze everything and write down what you did and what you might have done. Imagine the situation in both cases. You will get a clear picture of your future too.

To manufacture new tools
Our existing tools fade away in their capabilities running in accordion with the changing times. These changes need new tools in action. Manufacture them! In addition, yes! Trust me! You are sure to manufacture great missiles!

To mark it as a legendary break, that turned you more efficient.

Independent flow of thoughts is natural. There are no constraints when you take a break. There are no compulsions. You are your own. The serenity you create in the surrounding atmosphere during this period acts as a catalyst to enhance your flow of thoughts. Keep a jotting pad and note down whatever you feel like and whenever you feel like jotting down. Let them be insane but remember that they are coming from the most precious natural flow media called the solitude.

Let this break glue every broken piece!
Let it stick new wings to fly!
Let it germinate into eternal peace!
Let this break take you to the highest sky!

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1. Obstacles might seem like wild animals but in reality they are cowards in front of my courageous glare

Obstacles are formidable in appearance, greater in size and wilder in character in front of our timid and weaker spirit. Obstacles and difficulties are inevitable; however, getting frightened is our choice. Success is not determined by obstacles rather our reaction towards them. Apparently, they may seem gigantic but they crumble or disappear in front of our courageous spirit and unwavering faith.

Japanese engineer and industrialist Soichiro Honda wrote his own success story in spite of obstinate obstacles that consistently fenced around him. He invested his every bit of fortune in his tiny workshop where he would work day in and day out, developing his concept of a piston ring that he dreamed to sell to Toyota Corporation. When he finally presented his invention to Toyota, they rejected it immediately saying it wasn’t worth accepting. His years of consistent hard work, money and energy went in vain. He was laughed at by his fellow student and teachers for his absurd design.
After a lot of additional hard work, he finally got a call from Toyota and was offered the contract. Now he had to build a factory for further work and it was the time when the World War two broke. The Japanese government declined his demand of concrete required for building the factory. Instead of wasting time on regretting, he developed his own techniques to create concrete and continued his work. His building was destroyed twice in heavy bombardment of the war but he stood tall with his courage and dared to repair it. Finally, his factory was completely smashed by earthquake.
Did he give up?

Honda was determined to continue his journey regardless of obstacles by staying focused and standing firm on his principles. After the world war, Japan faced terrific gasoline shortage for which the Japanese had to use alternatives to travel. To get rid of the problem, Honda used a strategy – he created a motorized bike by attaching a small motor to his bicycle to bring food for his family. His motorized bikes became instant hit among his neighbors who requested him to build more such bikes and the demand ever increased. When he decided to establish factory to produce motors, he couldn’t collect enough money to invest. Did he give up here?
He wrote personal letter to 18,000 bicycle shop owners across Japan among which about 5000 owners were convinced by his invention and provided him with the capital. Today, Honda is known to be one of the biggest car-making empires in Japan and has more than 100,000 employees working across the United States and Japan. He beat every obstacle by his perseverance, determination and unwavering faith in his decisions.

2. Distinctive ideas are special gifts but without action these gifts will remain vain ornamentation of mind

Action is of paramount significance as it is an investment for actualizing your vision and delineating your identity of who you are. If your noble intention, desire or brilliant ideas are not translated into action, then they will remain idle possessions, only to embellish your mind to show-off. The secret of reaching your goal is to get started to break the fallacies about intricacy of tasks required to take. It’s action that makes you wiser and determines your importance.

Well-done is far better than well-said. Inch of action is better than masses of theory and speculation. Long-term risk is better than comfortable inaction. The genuine adventurous journey doesn’t start in seeking rather in taking steps towards it. You might have seen and met people who succeeded on the idea which you had in your mind. What’s the difference between them and you – Lack of talent, skill, special gift, technology or opportunity?

Determination to take ACTION is their secret to success. Successful people might not envision the exact destination; they might not have error proof plans to work on; however, they know the significance of taking consistent ACTION. They fail oftentimes but keep trying.

