6 Key Lessons in Life from Gandhi

Post written by Arvind Devalia.

On 30th October 2009, it was the 140th anniversary of the birth of  Mahatma Gandhi. So he would have been 140 years old now had he not been  assassinated in 1948.

Gandhi may not be around anymore but his  legacy and his message of non-violence lives on and he is indeed  the light the world needs today.

He has always been one of my heroes from a young age and I remember crying after watching  Richard Attenborough’s famous film Gandhi.

We had made a special trip to London and watched the film in Leicester Square just a few days after its release – watching it was a defining moment in my life.

I have watched this remarkable movie about a remarkable man many times since then.

“Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood.” –  Einstein

I have read a lot about Gandhi since then and also been influenced by  my late father who collected a huge library of Gandhi’s teachings.

It is now up to all of us to apply Gandhi’s teachings in our daily life – after all his message about peace and non-violence is more pertinent than ever before today.

On this 140th anniversary of his birth, here are 6 keys lessons for all of us to apply in our life from today

1.  Be the change you wish to see in the world.

This is possibly Gandhi’s most famous phrase and tells us that before we can go and change the world, we have to change ourselves.

From the being, comes the doing and ultimately the having.

So we now have the message – “Do the change you wish to see in the world”.

Focus on changing yourself and being the change you wish – and soon we can begin to look at the bigger picture and solve the world’s challenges.

There is this anecdotal story about how a mother came with her son to see Gandhi. She wanted Gandhi to tell her son to stop eating too much sugar as it was harmful for his health. He asked her to come back a month later by which time he himself had cut down on his own sugar intake.

The point is that before you can get anyone to take on your own teachings, you have to apply them to your own life. There are various phrases to reflect this message such as “practise what you preach” and “walk the talk”.

“Let your life be your message” – Gandhi

Is your life the message you want to give the world?

When will you be the change you want the world to be?

2. Reduce, reuse and recycle

“There is enough in the world for everyone’s need, but not for everyone’s greed” – Gandhi

Even in Gandhi’s time there was vast disparity in the world between the rich and the poor. He could see how the world’s resources were being pilloried to satisfy the excessive demands of the West whilst most people in the rest of the world were barely surviving.

Today I would argue that the way we are all living in the West and elsewhere, there is not even enough for everyone’s needs. We must revisit how we live our lives and truly learn to reduce, reuse and recycle – the 3Rs.

The time has come when we cannot just rely on others – each one of us has to do our bit. Increasingly, more and more people and also businesses are waking up to their responsibilities to the environment, the larger community and the global implications of their activities.

Start today and apply the 3Rs in your life.

3. Live a simple, minimalist life.

Gandhi lived a very simple, frugal life. He died with very few possessions and he preached simplicity and minimalism in all areas of life.

He also dressed simply and even persisted with his simple Indian loin cloth when he visited England and met the King. When asked if he was under dressed for a meeting with the King, Gandhi replied that the King had enough clothes on for both of them!

Minimalism is something I am beginning to apply in my life too. To get you started, please check out this excellent “Minimalist Guide” from my blogging mentor and friend  Leo Babauta of Zen Habits.

Leo is a man Gandhi would have approved off for his humility, sharing, compassion and also his hairstyle:-)

Please get your copy of Leo’s minimalist ebook here.

Start living a simpler minimalistic life from today – and you will release a lot of time and energy to bring more of Gandhi’s teachings into the world.

4.  If no one walks with you, walk alone

 

Believe in your cause, follow your truth and stick to your journey even if you have to walk the path on your own.

Gandhi at the end of his life was said to be heart broken with the partition of India as millions were killed and displaced. Even then, he still had a message for the world – it takes just one man to make a difference.

If no one responds to your call, go forward alone.
If no one talks to you, oh luckless one,
If everyone turns away from you in fear,
Reveal your thoughts and express your ideas to yourself.
If everyone leaves you while you are travelling a dangerous road,
If no one wants to look after you,
Walk on alone, on the road strewn with thorns, trampling on them with bleeding feet.
If no one shows a light, if in the dark stormy night everyone shuts their doors,
Use your rib as a torch, lit from the fire of thunder. –  Rabindranath Tagore

So anything and everything you do counts and will make a difference.

5. Get your power through humility

Gandhi was a very humble, down to earth, ordinary human-being but therein lay his power and authority. His power came from being very clear about who he was, his values and his mission.

So the clearer you are about who you are and what you stand for,the more power you will exert in the world, whilst remaining humble and as down to earth as you wish.

Of course, by power what I mean here is not the power that corrupts but one that changes the world and makes a positive contribution.

6. Start today

“The difference between what we do, and what we are capable of doing, would solve most of the world’s problems” – Gandhi

Believe that what you do matters, and that it will make a difference.

You can’t save the whole world single-handedly, and we can’t all be a Gandhi or a  Mandela, but you can certainly make a difference to one person at a time. So look for ways to contribute.

