Survival Run!

There is only one happiness in this life, to love and to be loved. George Sand

  

We area in a race for survival. For some life comes easy for most it is very difficult. "Survival of the fittest" is a phrase that originated from Darwinian evolutionary theory. Collins dictionary describes the phrase, ‘referring to a situation in which only the strongest people or things continue to live or be successful, while the others die or fail.’. We cannot deny the fact we need each other and even God designed the creation that way but we have limited our circle based on our personal convenience and interest.

Life can give immense meaning and bring joy when we try to give a helping hand to someone who is anxiously waiting for a help. Do we teach our children to share, help, be kind? I doubt if we are any longer familiar with the word kindness, love. Even if it has to be, it turns out to be selfish most of the times.

Sometimes we think people will take advantage of our kindness and remain isolated. I am sure it is not the case always. All of us can recall someone helping us at some point of our life. God has installed emotion in us, which is so beautiful and make sense to living. Do we mind igniting it and sharing the love and kindness?

I just want to share the real story of ‘Survival Run’ a triathlon (like marathon but with lots of natural hurdles) to complete the distance of 12 kms. This happened in San Francisco in 1971 where Harry Cordellos (Blind) took part and successfully completed with the help of Jack Bettencourt. Watch the YouTube video (link provided) how Jack Bettencourt guides him throughout. This is so, so inspirational. 

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The Earth just escaped a major Catastrophe! Do you know about it?

There is a constant fight against terrorism, pestilence, accidents, internal and external threats, communal disturbances and so many other factors. 

Recently as I was going through Investopedia reports where it is recorded that India has increased its military spending by 5.5% from 2016 to 2017 and spent $63.9 billion in 2017. The 29 NATO members as a whole spent a total of $900 billion in 2017. A new study has found that the U.S. has spent $2.8 trillion on counter-terrorism operations since 9/11,(John A. Martinez Jr./Marine Corps). This is all in regard to the fight against terrorism.

But do we ever have an inkling of the many asteroids that brush past the Earth, some were so close that they could have shattered the planet earth to pieces, yet passed through without harming it. Near-Earth asteroids such as Bennu and 2019 OK which passed close to Earth this week, pose a potential threat to our planet (NASA, Michael J. I. Brown, Monash University.) Astronomers, who meticulously track all objects that come close to Earth completely missed this until it was way too close. These are beyond human control. 

The Creator of the great universe has orchestrated the galaxies, the solar system and here we are in this marvelous universe, which is so beautifully designed but does it point our direction to God? Are we even thankful to him and learn to be responsible to keep this universe healthy and be responsible to each other? Strange! We spend so much to protect ourselves from the mess we have created and strive to obliterate each other through wars and destroy the creation of the divine God. We failed to realize that God can obliterate us in seconds with one ginormous meteor but still withholds His Power, for the love of His creation.

We have come to a time where people are striving to constrict the belief system, forcing people to believe a certain creed based on vested interest, disturbing the national harmony of brotherhood. Today we have this classification of minority on the basis of status, religion and so many other factors.

We tend to forget we all have to leave this earth one day however strong and mighty we are. What is so important is to realize we have a soul. We are made with a soul to connect to the Creator and honor him and respect his creation and not to substitute God by worshiping the creation and the creature. The Bible records this, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge.". May we thank God for the breath of life and preserve His creation.

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Reference

Near Earth asteroid tracking

https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2018/05/16/heres-how-much-the-us-has-spent-fighting-terrorism-since-911/

Heartsets, Healthsets & Soulsets

Mindsets, Heartsets, Healthsets and Soulsets. Have you heard these words? it is no doubt uncommon, but it made so much sense to me as I read the book ‘5 am club’ by Robin Sharma who is knows to be the leadership genius. This book narrates about a story of an encounter of a homeless man by an entrepreneur and mark the discourse of the homeless man - It's brilliant.

‘I only eat the best food, though I don’t eat a lot of it. I only read the most original and thoughtful books, spend my time in the most light-filled and inspiring of spaces and visit the most enchanting of places. And when it comes to relationships, I only surround myself with human beings who fuel my joy, stoke my peace and excite me to become a better man. Life’s way too valuable to hang with people who don’t get you, who you just don’t vibe with. Who have different values and lower standards than you do. Who have different Mindsets, Heartsets, Healthsets and Soulsets. It’s a little miracle how powerfully and profoundly our influences and environments shape our productivity as well as our impact.”

We are surrounded by virtues as well as the many vices. But unfortunately, our general inclination always forces us to choose and settle for that which is temporarily satisfying. The generation today are surviving devoid of conscience. Anything that refers to the matters of heart, soul, health is pushed to hermits and to godman which is not actually true.

C S Lewis points out and says, “You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.”. God has made us in His image and designed us to contain the most high God in our heart. You are not designed to live in a substandard way heartless and soul-less, but to be the best version of what God has created you for. You cannot try to become one, you need to connect to God with your heart and soul and give meaning to your living.

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Striving to fit in?

Childhood is the true phase of your life where you learn to be original, with no sense of inhibition, shame or fear. You learn to articulate things as you see without fabricating it or coloring it to make it look good. But slowly it is the adults who taught you to limit your powers, shackle your genius and betray the truths of your heart. Very soon you find yourself boxed in and designed to operate at a very superficial level.

The lamp of your creativity, your positivity and your intimacy with your greatness grew dim as you began to worry about fitting in, having more than others and being popular. Well, here’s what I say: participate not in the world of numbed-out grownups, with its scarcity, apathy and limitation. Your surroundings really do shape your perceptions, your inspirations and your implementations. The right values and ethics that you hold on to, will give you the freedom to choose things that are worth and edifying.