3. Regardless of who I am, I am capable of creating history

If you consider greatest inventions or discoveries, you will end up knowing about the audacious initiations of the greatest creators – Scientists, Philosophers, Artists, Thinkers, and innovators who continued to undertake unique ventures on their unborrowed vision by walking on fire irrespective of consequences. They were little deaf towards the ruthless denunciation or condemnation, a little blind to the difficulties and completely impotent or helpless to their irresistible aspiration for creating something distinctive. Nothing could keep them from putting their confidence and devotion into their ideas.
Be well-equipped with courageous spirit, and never-give-up attitude for the blend of thrilling, fascinating and infuriating experience – consistent rejection, painful reception and unbearable suffering on the way.

German mechanical engineer Karl Friedrich Benz, who is best known as the inventor of the gasoline-powered automobile, was the first person to design a functioning automobile powered by an internal-combustion engine. In 1880, when people couldn’t imagine any carriage without horses, he dreamed of making one. He worked on his concept and designed his first “horseless carriage”- a tiller-controlled three-wheel steel-frame wagon that was powered by an internal combustion engine, and patented his Motor wagon in 1886. His car was largely promoted by his wife Bertha Benz who drew worldwide attention in 1888 by covering the long distance of 100 kilometers in her husband’s invention. If Karl hadn’t worked on the idea, someone else would have worked on it and taken the credit.
We are all no different than Karl and Bertha. We are capable of creating history. It is far better to attempt until the last breath than to celebrate others’ accomplishment on your ideas.

4.The people or difficulties whose influences are stronger on me are chosen by me – it can make me an extraordinarily successful employee or a remarkable boss.

Earnest searching for a scapegoat for your inadequate-self or cursing circumstances might be the optimum strategy for shielding the tender heart from sensing the truth but that momentum luxury ultimately leads you to even more devastating state of confrontation – inability to accomplish your own art by shouldering accountability for every endeavor. People around can only ATTEMPT to construct or destruct you but that’s not a matter of supreme concern; what matters is whether you allow them to progress in their mission. Blaming others surfaces your lack of concentration in your actions.
Indulge in self-reproach and you will feel the great tranquility of heart for not using others’ vehicle to park your blunders and will have time to invest your energy in your distinctive creation.

The Wright brothers were criticized and laughed at their absurd and unrealistic idea of flying. They had been through difficulties, denunciation and defeats and depression but never let anybody’s negative influence rule over them. Finally they succeeded.
Remember, adventurous voyages are always full of treacherous and whimsy weather that sometimes become difficult by some morons who keep popping up to discourage and distract your focus but it is your decision to admit defeat to their indiscretions or bend them to your will.

5. Thanks to my noble failures that invigorated me with distinctive experiences, strength and courage that all together served me towards my eminent accomplishments

Failures are the constant stream of blessings that revitalize you with superior knowledge, enlarged inner vision, audacious spirit, and determination to start more intelligently after every fall. Failure is a magnificent motivating force (positive as well as negative) – you can waste yourself in the inevitable discouragements and disappointments in temporary detour of the force and give up or break the limiting force by striving valiantly, and consistently. When you feel your enthusiasm to be fizzling out, initiate your ‘PERSISTENCE’ to lift up the spirit of the journey of greatest accomplishment.

6. The stronger negative phrases – could have been, might have been, and would or should have been – create the saddest synopsis of a life. Therefore, I strongly refuse to their existence.

Could have been, might have been, and would or should have been are most destructive forces that seduce you to indulge yourself into daydreams. Instead of making preferences, or wishing to accomplish them with determination and actions, you will experience how easy it is to really meet them. Wishing is such a waste of time.

Count how many wishes you make and how many decisions you actually take to achieve them. When you wish for something without taking tough decision and action to achieve it, and experience somebody is enjoying the status of your desire, then a painful conflicting metal situation – desperation for having it but not getting – arises in deep within that often surfaces through your negative reactions on insignificant issues.