Ask yourself what special skill or knowledge you have that can solve a problem or make the best of a situation and that will help or support others.

And actually, maybe we can all be a Gandhi or a  Mandela:-)

Start small – and get started no matter what. They too started small one day at the beginning of their own life journeys.

So fear not – you already have and know enough – new skills will come for sure as you progress on your journey. And whatever you choose to do, it will make a difference.

The point is that everything we do matters and makes either a positive or a negative impact on everything around us.

You can start today to apply Gandhi’s message in your life, simply by focussing on this one question:

-How can I bring more love and peace into my life today?

Just know that every little bit helps and by you being more loving and peaceful, the rest of the world becomes more loving and peaceful too.

After all, we all have a “Gandhi” inside of us, just waiting to emerge.

As for me, I too shall continue to work on letting my own Gandhi emerge, but perhaps not his dress sense!

The way forward – become crazy to change the world!

What makes one person a Gandhi or a  Dr Martin Luther King? Is it pure coincidence or do such inspirational historic figures have some special powers?

“ Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify and vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as crazy, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” –  Steve Jobs, Apple

So just how crazy are you?

And how will YOU change the world?

To get you started right away, please check out this related post at once:

-Feel the Fear and Change the World Anyway!

• http://www.arvinddevalia.com/blog/2009/10/02/6-key-lessons-in-life-from-a-140-year-old-man/

Magnetism — Your Buffer Against Hard Times

by Swami Kriyananda

In 2004 a forest fire approached the entrance to Ananda Village and for a while, it looked like it would destroy our main facilities. Village residents converged near the entrance and chanted and prayed. As the fire came closer, everyone faced the oncoming fire and chanted “Aum” with great energy and determination. Suddenly the wind shifted direction and the community was saved. The fire marshal said, “If I had not seen this with my own eyes, I would not believe it.” But we have seen things like this again and again.

There are miracles, yes, but magnetism is what draws those miracles. Magnetism is the most important thing in life. I believe we’re on the eve of difficult times but if you have the right kind of magnetism, even if there’s a depression, it won’t be a predicament for you. Success in every aspect of life depends on the power of your magnetism to attract it. By developing “success magnetism,” you will find victory in all situations even in the midst of widespread difficulties.

Step One: Will Power and Concentration

How does magnetism work?  Magnetism is generated by the strength and quality of your energy flow. When you pass electricity through a wire, it generates a magnetic field. The more electricity passes through the wire, the stronger the magnetic field.

Human magnetism works on the same principle. Whenever you will something to happen, a ray of energy goes out, projected by the power of your thought. That energy generates a magnetic force-field which can attract to you the objects of your expectations. The strength of that magnetism depends on your level of energy. People of low energy generate very little magnetism. Those with high energy can perform miracles.

“The greater the will, the greater the flow of energy” was one of Paramhansa Yogananda’s oft-stated maxims. The more you focus your energy one-pointedly, the stronger your magnetism to attract what you need. Concentration is thus the first necessity in developing that kind of will power. If your energy goes out in many different directions, you have very little magnetism. When you can focus your mind one-pointedly, you are already far on the way to developing a powerful will and the magnetism to attract success.

Step Two: Enthusiasm

For your magnetism to gain power, it is vitally important to summon up strong feeling for what you want to accomplish. Whatever you are doing, do it with all your heart. Magnetism is the result not only of focused energy but also of enthusiasm.

It has been said that nothing great has ever been accomplished without enthusiasm. Thomas Edison, for example, went through 43,000 experiments before he found the right filament for the light bulb—such was his deep feeling for the work he was doing. If you look at the lives of great scientists, you will find that they were passionate men and women and absolutely dedicated to the search for scientific truth. They could never have accomplished what they did without enthusiasm.

Always be careful to keep your enthusiasm from spilling over into excitement. For the will to become will power, it must be directed calmly, with control. As that happens, even when others have failed, somehow you will succeed.

Step Three: Positive Thinking 

To develop magnetism, always be positive in your thinking. You will attract success if your mind is positive, and you will attract failure if it isn’t. A positive attitude will bring a positive response.

I had a very interesting experience of this principle at the airport in 1955, when I was leaving for France. When checking in at the airline counter, I stood behind a man whose baggage was obviously overweight. This man, when told he had to pay more, became very upset and made threats about not using that airline in the future. He even asked to see the manager. The angrier he got, the firmer the airline official became in his refusal to back down.

My baggage was much heavier than this man’s, but as I went up to the counter I thought, “This man is a friend. God is in this form,” and with that positive thought, I smiled at him. He looked at my baggage and said, “Well, what have we got here?” And without another word he allowed my baggage to go through. When your thoughts are positive, when they’re kind and helpful, you will find that others will want to help you.

I passed my music composition exam in college using this same principle. I didn’t go to any classes, but right before going in to take the exam, I read the bold print rules in the textbook. Two rules stuck in my mind, one of which was that a bass line should go in the opposite direction to the melody. Armed with this information, and with a very positive, cheerful outlook, I went in to take the exam.

