Your Anxiety Can Become An Essential Guiding Force of Life

Convert Your Anxiety into an Inner Power to Perform Better

Before any interview, performance, presentation or match people become so nervous and anxious about the result and their performance that they get perturbed and stop focusing on the preparation.  No wonder when mind becomes enmeshed in this turmoil anxiety overpowers them before they realize. This last hour anxiety can either impinge on  one’s performance or take it a notch higher; the difference is entirely in your capacity to turn it into your inner power to perform better. This ubiquitous influence of performance pressure can be effectively used to give rise to the courage that can ridicule your fear and anxiety if only you train your mind to convert your anxiety into an essential guiding force of life. Let’s learn to recognize and embrace our anxiety to plan with more energy and perfection. Let’s learn to keep our fear unacknowledged with better planning and perfectionism.  

In a recent interview Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, India’s batting maestro and one of the finest batsmen of the world, spoke about himself keeping awake whole night, just tossing and turning in bed, thinking about the next day’s match. It was after a decade, when Sachin realized that perhaps these sleepless nights were the part of the process of getting prepared for the match. Any kind of anxiety or nervousness before any big or special event of your life is quite normal and everyone goes through it. This nervousness actually prepares you for the harder challenges and you come out of it as a winner so it’s absolutely natural to feel anxiety before an important day.

An overwhelming surge of anxiety and fear is often considered as weakness which is sheer fallacy. This nervousness is very important to help you enquire about your strategy, planning and preparation. It ramps up the process of self-evolvement and pushes you hard to move heaven and earth to reconstruct yourself for the final moment.

Interesting Read: Strong Emotional Immunity Can Guard Against Any Illness

Plan, Prepare &Practice

Performance anxiety is not a problem or weakness but a natural phenomenon and many seasoned presenters, speakers, politicians, players and celebrities also feel this nervousness which constantly alerts and prepares your mind to give your best and helps you galvanize your efforts to make it a memorable experience for you. Once you convert your anxiety into the guiding force, it ameliorates the effects of performance pressure on you and you can channelize your efforts to plan and prepare for the event. Your anxiety woks as a tough trainer and keeps reminding you to put in a little more; you only need to understand how to manage the level of anxiety and fear. Seeing any opportunity on your way must make you ready to sink your teeth into and this nervousness is a signal that this opportunity matters a lot for you so plan, prepare, practice and perform with utmost honesty so that you can ease yourself. Organize your thoughts, determine the best flow, be mindful and trust your instincts. 

Visualize the Series of Events and Your Success

There’s immense power in visualization, one has to see the image, the glory in one’s mind before venturing forth to manifest it. Try to invest your anxious hours in visualizing what you are to attain and accomplish after this event and live your conviction. Many of us erroneously think that power of visualization can work only with longer meditations; the fact is everyone can achieve their goals conditioning their brain to see, hear and feel the success in mind with honest and Consistent Efforts. It improves your performance outcomes; it’s training your mind the same way you practice and work upon learning the nuances of any skill. Visualization helps you prepare for a high pressure situation so devote your hours of anxiety to visualization and see how things change miraculously.

Admire Yourself For Giving Your Best

Myriads of things in our life are a reflection of who we are as people, how we think in certain situations and respond to them.  Just a little mindfulness helps us relinquish the fear of future and arouse the need to operate in present moment. If present can be improved future will change accordingly. The moments of anxiety can realign the thoughts, enhances objectivity and gives the best ideas to fight the challenges. Your anxiety and last moment pressure can be used as your boatman who can take you ashore safely through the storm. So learn to utilize it. Always trust your instincts and trust me your instincts will never fail you.

As T S Eliot rightly said, “Anxiety is the handmaiden of creativity.” So train your brain to assign the duty to your anxiety to stay vigorous and optimistic in any difficult situation and come out of it as a winner, as an achiever. Your anxiety will certainly follow your instructions, undoubtedly your anxiety can become an essential guiding force of life.

Design A Perfect Life With Grit And Determination

Destiny Favors Those Who Possess Grit and Determination

A young, dynamic and ambitious Chartered Accountant, Chirag Chauhan is an accomplished businessman today and an inspiration to many. While inaugurating his new office on the same day that left him wheelchair-bound 15 years back, he reminisces the arduous journey from 11 July, 2006 to the present day with utmost pride and confidence for himself. Chirag, a 21-year-old aspiring boy, who was pursuing CA then, was returning home when a series of bomb blasts struck Mumbai and he found himself lying in the pool of blood, amid the wounded passengers and burnt dead bodies at Santacruz. Little he was aware about the fact that he was going to face the most harrowing reality of his life as he had suffered a spinal cord injury that left both his legs and lower body paralyzed. Chirag was compelled to think again and again why God had chosen him for this catastrophe? Why he only had to suffer all this?