7. I am made up of amazing variety of imperfections from which my versatile personality emerges

We are actually made up of a variety of flaws, which is obvious and natural part of existence and nature itself is wonderful interpretation of perfect and ideal state intermingled with beauty and imperfections. We make heaps and tons of silly mistakes upon which we later regret but it’s true we learn series of lessons about ourselves; imperfection is the essence of wholesome beauty. Instead of trying to brush off the flaws clinging to you, stitch them together with noble intension and you will see they will shine like starts in you to make you more precious.

“Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them – every day begin the task anew.” -Saint Francis de Sale

8. I am not a loser; I have just lost something! I am not a failure; I have rather found out the ways that won’t work

‘I am a failure’ and ‘I have failed at something’ are two complete different thing. When you call yourself a loser or a failure, you leave no room for consistent attempts but when you say ‘I have failed at something’ then you can search for other possible ways to achieve your task. Fail again fail better but try again without losing enthusiasm and accomplish it.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” ― Thomas A. Edison
“I didn’t fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.” ― Benjamin Franklin

9. I would prefer choosing my outdated or old fashioned passion than taking up the most attractive career of current trend.

Passion is the most powerful force that propels you with enthusiasm, elevates your soul, and ignites your desperation to accomplish your goals. Find out what is that you are tremendously passionate about and work on it instead of getting lost in the crowd with a profession of current trend.
A flame of desire never ends when you are honestly committed towards your passion. Passion creates freedom when you are imprisoned by your negative perceptions, persuades you to fight against tyrannical defeats and win over your give-up feelings.

“There is no greatness without a passion to be great, whether it’s the aspiration of an athlete or an artist, a scientist, a parent, or a businessperson.” – Anthony Robbins

10. Patience. “He that can have patience, can have what he will.” Benjamin Franklin

Nothing great emerges all of a sudden, it takes time, patience and perseverance to succeed at anything. Mel Fisher, an American treasure hunter, discovered more than $400 million worth gold and silver bullion after seven years of searching for an undersea treasure.

Dasarath majhi, who is best known as the Mountain man, slit a hill apart after persistently hammering it for 22 years to shorten the distance from 50km to 10km between Atri and Wazirganj of Bihar, India.

Jadav Payeng single-handedly transformed the 1,360-acre barren sandbar into a lush green forest with 30 long years of consistent hard work and incredible patience.

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Fauja Singh, Image Courtesy: ESPN

Fauja Singh, an Indian born British centenarian marathon runner, was born in Beas Pind, Jalandhar, Punjab on 1 April 1911 and moved to Britain in the 1960s. He achieved eight world age group records in a single day at the age of 100 at the special Ontario Masters Association Fauja Singh Invitational Meet, held at Birchmount Stadium in Toronto, Canada. Singh set his best time for the full marathon at the 2003 Toronto Marathon by completing it within 5 hours and 40 minutes.

Fauja Singh started his first race in 2000 in London and continued participating in New York, Toronto and many others. In 2011, he became the first centenarian to complete a full marathon by finishing the Toronto’s Waterfront Marathon. His dedication, determination and passion for running took him to the pinnacle of success and fame. He was chosen to serve as a torch bearer at the 2012 Olympics and featured by Adidas in the company’s advertising blitz “Impossible is Nothing” along with greatest athletes David Beckham and Muhammad Ali. He has also appeared in a PETA advertisement for being a vegetarian.
Ironically, despite holding several records and reaching the feat of success, his accomplishments have yet not been recognized by Guinness World Records because he does not have a valid birth certificate; though his passport states his age to be 101.

Singh has already raised thousands of dollars for charity by running and has encouraged millions of old people across the world. He says, “One should stay young and enjoy life until the last breath.” After successful completion of the race (officially his last race) on Sunday last week in Hong Kong, his fans wished him from around the world.