We were asked to write a melody for a bass line. Suddenly, into my mind came a beautiful oriental melody. Later, the professor told me that it was on the strength of that melody that he gave me a good grade in the course.

The inspiration for that melody came because I was positive in my expectations and free of doubt. If you have doubt, if you think, “Well, gee, I don’t know if I can do this,” inspiration won’t come. But if all your energy is strongly focused in a positive direction, you will develop the kind of magnetism that will attract inspiration, answers to questions—all sorts of things. Even the right, pertinent knowledge can be attracted by the right, magnetic expectation.

Step Four: Solution Consciousness

“Solution consciousness” is another important aspect of magnetism.  Many people have “problem consciousness.” You ask them to do something and their response is always: “Yes, but!”  People like that never succeed. Whenever you have a problem, don’t think of it as a problem. See it as an opportunity. You will be amazed how much you can accomplish when you eliminate the word “can’t.”

Yogananda was very strong on solution consciousness. During World War II, he wanted to build a church in Hollywood, but new buildings were not allowed in Los Angeles.  Everybody told him, “It’s not possible.” He said, “Oh, yes it is.” Since there was no law against renovation, he found an old building that was barely standing and moved it on to property he had bought. The neighbors complained bitterly but he developed the building into a beautiful church.

Don’t dwell on difficulties longer than it takes to define them clearly. With solution-consciousness you can have success. Solution-consciousness actually attracts right answers to itself, whereas problem-consciousness prevents answers from even arising in the mind.

Step Five: Kindness

An attitude of kindness is also important for magnetism. Kindness is very magnetic. When people are kind, they draw other people’s help in return. In true kindness, there is much more giving than receiving. True kindness is an all-giving energy.

Paramhansa Yogananda was all-giving in just this way. Once he went to a cane shop, and being a representative of an organization, he wanted to spend the organization’s money wisely, so he bargained. After bargaining and getting the best price he could, he thought, “This man has such a poor shop. I want to help him.” And he gave him back more money than he had saved!

The shopkeeper said, “You are a gentleman, sir.” He gave Yogananda the best cane he had. When Yogananda came home, he said, “What a poor floor that man had. I think I’ll get him a new floor.” That kind of kindness is what you need to develop.

The more you give generously of yourself—to God, to life, to other people, the more the karmic law supports you in return. Your ability to succeed in business, or in any other endeavor, increases to the extent of your awareness of your kinship with the great web of life.

Step Six: Non-attachment

One of the basic teachings in the Bhagavad Gita is nishkam karma: action without desire for the fruits of action. Many self-help books say you should desire intensely whatever you want, for that very intensity will draw to you the object of your desire. When desire and attachment exist, however, what you attract may not be what you need or it may be much less than you could have had. When putting out energy to achieve a goal, it is much better to focus on the energy flow itself, not the specific objective, even when your need is for a specific sum of money.

Years ago members of Ananda Village were invited to pledge different amounts of money to help with the enhancement of “downtown Ananda.” We needed $3000 to pave the entrance driveway. I knew that no one else could come up with that kind of money so I decided (secretly) to pledge the whole amount myself, even though I didn’t have nearly that amount. The money was needed in two weeks.

Although I made a request for a specific sum of money, in praying to Divine Mother I concentrated on the energy of the prayer, rather than the specific request. With great will power, I projected the energy of the prayer upward from my heart and then out through the spiritual eye. I didn’t visualize a specific sum of money or how the money might come. Instead I focused on the purpose this money was meant to serve with the thought, “Divine Mother knows more than I, and will take care of that end of things.”

One morning nearly two weeks later I saw an envelope lying on the floor inside my front door. In it was a letter and check for $3000 from a friend who had once lived at Ananda and had recently received an inheritance.

When you act with non-attachment, you can be sure of one thing: when success comes, it will be in the best possible way. Whatever you need, send energy outward as a “loving demand.”  Energy flows much more forcefully when you think of it as a flow, without fixed and definite goals.

Step Seven: Attune to a Greater Reality

The power to attract success of every kind increases in direct proportion to your ability to recognize, and attune yourself to, a reality greater than your own. The more you unite your awareness to the Infinite Consciousness, the more effective your power will be. What you can on your own do is limited but what God can accomplish through you is limitless.

It’s absolutely thrilling to live life this way and to experience how much can be accomplished. I want to assure you of this because in hard times, there will be a lot of suffering. But you don’t have to suffer if you put out the right kind of energy.

From an April 2011 talk in Los Angeles, California.

http://www.anandaclaritymagazine.com/2011/06/magnetism-kriyananda-money/

Give the best of you everywhere you go

The fastest way to receive is to give, because giving starts the reciprocal action of receiving. We all receive according to how much we give. Give the best of you everywhere you go. Give a smile. Give thanks. Give kindness. Give love.

