SimplyJITH Blog

As I look out at the misty weather and see the leaves coloring the branches while the drizzle glues the fallen leaves to the ground, it is clear that we are in the middle of the fall season and frigid winter days are soon to come. In spring, we see the buds popping open on the trees and new plants push their way up through the soil to enjoy the sun’s fresh kiss. The fall is just the opposite. It is a time of retreat from the growth cycle.

Some people experience sadness with the changing of the summer season to fall, but I think it is a wonderful thing. The shifting seasons bring us variety and provide us with the changing backdrop for our lives. The autumn has its own kind of charm. It marks the harvest of the spring and summer seasons and it brings a rich palate of various shades of orange, red, yellow and brown to the terrain. These elements are reminders that we are of the earth, and it is through the earth that we receive sustenance.

Fall is the time to pull out your favorite scarves and wool jumpers as you make the transition to a warmer wardrobe. Head for the park where you can enjoy the crispness of the air, the smell of the earth, the beautiful colors of the fall leaves and the fall chrysanthemums.

Every season has its own charm, likewise every phase in our life has its own charm…we will have to learn the beauty of it..live it and enjoy the warmth!

-abhijith 

Place: Oslo, Norway

Dated: 8th July 2007

Today, I want to write about transforming what we view as failed experiences into valuable fodder for our future success. Naturally, it is never pleasant to experience failure, but that does not make it a bad thing. As hard as it may seem to believe, there are benefits to experiencing failure. We can learn valuable lessons from these experiences that can benefit us in the end.

It is important for us to look at our life situations from different angles, by finding opportunities and learning lessons when things don’t come out as planned. I wish to elaborate on this point, by narrating a short story.  

“…her hope was to become a fantasy novelist, but that dream was compromised when every agent and publishing house she contacted rejected her first novel. When I first met her, she was in a frustrated and dejected place. So, my advice to her was to keep trying and to also explore other ways to utilize her writing talents.

She decided, she needed to take a break from focusing on her novel, so she put it away and began volunteering at a local children’s hospital. She became a storyteller and made up all kinds of fantastic adventures to entertain the kids in the children’s ward. She was well received as a storyteller and was soon writing her stories down to share at other local hospitals.

Interestingly, this gave way to a very promising career in the area of writing and publishing. She became a very fulfilled and successful children’s author and is now very happy that she “failed” at writing fantasy novels. Her story is proof that not only can failed experiences encourage us to be more flexible and determined, but that they can also point us in the perfect direction…”

I hope this story will remain with you so that the next time you feel yourself struggling with the idea of “failure,” you will think differently about it. When you open yourself up to the gifts the universe brings, you can find amazing opportunities. Give yourself a pat on the back for moving along the right path to success and keep  moving on until you get it right. Reflection is a transformation of what is…into what it is truly meant to be…I understood my reflection…

sincerely,

Me…

When we encounter someone new, we quickly seek answers to two questions rooted in the evolutionary need to make correct decisions: What are this person’s intentions towards me? and is this person capable of being true and act on these intentions? 

Because we lack the brainpower to weight someone’s true merits quickly, we seize on our sometimes mistaken answers to these questions and rate the person high or low on imaginary scales of intention and capability. Moreover, intention and capability assessments influence how we intend to interact with others. We like to assist people we consider to be warm (intention) and avoid people who we see as not being warm. We desire to associate with people we consider to be capable and ignore those whom we consider to be otherwise.

To further add to our parameters of assessment, we tend to find clues on people’s race, gender, nationality, their brought-up and the social environments they were part of. Thus our decisions about whom to trust, doubt, defend against, are based on faulty data. The intention/capability approach helps us understand a lot about others. Why people disrespect the elderly while feeling positive towards them (they are seen as incapable but warm). Inaccurate intention-capability judgments can lead us to trust untrustworthy associates or undervalue potentially important connections.

It is particularly interesting to note that we can observe a gender polarity to this trend. Men normally  attach more value to capability component of the judgment while women value the warmth (intention) component. More so, the way we see others is a reflection of how we ourselves. Men normally tend to understand themselves and others by their capability to be true to the intention/emotion, while  ‘warmth’ component comes second. While women normally tend to value ‘warmth’ more, thus associating with people who show more concern/warmth towards them, and whether or not the other person or they themselves will remain true about intentions/emotions is always a secondary point of concern.

“Is this story talking to me? Will this help me solve my problem? “, He thought….Events of the past few days, have taken their toll on him. Whatever he did…whatever he read, brought back her memories. He had many answers to seek.

Place: Marrakech, Morocco

Have you ever had a conversation with someone where you realized that they were looking at you while you were talking but weren’t really listening? Nobody likes that feeling, but the simple truth is that most of us are better talkers than listeners. So if we want to work on our communication skills, we can take the initiative to start with our own listening skills.

   

The art of listening has a lot to do with the difference between hearing what someone is saying and actually paying full attention to what they are saying. What we simply hear can very easily come in one ear and go out the other, but when we really focus on listening to what the other person is saying, something physiological happens to us. We may register that information physically, emotionally, or intellectually! That is because when that information captures our attention, we involve ourselves with the information that is being shared with us.

    

When someone else is talking to us, it is important not to interrupt them. It is true that we all have our stories to tell, but when we are listening to someone else talk it should be about them, not about us. So the next time you are listening and have the urge to interrupt them, take a breath and refocus your attention on the other person. You just might learn something important, and at the very least the person you are with will appreciate your attentiveness.

Being a good listener is to abstain from holding judgment. The minute our judgment kicks in, our listening usually stops. That is because it is hard to pay attention when we become preoccupied with our personal opinion over what we are hearing. Moreover, putting aside our judgment puts the other person at ease and helps them feel more comfortable and relaxed, so that they can be open and honest with us.

By becoming a good listener ourselves we set an example for those around us and create a better opportunity for ourselves to be heard. And on a side note, one of the better benefit of being a good listener is that when we apply these principles to listening to our own inner voice, we gain access to a world of wisdom all our own. Explore yourself!    

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/jb-joXoDvvg?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1 

Today, I wish to talk about my understanding of happiness. It is an interesting observation, to note that our gratitude level can directly affect our wealth and happiness. Now that may sound strange, but I have seen it time and time again in my life.

To begin with, I like to know how grateful would you say you are for what you are today? Before you answer this question, it is important to understand what we speak of when we talk about gratitude. The basic premise of gratitude is to acquire a more positive and receptive state of being. 

We can begin the journey by being grateful for the smaller and more immediate things like having a place to live, food to eat, and a car to get around, etc. By placing ourselves in a positive frame of mind through gratitude, we open ourselves to all the good things the universe has to offer. That is when we can actually begin to attract good things towards us. As you become more comfortable with the positive things that basic gratitude brings, you will likely find yourself feeling grateful for even bigger things like being alive, learning hard lessons, your past mistakes, the freedom to make choices in life, and more. This type of gratitude catapults you even further along the path to a successful and happy life. That’s because you begin to lose your fear of change or loss and you begin to develop a deep appreciation for the exciting adventure that life truly is.Once you reach the point where you remain in a constant state of gratitude, you will become a magnet that attracts the positive things to you… the things that resonate with who you are and what you desire to do with your life.

If you are ready to enjoy more happiness and wealth, I challenge you to take some time to note those things that you are grateful for, from the smallest little gifts to the bigger ones. And may you attract the most wonderful and beneficial things into your life.