Life Lesson from Fauja Singh:

Image Courtesy: thenownewspaper.com

1. It’s not the circumstances rather your reactions towards them that shape up your personality and consequently you as the person you ever wanted to be. Singh has never been a professional marathon runner. He started running at the age of 89, when most people think of retiring and waiting for the final destiny, after losing his beloved wife and fifth son. Instead of giving in to the circumstances, he channelized his pain and relieved himself through running.

2. To conquer pain, worries and frustrations of life, shift your focus on the consistent process of accomplishing your goals ahead. Intense and constant focus on worries steals your happiness and distracts you from your goal. Instead of mourning his permanent loss of wife, fifth son and eldest daughter, he began his life with a new focus.

3. Your weakness can become your strength provided you are mentally convinced about your capability and determined to accomplish your dreams regardless of circumstances or what people think of it. Singh was considerably weak throughout his childhood and his legs were so thin that he could hardly walk for a long time. He would often be taunted for his thin weak legs and got the nickname “danda.”

The point is, did he ever think how difficult it’d be for him even to walk long distances with his thin legs? Could he have achieved this feat if he’d focused on his weakness?

4. For some, life is on the edge of the end for pursuing passion after 70s and for some it just begins. Running was his childhood passion that he never pursued and finally started at the age of 89 and became the oldest marathon man in the world. There is no age for pursuing your passion and you are capable for doing anything you dream of till the moment you die.

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Motivation, Photo by Marlon Malabanan

Motivation is an integral and inseparable part of human life. In our day-to-day life, we may be motivated by many things. We can be motivated by the unity of crows; we can be inspired by the briskness of ants; we may get motivated by plethora of thing ranging from trivial and trifle things to magnificent things. A child sleeps not because he feels sleepy, he sleeps because of the feel of safety. It is the feel of safety that motivates the baby to sleep and calm down. At the same time, a child’s loud cry motivates the mother to suckle him. A Child’s hunger prompts him to cry which ultimately motivates the mother to feed and caress him. The mother’s sweet lullaby prods the child to listen and cool down.

Likewise, the dullness of the seedlings in the farmland motivates the cultivator to water and manure them. So, watering and manuring make the seedling to grow into the full fledged crops that yield good harvest.

The tyranny and hegemony of Indonesia prompted the east Timor people to fight for their freedom. Their slavery to Indonesians motivated them to fight valiantly. Ultimately East Timor attained independence.

The sports world is replete with numerous instances of how motivation plays a role in molding successful sports celebrities. It is interesting to learn that the world’s no 1 tennis star Andy Roddick was, a shy boy during his childhood. In early years, he showed no passion for playing tennis. It was his mother who would lure him to play tennis. But Roddick relentlessly rejected his mothers plea and bunked tennis classes. Determined to get him into tennis, his mother started accompanying him to the coaching sessions and started playing with him. Young Roddick soon started taking interest and went under vigorous training to scale the greatest height in his tennis career and attained the numerous status in the field. He took up tennis just because of the inspiration and motivation of his mother.

At times, the great achievements of fellow humans turn a motivating force for some budding players and green horns. The Yesteryears’ tennis celebrity Steffi Graf was a great motivation to Kim Clijsters, a Belgian who developed a love and passion for the game only after watching the on-field performance of the former. The name and fame of Steffi motivated Kim Clijsters to take up tennis as a career. She aimed for grand success in the US open and she could make it with her strong will and grit.

It is interesting to learn that at times, the noble and charitable gesture of great men and women play the role of motivation to the victims of natural calamities. In the year of 2004, on December 26, tsunami ravaged most of the coastal habitation of south India and south-east Asian nations, killing thousands of people. The victims of tsunami were not able to erase the trauma from their minds. In the year of 2006, tennis star Roger Federer visited the hamlets of tsunami victims and delivered a soothing talk among them. He assured a great deal of money which served as a succor to them. In fact, his encouraging speech motivated them to look forward and move on positively on their lives.