Your giving should be a giving without expectation of return - a giving for the sheer joy of it.

May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne

Love is… Kind

 

Part 3 of Love Is… series (see part 2 here) How do you define love? How do you know that you are actually loving your spouse? When we’ve measured love by the butterflies in the pit of our stomach what happens when the flutters subside? In this blog series we’re taking a practical approach of defining love and executing in our marriages. We’ll have a measuring stick for our love. A love that’s more than heroic, but can be found in the day to day.

What is Love, really?

“Love is patient, love is kind…” – 1 Corinthians 13:4

Are you kind in your marriage? You said that you loved your spouse so you admit that you are kind. But does being kind mean that you are sappy all the time? Does it involve you standing eternally in front of a closed door saying, “After you, no after you”. No, kindness is about noticing your spouse and what they need.  Here is a definition of what it means to be kind:

Kind means to be useful and helpful: I was shocked as I researched this word how often kindness centered around being of use to somebody else. Kindness is always about looking after the good of another person and asking, “How can I help?” Do you notice your spouse as they are doing something around the house and ask them, “How can I help?”  Lots of time when I see Thea in the kitchen cooking or folding clothes, I ask “how can I help?” This is being kind. But better than that is if you are not just helpful but also useful. Do you ever do things that are helpful to your spouse without having to be asked? If your wife pulls into the garage and you know she’s been grocery shopping, do you just sit on the couch and wait for her to come inside or do you hop up and rush to the garage to help her bring in the groceries?  What ways can you think that you can show your kindness and love by being helpful and useful

Kindness means being sympathetic: Are you showing how kind you can be by being sympathetic towards your spouse? Or are you an insensitive scumbag? Being sympathetic to have a certain level of sensitivity to the emotions of others. I love the phrase from the Bible that says to “rejoice with those that rejoice and weep with them that weep.” When your spouse comes home and is excited about something, do you stop what you are doing to be happy with them? Or if they are sad or upset about something, do you stop what you are doing to lower your shoulder to them? Or do you try to rush them through their feelings to “get over it?” How kind are you? If you can’t do this, you can’t really say that you love your spouse.

Kindness means not just doing what is convenient for yourself: Do you only do what’s convenient for you? My wife almost always asks me when she is getting herself something if I always want something. If we come home for lunch she will start to prepare my lunch without asking. If I am not feeling well, she pulls out all the stops to cater to me and make sure that I am feeling ok. I noticed that I was not giving her the same courtesy. When I was up getting ice cream or pouring something to drink I wouldn’t ask her, if we came home for lunch and I started fixing my lunch first I wouldn’t prepare hers, if she was not feeling well I would be impatient about trying to make her feel better. And if I did ask her, fix her lunch or try to take care of her, if was with a poor attitude. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to do as much good for her as she did for me, if was just that it was an inconvenience to me. But it occurred to me that it was also not convenient for her either? And on top of that it wasn’t kind. How could I say that I really loved my wife if I wasn’t being kind to her?

Love is kind.

Are you being kind in your marriage? What do you think about the above description of kindness? How can you express your love in the area of kindness to your spouse today?

• http://happilymarriedafter.org/2010/09/28/love-is-kind/

Four ways that kindness promotes a healthy lifestyle

We may feel this instant rush of gratitude when someone does something nice for us without asking, or even a feeling of pride when we ourselves “pay it forward,” but do we truly know the effect kindness has on us? After doing some research I came to realize that many are unaware that kindness isn’t just good for the soul, its good for the body and mind too. I’ve narrowed down the top four reasons why it feels good to give.

Kindness reduces stress

After performing an act of kindness you may feel a rush of euphoria also know as a “helpers high.” This happens when your body releases endorphins followed by a period of calm, reducing depression, chest pain and the feeling of isolation.

Kindness is a pain killer

If you’re in pain you may be constantly craving Tylenol in hopes of erasing the annoyance, but with by a simple good deed, you brain increases its serotonin level (a neurotransmitter that improves mood) helping those who suffer from chronic conditions.

Kindness is free joy

According to Allan Luks, former executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of Health, volunteering on a rapid basis produces the same kind of joy as doubling your income or gaining a college degree. I guess it is true that money can’t buy you as much happiness as social interactions can.

Kindness is an immunity booster

Forget using Airborne to combat seasonal flu before it starts, creating new relationships with strangers and helping those with troubles can boost your immune system as well as the recipients. Researchers say that a steady release of endorphins strengthens the immune system. Your body will be thanking you and so will your wallet.

Today’s world can be so hectic that we often forget to take time to think about ourselves let alone others. Being kind to others takes less time than you may think and produces an even greater feeling of appreciation then you may expect.

Photo by tanakawho via Flickr.

posted by Sheasteinberg

 

http://www.odemagazine.com/exchange/20730/four_ways_that_kindness_promotes_a_healthy_lifestyle

The Power of Service

There appears to be a whole world of people who find their meaning through service more than through personal achievement. This heartens me greatly, because the power of service seems to be losing its hold on the modern heart and imagination.