Interesting Read: Small-Efforts-Big-Changes

The next three years were even more grueling as Chirag’s daily routine comprised eight hours of painful physiotherapy and six hours of study but he was determined to complete his CA and wanted to fulfill all his dreams and aspirations. After clearing his CA Examination, he started a job with an MNC. In 2012 he opened a small office and kept on adding more and more clients. Last year, during lockdown he founded a platform offering virtual taxation service and the portal started getting 10,000 hits daily. Now Chirag is all set to begin a new journey after winning his battles against all odds, proving to everyone that failure doesn’t exist at all, it’s always about rising after a fall. His grit and determination finally changed his destiny.

In an another story, destiny had to change its course because of determination and intense aspiration of Sonam Malik, Indian wrestler who is going to represent India in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics in the 62 category. In the year 2017, she suffered a nerve-related twinge in her right arm and everything seemed to be shattering in front of her eyes as her right side was paralyzed. The young, aggressive fighter wasn’t able to hold anything and her doctor advised her to forget about wrestling and focus on her treatment. Now everything was left on her fate; if destiny favored her, Sonam would be again on the mat. As her father had a meagre income and couldn’t afford expensive hospitals, they started ayurvedic methods to heal her. Within six months of her treatment she recovered as if God wanted her to be back on the mat. With rigorous training after her recovery, she became the youngest Indian woman wrestler to qualify for the Olympics and she found her destiny to be on her side with her determination to continue with the sport.

In both the stories one thing was common and that is winners and achievers are not the ones who never tryst with adversities in their lives but they are the ones who rise with more strength and determination after each fall. Life isn’t a bed of roses, especially for those who aren’t satisfied with an ordinary life; but a constant pursuit of excellence with perseverance and resilience. Let’s never forget that determination is one of the greatest motivating forces that keeps us consistently moving ahead to succeed no matter how rough and bumpy the road is!

Being Determined OR Being Skilled?

Being determined is more important than being skilled or intelligent. These innate talents and expertise can create opportunities for you but these opportunities can be converted into achievements only through grit and determination. Even a person with an average talent when puts in his hard work into something he can transform it into success. As we know determination keeps us moving towards our goal and staying focused on it, we learn to win despite the odds and obstacles throughout the way, we learn to overcome whatever contributes to our fragility and vulnerability.

Determination Makes You a Decision Maker

As we all know life is a short journey from B to D; B stands for birth and D for death, whatever comes in between is C and that’s all about the Choices we make in our life. So making right choice is very important. Determination brings clarity, creativity and competence to us to decide upon the various uncertainties in life and how to find the positive dimensions in everything. A perfect decision in career or personal life is just like a platform to stir us from within and enable us to leapfrog to the optimum levels of our mindset and living. Determination is all about making right choices during troubled times and helps us insulate ourselves from the negative forces

Determination Instills Optimism

Determination strengthens us to bear with unexpected and uncertain challenges in life and thus instills hopefulness and optimism. It trains our mind to never harbour doubts or remorse over the past incidents and look forward to new vistas for better prospects in life. A determined person accepts life’s unpredictability and never loses his sensibility when met with setbacks and challenges; eventually learns to take every fall or failure as an opportunity to learn. It makes you a good planner and a perfect planner never takes a step back when it comes to take risks and gradually it transforms you completely; from a player you become a game changer.

It won’t be an exaggeration to say that determination lays the foundation of success and fulfillment in life. Among all the virtues, qualities and capabilities determination takes precedence; You Can Design A Perfect Life With Grit And Determination.

The story doesn’t end here; determination has something more to say, Asha Kandara, a sweeper from Jodhpur, Rajasthan has drafted her glorious destiny with her firm determination to clear Rajasthan Administrative Service Examination to soon be posted as a Deputy Collector. Dear Reader, are you set to write your destiny with determination?  

One Can Easily Learn How To Become A Learner For Life

Does Age Matter in the Path of Learning?

 

While browsing through a social media site, I came across a post about a 67-year-old grandma who fulfils her 50-year-old PhD dream. I was moved to read that she was brilliant in academics and wanted to pursue a Doctorate degree but due to her marriage at the age of 20 years she had to abandon her aspirations. Almost five decades later, she lived her dream of having Dr. Prefix with her name and proved that learning has no relation with age and age does not determine whether you can learn or not; it’s just your grit and self-motivation that work to follow your passion at any age. Never to forget Where there's is a will, there's way.

People can learn from the moment they take birth until they die but with the growing age most of them slow down and surrender to their circumstances. In a nutshell they stop living their dreams and try hard to forget their passions failing to understand that learning is a pleasure and learning skills never die. Sometimes we get bogged down under the pressure of lofty goals, our daily chores and routine activities and stop improving ourselves, honestly speaking refusing the possibility to learn something new and living an exciting life.

Let’s read how one can easily learn to become a learner for life

Develop a Student’s/ Learner’ Attitude:

When Ravana was on death bed, Ram insisted Laxman to visit him to pay reverence and ask him to share his knowledge as he was a great scholar. When Laxman went to him he sat near his head to seek knowledge but Ravana spoke nothing. Ravana said, “If you have come to me as a student you must respect me.” Laxman quickly understood what Ravana wanted to say. Next moment he was standing near his feet and requesting him to teach him lesson on life.

