Stretching far...

6 Months ago I had written that I was planning to traverse unknown territories !!! I mean working towards running a marathon...

Now as I look back - am amused & equally amazed with what I have accomplished for my self. Last week I did a 8 Km run nearing 60 Mins, the first time I did non-stop. I never knew I would stretch this far. Training 4 days a week, waking up 4.45 Am every training day including the Sundays....I am stretching !!!

I was on a short business visit to Singapore the last 4 days. Never imagined my commitment towards myself would have such an personal empowering impact - I couldnt believe myself that I was running down the Orchard Street morning 6.00 Am covering the entire stretch up& down in straight 30 Minutes !!! (I never hinted this this to my friends or family - they either ways wont believe...)

Having stretched - now I do know I would be completing the Mumbai Marathon if not in style, sure to do it with style...Am not looking at setting a record by moving in close of completion within 2.00 Hrs but am challenging myself....

No more boundaries, no more doubts, no more self limiting beliefs.
All you need is - open your mind.
Are you ready to believe?
Are you ready to stretch?

The Guy in the Glass...

This is a masterpiece by Dale Wimbrow...I have read it over & over again - always get a new meaning though !!!

The Guy In The Glass

When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,

And the world makes you King for a day,

Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,

And see what that guy has to say.

For it isn't your Father or Mother or Wife,

Who judgement upon you must pass.

The feller whose verdict counts most in your life Is the guy staring back from the glass.
He's the feller to please, never mind all the rest,

For he's with you clear up to the end,

And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test

If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may be like Jack Horner and "chisel" a plum,

And think you're a wonderful guy,

But the man in the glass says you're only a bum

If you can't look him straight in the eye.

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,

And get pats on the back as you pass,

But your final reward will be heartaches and tears

If you've cheated the guy in the glass.

The Awakening...

A time comes in your life when you finally get it! When in the midst of all your fears and insanity you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out - ENOUGH! Enough fighting and crying or struggling to hold on. And, like a child quieting down after a blind tantrum, your sobs begin to subside, you shudder once or twice, you blink back your tears and through a mantle of wet lashes you begin to look at the world through new eyes. This is your awakening.

You realize that it's time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change or for happiness, safety and security to come galloping over the next horizon. You come to terms with the fact that he is not Prince Charming and you are not Cinderella and that in the real world there aren't always fairy tale endings (or beginnings for that matter) and that any guarantee of "happily ever after" must begin with you and in the process a sense of serenity is born of acceptance.

You awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and that not everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who or what you are . . . and that's OK. (They are entitled to their own views and opinions.) And you learn the importance of loving and championing yourself and in the process a sense of new found confidence is born of self-approval.

You stop complaining and blaming other people for the things they did to you (or didn't do for you) and you learn that the only thing you can really count on is the unexpected. You learn that people don't always say what they mean or mean what they say and that not everyone will always be there for you and that it's not always about you.

So, you learn to stand on your own and to take care of yourself and in the process a sense of safety & security is born of self-reliance. You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept people as they are and to overlook their shortcomings and human frailties and in the process a sense of peace & contentment is born of forgiveness. You realize that much of the way you view yourself, and the world around you, is as a result of all the messages and opinions that have been ingrained into your psyche.

And you begin to sift through all the crap that you have been fed about how you should behave, how you should look and how much you should weigh, what you should wear and where you should shop and what you should drive, how and where you should live and what you should do for a living, who you should sleep with, who you should marry and what you should expect of a marriage, the importance of having and raising children or what you owe your parents.

You learn to open up to new worlds and different points of view. And you begin reassessing and redefining who you are and what you really stand for. You learn the difference between wanting and needing and you begin to discard the doctrines and values you've outgrown, or should never have bought into to begin with and in the process you learn to go with your instincts. You learn that it is truly in giving that we receive. And that there is power and glory in creating and contributing and you stop maneuvering through life merely as a "consumer" looking for your next fix.

You learn that principles such as honesty and integrity are not the outdated ideals of a bygone era but the mortar that holds together the foundation upon which you must build a life. You learn that you don't know everything; it's not your job to save the world and that you can't teach a pig to sing. You learn to distinguish between guilt and responsibility and the importance of setting boundaries and learning to say NO. You learn that the only cross to bear is the one you choose to carry and that martyrs get burned at the stake.