I can think of no value more needed in modern society than a belief in service to others. It is love made manifest, and virtue softly spoken.

There is nothing profound about this observation; it is simply a reminder of what we all know: car axles and medical bills are important, but they are not essential. What is essential is the human touch that we are able to share with our fellow travelers in our passage through life.

So join me today and perform some small act of service. The axle will get fixed, the heating system will get repaired, the bill will get paid, and the shelf will get replaced. In each instance there will be some measure of cursing, wailing, checking of account balances, and gnashing of teeth. But in the end, all will get resolved.
What I have to remember — what we all have to remember — is that problems end, but kindness carries forward. It spreads and grows and fills in the spaces around the hard-edged occurrences of the day.

Ultimately it is this simple: the person to whom I am kind — the person I serve — has his or her bad axle, unfair medical bill, broken heating system, or damaged shelf, too. And he or she may have a lot worse. My small act of service or kindness may be the best moment in that person’s day.

Such a possibility is good enough in our ordinary lives.

• http://kentnerburn.com/archives/date/2004/12/page/3

Mother Teresa – 6 Key Life Lessons from a 100 Year Old Woman

http://www.arvinddevalia.com/blog/2010/08/26/mother-teresa-6-key-life-lessons-from-a-100-year-old-woman/

Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of  Mother Teresa.

She would have been 100 years old today had she not passed away in September 1997.
A while ago I wrote about the 6 key lessons in life from a 140 year old man.

Just like Mahatma Gandhi, though Mother Teresa may not be around anymore, her legacy and message of peace and love live on – something that we need in our lives more than ever before.

A while ago, I wrote about Mother Teresa and what she had to say about loneliness, love and peace
We need more compassion, understanding and acceptance of other people and their cultures. As I wrote only last week, Muslims love their children too.

(As bloggers, a lot of us already know about love and being a great lover – check out my 12 reasons why bloggers make the best lovers).

On this day of celebration of her life, what inspiration and learnings can we take from her life?
To start with, check out this wonderful YouTube video which has set some of her most inspirational words to soothing music.


(For those of you reading this via email, please  click here)
No matter what your religious beliefs or your faith, we can all learn something from her life.

“There is more hunger in the world for love and appreciation in this world than for bread. We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless.
The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty. – Mother Teresa

Here are her 6 key lessons:-

1. Take up a great cause

Mother Teresa spent over 60 years of her life in the slums of Calcutta and devoted all of her life to service of the poor, especially lepers, the sick, the dying and the abandoned.

It took a lot of resolve, determination and faith to keep going in the face of incredible difficulties and challenges.

She put herself through a lot of hardships – or what would seem like hardships to me and perhaps you too.
Now I am not saying that you too should devote your life to those living in slums and give up your current life of relative comforts. You just have to find your own small or grand cause.

Learn to feel the fear and change the world anyway.

I for one do like my world comforts and I am sure you do too. And you know what, that’s perfectly fine. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Just don’t be wasteful.

2. Start with your home and those around you

You don’t need to go to a remote place to make a difference. Start with your own home and community.
Also, you don’t need to make huge sacrifices or give money. Learn to contribute from the heart and not just the pocket.

If nothing else, just spend a bit of time with those are lonely and alone. And of course, start in your own home:-

“It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start” – Mother Teresa

Finally remember that peace in the world begins with you, your home and your children:-

“Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents.
Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of peace of the world” – Mother Teresa

3. Have a solid personal foundation

Mother Teresa had a solid foundation that kept her going through all the turmoil and challenges in her life – her strong faith.

It has been well documented how throughout her life she faced personal doubts about her faith and how she ran her missions. But her core values of love and wanting to serve others kept her going.

In your life, you too need a strong personal foundation to build your life on.

“In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love” – Mother Teresa

What are your core beliefs and values? What will you never compromise on?
And if you were to follow the path set by Mother Teresa, just what would you do?
(Please share your answers below in comments)

4. Create a tribe

Once you are aligned to a great cause and you have a core foundation, you would do well to create a following or as it’s more fashionably described nowadays, a  tribe.

I guess we have  Seth Godin to thank for that.

Mother Teresa was lucky in that she had the backing and resources of a vast and powerful organisation, her church. On the back of that she created  Missionaries of Charity – a group of devoted sisters who carried out work and spread her message of love and compassion around  Calcutta in India, and then ultimately around the world. A lot of work focussed on looking after the poor and unwanted.

“Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.” – Mother Teresa

Part of creating a tribe is to be media savvy and Mother Teresa always capitalised on any opportunity to promote her cause and to raise funds.

Just think what she would have done with all the social media tools at her behest!

5. Ride through controversy

When you take on a big challenge or commit to any cause, you often run into controversy and conflict.
Mother Teresa went through a lot of  controversy and criticism about her style and method of helping.
But she rode through them and remained committed to her faith and work.

