Put Your Glass Down Today........

A professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it.

He held it up for all to see; asked the students,’ How much do you think this glass weighs? ‘

’50gms!’ …. ’100gms!’ ……’125gms’ ……the students answered.

‘I really don’t know unless I weigh it,’ said the professor, ‘but, my question is: What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?’

‘Nothing’ the students said.

‘Ok what would happen if I held it up like this for an hour? ‘The professor asked.

‘Your arm would begin to ache’ said one of the students.

‘You’re right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?’

‘Your arm could go numb; you might have severe muscle stress; paralysis;

Have to go to hospital for sure! ‘Ventured another student; all the students laughed.

‘Very good.  But during all this, did the weight of the glass change? ‘ asked

The professor. ‘No’ the students said.

Then what caused the arm ache & the muscle stress?’

The students were puzzled.

‘Put the glass down!’ said one of the students.

‘Exactly!’ said the professor.’ Life’s problems are something like this.

Hold it for a few minutes in your head; they seem OK.

Think of them for a long time & they begin to ache. Hold it even longer & they begin to paralyze you. You will not be able to do anything.

It’s important to think of the challenges (problems) in your life, but

EVEN MORE IMPORTANT to ‘put them down’ at the end of every day before you go to sleep.

That way, you are not stressed, you wake up every day fresh & strong & can handle any issue, any challenge that comes your way!’

Remember to PUT THE GLASS DOWN TODAY!

When the clock strikes two twice...

Oh, it is that time of the year again when the clock strikes two twice!

At this point there is only one question on my mind, is this something that I should look forward to or something that i should indignantly ignore?

As they say, there is always another side to a coin, I suppose I can take the good from this. Being a woman, I think I wouldn't find it difficult to make a quick list. Lets begin with what my friend suggested with a vibrant smile a few hours ago, '...that means I get an extra hour to sleep !''. For those monday morning haters, it means one extra hour before they have to begin ploughing through the day. For those school kids, it means an extra hour to fuss & mess. For the little cuckoo in the clock, it means an extra chirp.

But how about the cons?

Isn't it human to always look at the cons before pros? Many people in every day situations find themselves weighing out the pros and cons, although they may not be aware of it. So what one does at the end of this debate is almost always difficult to predict. And when one side seems to overwhelmingly outweigh the other, and when the decision seems to be the hardest thing that you can ever make, how is it that your heart can gain courage, strength and confidence by the experience. How is it that you can tell yourself, ''I have lived through this horror. I can take another if it comes along...'' ?

Some months ago when the whole world stood stunned at nature's fury in Japan, a man was wandering with much sorrow in his heart amongst the rubble that stood beneath his feet. The rubble that swallowed everything that meant to him...his family, his home, his work, his life. To this man a tv reporter asks, 'How are you going to get through this? Where does the road take you from here on?''. The man replies, ''Like the sun rises everyday, Japan will also rise from this. And so I will''. Listening to this man moved my heart and brought tears to my eyes. So after all this, when the heart feels tired, tested and tried...here is what one needs to hear...'this too shall pass..'

And a beautiful poem (below) to remind us there is always another side to a coin.....words that will fit every situation, good or bad, and our perceptions that cloud both extremes, words to ease the heavy heart and tortured mind in every circumstance, words that are appropriate in every situation, in prosperity and in adversity, words that I hope will help everyone find some peace...

This Too Shall Pass

by Lanta Wilson Smith

When some great sorrow like a mighty river,

Flows through your life with peace-destroying power

And dearest things are swept from sight forever,

Say to your heart each trying hour:

"This, too, shall pass away."

When ceaseless toil has hushed your song of gladness,

And you have grown almost too tired to pray,

Let this truth banish from your heart its sadness,

And ease the burdens of each day:

"This, too, shall pass away."

When fortune smiles, and, full of mirth and pleasure,

The days are flitting by without a care,

Lest you should rest with only earthly treasure,

Let these few words their fullest import bear:

"This, too, shall pass away."

When earnest labor brings you fame and glory,

And all earth's noblest ones upon you smile,

Remember that life's longest, grandest story

Fills but a moment in earth's little while:

"This, too, shall pass away."

A good name is more desirable than great riches; Or is it really?

Some frozen thoughts.....“If you do 100 things in life, do 80 things for the sake of the world, for the sake of the happiness of your family, for the sake of your parents’ gratification, for the sake of social fulfilment and for the sake of your environment. Do at least 20 things in life for your own sake. Put all the aspects of your life that are of consequence, that can have an effect on your life, into this 20 - like the education you want to pursue, the career you are passionate about, the marriage you wish to settle into, the city you choose to live in. In all these consequential aspects of life, don’t give in to the confines of social definition. Write your own definition of life. Create your own checklist.

Don’t live by a social script. Write your own script. In the other 80 inconsequential aspects of life, go with the world, by the world. If even after you do 80 things for the sake of the world and only 20 things for your own sake, the world still calls you selfish - so be it. It appears that you live in an unreasonable world. If in spite of your doing 80 things for them they are still not satisfied, then nothing is anyhow going to satisfy them. At least, satisfy yourself by doing those 20 things on your terms.” ....

....“- It is better to earn a bad name and live a good life, than to earn a good name and live a bad life.”