This story manifests how a student in us earns the best of everything and never let the spirit of learning die in ourselves. If you are a learner you will always find a new day, new horizons and new challenges to overcome but when you start becoming complacent with your run-of-the-mill lifestyle you may define yourself as a living being but not alive. Now how you can develop a student in yourself? Everyone loves doing some or the other thing in their own ways and that ‘something’ fills a spark in you. When you feel the inspiration and love to do that ‘something’ don’t wait just fall in love and start learning and taking interest in your passion. It will definitely wake up the learner in you.

Learn from Your Regrets

We all make decisions in life, sometimes right sometimes wrong. We regret on the wrong decisions taken at wrong time and in wrong moods but have you ever thought on nurturing a productive regret? Productive regrets always push us to learn from our mistakes and improve our approach for the better. If you have regret that you couldn’t go to college or pursue a degree; be grateful today that you are still alive and resourceful enough to fulfill your dream today. It’s never too late to do that you earnestly desire for. Learning doesn’t depend on your age, life style or circumstances. So don’t stop yourself from doing something that you still regret for.

Also Read: Small-Efforts-Big-Changes

Learn from the People You Admire

There are many people whom we like and admire for their skills or their choices they made in their lives. One should never hesitate to replicate them; in terms of their dedication and way of inspiring others. Do as much research as you can to instill the abilities and motivation in yourself. Learning just one new habit will fill yourself with more energy and happiness and that will be the investment you can do to make your life more meaningful. When you ask yourself what’s the thing for that people should remember you after your death or what legacy you will leave behind? The answers will certainly unveil your interests and passion which can be transformed into skills at any phase of your life.

Listening and Learning go hand in hand

As we know 13% of knowledge is gained through listening but most often we hinder our learning by not listening to the ideas of others with an open and rational mind. We don’t develop the maturity to listen objectively. On the contrary we listen to counter others and inhibit ourselves from learning or imbibing something new. Listening widens our vision and perspectives to discard the redundant and embrace the new ideology. To become a learner for life one has to become a good listener for life. You learn good communication skills through listening which play a pivotal role in understanding and observing others’ perspectives opening more vistas for you.

Learning is Bridging the Gap between Knowing & Doing

It’s very easy to know something but very difficult to put it into action. A very simple example of this theory is, we all know we should eat healthy, exercise daily and be disciplined and organized but do we really practice the principles we espouse? We always miss learning and achieving something exciting just because of this ‘knowing-doing gap’. If you know something good, practice it, bring into action and try to bridge the gap between knowing and doing so that you keep yearning for a new knowledge to practice more and give a purpose to your life.

The easiest and most spontaneous learning is always self-induced and self-driven; learning makes you more adept and enthralls you with a sense of triumph. It gives empowerment and self-importance. So, dear readers, just train your brain to galvanize all your senses and thought process to be always ready to learn and pursue your aspirations irrespective of your age, circumstances or any other challenges. Life is too short to wait for a suitable time, as nobody knows, before the wait is over how many precious years of inactivity would have flown by.

Learning transforms you and age is never a bar for learning new skills and habits. The constant and unrelenting journey of learning helps you transcend all the barriers and accomplish your goals. It always makes you a better version of yourself.  As Ernest Hemingway has rightly said, “There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men; true nobility is being superior to your former self.”

Explore Your True Happiness as the Ultimate Goal of Life

Your Happiness is Your Own Responsibility

Everyone yearns for true happiness and makes persistent efforts to feel it and live in the happiest state of their heart and soul but only a few can achieve the true, inner happiness in their life. To explore your true happiness as the ultimate goal of life, let’s read this story and understand it in a deeper sense:

Once a young man was curious to know the meaning of happiness and how to attain true happiness amidst all chaos of a mundane life so he went in search of a wise man whom he believed could answer his question and show him the right path. After meandering through hills, valleys and forests he finally reached a castle on the top of a mountain where the wise man was said to reside.

When the young man entered into the castle he was astounded to see it filled with activities and clamour of people from all walks of life who also came to ask their queries and the wise man was responding to each one of them with calm and patience. The young man, very eager for his curiosity to be unraveled, approached him and asked his question, to which the wise man replied that he hadn’t enough time to reply at that moment so he should have a look around his castle and admire the magnificence and uniqueness of his world and should return in two hours. The wise man also assigned him a task. He gave him a spoon with two drops of oil in it and said that when he observed the beauty of the castle the drops of oil shouldn’t spill.

The young man started visiting the castle keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon and after two hours he returned to the hall where the wise man was sitting. The wise man asked him about the murals hanging in the dining hall but the young man was embarrassed and spoke in a sombre voice that he couldn’t observe anything as his eyes were fixed on the spoon and his only concern was not to spill the oil. “You should go back and appreciate the marvels of my palace,” said the wise man. The young man again went to observe the castle but this time without paying heed to the oil drops in the spoon and returned with the minutest details of the castle and eagerness to describe that. “But where are the drops of oil I entrusted to you?” asked the wise man.