The Bible exhorts us by these words, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable -if there are any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy-dwell on these things". This is not a religious emphasis, but a divine way to healthy living which has a capacity to impact our personal life as well as the society we live in.

Why do people continuously strive to fit in to find their significance? God has blessed each one of us with unique gifts and potential to be a better human and live a life that can bring happiness and peace to oneself and to others. Let us help our children and the people in our influence to unleash the goodness and make them realize that they are worth living to impact the community and nation.

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Dealing with negative Habits!

Life is filled with choices and it depends on us as to what we want to choose and why we choose it. What we are today is the result of choices we made at some point of time in our life. Many are hooked into habits that are detrimental to an extent, which has destroyed their career, health and families.

When one habit gets ingrained, especially the negative ones, a person finds impossible to shun the habit when he/she actually wants to come out. The general misconception that people have is that they are in perfect control and can operate the habits in their terms, which is not actually true.

'If you find yourself struggling to build a good habit or break a bad one, it is not because you have lost your ability to improve. It is often because you have not yet crossed the Plateau of Latent Potential (persist long enough for a breakthrough). Complaining about not achieving success despite working hard is like complaining about an ice cube not melting when you heated it from twenty-five to thirty-one degrees. Your work was not wasted; it is just being stored. All the action happens at thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit.'. Atomic Habits

Think with me on this, what if each one thinks it is my life and my choice? It will be disastrous. Our personal habits and behavior have ripple effects on others too. This is exactly how the rapists, child traffickers and fascist think and contribute to the depravity of the society and our country.

In addition to this, another area to consider and be conscious of is the moral framework. Sadly, the moral framework now, to a larger extent has been made relative and makes people forget that it has an effect on others whether it is good or bad habits. The Bible states that out of the man’s heart comes evil thoughts that leads to evil work that has a serious implication on the society. You cannot solve from within. You need a Savior from outside who has a capacity to look into your heart and deliver you and me from areas and habits that captivates us for bad.

James Clear in his book "Atomic Habits" points out how these stages work to form good or bad habits. Avoiding the cues at the source will do much good, failing which we will end up hooked into all sort of negative habits that will have a serious impact.

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Popular ideology- If you are not with me you are against me!

One of the biggest challenges we all have to encounter and sometimes struggle with is having difficulty to say ‘No’ to friends, team members, people with whom we encounter on a daily basis because the proposal or what they are claiming to be are not convincing enough and probably not even right. If we recollect, this starts at a much younger age from our school days when our peers assume we are against them because we are not seen always with them.

The smarter and the stronger one’s are those who persuade the weaker ones to be with them in order to fulfill their selfish motives and agendas. We forget that we have the right not to agree to everything especially when it is wrong. Let’s remind ourselves this - we can disagree but still hold hands. People have got this wrong completely but it is worth teaching our children and reminding each other that one has the right to disagree on any grounds, it can be from a logical, emotional or spiritual standpoint.

If this is not sensitized, our loved ones and especially our children who are most vulnerable will find themselves accompanying their friends in doing wrong and may get involved in all sort of craziness. King Solomon the wisest king in his proverbs (found in the Bible) warns us this way, ‘My child if sinners entice you, turn your back on them, they may say “come and join us”. Let’s hide and kill someone! Just for fun, lets ambush the innocent!’ He advises to stay far away from their paths.

Do not get yourselves entangled with the whims and fancies of people just because you don’t want them to think you are against them. Let us learn to do good and encourage others to do good and spread the positive values in order to promote harmony. I constantly want to emphasize the God factor in my article basically because there are no self-established boundaries that can do good to our souls. We need God’s help, a God, who spoke on the issues of the heart, good living and gave a glimpse of eternity.

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The truth outlives a lie!

Talking about lying, do you know how early it starts? It starts really, really early. How early? Well babies will fake a cry, wait to see who's coming and then go right back to crying.

*One-year-old’s learn concealment.

*Two-year-old’s bluff.

*Five-year-old’s lie outright. They manipulate via flattery.

*Nine-year-old’s, masters of the cover-up.

*By the time you enter college, you're going to lie to your mom in one out of every five interactions.

  *By the time we enter this work world and we are breadwinners, we enter a world that is just cluttered with spam, fake digital friends, partisan media, ingenious identity thieves, a deception epidemic -- in short, what one author calls a post-truth society. 

I would want to bring the facts and research done by Pamea Meyer who is an American author, certified fraud examiner, and entrepreneur. Described by Readers Digest as “the nation’s best-known expert on lying”. You may watch her ted talk on lie spotting in the link given below. 

In her research she brings out these facts. It says on a given day; studies show that you may be lied to anywhere from 10 to 200 times. Now granted, many of those are white lies. But in another study, it showed that strangers lied three times within the first 10 minutes of meeting each other. 

*We lie more to strangers than we lie to coworkers.

*Extroverts lie more than introverts.

*Men lie eight times more about themselves than they do with other people.

*Women lie more to protect other people.

*If you're an average married couple, you're going to lie to your spouse in one out of every 10 interactions.

*Now, you may think that's bad. If you're unmarried, that number drops to three.

*It is said more than three-quarters of lies go undetected

If you seriously think about it, we will notice that we are against lying, but we are covertly for it in ways that our society has sanctioned for centuries. It's as old as breathing. It's part of our culture, it's part of our history, and all the time part of our carnality.

Pamea Myer states that most often we are willing participants in deception for the sake of social dignity, to maintain friendship and for various other reasons known to us alone. For sure, you cannot survive by telling lies, it will put you in a spot someday.  The Bible says “the truth shall make you free.”. Yes, it does. It may look strange but when we speak the truth God definitely will help us. It also says, ‘if God sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Recommended link: https://youtu.be/P_6vDLq64gE

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