In your own life, you too may face some challenges to your authority and integrity. Learn to look through people’s hidden agendas and remain true to your cause.

If need be, take time out for yourself and reaffirm that you are truly on your chosen path. It’s also okay to change course if it feels like the right thing to do so.

6. Keep smiling and loving

Mother Teresa’s most endearing and enduring qualities were her ability to keep smiling and loving, even faced with the harshest of challenges.

If you come from a place of love and with a mindset of helping, then somehow you will find the ability and internal resources to do so. Somehow things will just work out for you.

“Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” – Mother Teresa

Indeed, the key message of Mother Teresa’s life really was about love. As she said so eloquently:-

“If we want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.”

So how can you spread this love message around the world?

You can do so by following Mother Teresa’s 6 key life lessons and by looking to spread your love in whatever small or large way that feels right for you.

As she said, learn to do ordinary things with extraordinary love.

The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread. – Mother Teresa

Launch of “Love is all that matters”

As for my part, today I am delighted to announce the soft launch of my new website – Love is all that matters.
For now, this is only a simple page inviting you to sign up for my daily email messages about love. I am currently writing an ebook about love and relationships which will be available in a few weeks.

Please do sign up and on Mother Teresa’s 100th birthday, help me spread her message about love and compassion. This is just the sort of birthday present she would have liked!


By Arvind

6 Virtues that Can Radically Improve Your Life

By Stacey Porto, CC

“Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.” ~Aristotle

Moral excellence, as Aristotle says, is a result of habit. Like anything else we want to master, to become morally excellent or more virtuous takes practice. Typically, we don’t go through our day thinking about whether we need to practice more kindness or more commitment or even more love. Morals or virtues are usually ingrained in us and come naturally, right? Yes, but if we became more mindful of the difference that the practice of virtues can make in daily life, we will undoubtedly lead a more fulfilling and happy life. Mainly because we are striving for excellence; our personal best based in virtues such as love, kindness, gratefulness, courage, and integrity.

By practicing the following six virtues, your life can radically improve in the form of better relationships, peaked performance, and fulfillment of your dreams.

1. Commitment

Without commitment, we have little direction or purpose in life. We fall victims to our circumstances, rather than being captains of our ships. But to commit to a worthy cause, to something that holds meaning for us, whether it’s a highly noble one like starting a nonprofit or simply promising to exercise regularly, is when things turn around. Now we have focusing power, there are no more questions, no more being on the fence or wavering in the face of fear, temptation or criticism. The moment we commit to something, thoughts become action and with true commitment, we become unstoppable.

Think about what you are committed to or not committed to in life. Our commitments either move us towards our goals or further away from our goals. The beauty is that we have a choice. We can continue committing to things that are not working for us or to nothing at all, which can lead to frustration, unhappiness and even addiction, or we can commit to things that matter to us and give our lives purpose.

2. Faith

How hard is it to have faith when things are not going well in life? This bad economy has surely tested the faith of many people. People have lost their jobs, foreclosed on their homes and lost their 401K’s. Yet, without faith, it’s tough to even get through another day. Having faith provides a spiritual foundation that allows us to push through difficulties again and again.

Take for example Nelson Mandela who endured 27 years in prison through faith. He had faith in what he stood for, the people’s support and in his eventual freedom, which gave him the will to persevere and keep his sanity. However, faith can be a challenge because we are trusting in things that we cannot see, and that’s not always easy. But when you are faced with a difficulty, practicing faith and trusting in the journey can help you press on and give you peace knowing that things will work out.

3. Forgiveness

When Dr. Wayne Dyer, a well-known personal development author and speaker, forgave his deceased father for abandoning him at just 4-years-old, his life turned around. Before he forgave his father, Dr. Dyer was overweight, in a bad relationship and drinking too much. His writing was not doing what he wanted. But after he forgave his father and released a lifetime of anger and bitterness, his whole life took off. He wrote the book Erroneous Zones, and 14 days after he wrote it, the book became a worldwide bestseller. He got back into shape and stopped drinking.

Forgiveness can change the course of our lives as it did with Dr. Dyer’s. It allows us to place our attention on other things in life instead of dwelling on our anger and resentment towards the offender. If there is someone you have not forgiven, think about how your lack of forgiveness is affecting your life and consider making amends with the person so that you can live your best life.

4. Gratitude

Gratitude is one virtue that, if practiced, our lives can improve right away. Our natural tendency is to think negatively, which can hurt our well-being. Gratitude helps us to shift negative thoughts to positive ones, and positive thoughts prevent negative emotions.

Also, grateful people, according to scientific research, recover more quickly from illness, cope better with stress, and benefit in greater physical health. There is always something to be grateful for in life. It’s not always easy to be thankful, especially during hard times, but by practicing gratitude we focus our thoughts on what is working in life and this can help us to make positive change.

