Be Passionate

Passion! Does this word ring a bell in your brains? It should, if you are serious about your life. Passion is the magic key to success if you want to make it big in life, so teach the examples of all great achievers of the world. Be passionate about what you do, of course, with due respect for fellow human beings, and success will follow.

Taylor Alison Swift who at the young age of ten began performing around her hometown, at festivals, fairs etc. was passionate about music. She worked with determination and dedication and within two years, she began to write songs as well. She would practise Guitar for hours till her fingers almost bled. So much so at the age of 18 she was nominated for the Grammy Awards for Best New Artist in 2008. The great power of passion!

Usain Bolt, the Jamaican athlete who keeps breaking his own records, is yet another living legend who proves how passionate dedication to one’s dream can bring success after success in life.

On August 16, 2004, The Hindu reported the story of N Krishnan, a gold medalist with a BSc (Hon) in Catering Technology and a trained five-star restaurant chef in Bangalore. Leaving behind all comforts and securities of a high earning job, he chose to follow his heart’s passion – to serve the destitute and mentally challenged. N. Krishnan, the founder of Akshaya Trust travels around 110 kilometres in and around Madurai city everyday feeding almost 400 destitutes and mentally challenged people.

If India is cruising ahead towards scientific, economic and techonlogical progress today, it is because of the countless people who have passionately worked for India’s progress. This includes our beloved teachers because it is they who have ignited all young minds and introduced them to the world of knowledge and wisdom with passion and dedication.

Swift, Bolt, Krishnan and very many others you and I know, could achieve what they dreamt about only because they were passionate about it. Difficulties and obstacles in their life were mere stepping stones for greater successes. Nothing can stop you from success if the flame of passion entrenched in you is kindled every day. Be passionate and taste success! 

Magical Monsoon

Everything in nature has a reason, a lesson and a purpose. It’s ever evolving and ever growing. Nature gives us ample lessons to learn from its bounty. Everything in it has something for us to learn and to be inspired by. So does the rain during the monsoon. There is freshness in the air, in the plants. The rain helps to unleash fresh life into the surface of the earth and envelops it in green. It sustains the world because no life on earth can survive for long without water. The stability and predictability of the monsoon are critical to our economy, society and ecology. The lives of millions of our farmers, city dwellers, even those trading on the stock exchange depend on the monsoon.

The tiny drops of water are able to cruise their way to become powerful sources like mighty rivers and lakes. We, in our life need to make small but persistent efforts to be successful in achieving our goals in life. What the monsoon rain does to the scorched earth, your small acts of kindness, compassion, charity, understanding and love can do to the arid lives of people by causing to germinate and sprout pulsating life of hope, peace and joy in their desperate hearts. We as responsible citizens of our country should be able to contribute to the growth and prosperity of our society and nation. Just like the monsoon showers fall on everyone irrespective of their caste, colour or creed, so too, each one must be just, honest, impartial, sincere and truthful in one’s work and attitude. This kind of frankness and social outreach would always take our country forward. So, be open and learn from the simple yet inspiring realities of nature in this monsoon. You will soon realize the magical power of monsoon as it caresses and rejuvenates new life in nature. There is plenty to learn from nature and so grasp the pearls of wisdom from it during this monsoon. Watch the magical monsoon! 

Dare to dream, dream to dare...

We all possess the capacity to dream. If any laudable feat is achieved by anyone it is because they are able to dream and pursue that dream. This God-given power in us is manifested through our creative work. When we lose the capacity to dream, we in fact subvert our ability to be creative. Those who dare to dream and dream big achieve success in their life. Our dreams and the realisation of those dreams bring about not only success but also unleash a wave of changes both in our life and in the life of others.

There are very many opportunities in the field of education, information technology, fashion designing, music, civil aviation, defence etc. where one can excel. All that one needs to do is to seize the opportunities that come one’s way. In order to turn the available opportunity into golden possibility, one must let go off the caterpillar and pass through the surge of transformation to emerge as the butterfly. There is an untouched and unleashed creative energy in each one of us that has the power to change the world and our destiny. And so all what we need to do is to overcome the barriers that hold us back from pursuing our dreams and endeavour for its realisation.

Wilma Rudolph was a disaster from birth. She was a tiny premature baby who caught pneumonia, then scarlet fever, and finally polio. The polio left one leg badly crippled, with her foot twisted inward. Until the age of eleven, Wilma hobbled around on metal braces. Then she asked her sister to keep watch while she practised walking without the braces. She kept this up everyday, afraid that her parents might discover what she was doing and she might be forced to stop. Eventually, feeling guilty she told her doctor, who was flabbergasted. However he gave her permission to continue, but only for short periods of time.

Wilma worked away at it until she eventually threw away her crutches for good. She progressed to running, and by the time she was sixteen she won a bronze medal in a relay race in the Melbourne Olympics. Four years later, in the Rome Olympics, she became the first woman in history to win three gold medals in track and field events. When she returned to U.S.A. she was honoured with the Sullivan Award as the nation's top amateur athlete. A person who dared to dream to beat all the odds!

In every human person there is tremendous potential. To make our presence felt in this world, we need to work on our dreams vigorously and passionately. The death of imagination is the death of the soul. The power to create something new exists in each one of us. As Ralph Waldo Emerson rightly says, ‘What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us’.

Dare to dream, dream to dare, and see how the world transforms through your creative power.  

The Well-known Secret