When the young man saw the spoon, there was no oil. “I hope you must have understood what I wanted to say. True happiness lies in enjoying the marvels of the world without allowing the drops of oil spill from the spoon.

 The message, this story conveys is: One has a right to enjoy the grandeur and pleasures of the world but should never forget his duties and responsibilities to his very existence. Everyone needs to strike a perfect balance between work, family, health and social and environmental responsibilities. If one tries to escape from any of these responsibilities or is not able to fulfill any of them he/she starts losing on this creative process of our emotional health which becomes a major deterrent in people seeking true happiness. Often people get themselves mired in a web of expectations that circumscribe the extent of their knowledge about true happiness.

Interesting Read: Lets-Simplify-Life 

Self-Awareness & Self- Belief

It’s very important to know and connect with the Self which is not possible without an effective self-communion. Everyone has a different taste for happiness so one can never say that the other is happy or sad. Many are happy with an ordinary life with their minimal resources while others keep cultivating the habit of pitching in their relentless efforts to excel. An excellent cannot undermine an ordinary one and vice versa. Know Thyself so as to have the gumption to decide upon your parameters for being happy. The way we think about our Self, we start believing the same for our existence and create an image for ourselves; this Self-image gambles with our emotions so keep changing (just like your WhatsApp DP) and enhancing it. There’s no such thing called ‘external validation’ so do what you like to make yourself happy as money and profit are not the only measure of your success and happiness; it will surely teach you to feel better about yourself.

The Theory of  LESS & MORE

Express less, expect less but explore more and experience more. This easy rule helps find true happiness as we need not search our happiness; it lies within; within the very core and when we limit our expressions and expectations we conquer our grudges and malice which are the root cause of sorrow. Exploring our inner self and experiencing the clarity of emotions generate a different kind of joy which is beyond any ecstasy of material gains in life. Ruminating about the mistakes done in past encourages self-judgment and does nothing good in future too, so stop the tendency to question your self- sufficiency and self-efficacy. When you explore the values which take precedence over everything in your life you are in a better position to define and determine your true happiness.

Liberate Yourself from the Clutches of Desires & Attachments:

 Let’s ponder over the last words of Alexander, “I wish the path leading to my graveyard should be strewn with all the gold, silver, gems and precious stones which I have earned in my lifetime. Let the spectators know that despite spending all my life conquering the riches and lands of the world, not even a grain of gold will be there with me when I leave the world. Let the people understand that it’s a sheer waste of time, energy and peace of mind when one yearns to be rich.”

Desires fill us with a sense of emptiness; the emptiness of not having something and we begin to feel unhappy and dissatisfied. Desires make us demanding and lead us into attachments. When one is achieved, our mind starts yearning for the other because desire is the mind’s tendency to always be in this state. They never let the mind be at peace and deprive you from your inner happiness. A life of GRATITUDE and contentment is the happiest state and helps us eliminate our desires and attachments.

Imagine Your Happiness

There shouldn’t always be a logical reason behind your act; it can simply be done because you want to do it and it’s fun; it makes you happy. You can imagine happiness, create it and live it and be your own ‘happiness expert’. Imagine your happiness and train your brain to stay happy , remove ‘NO’ from your thoughts and imaginations and work on programming the process of becoming happier with each passing day. Some scientific studies suggest that human imaginations have the power of great transformations if trained well as they create mind environments. We are even wired for it; when we imagine we become more creative and that benefit both body and mind.

 

Happiness can’t be encapsulated in a formula neither be attained through the theory of one-size-fits-all for everyone. But the fact that works for all is; it can be experienced in savouring the moment, when human mind savours something; it is completely engrossed in it and appreciative of the experience. True happiness can be felt in sunshine, in the flowing water, in the air we breathe, on the smiling faces, in a child’s innocence, in extending a helping hand to the unfortunate ones and happiness can be experienced in just being alive at this moment and being hopeful to see one more sunrise of your life.

Swami Rama Teertha once said, “Your only duty is to be happy”. It’s all up to you how do you find your true happiness.

 

So, Make Your Effort. Go, Grab it!

The Life of Maharana Pratap and His Lessons on Leadership

“Leaders have defined purposes, politicians have ambitions, leaders turn vision into reality, bosses turn Opportunity into prosperity, employers define success in their own growth while leaders define success in the growth of their people, their community and their nation.”

Maharana Pratap-The Greatest Warrior and a Legendary Leader

It’s very difficult to define a leader and what’s even more difficult and rare is to find a true leader today. A great leader cultivates a winning culture and incorporates the prerequisite skills in his behavior that defines him as a true leader and helps him win the trust of his people. Whenever leadership is discussed, the LIFE and lessons of Maharana Pratap spontaneously arouse on the way. The King of Mewar, a great warrior, legendary leader and an endearing emperor of his people Rana Pratap is renowned for his valour and sacrifices. Born on May 9, 1540, Pratap was the eldest son of Udai Singh II, founder of Udaipur, and the 54^th ruler of Mewar in the line of Sisodia Rajputs, in the state of Rajasthan, India. After the demise of his father, he ascended the throne and soon became the ‘Mighty Maharana’ for his people. His selfless love for the honor of his motherland and his indomitable courage for freedom and wellbeing of his people paved the way for him to become Maharana from Rana; and the way was full of thorns and hurdles.

