I'm continuing writing on life lessons. As the last one, this is also part prose & part poetry...

Hope

"Hope springs eternal in the just heart,

It gives you strength for a new start.

Lights up your soul when it's feeling dim,

Keeps you going when the future looks grim.

Every life that ever lived it out grand,

Be it Abe Lincoln, Churchill or Rembrandt,

Knew very well that hope never dies,

& after every single fall, did again rise.

The power of hope is to date unfathomed

If you doubt it look at the rising sun.."

 Humility

This is a virtue to be cultivated by every human being who wishes to be great. The greatest obstacle to the cultivation of humility is the bloated ego. Einstein was right when he noted that ego is inversely proportional to wisdom. Being humble need not mean allowing people to walk over you. It is realizing the fact that the Almighty wants us to be meek & humble, because we are merely instruments in His hands. Travelling & exploring the bounties of nature is one way of unwinding & also realizing the fact that we are all just pieces of a divine jigsaw puzzle.

Gratitude

'The attitude of gratitude' reached it's current level of fame because of 'the Law of attraction' movement. They claim-'the more gratitude you express for the things you have, the more reasons you will have for being grateful for'. We human beings take too much for granted. Think about it...

The air we breathe is free..

We choose the food we eat..

We choose the clothes we wear..

We choose our jobs...

We choose our life partners..

We choose our hairstyles...

We choose our friends..

The sun rises every morning..

The star-studded sky does not come with a monthly subscription....

All these gifts we take for granted( not to mention countless other gifts!!). Gratitude is thus an essential virtue. Meister Eckhart once said:"If the only prayer you ever uttered was 'Thank you', it would suffice."(& I couldn't agree more!!)..

Time management

"Tis slowly trickling away, as night follows the day,

A young man's hair will eventually turn gray,

& when his time is done, he'll need a muddy grave,

Time flies by, & nothing's gonna be the same,

So learn to use time wisely, that's the game..."

Traveling

I love traveling( that's like turning it down a few notches!). I love coddiwompling, mall strolling or just watching sunsets on beaches...I think everyone needs to travel, to help open up their souls. By traveling, I don't insist that you book yourself for a five-star cruise. Just visit a beach, or a waterfall, or just take a train trip to a neighboring state, & coddiwomple. Look at the marvels of nature, try out new cuisine, get lost in the beauty of some countryside. Breathe in the fresh air, look up at the blue sky. Try not to define what you're feeling, just enjoy the feeling. I think it was St. Augustine who aptly said:"The world is like a book, & those who don't travel only read one page of it."

Unwinding

In today's busy world we don't get enough rest. Our body & mind needs rest, if they are to function optimally. Our bodies can very well be likened to machines, which need servicing & oil changes to function as intended. Always listen to inner signals, & learn to take time out to rest. Different people have different modes of unwinding-music, reading, travelling, or just lazing around watching TV. Whatever your preferred mode, make sure you get your share of rest. Thanks to the attempts of MNCs to improve productivity, many techniques have been developed to recharge the mind & body during work days. These include power naps, yoga, breathing exercises, & so on. The value of rest was once emphasised by an incident where English explorers, wandering under the frondescence in Africa, decided to rest for quite a while. The reason they put forth, for this prolonged period of rest was quite apt. They said-''Let's rest so that our souls may catch up with our bodies.."

Living well is the best revenge

REM released a song, sometime back, called-'Living well is the best revenge'. I love this song, but without any doubt, this is a lesson life has taught me as well. If anyone has wronged you, don't waste time scheming a revenge. Live your life to the fullest, that in itself would be the best revenge. Wicked people can't see the people they've wronged, lead a good life. We all know that every bad experience, carries valuable life lessons. So assimilate all the life lessons you can from all the experiences, & keep going & growing...

That's it for now...Hope you enjoyed reading this article...