Lets just say..you face it

Knowing very well escapism can only be transitory, and also knowing very well you cannot eternally escape anything in life,why do you still try to escape? Why don’t you want to know, what you must know? When the cat closes its eyes the world does not become blind. Eventually, what must be faced must be faced. Then, why at all eventually? Why at all postpone? The forest fire you will face tomorrow is the little spark that you tried to escape yesterday.

It is a fact that most of us lack the courage to face the facts of life. That we do lack the courage to face the facts of life is the first brutal fact that we must face. What you avoid does not go away from you. It gets uglier, and it revisits you. Every fact that you escape from will one day make you think, “I should have…I could have…I must have…”

Everything that was ever solved was solved because somebody was willing to face it. It all starts with the courage to face the facts. In facing the facts that you had always tried to avoid, for the first time you are looking at life square in the eye. What must be faced, must be faced, sooner than later.

In faith, even wrong is right

A man had been on a long flight. The first

warning of the approaching problems

came when the sign on the airplane

flashed on: 'Fasten your seat belts'. Then, after

a while, a calm voice said, “We shall not be

serving the beverages at this time as we are

expecting a little turbulence. Please be sure

your seat belt is fastened.”

As he looked around the aircraft, it became

obvious that many of the passengers were

becoming apprehensive. Later, the voice of the

announcer said, “We are so sorry that we are

unable to serve the meal at this time. The

turbulence is still ahead of us.”

And then the storm broke. The ominous cracks

of thunder could be heard even above the roar of

the engines. Lightening lit up the darkening

skies and within moments that great plane was

like a cork tossed around on a celestial ocean.

One moment the airplane was lifted on terrific

currents of air; the next, it dropped as if it were

about to crash.

The man shared the discomfort and fear of those

around him. As he looked around the plane,

he could see that nearly all the passengers

were upset and alarmed. Some were praying.

The future seemed ominous and many were

wondering if they would make it through the

storm. And then, he suddenly saw a girl to

whom the storm meant nothing. She had tucked

her feet beneath her as she sat on her seat and

was reading a book. Everything within her

small world was calm and orderly.

Sometimes she closed her eyes, then she would

read again; then she would straighten her legs,

but worry and fear were not in her world.

When the plane was being buffeted by the

terrible storm, when it lurched this way and

that, as it rose and fell with frightening severity,

when all the adults were scared half to death,

that marvellous child was completely composed

and unafraid.

The man could hardly believe his eyes. It was

not surprising therefore, that when the plane

finally reached its destination and all the

passengers were hurrying to disembark, he

lingered to speak to the girl whom he had

watched for such a long time. Having

commented about the storm and behaviour of

the plane, he asked why she had not been afraid.

The sweet child replied: “Sir, my Dad is the pilot

and I was sure he will take me home.

Listening to the man behind DNA structure !

It was a usual sunny (huh~! in my dreams) day in Glasgow.... when the talk of the town seemed to be the arrival of James Watson at Beatson Institute of Cancer Research (www.beatson.gla.ac.uk) for a special seminar! I, on the other hand, tried to gather up my enthusiasm in spite of having a very pre-occupied mind. Couple of weeks before when I first realized this, I kept reminding myself not to forget a sleek notebook for an autograph & a sleek camera for a cool picture with Jim (as with shortening of most names in Scotland) Watson :)

Around 10am, I see the director of the institute giving away her far-too-well practised tour of the labs to the man behind solving the mystery of life...DNA :) Jim of course shared the nobel prize along with two other pioneers, Harry Crick and Maurice Wilkins, for their amazing contributions leading to the discovery of the structure of the nucleic acids. Imagine, where would we be without knowing about the structure of DNA?!

The well advertised seminar was to begin in 30 min at noon and already the floor was flooded with people from the institute and outside. Chatter , chatter, chatter...laughter here & there...chatter, chatter, chatter is all one can hear in the excitement. I hurried to try & get a decent seating in the fancy auditorium, juggling my lunch box, water bottle and an important notepad for those not-to-be-missed notes from the talk !

Everyone getting seated slowly, I managed to nibble a few bites before the lights were turned down for showtime. Standing tall & 83 yrs old, Jim had a mixed up accent to begin with. Having lived in Scotland for the past 2 years, I have managed to pick up accents better than I ever used to. He began with a wee tribute note to all scots..being half a scotsman himself. Paying a cent percent attention, I began to decipher meaning beneath the blend of accents only to realize 25 mins later, he was still rambling about his personal & professional history! Not denying the fact that his professional history is too important to be not referred, yet, 25 minutes & on...the rambling continued. Me, being me...., I was trying hard to see if he was going to flip the very first presentation slide that read "Curing incurable cancer''. Having developed a keen interest on learning about cancer therapy, this topic was far too tempting.

Nearly half an hour later, the first slide flipped & I held the pen in my hands ready to set down my thoughts. Although his talk had an overall summary of his realization in curing cancer, much of it involved the audience reading slides rather than listening to the story being unwoven. Now, do I call this a disappointment? May be? or may be not.... standing tall at 83 yrs old, here was a man who has shaken the world with his interminable perspective... (as much as I am optimistic,I would not manage half of what he has done if I turn to be 80 one day!). So yes, although his tendency was to meander through the talk, I did take home something with me that day.

Passion for what you believe in !

For when passion exists, nothing is impossible..even if it means curing the incurable cancer....