Let’s see how the heroic qualities of Pratap make him different from all other leaders ever existed:  

A Rock’s Will Against the Mighty Opponent

Akbar, the greatest of Mughal emperors, had an ambitious dream, the dream of conquering Mewar, the DREAMof becoming the Jahanpanah of Hindustan, the dream of submission of Maharana Pratap, the strongest and most fearsome warrior India has ever seen, but Akbar died saying wistfully that his dream remained just a dream. The pages of History that were written with the blood of Mewar reveal that Pratap wasn’t just a name; it was an epitome of valour, determination and martyrdom. His undying love for his motherland, leadership skills and military prowess laid the foundation of his victory against a formidable army of Mughals and a sensitive human in him made him an invincible king of Mewar.

How to Prepare for Adversities

Great leaders are always aware of the Challenges and adversities and they invest a part of their time and energy to insure their people against catastrophe. They believe in rising above the turmoil and work out a strategy, they implement meticulously and emerge triumphant. Rana Pratap had all these qualities to fight back the sudden and repetitive attacks of Mughals. Renowned for his Guerilla warfare, Maharana’s prowess to fight battles left the Mughal soldiers flabbergasted and despite being double the size of Mewar military they could not capture him. After repetitive attacks he was running out of resources but he didn’t lose hope and ramped up his efforts towards a decisive victory to fulfill his commitment to his people. When Rana refused to surrender to Akbar, he was left isolated geographically and politically by other Rajput chiefs but he kept waiting for right moment to recover his lost territory and he succeeded the battle of Dewair.

Interesting Read: Women-Warriors-Demand-Gender-Neutrality

How to Fight with Minimal Resources

A leader knows his strengths and flaws very well and can distinguish between intelligible consumption and expenditure. Pratap was alienated from all Rajput kings and he knew he couldn’t expect any support from them. Despite his minimal resources the Mughal Army could never find him a sitting duck as Pratap had a well fortified intellect to thwart all the Mughal attacks. He was highly skilled in military strategies and guerilla warfare so the Mughals could never withstand him for a longer period. The thickly wooded foothills of Aravali had witnessed a massive bloodshed in the battle of Haldighati which began on 18 June, 1576 between Rana Pratap with a force of 3000 cavalry and 400 Bhil archers and the sizeable Mughal army comprising 10,000 soldiers, led by Man Singh of Amber. It was a fierce fight inflicting many casualties on Mewar army yet remained indecisive. Hoodwinking Man Singh and his soldiers Rana Pratap managed an escape with the help of his most faithful horse, Chetak who lost his life after being injured in his last Effort to save Rana and the battle proved a deadlock between Akbar and Rana Pratap.  

Wars, pandemic, terrorism, internal & external threats and other natural disasters assess the leaders of a country and it’s always the courage, intent and a perfect planning that work more efficiently and effectively than delusive promises and unorganized supplies and resources. Working on bigger goals with broader vision can safeguard many with minimal resources.

Winning the Trust of People

For a leader it’s very important to balance his deeds and diction. If any difference is witnessed, people start losing trust in him. A leader must have an expanded vision so that he can accommodate the wellbeing of his people and sustain their faith in him. The adage,’ action speaks louder than words’, was proven by Maharana Pratap; he was resolute and unswerving in his refusal to submit to Akbar and left all the luxuries and comforts of Royals for the sake of freedom of his people. He resolved not to live a royal life until he regained his kingdom from Mughals. His sacrifices had lasting impact on his people and Bhamashah, an affluent businessman turned up to Rana and donated all his wealth to meet out the military expenses and replenish the resources. It was such a huge fund that could maintain an army of 25000 soldiers for 12 years without any other sources. On just one call, his people were ready to abandon everything and willingly set to sacrifice their life for the sovereignty of Mewar.

Leaders Believe in Loyalty and Equality

For a great leader his loyalty towards his people becomes his sole religion and the only aim of life. It is said that Akbar had offered half of the Hindustan to Pratap in lieu of his submission to Mughal Empire but for Rana, the valour of his men and honour of the women of Mewar were his utmost priority and he guarded that till his last breath. He preserved the pride of his land and respected everyone irrespective of caste and creed. He treated the rich and the poor, the weak and the strong and the men and Women equally; he never discriminated on the basis of the categories in the society prevailing those days. His army comprised all the castes and he was always a source of inspiration for them.

A leader responds to his people’s needs and cries promptly and finds solutions to their problems to console them in their distress. The practices of Favoritism can destroy even the strongest system and this lesson of Maharana’s life is very important for today’s leaders to become a source of strength and comfort to their society at large.

