Praying is a very interesting phenomenon because of its truly universal nature. Everybody does pray but not everybody acknowledges it; for a strongly religious person it may be a formal prayer while for an atheist individual it may be just a practical yet wishful thinking. These thoughts, however, are not about the legitimacy or authenticity of praying, rather, they are about different methods of praying that people make use of.
This post does not contain my thoughts. Still, these thoughts resonate very closely with what I think. They represent what exactly is wrong with our attitudes today, what we are running after and what we are missing. It revolves around the basic concepts of slowing down and being mindful of the world around you.
I don’t know who wrote it, but it is an excellent piece for self-reflection. It is something, we should turn towards everyday so we don’t repeat the same mistakes over and over.
Creativity and inspiration can come from anything. Sometimes you are trying really hard and you don’t get any ideas and other times when you are not even trying, you get tons. While we cannot completely control our creativity, we can definitely use some simple tips and tricks to enhance it:
Happiness, probably has as many definitions as there are people in the world. Everybody has a very well defined individual perspective on what makes them happy and what makes them sad. Hence, this post is not about how to be happy, but rather, how to increase or prolong those moments of joy when you get them in your life.
Keeping our mind and memory sharp are critical not only to our everyday tasks, but also to our mental health. We all know the agony and frustration we go through when we misplace our keys or fail to recall the name of a very familiar person.
It is true that some people are born with a sharper memory, however, it does not mean that others cannot improve on their ability to remember things. Sometimes very simple and basic techniques can make a real difference in the way your memory works.
In my effort to simplify my lifestyle, I needed to understand the concept of Simplicity in detail and that is how I came across these beautiful thoughts. Even though, I don’t agree with some of them, they are still a great source of inspiration and knowledge as they offer diversified and conflicting perspectives.
You will find that some of these people are actually not big fans of simplicity(#3, #28) while others have a varying opinion on what simplicity is. Still, I believe that each one of them gives us something to think about and helps us build our perspective about the concept.
Mindfulness, the state of being present and being conscious of your inner-self, is an amazing concept. Mindfulness is practiced to meditate, to fight with pain, to be focused and to be happy and content in general.
“Kiss your life. Accept it, just as it is. Today. Now. So that those moments of happiness you’re waiting for don’t pass you by.”
Following are some tips that would help in practicing mindfulness and being aware of your consciousness. They can be practiced no matter how little time you have or wherever you are:
An elementary school teacher gave her first graders a coloring assignment. The sheet of paper contained an outline of different objects like a house, trees, sky e.t..c and the children were asked to color each of the objects with the appropriate color. Patty worked really hard on her assignment but when she got it back, she was surprised to see a big black “X” on it. When she asked the teacher for an explanation, the teacher said “I gave you an “X” because you didn’t follow the instructions. Grass is green not grey. The sky should be blue and not yellow as you have drawn it. Why didn’t you use the normal colors Patty?”
Patty answered, “Because that’s how it looks to me when I get up early to watch the sunrise.”
This is slightly off-topic but its something I would really like to share. Many of you might have read this story a dozen times, but every time I read it I get a new vibe going through me that makes me realize how important it is to express.
Here’s the story:
One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.
It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers. That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.
We often get so engrossed in our work that we get utterly serious. We forget that it is important to create a playful environment because our minds work better that way.
In the following video, Tim Brown, CEO of “innovation and design” firm Ideo talks about the powerful link between Creativity and play.
This also reminds me of what Howard Thurman once said:
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