5. Courage

What incredible insight C.S. Lewis had when he said, “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” It sure does take great courage to persevere through obstacles. You need courage to be honest with someone about how you really feel. Integrity requires courage because you are doing the right thing no matter how tough it may be.

Think about being courageous when practicing virtues and you will find that becoming more virtuous will start to come easier.

6. Love

With love, all things are possible, fulfilling relationships, self-confidence from loving ourselves and service to others, for example. And when we look at any situation through the eyes of love, we will experience more peace and harmony and create the same for others. This may seem like a Pollyanna approach to life, and not always easy, but it’s a more enlightened way of being and peaceful path to follow rather than feeling angry and hurt.

Next time when a person or situation causes negative emotions, step back for a moment and make a choice to see that person or situation in a loving way. For example, if someone criticizes you, instead of getting defensive and angry, take a deep breath and make a choice to tell them how you feel, but with kindness and love. You will find that this practice can make for a more peaceful and happier experience for you and for them.

• http://www.thechangeblog.com/virtues-that-can-radically-improve-your-life

Author bio: Stacey Porto, CC, a certified life coach, is founder of Virtues for Life, www.virtuesforlife.com, a website designed to inspire and coach people in the daily practice of virtues so that they can become their personal best and, consequently, live more extraordinary lives. Subscribe to our Virtues for Life blog here for our latest posts. Also, have you practiced a virtue that made a difference in your life or someone else’s? Please write to us with your story. We would love to hear from you.

The simple art of kindness

Written by Corey

There’s something powerfully simple, and deeply profound in the Dalai Lama’s quote: “My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.”

This single word can become the central tenet of your life, if you let it: “kindness”.

Kindness can guide every interaction you have with others, can guide your life’s work, can give meaning to your life, can even guide your eating, parenting, marriage, and more.

All else will melt away, if you let go of it, and leave only kindness.

Doing to others IS doing to yourself

The Golden Rule goes like this, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” But another idea of this rule – how you treat others is how your treat yourself.

Consider: when you react to others with anger or meanness, you are putting yourself in an angry mindset, a bad mood. You’ll likely feel pretty bad for at least an hour, if not all day.

When you are uncaring or indifferent to others, you also create an empty, blank feeling in yourself, a void that cannot be filled with gadgets, social networking, shopping, food, or possessions.

When instead you are kind, you build a good feeling within yourself, you make yourself happy. In effect, you are being kind to yourself.

Other outward-facing actions have a similar inward effect: if you want to learn, teach. If you need inspiration, inspire others. If you’re sad, cheer someone up.

mindfulness + kindfulness

It is near impossible, in my experience, to transition towards kindness without being mindful. Thoughtlessness leads to unkindnesses.

You must be mindful of every interaction with another human being. Approach each person mindfully, with your full attention, smiling, seeking to understand them, trying to interact with gentleness, warmth, compassion.

When someone comes to talk to you, when your kid tugs on your pant leg for attention, when your spouse starts speaking, turn to them without distraction, putting everything else away, and give your full attention. Listen. Be 100% present.

Here’s something beautiful: by treating others with kindness, you will create a happy feeling within yourself, effectively creating a positive feedback loop for your mindfulness. This will encourage you to be more mindful throughout your day, which will help you to treat others with yet more kindness, and so on.

Mindfulness and kindfulness feed on each other in a wonderful cycle.

ABOUT THE WRITER

 

Corey is the editor of Simple Marriage as well as a licensed marriage & family therapist. While he has a Ph.D. in Family Therapy, he only occasionally likes to be called doctor. If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe so you don't miss any future posts.

6 Key Lessons in Life from Gandhi

Post written by Arvind Devalia.

On 30th October 2009, it was the 140th anniversary of the birth of  Mahatma Gandhi. So he would have been 140 years old now had he not been  assassinated in 1948.

Gandhi may not be around anymore but his  legacy and his message of non-violence lives on and he is indeed  the light the world needs today.

He has always been one of my heroes from a young age and I remember crying after watching  Richard Attenborough’s famous film Gandhi.

We had made a special trip to London and watched the film in Leicester Square just a few days after its release – watching it was a defining moment in my life.

I have watched this remarkable movie about a remarkable man many times since then.

“Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood.” –  Einstein

I have read a lot about Gandhi since then and also been influenced by  my late father who collected a huge library of Gandhi’s teachings.

It is now up to all of us to apply Gandhi’s teachings in our daily life – after all his message about peace and non-violence is more pertinent than ever before today.

On this 140th anniversary of his birth, here are 6 keys lessons for all of us to apply in our life from today

1.  Be the change you wish to see in the world.

This is possibly Gandhi’s most famous phrase and tells us that before we can go and change the world, we have to change ourselves.

From the being, comes the doing and ultimately the having.

So we now have the message – “Do the change you wish to see in the world”.

Focus on changing yourself and being the change you wish – and soon we can begin to look at the bigger picture and solve the world’s challenges.