Leaders have the Best Strategy and Planning to Combat

A leader turns into a role model for thousands and they like to emulate him. A leader’s conduct is a constant inspiration for his people. When thinking is clear and precise the actions yield perfect results and Pratap was the exemplary leader who had such qualities. The struggle he had undergone after the battle of Haldighati turned him into a great leader and warrior. Finally the Mewar army witnessed the dawn that they were waiting for long. 16 September, 1582, the day of the battle of Dewair on the occasion of Vijayadashmai when Rana Pratap conquered his territory and fulfilled his commitment to his people and his soil  but very few know about this victorious day in his life as this fierce battle is nowhere mentioned in our History books. We should read our History to Discard Distory that we have been taught in our schools. Rana Pratap finalized a valley situated between Udaipur and Ajmer as the battlefield and attacked the Mughal army. Rana killed the Mughal commander and won the battle. This battle resulted into one of  the biggest surrender in the known history of India where 36000 Mughal soldiers surrendered to Rana Pratap.  

Historian Satish Chandra states, "Rana Pratap's defiance of the Mughal Empire, almost alone and unaided by the other Rajput states, constitutes a glorious saga of Rajput valour and the spirit of self-sacrifice for cherished principles.

The LIFE of Maharana Pratap and his lessons on leadership give an inspiration to all those who see a leader in them. A very important point to be remembered here is a leader's life is never his own, his life belonged to his people, his team who support him, trust him and have their unwavering faith in him.

Father’s Love is Infinite as Sky & Unfathomable as Ocean

A couple of days ago I was reading a piece of news about an arduous act undertaken by an old father to meet his daughter who lived 90 km away from him. The emotional story touched me so deeply that it all appeared as a Bollywood movie flashback drawing me towards the castle of memories of my childhood with my father. My heart was filled with immense love, respect and adoration for these heroes who are called fathers. They are living legends who are always ready to tunnel through any hazards to soothe their children during the difficult phases of their life. The story is of a desperate father from the state of Madhya Pradesh, India, who wanted to see his pregnant daughter but due to the corona curfew, he could not avail any bus to travel 90 km to Karsarpura from Sendhwa, his hometown. The 75-year-old father decided to walk and started his journey on May 18 and covered 70km distance on foot by the evening before he met a constable in Kharagone who offered him food and then dropped him at his daughter’s house on his two-wheeler. The elderly man proved it that a father’s love is visible in many shades and he can go to any extent for the well-being of his children.  A father’s love is eternal, beyond the richest treasures of the world, and the strongest shield around children.

Most of us, especially Gen X and Millennials have seen our fathers, compromising their comforts and limiting their expenses to save every single penny to give a good life to their children. Certainly harsh reprimands and angry looks on academic reports and study hours were essentials of daily diet and children had grown immune to that. Occasional slaps, thrashing and kicks (please allow me to be a little gender biased here: only boys needed this) were the effective measures during counseling sessions of more notorious siblings and believe me children never suffered depression or mental anxiety. The most possible reasons might be either children were so adept at handling pressure of humiliation or they didn’t know what it was. Without any formal trainings or degrees those days’ fathers were the best Clinical Psychologists. Fathers were on scooters, sometimes on bicycles but always an ideally contented and the most protective figure of the family structures. They were neither jovial nor ambitious, their ambition was only to get their children educated at their best and placed at good positions. They never had a shopping-list; I must say they just hated it. A wardrobe with hardly half a dozen pairs of stitched shirt-pants, one safari suit and a pair of leather shoes were considered their signature collection and a possession, good enough to maintain their enviable life style. Fathers were truly not as cool looking guys as today’s fathers are, they actually looked as if born as fathers; true gentlemen of good old days, with sincere and stern looks so that no child can put any undue demand (children were so intelligent that they knew which request will be granted and when it should be put forth), less talkative as it was customary; the tradition of being friendly with children didn’t exist those days and Sunday outing was not a social norm in most of the families. 

With this quintessential fatherly attitude, one thing was definitely cool about them and that is they are the most amazing, generous and caring fathers of all generations. They never pampered but loved unconditionally, they never expressed their expectations but left no stone unturned in fulfilling their children’s demands(only genuine), they were least enthusiastic to spend family time but never forgot to caress children’s forehead if they had a bad day or weren’t physically well. Their love had something very peculiar in it; as they never seemed to be loving but failed to hide their tears if children were going out to stay in hostels for higher studies. So strange it was! No?

Interesting Read on Parenting: As Parent You Preach or Perform?

Father is an ocean of love and a sky of infinite blessings.

It’s beautifully quoted, “A father’s tears and fears are unseen, his love is unexpressed, but his care and protection remain as a pillar of strength throughout our lives.” We often think of the love, care, and attention of mother but fathers always take a back seat when it comes to sing and celebrate love of Parents. Generally father’s tenderness, patience, caring and nurturing their young ones is shadowed by the sacrifices of motherhood and deters the male from being accepted as intensely loving and primary caregiver for their children. But a father’s heart knows it very well that his love for his children helps them feel more secure physically, emotionally, mentally and intellectually. A father is always the first influencer and a role model for children and his contribution to the lives of his kids is no less than their mother. A father introduces a wider variety of approaches of dealing life; they encourage risk-taking and problem-solving capabilities in children which result in a Strong Emotional Immunity in them.