History has shown that sometimes, the large heartedness and magnanimity of great people could motivate others to attain name and fame. The whole music world felt elated when Carnatic music empress MS Subbulakshmi was invited to perform in the United Nations. In fact, as per the plan, the world renowned sitar maestro Pundit Ravi Shankar was scheduled to perform but Punditji recommended M.S.Subbulakshmi’s name and motivated her to perform. Due to the motivation, she performed excellently at the United Nations and earned enormous appreciation.

We can quote some examples from the contemporary history as to how a thirst for achievement motivates people. The world renown carnatic vocalist Bombay Jayshri has been nominated for the Academy Awards 2013. Her passion for music got her the opportunity to sing a song for the film “Life Of Pi” and ultimately fetched her the Oscar nomination. Bombay Jayshri’s feat, would motivate other vocalist across the globe to strive for the best.

We can conclude that in our life, for every achievement, innovation and discovery, we need motivation and inspiration. A good motivation begets success. If a nation motivates its sports persons, they perform well and bring name and fame. If parents motivate their children, they work hard and flourish in their lives. If citizens are motivated to perform in all fronts, the nation flourishes.

Let us motivate each others not only with words but also with actions. Let’s resolve to create a better and motivated world where people constantly strive for the impossible when the possible fails to work.

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Painting by Sangeeta Suneja

The distance from a heart to mind,
is of deep, distant miles and miles,

spreading from the icy peaks,
An epitome of dryness
in trying,
to rise to a mountain, a high, to meet a sage, a wise,
slipping down an alley, steep, while,
getting back home from my monastery,
A broken back and a winter chill,
to climb up back,
next morning again to my hill,
my struggle is my favourite style,
fighting, to easily flow with a will,
I fly up and down, far and wide, a daily drill,
painting, pointing fingers at none,
but to touch the only my majestic one,
a music that flows,
around and in,
but I fail to reach, when with in,
I pray and plead, in my bare skin,
to wash off, in a surreal, my sin,
so that I do not lose,
when I have already learned, I am born to win!

~Sangeeta Suneja
composed on 09.12.2012

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Spirited Away, Image: IMBD

Spirited Away is one of the world’s most successful animated fantasy movies directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli in 2001. The movie, according to IMBD, grossed over $274 million worldwide.

The movie revolves around an arrogant and sullen young girl Chihiro who gets sidetracked while travelling along with her parents towards their new home and takes a wrong turn to an ominous-looking dirt road that leads them to an entrance of a discarded amusement park. The wonderful temperament, appealing weather, dry river and some old weird and abandoned houses nearby the park trigger her parents to wander around and explore the place more, which ultimately gets them to one of the restaurant stalls piled up with various delicious foods awaiting to be served with no workers or customers around. They get tempted to have them despite the warning of their daughter Chihiro. After failed attempts, Chihiro leaves her parents to fill their stomach and goes off to discover the mysterious park where she meets the boy master Haku who immediately warns her to depart the place with her parents before the dark. But unfortunately the darkness of night prevails and shadowy spirits fill the park. She runs towards the restaurant and finds her parents to be converted into large pigs. She screams for her parents everywhere but are nowhere to be found. With hopeless heart of not getting her parents back and fear of being caught, she tries to run away from everyone’s sight and hides behind the wall where she finds herself to be becoming transparent with the growing night. All of a sudden, master Haku returns to her and instructs her how to rescue her parents. Here the real journey of restoring her parents from pigs to the former-self begins. The fight seems to be challengingly tough against the powerful faceless creatures and strange looking inhabitants of distressing spirit world. She starts and keeps fighting against the all odds, winning the heats of even evil spirits and monsters with her humble attitude and generosity until she rescues her parents and her friend master Haku who assists her throughout the adventurous and dangerous journey.

A Solitary Journey to Save Master Haku

When the story begins, Chihiro is a morose, whiny, girl who complains about almost everything around but on the completion of her mission she transforms into a brave, strong, and confident girl who knows her way to life. Her qualities – lack of greed, respect for elders, compassion toward others and perseverance helps her to complete a seemingly impossible journey.

