SHARED THOUGHTS......20.08.2012.
==============================
The theme of today’s dispatch is based on the mature advice given by a young mother to her non-resident husband.
SOMETIMES WHEN I NEED A MIRACLE, I LOOK INTO MY DAUGHTER’S EYES, AND REALIZE I’VE ALREADY CREATED ONE.
So the saying goes… my good friend, a ‘married bachelor’, just returned to work from hometown after spending a month with his 9 month old baby girl. Setting his sights on her for the first time in nearly 8 months, it took some time for the infant to ‘connect’ with her dad in the adult stranger cuddling her with authority. Soon this reserved acceptance blossomed to a close adoring intimacy that is typical between a father and a daughter.
Years ago, I have also experienced with our kids, the warmth of such tender moments. The doting care indulged upon them and the sheer pleasure experienced then can never be described. Being in a residential job, I had that rare luxury to spend leisure days with them, watching them grow - learning their new moves, first steps, first spoken words, schooling, achievements, college, success, budding careers .. and eventually building a family nest themselves !
My daughter - herself a mother now for a year, and our son earlier on – presented us the privilege to re-live all over again the ecstasy of experiencing this ‘connection’ between father and the child… in my case, all the more sweeter, with the title “grand” earned with time.
What I have not missed are the pleasures of watching the kids grow….years later, in moments of stress and strain to catch up with our aspirations in an unforgiving rat race, the memories of the kids at various stages, coming alive more from memories than the pictures in the albums, are the real treasures that no one can steal. These are the memories that come with our physical presence witnessing those miracle moments. I can say honestly, to a great extent, I have been able to balance family and career. I have not missed much of those magic moments.
Anyways, my bachelor friend returned to work, leaving the yearning of a loved infant to be with her father, unsatisfied. The child would want her father to grab her, lift her up, popping out of the monitor screen. There are unfortunately limited options when it is time to get back to business. Personal matters take a back seat before the pressures of livelihood. But then, there are landmark dates that are to follow. The first impulse is to stay back at work and everyone would understand why it was not possible for the father to be present for the daughter’s first birthday .. or for other landmarks that are sure to follow.
The little girl’s young mother advised my friend, it is important to earn memories, just as important it is to earn livelihood. It is the memories that give you the comfort in later years, more than the bank balance. After a point in time, it is impossible for one to build these memories, while the need to build the career stays long after.
In short, she reminded my friend, it is important not to forget how to live, while making a living.
She conveyed a very important message, which very few among the great success stories, really were able to manage one with the other.
Let us look at how important this is.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 1923, eight of the wealthiest people in the world met.
Their combined wealth, it was estimated, exceeded the wealth of the government of the United States at that time.
These men certainly knew how to make a living and accumulate wealth.
But let’s examine what happened to them 25 years later.
Their combined wealth, it was estimated, exceeded the wealth of the government of the United States at that time.
These men certainly knew how to make a living and accumulate wealth.
But let’s examine what happened to them 25 years later.
1. President of the largest steel company, Charies Schwab, lived on borrowed capital for Five years before he died bankrupt.
2. President of the largest gas company, Howard Hubson, went insane.
3. One of the greatest commodity traders, Arthur Cutton, died insolvent.
4. President of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard Whitney, was sent to jail.
5. A member of the President’s Cabinet, Albert Fall, was pardoned from jail to go home and die in peace.
6. The greatest “bear” on Wall Street, Jessie Livermore committed suicide.
7. President of the world’s greatest monopoly, Ivar Krueger, committed suicide.
8. President of the Bank of International Settlement, Leon Fraser, Committed Suicide.
What they forgot was how to make life! Money in itself is not evil!
Money provides food for the hungry, medicine for the sick, Clothes for the needy; Money is only a medium of exchange.
We need two kinds of education: .....
2. President of the largest gas company, Howard Hubson, went insane.
3. One of the greatest commodity traders, Arthur Cutton, died insolvent.
4. President of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard Whitney, was sent to jail.
5. A member of the President’s Cabinet, Albert Fall, was pardoned from jail to go home and die in peace.
6. The greatest “bear” on Wall Street, Jessie Livermore committed suicide.
7. President of the world’s greatest monopoly, Ivar Krueger, committed suicide.
8. President of the Bank of International Settlement, Leon Fraser, Committed Suicide.
What they forgot was how to make life! Money in itself is not evil!
Money provides food for the hungry, medicine for the sick, Clothes for the needy; Money is only a medium of exchange.
We need two kinds of education: .....
a) One that teaches us how to make a living ….and .....
b) One that teaches us how to live.
There are people who are so engrossed in their professional life that they neglected their family, health and social responsibilities.
If asked why they do this they would reply that they were doing it for their family…. ( no matter… Our kids are sleeping when we leave home. They are sleeping when we come home).
Twenty years later, we’ll turn back, and they’ll all be gone.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Without water, a ship cannot move. The ship needs water, but if the water gets into the ship, the ship will face problems. What was once a means of living for the ship will now become a means of destruction?
So take a moment and ask yourself ………. Has water entered my ship?
=========================================================
Your children will become what you are;
So be what you want them to be.
So be what you want them to be.
--------------------------------------------------------------
We grow old filled with regrets…
...for things not done.
...for words not said.
...for love not shown.
Life is too short.
Rather than regretting tomorrow,
do all what makes you happy today.
==========================================================
...for things not done.
...for words not said.
...for love not shown.
Life is too short.
Rather than regretting tomorrow,
do all what makes you happy today.
==========================================================
The following story has gone around a lot and most of us would have read this many times; yet it is relevant to once again remind ourselves of it’s message.
The Big Rocks Of Life
One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget. As he stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, “Okay, time for a quiz?”, and he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouth Mason jar and set it on the table in front of him.
He also produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar full?”.
Everyone in the class yelled, Yes! The time management expert replied, “Really?”. He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks.
He then asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?” By this time the class was on to him. “Probably not”, one of them answered. Good! he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel.
Once more he asked the question, “Is this jar full?” “No!” the class shouted. Once again he said, Good! Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim.
He looked at the class and asked, “What is the point of this illustration?” One eager student raised his hand and said, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!”.
“No”, the speaker replied, that’s not the point. “The truth is, this illustration teaches us that if you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.”
“What are the ‘big rocks’ in your life, time with your loved ones, your faith, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, teaching or mentoring others. Remember to put these ‘big rocks’ in first or you’ll never get them in at all.”
So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question - What are the ‘big rocks’ in my life Then, put those in your jar first.
One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget. As he stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, “Okay, time for a quiz?”, and he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouth Mason jar and set it on the table in front of him.
He also produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar full?”.
Everyone in the class yelled, Yes! The time management expert replied, “Really?”. He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks.
He then asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?” By this time the class was on to him. “Probably not”, one of them answered. Good! he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel.
Once more he asked the question, “Is this jar full?” “No!” the class shouted. Once again he said, Good! Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim.
He looked at the class and asked, “What is the point of this illustration?” One eager student raised his hand and said, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!”.
“No”, the speaker replied, that’s not the point. “The truth is, this illustration teaches us that if you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.”
“What are the ‘big rocks’ in your life, time with your loved ones, your faith, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, teaching or mentoring others. Remember to put these ‘big rocks’ in first or you’ll never get them in at all.”
So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question - What are the ‘big rocks’ in my life Then, put those in your jar first.
========================================================
Have a safe happy weekend and a HAPPY ONAM to all from Kerala, the countdown for which has just begun.
MOHANDAS KP