Then you learn about love. Romantic love and familial love. How to love, how much to give in love, when to stop giving and when to walk away. You learn not to project your needs or your feelings onto a relationship. You learn that you will not be more beautiful, more intelligent, more lovable or important because of the man on your arm or the child that bears your name. You learn to look at relationships as they really are and not as you would have them be. You stop trying to control people, situations and outcomes.
You learn that just as people grow and change so it is with love and you learn that you don't have the right to demand love on your terms... just to make you happy. And, you learn that alone does not mean lonely. And you look in the mirror and come to terms with the fact that you will never be a size 5 or a perfect 10 and you stop trying to compete with the image inside your head and agonizing over how you "stack up."

You also stop working so hard at putting your feelings aside, smoothing things over and ignoring your needs. You learn that feelings of entitlement are perfectly OK . . . . and that it is your right to want things and to ask for the things that you want . . . and that sometimes it is necessary to make demands.

You come to the realization that you deserve to be treated with love, kindness, sensitivity and respect and you won't settle for less. And, you allow only the hands of a lover who cherishes you to glorify you with his touch... and in the process you internalize the meaning of self-respect.

And you learn that your body really is your temple. And you begin to care for it and treat it with respect. You begin eating a balanced diet, drinking more water and taking more time to exercise. You learn that fatigue diminishes the spirit and can create doubt and fear. So you take more time to rest. And, just as food fuels the body, laughter fuels our soul. So you take more time to laugh and to play.

You learn, that for the most part, in life you get what you believe you deserve . . . and that much of life truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy. You learn that anything worth achieving is worth working for and that wishing for something to happen is different from working toward making it happen.

More importantly, you learn that in order to achieve success you need direction, discipline and perseverance. You also learn that no one can do it all alone and that it's OK to risk asking for help. You learn that the only thing you must truly fear is the great robber baron of all time. FEAR itself. You learn to step right into and through your fears because you know that whatever happens you can handle it and to give in to fear is to give away the right to live life on your terms.

And you learn to fight for your life and not to squander it living under a cloud of impending doom. You learn that life isn't always fair, you don't always get what you think you deserve and that sometimes, bad things happen to unsuspecting, good people. On these occasions you learn not to personalize things. You learn that God isn't punishing you or failing to answer your prayers. It's just life happening.

And you learn to deal with evil in its most primal state - the ego. You learn that negative feelings such as anger, envy and resentment must be understood and redirected or they will suffocate the life out of you and poison the universe that surrounds you. You learn to admit when you are wrong and to build bridges instead of walls.

You learn to be thankful and to take comfort in many of the simple things we take for granted, things that millions of people upon the earth can only dream about; a full refrigerator, clean running water, a soft warm bed, a long hot shower. Slowly, you begin to take responsibility for yourself by yourself and you make yourself a promise to never betray yourself and to never ever settle for less than your heart's desire. And you hang a wind chime outside your window so you can listen to the wind. And you make it a point to keep smiling, to keep trusting and to stay open to every wonderful possibility.

Finally, with courage in your heart and love in your soul you take a stand, you take a deep breath and you begin to design the life you want to live as best as you can.

This is your awakening - Welcome.

Remember- Destiny is not destined - it is - "Designed"...

The five values of CARING...

Caring is the opposite of both indifference and hate. Without caring, nothing matters. That's why caring is at the heart of a decent life. It leads us to help others and to respect ourselves; it leads to actions of tenderness and protection. Sometimes people care for the wrong things or care too much about something. But people and institutions should demonstrate that they care about important things and about each other.

Responsibility - People who care must be willing to take responsibility. That means they are accountable for their actions, enjoying praise when things go well and willing to accept blame when things go wrong. Accepting responsibility is a sign of maturity; it can be frightening, because as I am responsible I become vulnerable to criticism. If I am responsible, I cannot blame my mistakes on peer pressure or what "everyone" does. Being responsible means being willing to stand up and be counted, to say "I" decided to take action. It was my choice, my achievement or my fault.