The mother brings life and love; the father brings strength and vigor to the young ones and that makes the best combination of the art of parenting, a father’s love is irreplaceable, unfathomable, and unique in its own way because only father’s love doesn’t expect anything in return from his children. He remains always on the giver’s side without letting anyone know what struggles he is going through. This altruistic quality and strength is bestowed only upon them by God. And that makes me say that they are truly the living Gods for their children, their persistence and sweat bring the fragrance of success and prosperity in children’s life. Father Teaches righteousness and discipline that turns a tender heart into a strong fighter, he brings out the rebel in us who can stand for right and oppose wrong. I am proud to say that my father is my Super Hero; if any small good I have done to my life to make it worth living that’s because of my father and I am sure you must be feeling the same.

Strong Emotional Immunity Can Guard Against Any Illness

Life presents us a gamut of emotions through happiness, experiences, memories, lessons and achievements. We flow with the flow of all such events but the problem arises when unknown emotions and feelings engulf us and we fall prey to such situations as we don’t know how to deal with them. Today when we look around, we find all these situations haunting and daunting us and we experience that illness never comes alone; it always creeps into life with fear: fear of death, fear of financial loss and fear of losing emotional stability. There are so many moments and emotions which we never want to accept despite knowing that these are inevitable to happen and many a time beyond our control, for example; casualty in family, losing job, failures at personal and professional level, divorce and accidents. Though we hear such news for others on daily basis but we think that it would never happen with us and suddenly when an unpleasant situation occurs, we fail to confront it and become a victim of our emotions and reactions to such painful situations.

Let’s start with a very common example of getting irritated when stuck in a traffic jam or informed about absence of house help for the day. We get angry and lose our calm on such petty issues despite knowing that these things are of least importance and relevance in our life at a broader level then why can’t we become panic while struggling with an unprecedented pandemic in our life; let’s start accepting that it’s perfectly okay if we feel stressed, it’s perfectly fine if we are scared and it’s perfectly normal to feel depressed; these all are human emotions and we can’t escape them. The only way we can help is to understand that pandemic is an external factor and whatever is going in me is an internal one. None can control and wipe out all the outside disturbances but each one can channelize the internal factors that weaken the emotional immunity and make a person vulnerable to other ailments.

Emotional immunity is a wider term pertaining to human’s ability to respond to their emotions in a sensible way. It’s very difficult to manage the flow of emotions and react in a composed manner as most of the time human behaviour is controlled by impulsive reactions to certain emotions. A good emotional health determines a person’s controlled and optimistic behaviour in difficult and unexpected situations so looking at the current scenario it’s imperative to maintain physical as well as emotional health.

How to Boost Emotional Immunity  

Strong emotional immunity can guard against any illness and only an emotionally healthy person can help others to boost their emotional immunity. Let’s read how we can make a difference.

Maintaining a Healthy Routine:

The first thing you do in the morning determines your whole day so start your day with a positive ‘me time’ for yourself, stay away from distractions like mobile phone, TV or internet. Dedicate your morning hour to exercise, yoga, pranayam and meditation so that whole day you feel happy and energetic. Food and breathing habits play a pivotal role in maintaining emotional and physical health. To keep mind, body and soul in a perfect alignment the intake must be taken care of. The way we breathe and we eat impacts the functioning of our body. So, focus on both. Avoid eating junk food and refined carbs and increase consumption of nutrient rich foods. A healthy and enriching lifestyle will help you rediscover your own self and boost your emotional immunity. Spending time with nature will be cherry on the cake so manage your time to admire the beauty of sunrise and feel the vibrations of life and positivity around plants and blossoming flowers. 

Interesting Read on Parenting: As a Parent You Preach or Perform

Parents can Help Boost Children’s Emotional Immunity:

There is a beautiful story of the famous scientist, Thomas Alva Edison who is known for his invention of electric light bulb and more than 1000 patents in his name. When Thomas was a primary school student he was given an envelope for his mother by his teacher. When Thomas handed over the envelope to his mother she opened and found a letter inside. While reading the letter, tears started gushing from her eyes and she told Thomas that he was a genius and none of the teachers in the school was capable of teaching such a bright student so he would not attend the school any more. She told that she was crying out of happiness and she would take the responsibility of teaching his son. Hearing this Thomas was so excited that he started learning faster under his mother’s supervision who herself was a teacher. Years passed and Thomas became a great scientist. One day while searching for some papers in an old cupboard he found the same envelope which was given by his teacher, with great curiosity he opened and started reading the letter. The letter said,” Your child is mentally weak and can’t be taught with other students in the class. Kindly don’t send your ward to school.”

The story reveals how parents play a vital role in boosting children’s emotional immunity. Had the mother told Thomas about the letter would he have been one of the greatest scientists ever? Certainly not, so parents should always act like a Strong Support System to nurture and care the emotional health of their children.