Some of the Life Lessons to Learn from the Movie are:

1.“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.” Jim Morrison

Chihiro was undoubtedly frightened for being among the eccentric creatures of ghostly world at initial stage but when she learnt that her fright would not help her parents to transform to human, she suspends her vanity of fear sincerely. Once she was exposed to her deepest fear, she felt free from strong negative emotions and got the real perspective of the world which helped her to bounce back and take on the real struggles of life.

In real life, we all are in the same situation. The fear – what if I fail? or what others will think about me? never let us come out of our deepest fear. So get up and Face your fears one by one; they will never dare to frighten you anymore.

2. Never be Motivated by your Greed

Throughout the journey, Chihiro was primarily motivated by the purpose – rescuing her parents from the spell of the magical world – not by the greed which immensely impressed the Faceless monster named No-Face (one of the guests to the bathhouse and evil mistress of the magical world Yubaba). With respect and love, No-Face spirit offered her gold and when she didn’t even seem bothered about having it while every inhabitant was running behind him to serve in order to have more gold, it motivated him to accompany a good soul and have her attention.

The Final Moment

3. Help others on their Purposeful Journey to the Destination

On her Journey she helped every spirit in need. On the first day of her service at the bathhouse, she encounters white faced spirit ‘No-Face’ standing outside and getting drenched in the rain. She politely asks him to come inside and keeps the door open. Her concern for a stranger and the act of kindness compels the monster to develop a liking for her. She doesn’t hesitate to clean a horribly-smelling spirit when everybody else denies touching him. The river spirit presents her a magic herbal cake in reward for her altruistic assistance. She doesn’t leave Haku (a flying dragon of the magical world) alone while he is attacked by birds and gets seriously injured.

When you help people around with your generosity and tenacity, people feel the gratitude to help you back even if you don’t ask for.

4. Show your Gratitude and Say Thanks to the People who have Ever Helped you in Anyway

Chihiro shows her gratitude to everyone who assists her in anyway regardless of how they receive it. She thanks to No-Face monster for his little help, Haku for being a true friend, witch Yubaba (who stole her name, and threw her into series of troubles despite her humble nature) for letting her go with her parents.

5. Determination is the Key to Success

Haku informs Chihiro that she is supposed to find a job anyhow at the bath house to restore her parents. When she goes to the boiler man Kamaji (a six-armed cantankerous fellow) with a compassionate heart and asks for a job, she is refused to be given any responsibility, But when Kamaji finds her to be determined and firm, he finally appoints her. When Chihiro is sent to the witch Yababa to finally grant the permission, she is insulted, neglected and intimidated to leave without having a job but she stands unmoved and passes some of the most difficult tests with her perseverance. Her patience pays off.

6. Keep Faith in your Action Irrespective of the Outcome

Faith is the most important ingredient of every successful event! When Chihiro goes to Zeniba (twin sister of the witch Yubaba who is the mistress of the bathhouse) with a faith to save the injured Haku, Zeniba tells her to remember any previous connection to Haku to save his life. After several honest attempts, when she gives up and starts crying for being unable to rescue her parents and her true friend, Zeniba consoles her by saying “Wait, just a little bit longer”. At last she recalls her connection with haku and thus saves hers as well as haku’s life.

Sometimes, all we need is to save our faith for an extended period of time to get the work done. When something seems to be unworkable, have faith for a little bit longer, your faith will certainly make it work.

7. Don’t Accept anything for Free; Such Things don’t Last Longer

‘No Face’ spirit offers gold nuggets to the greedy staff including the evil mistress Yababa. They all feel proud of possessing such invaluable gifts without much working for having it. In the end when Yababa tests the pile of free gold, suddenly they all turn into ashes.

Don’t be content with the precious gifts you have received without working hard for having them. They are illusionary and treacherous and can betray you at any point of time. In the movie, No-Face lures everyone with gold, at the same time he fails to attract Chihiho. She doesn’t accept his offers as she finds no logical reason or necessity for having them and she never regrets.