Respect - If I take responsibility for myself, others will begin to respect me. I can also respect others who stand up for what they believe is right. Respect for each other makes a moral community--a community of caring--possible. To respect others means to see them as valuable in their own right. I must listen to them and give them space. I should expect them to be different from me and appreciate their differences. Self-respect and respect for others go together, and both are essential. Self-respect means realizing that I am valuable, that I care for some things, and that I have to live with myself.

Trust - When people care for and respect each other, trust takes root and grows. If I trust you, I acknowledge that I need you for something, often support. And, trust also involves expectations. Trusting people means counting on them: depending on them and expecting them to deliver. Communities of people cannot exist without a certain level of trust. Like other values, trust can be foolish or misplaced, but a whole life without trust is impossible. Trust requires knowledge. I cannot trust myself if I do not understand myself, and I cannot trust you if I do not understand you.

Family - We begin to learn our values in our families, from the people we live with. Later our choices about love and sex create new families. We understand family to be the community that raises children, the community they leave to go to school, and the kind of community they may create themselves one day. Not all families are the same, and not all are perfect. But families have been called "the school of character," the place where values are taught and learned. And we take family stability, responsibility of family members to one another, mutual respect, and trust and care among family members to be essential to the health of our children and our society.

The best qoutes for life...on life...

"If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room." - Dame Anita Roddick

"Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: if you're alive, it isn't." - Richard Bach

"When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty." - George Bernard Shaw

"Someone has somewhere commented on the fact that millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon." - Susan Ertz

"I've learned that everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it." - Andy Rooney

"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him." - Leo Tolstoy

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." - Anne Frank

"Better the rudest work that tells a story or records a fact, than the richest without meaning." - John Ruskin

"The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it." - William James

"If 'A' is a success in life, then A = x + y + z. Work is x; y is play, and z is keeping your mouth shut." - Albert Einstein

"Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I don't like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that." - Bill Shankly, 1913-81, Scottish manager of Liverpool Football Club, on the importance of passion in your chosen field

"When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only of how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong." - Richard Buckminster

On belief...

Today, I was doing some inner reading - when I managed to recall the famous quote "It's not our life events that themselves directly disturb us. It's our irrational demandingness, our shoulds, oughts, and musts that largely do the job." - by Robert H Moore's in "A Guide to Rational living".

Recollecting this statement only reinforced to me the resonance of a mans ability to decide his own destiny...

I strongly beleive my qoute (Destiny is not destined - it is "DESIGNED") shall be among the "Quotable - quotes" one day...while it is easy said than achieved, the beauty of designing ones own destiny lies in this simple fact - DO WE BELEIVE WE CAN???

What an apt statement by Albert Ellis in the same book - "People and things do not upset us. Rather, we upset ourselves by believing that they can upset us."

The question is what do we beleive???

I have always questioned, answered, argued, consolled - myself to reinforce this universal truth...its I, me, myself who is solely responsible for my being what I am today...or for that matter what I would become tomorrow....

The question is what do I beleive???

I beleive, Destiny is not destined - it is - "Designed" - Chandramoorthy

Galloping ahead...

When my good friend told me he was getting himself ready to prepare for the next year's marathon run - from today...I was absolutely awe struck with his commitment - or is that what I thought?

The fact was - the practice sessions were planned at one of the most famous landmarks for the rich & famous of whos'-who of Mumbai - Mahalaxmi racecourse. So what, you should be thinking ???

Guys - if you know Mahalaxmi race course, how could you not know "Gallops" the retro restaurant - serving chilled beer, while you watch the Jocks traversing on their horses to net the ovations of their prospective betters...

Suddenly I get the much needed inner motivation to stretch...I mean push myself to join the group of prospective marathoners...I do...but not before I gave near heart attacks to my loved ones - my wife nearly missed a heart beat hearing the news, my mother is of the opinion that her son would win the marathon the coming year - brining pride to India...One of my good friend seems to have taken the Mahalaxmian way...Means - he is ready to bet his entire life earnings that I couldnt continue what I have started for more than 2 weeks...

With all this in the background - one can only but be excited about life...