Importance of Good Friends:

American writer and motivational speaker Jim Rohn says, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” None can doubt on the fact that your friends shape your personality, teach you life skills and help you succeed the battles of life. Good friends always give a better opinion and encourage decision making that helps you win your self-doubts and insecurities. Sometimes they make fun of you by their sarcastic remarks which is an important factor in boosting your emotional immunity. Their sunny talks are effective enough to help you deal with any failure or loss. The best part of healthy friendships is both the sides get benefited in a mutual and symbiotic relationship so never leave your friend alone when he/she is in need.

A sudden surge in number of suicides has been observed during the second wave of the pandemic. These suicides were the result of emotional shock after losing the loved ones and in most of the cases the victims themselves were either battling with the disease or undergoing post covid recovery. Most of the Illnesses are stress-induced as they disturb the mind-body-soul alignment and leave debilitating effects on the patient. But an improved emotional immunity will help us believing that we are not helpless creatures destined to suffer from vagaries so to surrender to the wrath of an invisible, vicious virus. During such harrowing situations let’s work together to build strong emotional immunity to help ourselves and others. Try to counsel if you see any such person in your vicinity and boost his emotional immunity so as to get him ready to fight the challenges. If you can save and strengthen a life that will be the biggest gratitude you ever pay to the universe.

Helping The Helpless - A Way To Fulfill The Duty To Divine

The opening lines of the first section ‘The Burial of the Dead’ of The Waste Land; says ‘April is the cruellest month’. T S Eliot, the poet has given voice to the collapse of civilization and portrayed the devastated world after the First World War. After almost 100 years the line has proven true once again with the apocalyptic April which has traumatized everyone by the devastating superspreader coronavirus. New strategies and medical research to fight against the pandemic were on the anvil when the second wave attacked us more fiercely and left us all shattered.  Patients waiting for medical support, kin standing in queues for oxygen cylinders, medicines and beds and black marketing of life saver injections and fraud are giving the gruesome picture of India’s shambolic response to the second wave of the global pandemic.

Helping The Helpless Is The Supreme Duty To Divine

While people are making advantages of this catastrophe the era witnesses thousands who have turned up as angels in such times of distress and agony, helping the needy and the deprived ones. Young volunteers, social media groups and many societies are helping hundreds of Covid patients getting beds and medicines. One of the heroes who has touched many hearts is an auto-rickshaw driver, Javed Khan from Bhopal. Javed has sold his wife’s jewellery to get his auto improvised as an ambulance to ferry the Covid patients and set an example that you need not be wealthy to help others; you just have to have good intentions and altruistic attitude.

Interesting Read:  Kindness Turns A Person Into A Human

Helping arouses hope and hope makes the sufferings and difficulties bearable. If we hope that tomorrow will be better, we can easily bear a hardship today. When we get involved in acts of benevolence and become generous to others, it takes our mind off despondency and gives us the much needed impetus to cope with feelings of anxiety, fear and negativity.

Joy of Giving is Greater than Joy of Receiving:

Everyone is going through an emotional mayhem these days and it feels there’s no respite. We try to keep us happy and positive thinkers yet failing to do so because the suffering around us is restraining us; which is a clear sign of being human, yes, we cannot detach ourselves from others’ pain and agonizing circumstances because we all are humans and we get affected to see people losing their loved ones. And the best solution to keep calm and contented is to lend a helping hand; to reach out to someone who is in dire need and you can fulfill that. Joy of giving is always greater than joy of receiving because it purifies our mind, gifts us a sense of contentment and makes us realize our worth as a humane. We see so many organizations working relentlessly to save lives, if you feel you can add one hand, espouse the larger cause and cultivate the sense of self-sufficiency.

Charity Begins at Home:

As explained by Mother Teresa, one of the greatest humanitarians of the 20^th century, “Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.” So don’t think how many people you can reach but find the person around you who is in need, or deprived. Helping humans is our duty to divine and that’s the only way to connect to the almighty in true sense. If we can help the destitute, we can bring peace to our life as it leads to greater happiness, less stress, better pain management and good health. Helping the people around connects us with the community and volunteering time and energy for the depressing helps us reduce loneliness and ISOLATION

Helping others fulfills the purpose of life:

Extending a helping hand to someone enhances an individual’s sense of fulfillment as it makes you feel rewarded and blissful. Only an enriched and empowered (not in terms of wealth) person can give, can support and can empower others; a poor or empty mind (even if having riches of the world) can never fill anyone’s heart as dark cannot remove the darkness; it’s always the light that illuminates and brightens everything. So be the light of someone’s life, be the strength of a weaker individual and be the hope of gloomy eyes and that will certainly fulfill the purpose of your life and give glory to your identity without any external validation.

“We have no choice about how we enter the world but we can decide upon a thousand about our exit and these choices create opportunities to fill the emptiness of life and suggest ways to make it blissful.”

So dear Readers always have an empowered faith in yourself that you can help others, you can bring positivity and happiness to others and you can become a perfect reason of a smile on a sad face. Imagine the gratification you receive which is beyond any reward and think of the contentment you cherish forever after seeing people overwhelmed while pouring their countless blessings for what you have done to them.