There is this anecdotal story about how a mother came with her son to see Gandhi. She wanted Gandhi to tell her son to stop eating too much sugar as it was harmful for his health. He asked her to come back a month later by which time he himself had cut down on his own sugar intake.

The point is that before you can get anyone to take on your own teachings, you have to apply them to your own life. There are various phrases to reflect this message such as “practise what you preach” and “walk the talk”.

“Let your life be your message” – Gandhi

Is your life the message you want to give the world?

When will you be the change you want the world to be?

2. Reduce, reuse and recycle

“There is enough in the world for everyone’s need, but not for everyone’s greed” – Gandhi

Even in Gandhi’s time there was vast disparity in the world between the rich and the poor. He could see how the world’s resources were being pilloried to satisfy the excessive demands of the West whilst most people in the rest of the world were barely surviving.

Today I would argue that the way we are all living in the West and elsewhere, there is not even enough for everyone’s needs. We must revisit how we live our lives and truly learn to reduce, reuse and recycle – the 3Rs.

The time has come when we cannot just rely on others – each one of us has to do our bit. Increasingly, more and more people and also businesses are waking up to their responsibilities to the environment, the larger community and the global implications of their activities.

Start today and apply the 3Rs in your life.

3. Live a simple, minimalist life.

Gandhi lived a very simple, frugal life. He died with very few possessions and he preached simplicity and minimalism in all areas of life.

He also dressed simply and even persisted with his simple Indian loin cloth when he visited England and met the King. When asked if he was under dressed for a meeting with the King, Gandhi replied that the King had enough clothes on for both of them!

Minimalism is something I am beginning to apply in my life too. To get you started, please check out this excellent “Minimalist Guide” from my blogging mentor and friend  Leo Babauta of Zen Habits.

Leo is a man Gandhi would have approved off for his humility, sharing, compassion and also his hairstyle:-)

Please get your copy of Leo’s minimalist ebook here.

Start living a simpler minimalistic life from today – and you will release a lot of time and energy to bring more of Gandhi’s teachings into the world.

4.  If no one walks with you, walk alone

 

Believe in your cause, follow your truth and stick to your journey even if you have to walk the path on your own.

Gandhi at the end of his life was said to be heart broken with the partition of India as millions were killed and displaced. Even then, he still had a message for the world – it takes just one man to make a difference.

If no one responds to your call, go forward alone.
If no one talks to you, oh luckless one,
If everyone turns away from you in fear,
Reveal your thoughts and express your ideas to yourself.
If everyone leaves you while you are travelling a dangerous road,
If no one wants to look after you,
Walk on alone, on the road strewn with thorns, trampling on them with bleeding feet.
If no one shows a light, if in the dark stormy night everyone shuts their doors,
Use your rib as a torch, lit from the fire of thunder. –  Rabindranath Tagore

So anything and everything you do counts and will make a difference.

5. Get your power through humility

Gandhi was a very humble, down to earth, ordinary human-being but therein lay his power and authority. His power came from being very clear about who he was, his values and his mission.

So the clearer you are about who you are and what you stand for,the more power you will exert in the world, whilst remaining humble and as down to earth as you wish.

Of course, by power what I mean here is not the power that corrupts but one that changes the world and makes a positive contribution.

6. Start today

“The difference between what we do, and what we are capable of doing, would solve most of the world’s problems” – Gandhi

Believe that what you do matters, and that it will make a difference.

You can’t save the whole world single-handedly, and we can’t all be a Gandhi or a  Mandela, but you can certainly make a difference to one person at a time. So look for ways to contribute.

Ask yourself what special skill or knowledge you have that can solve a problem or make the best of a situation and that will help or support others.

And actually, maybe we can all be a Gandhi or a  Mandela:-)

Start small – and get started no matter what. They too started small one day at the beginning of their own life journeys.

So fear not – you already have and know enough – new skills will come for sure as you progress on your journey. And whatever you choose to do, it will make a difference.

The point is that everything we do matters and makes either a positive or a negative impact on everything around us.

You can start today to apply Gandhi’s message in your life, simply by focussing on this one question:

-How can I bring more love and peace into my life today?

Just know that every little bit helps and by you being more loving and peaceful, the rest of the world becomes more loving and peaceful too.

After all, we all have a “Gandhi” inside of us, just waiting to emerge.

As for me, I too shall continue to work on letting my own Gandhi emerge, but perhaps not his dress sense!

The way forward – become crazy to change the world!

What makes one person a Gandhi or a  Dr Martin Luther King? Is it pure coincidence or do such inspirational historic figures have some special powers?

“ Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify and vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as crazy, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” –  Steve Jobs, Apple

So just how crazy are you?

And how will YOU change the world?

To get you started right away, please check out this related post at once:

-Feel the Fear and Change the World Anyway!

• http://www.arvinddevalia.com/blog/2009/10/02/6-key-lessons-in-life-from-a-140-year-old-man/