Making A Difference!!!

"There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world;
Those who are afraid to try themselves, and those who are afraid that you will succeed."

— Ray Goforth

This got me thinking when I saw one of them in the local trains going about their work few years back. Today when I saw one of them again, I decided to share this thought with you.

You must be wondering what I am talking about, who I saw and all the fuss about. Relax, you see them everyday if you happen to travel in the Mumbai local trains and yet they remain invisible to us as we try to make our journey and for some a nuisance. I am talking about the individuals who are trying to make a living by selling accessories or singing in trains. For most of you they may appear as ordinary people who rob you of your peace when in transit. They do that as they are trying to make a living.

They are the real heroes who try to make a decent living even when the grim realities of their lives make it easier for them to get into illegal activities.

I often hear people saying they hate their lives. Even I do that. When I think of them, all my problems gets vanishes in thin air. If I am down, then I say to myself if they can do it so can I.

Life gives us lot of opportunities and options for solving the problems of our life, but they don't have that many options to make their problems go away. The only way they can do it is by making a decent living and hoping that they can give their children the kind of life they dreamed of.

It was the singing of a young girl accompanied by her father perhaps which are still fresh in my mind. The girl sang so beautifully the song and was moving towards people asking for money. My friend took out a 5 rupee coin and handed over to her. While I was indecisive about whether I should give it or not. Though I enjoyed her singing, I was in a dilemma as I have a strict policy of not giving money to kids who most of the time happen to be beggars as I wanted them to stop doing it. I thought if everyone did this, may be there won't be any kid begging in and around the streets. I did not offer the girl the money though I kind of regretted not doing it and kind of made it a point that instead of turning them away, we should encourage them of making as they are trying to make a decent living by singing or through selling items. Living life at their level is not that easy.

I would like to make a humble request, in case you come across them, do make a point to buy from them. There are times when we waste our money on useless things, only this time you would be making a difference!!

We all wish that we make a difference. How many of you have been able to do that? or have made an attempt to do it?

The most common answer would be that it is something that you only thought about but did nothing. While some even made an attempt to do so, some succeed some don't. Some even made the difference and feel great about it.

Where do you stand among them??

Prayer to God

I would like to pay tribute to the victims who died in the recent bomb blasts that ripped across the nation and would like to pray to God to fill some sense in the minds of the people who did this act of cowardliness by attacking innocent people.

Time and again, India has proved that it will not bow down to such acts of terrorism. It will not take this down either. The sad part is that some of our own people have become enemy of the nations ripping the country apart by following wrong ideologies.

God, I pray that these people realize what they are doing and ask for forgiveness.

Amen

Whining!!! Does it Helps?

"Man spends his life in reasoning on the past,
in complaining of the present, in fearing future."

— Antoine Rivarol

Everyone somewhere or the other keeps whining about situations, people, places, etc. The reasons could vary from anything to everything like things not happening to their tastes, tiff with people because of various reasons and so on.

Why do people complain, is it because they are in a bad situation or things not going as per their will or they are not willing to accept the changes? One often hears people complaining about life that it was because of destiny they ended up this way. Do you agree that its fate which makes life harder for people or is it the other way round?

People tend to resign to their fates as they set their limitations. Often people just prefer to whine about the living standards, crime rate, workplace, people, etc and choose to do nothing about it. I have come across people who want to change the state of their lives but do very little in that direction. This reminds me of the famous line from the movie Rang De Basanti where Aamir Khan says "Zindagi jeene ke do tareeke hote hai, ya toh jo ho raha hai usse hone do, ya fir usse badalne ki zimmedaari uthao" (meaning there are two ways to live life, one to accept life as is or take responsibility to change it). How many of us do really make an attempt to change our lives or just let it fly by.

STOP WHINING and take control of your life. Here are some pointers on how one should go about it:

Accepting Changes: Often people resist alterations in their lives which often ends up hindering their progress. This could be due to fear of uncertainty, not knowing how to deal with the situations. One of the ways is to see changes in a positive light. Accept change as a part of life. If you are being transferred from your dept. of 2yrs to a new department, take it as opportunity to learn something new and who knows you might end up in a dept. that suits your skills better. Be the change you want to see. Try not to react to the situation but handle it tactfully.

Take Control: People often say that the government is doing nothing for them. You always feel disgusted to walk besides the garbage dump which has come up near your house. You choose to express your dismay but don't file a complaint with the local authorities to remove it. How do you expect things to happen if you don't do anything about it? As the famous lines from the US president J.F. Kennedy says "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for the country." If you are unhappy with a particular situation, then put in your efforts to change it. One cannot fight the system from outside, to get rid of corruption and tainted politicians one has to be a part of the system. Make changes in your life to live the life you always dreamed of. Join that dance classes that you always wanted to join but never did.

Resolving Issues: Sometimes even the most trivial issues can be resolved through discussions. It always helps to discuss the issues with individuals with whom you have a conflict. Like talking to your friend who had been saying bad things about you. Confronting them will only make the situation worse and you could end up losing your friend. There could be various reasons why they did it, try to find to out and see if you can forgive them and be friends again.

Things not in your favour: Many a times it happens that even after you make efforts the situation remains static. Don't get saddened by it, instead try to find out if you could have improved on your efforts or did you missed on something. If that is not the case then you can do very little to move it in your favour. You did your best. Accept the fact and move on with your life. If you did not get the promotion that you were pinning for, try to have a talk with your manager and find out the reasons. If they are acceptable to you, then you try to do well. If not then start looking for a new job.

Then there are people who prefer to whine about everything so to lessen their work or keep them in a spot light. These kinds of people tend to avoid their work and responsibilities. If you belong to this group then please stop whining and try to get a life. By whining you are only making a fool of yourself as people tend to judge them as cry babies. They don't tend to go ahead in their lives coz of whining.

You have the power of changing your life, place, state, nation and the world. And this will not happen unless you stop whining and be the change.