You may also like to read:
10 Life Lessons to Learn from Kung Fu Panda

10 Life Lessons to Learn From Oliver Twist

10 Life Lessons to Learn from 10 Great People

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In our day-to-day life, a great majority of us are motivated by different worldly objects such as increasing bank balance, getting into perfect shape, looking for a better job, or spending more time with the nearest and dearest ones. But what motivates us to take action for a bigger and better cause? It might be an age-old question, but the answer such as rewards, recognition, money, power, don’t seem to suffice. While most of us turn to reading biographies and auto-biographies of great personalities, to know how they were motivated to obtain greater heights in their respective fields; there are people who get motivated innately.

Some of the things that motivate to take bigger and better action include:

A Strong Will to Achieve:

The founder of Reliance empire Dhirubhai Ambani got motivated innately. He started his career as a petrol pump attendant as well as a dispatch clerk in a far-flung land of Yemen. He earned and saved some money with which he blossomed into a polyester yarn import-export merchant. By dint of his hard labour and foresight, he forayed into textile and Petro-chemicals. Ambani was a self-motivated person. His sons Mukesh and Anil Ambani were motivated by the sheer hard labour of their father and progressed to the top most level in business.

Faith

Some people get motivated by their strong faith in God. Mother Teresa was motivated by the motto of “Service to humanity is service to God”. Her faith in God and human sufferings prodded her to work for the poor and downtrodden people. She got inspiration from God and worked for the betterment of leper and the underprivileged people. Her strong motivation for the salvation of the humanity resulted in the establishment of ‘Missionaries of Charity’ branches in many towns across the world. Mother Teresa’s followers got inspired by her strong will and determination and they are rendering their service for the humanity.

Thirst For Reward:

It is interesting to learn that some achievers get motivated by their thirst to contribute something to their motherland. The very paucity of medals for India in the Olympics motivated the sharp shooter Abinav Bindra to back a gold medal for India in shooting contest in 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. It is the thirst for reward that made Michael Phelps the most decorated Olympian in human history.

Society

Whate motivated Ratan Tata to innovate the low cost car ‘nano’? He empathized with the middle-class family of three or four travelling on scooters. He knew that it was next to impossible for a middle-income family to afford the high cost of cars. The non-availability of cars to the middle class people prompted him to design, manufacture and sell ‘Nano’ car which costs just over Rs. 100,000 ($2000). Now, scores of middle income people ride the Nano car and they do not have to drench in the rain or sweat in the Summer afternoons.

Struggle and Sufferings
Some people get motivated by their own struggle and sufferings. It is thoughtful to learn that Yuvaraj Singh, an ace cricketer was afflicted with lung cancer. But his strong will power to play and achieve in cricket motivated him to get cured of the illness. Now he has started producing results in cricket. His affliction cancer has become a ‘game changer’ in his life. His motivation has contributed to his achievement.
Sometimes, physically-challenged persons get motivated by their own handicap. It is interesting to learn that former cricketer S.Chandrasekhar was afflicted with polio which crippled his right hand. He got motivated by his handicap and became a spin bowler.

Fame and Motivation

Michael Phelps got motivated by the medal haul of other Olympians Matt Biondi and Mark Spitz, the two have been considered the greatest swimmers of all time. By his sheer hard labour and continuous training in swimming fetched him 22 medals in swimming which is an individual game. His self-motivation not only let him recover from ADHD but made him the most decorated Olympian in history.

Music
Sitar Maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar got motivated by the devotion and dedication of his guru in Varanasi, India. After practicing Sitar for many years, he got inspired by the popularity of Jazz and other western music forms. The Europeans’ love for their music motivated Pandit Ravi Shankar to write notes on Sitar in a way that could deftly blend Jazz and classical music. He proved that Jazz music can also played on Sitar which is the modified form of ‘Veena’ the traditional Indian musical instrument. The very urge to innovate, at times, proves a motivational force which fetches money and popularity.

We the commoners can learn from many historical events to get motivated and succeed in our lives. The great achievers themselves are great motivators. We should learn the achievements and emulate them!

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