Lessons from a leader: Stephen Hawking

A leader need not be the most qualified & most influential person in a common interest group or organisation. He who sets an example, and lives by it for even someone at a far end on the other side of world is also a leader, who leads by example.

Situation

Why do I go through so much pain? I am so talented which I either know myself or my mentors have realised and said so, yet I don't get the opportunity to shine. Why do I not have enough of what it takes to be successful? Why do I face so many restrictions. Why am I unable to stretch my feathers and fly? Although I have been given wings, why are the broken that they are only a burden, rather allow me to fly?

Are these questions running in your head? You are simply not alone. Each of us are equally gifted and equally created. Yet what we do with our abilities lies at our very own will. Although a few might have the power of will, have restrictions or other suffering that might tie us down from performing our duties.

How we chose to dump our weaknesses back and still have hopes to complete our duties, requires mental strength. Which, unfortunately takes time to gather for each of us.

Leader

Stephen Hawking one of the greatest physicist alive and one of the most intelligent person was diagnosed with ALS (yes, the same for which almost few years back Mark Zuckerberg & Bill Gates followed by the rest of the world took up the ice bucket challenge).

When he was initially diagnosed with the disease, he was told he had two years to live. His condition was that his voluntary muscular movement was restricted. Doctors considered to even take him off the life support once. Stephen Hawking took it up positively and reminded himself that he had work to complete. Thanks to his love life, who supported him and took a great call to stand by his side.

Stephen Hawking went on to accomplish a lot of achievements, written titles and books at an advanced stage of the disease where he wasn't even able to speak.

Had Stephen Hawking allowed his mind to crunch negative thoughts, would he have been so successful in life? Had he thought he had only two years to live and chosen to live it without any focus, would he now be known for what he is?

Lesson

Now, read the questions, in the last paragraph before the leader, and ask yourselves a last question, do you want to continue cursing yourselves about your restrictions and limitations? Do you not want to achieve and show the world your abilities that you overcame in spite of the limitations and let someone like me write your success stories?

Think! Arise, Awake & Stop Not Till The Goal Is Reached.

Love,

Embrace the Difference

Four of us are sharing a car ride from our office, on the way we happen to see an incident where a young girl was loudly crying. It's not quite the normal scene and hence a crowd was slowly getting attracted to the spot.

As we pass by, one person assumes a sexual assault could have taken place and the girl could have been attacked. The second person says the girl who possibly was driving hit her vehicle and fell off the road. The third person says a thief could have snatched valuables and disappeared in to the neighbouring deserted area covered with overly grown weeds and trees.

Can you relate to such a situation? As in where multiple people taking multiple assumptions? These perspectives from different people arise due to differences in thought processes which are totally different according to each individual.

Such differences in thoughts are the genesis for differences in perspectives, such different perspectives lead to different approaches, motivations and intentions.

The above is just a small level analysis in terms of differences. Now take a huge perspective where the sample size is hundreds of people taking approach to same situation.

Such differences of opinion should be celebrated as it provides insights and exposes us to a different thought process which we otherwise might neglect or be ignorant about.

So the next time you want to argue about the difference in opinion, try embracing it. You get a new perspective free of cost.

Love,

Sibling Rivalry

Wherever you are in a public place like a railway station, airport or temple or any random place with a sizable crowd and families staying put, take a look to see children of age 4 to 5, and how they deal with their younger siblings below age 2.

Most likely one could spot sibling rivalry or abuse of the elder one. This so happens because of the sense of insecurity and losing importance by the elder child's parents, especially that of the mother's.

The elder child feels he or she lost the attention and love and begins to feels the rivalry against the root cause, the new baby which now has become the center of attraction.

The elder child feels it's territory encroached and feels being competed upon for the mother's lap, mother's attention, and being given importance by several others in the family.

A child of two or three or four has no maturity to realize that the new source of competition is actually his or her own belonging.

As the younger one matures being subject to ill treatment or physical abuse of the elder one, the rivalry intensifies in an array of issues such as belongings of toys etc, as the siblings get mature with age, the boundaries get wider and more hatred gets developed in various aspects.

How to tackle?

Parents should well prepare the elder one mentally with regards to the new arrival and create a sense of welcoming home of the new baby.

Once the new one arrives, the parent, particularly the mother must spend enough time with the elder baby as well.

Depending upon the age, the elder child should be given very small and basic responsibility to care for the young one.

The sense of togetherness must be inculcated at a very young age which will reduce the friction of sibling rivalry.

Write back to me in the comments section below.

Parenting is an art! How ready are you, as a parent?

Love,

What's lacking in this selfish world?

As the title outlays the theme for the post, today's world is taking its steps towards a selfish living. This is mainly because we're lacking a basic trait, empathy!

Empathy is largely different from sympathy and is most often interchangeably confused.

We humans are losing the most important qualifier for emotional intelligence by not being empathetic.

Whether it's at work where a manager has unrealistic expectations not actually knowing the basic intricacies of work outcomes or personal relationships where we fail to think of the perspectives, emotional and other needs, intentions or motivations of our partners.

There's this saying, people were meant to be loved and things meant to be used, sadly it's otherwise and this needs to be addressed at grass root level, parenting!

Love,

Water, water everywhere

Water, water everywhere, no water to use!?

A small summary as to how we can manage water and still live in peace.

Guess about a decade ago, the ADMK party while in power introduced the rain water harvesting scheme. Steps were religiously followed, and checks were done to validate that each household had a rain water harvest provision. This helped collect the rain water and increase the ground water table.

Are the audits continued now to check rain water harvest? If not, can we reinstate the good practice and bring it back to life?

Well, apart from the long struggle that won several cusecs of water that was released and the chaos that's stirred between the two States and the insecurities raised amidst the people of two States, is there a long term solution that we can do from our own side?

I believe yes, the entire Tamil Nadu state highways and key road routes can create rain water harvest pits every kilometer, and can be directly managed, implemented and funded by local corporations or districts, thereby collect the rain water, rather let it mix with drainage or loss to sea.

There's a correlation and causality between deforestation rate and rain fall deficit. A whole lot of trees are being chopped and new saplings are not being replaced, causing impact with increased warm temperatures. As I grew up in my school we were encouraged to grow at least one tree per household. But that was during a time when apartments or flats were not even existing. Now households per acre have increased several folds requiring more trees be planted.

I wonder if people have lost the thought in their mind that flora and fauna coexist with circulation of oxygen and carbon dioxide between each other.

Another alarming factor is the water bodies being converted as lands and real estates based on illegal poaching of lands which were once water bodies.

A lot can be done in terms of water treatment of sewage or drainage which can be reused in various ways.

If penny saved is penny gained & each drop makes an ocean are true, a lot of water can be saved and ground water table can be increased.

Thoughts? Write below!

Love,