Day 12 - Step into the right shoes, choose empathy today

"Empathy is about standing in someone else's shoes, feeling with his or her heart, seeing with his or her eyes. Not only is empathy hard to outsource and automate, but it makes the world a better place."

Daniel H. Pink

Some unempathetic situations that I can recollect : Jokes on twitter and other social medias regarding earthquakes in the wake of recent Nepal earthquake, when the reporters wildly rummage the calamity affected areas and question the afflicted victims about how if feels when they have lost their relatives,  doctors unwilling to check critical patients before an accident case is registered with police, celebrities supporting their celebrity friends knowing well that their friend was responsible for crime and more. From our daily interactions with friends or relatives to global conflicts, lack of empathy is becoming more evident. Probably one of the reasons for terrorism and religious conflict is due to lack of empathy. Somebody truly said; You don't need religion to have morals. If you can't determine right from wrong, then you lack empathy, not religion.

I would like to cite an incident from my days of MBA studies dating back to 2007. It was vacation time and we friends were on our way home by train from Hyderabad to Vadodara. During one of the stops near Mumbai, we saw a group of transgenders from our window and we became wary, thinking that they would soon be raiding our coaches demanding money from us. If we deny they would misbehave. And then it happened. One of these guys approached us for money. We, students, at the end of our semester, were heading homes and were virtually penniless. Some of us handed over a few notes and while the other searched their pockets, one of our friend just questioned him as to why do they harass the passengers and why don't they work instead. This man (yes he was a man in every sense) sat down next to him and the story that followed was unbelievable. He said he was not a transgender as we believed, but only dressed as one. He was laid off from a prestigious company where he had worked for 15 long years (reason unknown), he has two children; one in class 12th and one in engineering college. Apparently, he was the only earning member of the family and this was the only way he could make money other than begging on the streets. I don't know if he lied to us then or not, but we willingly gave whatever little change we could to this man. He blessed us profusely as he proceeded to the next compartment. 

Sympathy is when we acknowledge other person's hardships while empathy is when you understand other's feeling since you can put yourself in their shoes. Do you think what we did was out of empathy or sympathy? I leave the answer to you.

Empathy is needed in every sphere of our lives. If we have the ability to step into the shoes of another person and can understand their perspectives and feelings, it will certainly guide us in the way we think and act. Research says that empathetic doctors cure patients faster, empathetic teachers have their students perform better in tests, and empathetic CEOs and companies will be more successful since they understand both their employees and customers. 

Step into the right shoes, choose empathy today!

Day 11 - Hum your way to happiness today

"The history of the music industry is inevitably also the story of the development of technology. From the player piano to the vinyl disc, from reel-to-reel tape to the cassette, from the CD to the digital download, these formats and devices changed not only the way music was consumed, but the very way artists created it."
Edgar Bronfman, Jr.

As a child, I remember listening to radios and tape recorders. Our house was a heaven for music lovers. We had a range of cassettes for each generation and all genre of music, from nursery rhymes, folk, pop, classical, ghazals, film songs and more. A cassette was the most sought after item when we went out for shopping. I remember those days, when I used to listen to the songs played on the tape recorder for hours, humming with them, rewinding my favorite ones and fast-forwarding the not so liked ones. That was an era when we had no television, no mobiles, no computers and no internet. Hence, the tape recorder was considered to be a valuable asset in those days. Most memorable of all was, using a pencil to wind the tape back in place when the tapes got entangled....that was the fun part. Our children cannot imagine a life without smart gadgets but sadly, our children will also not know the relation between a cassette and a pencil! 

Gone are those days when we used cassette tapes and tape recorders. The journey of music for me began from cassettes, compact discs, mini-discs, DVDs and to Blue-ray disc today, and something new is surely on the way already. Today music is accessible to all 24 hours online. But I will fondly remember that 'cassette era' always when we happily listened to music, leaving all our work and play. 

Anyways, music lovers will always enjoy music in whatever format it is. 

So hum your way to happiness today!

Day 10 - Move at your own pace

"Even a snail will eventually reach its destination." 

Gail Tsukiyama, The Street of a Thousand Blossoms 

Sometimes even a small creature like a snail can teach us a lot. One of the biggest virtue it can help us adopt is Patience. 

In our hunger for success, for money and for growth, we have forgotten the merit of patience. We want everything today...no yesterday. The concept of patience is frustrating for many of us. As a result, we fix unrealistic deadlines and goals. It is not possible to achieve success in one day and it's not possible to do all the things we want to do in a single lifetime. Patience teaches us to take control of our life and to move at our pace. Fix small goals in life and take one step at a time. Once you do that you will enjoy the entire process. There will be a sense of fulfillment and balance.

Saying that I would also add on that patience doesn't mean laziness. It doesn't mean that you sit idle and watch life go by. If you want to achieve success you need to work for it. Success is a journey which includes patience and hard work.

Some interesting facts about snails:

• Snails are blind and also cannot hear, but their sense of smell is extraordinary.
• An average garden snail has as many as 14,000 teeth.
• In New Guinea, the shells of sea snails were used for long as currency.
• Some snails live for 5 years while some may live as long as 25 years.
• They usually move at a fast pace, but can reach 1.3 cms per second.
• They travel in irregular paths, often in a circle.

Coincidently, today morning I found this very creature lying on the ground near the grass turf, slimily moving to someplace. Probably, an indication from God to slow down!

Move at your own pace.  Enjoy life at a snail's pace!

Day 9 - Enjoy your ride, enjoy your life.

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream,
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, 
Life is but a dream.

My daughter was singing this one night and she suddenly popped this question, "Mamma, why is life but a dream?" I couldn't explain much to her then knowing that she is too young to understand what it truly meant. Her question made me think twice. I thought how would I explain these lines to a kid. So here's the explanation for not just them but for us adults too.

A boat is your life. You have to row the boat again and again. You push and pant and struggle with the oars. But it's only you who has to do it, for it is your life. You need to gently take your boat with the flow of the stream. Take life as it comes and keep moving forward. Merrily would mean not to get disappointed or frustrated with failures, rejections, and struggles that come your way. Have an optimistic attitude towards life. Life is a dream for tomorrow, but it will be what you make out of it today. You have the choice since the oars are in your hand.

So enjoy your ride. Enjoy your life.

Day 8 - Opportunities

"Snakes are sometimes perceived as evil, but they are also perceived as medicine. If you look at an ambulance, there's the two snakes on the side of the ambulance. The caduceus, or the staff of Hermes, there's the two snakes going up it, which means that the venom can also be healing."

Nicolas Cage

Now how can you think of something positive when you have the image of a snake in front of you? This is what I thought when I first made this sketch. But I was not going to give up my quest for positive thoughts and during my search, I learned that snakes are actually considered to be a symbol of healing powers and opportunities. 

The snake leaves behind its old skin and as it crawls ahead, it emerges as a new creature. This can be considered as a metaphor for new beginning. All of us who wish to move ahead in our lives in terms of new opportunities, new goals and new challenges, nothing can stop us if we leave behind our past, old and regressive thoughts and ideas. Grab every opportunity that comes your way and explore new possibilities. 

Have a Snaky day!

Note:

The Egyptians used the snake hieroglyphs to represent N, maybe because their word snake may have begun with that sound. So, for today's signature I tried to use the hieroglyph of snake the way it would have been used by the Egyptians.

Day 7 - Have an eggciting day!

An egg has many connotations and metaphors: new life, hope for growth, creation, patience, cycle of life and so on. Many quotes have been written on an egg, life, and relationships. An interesting one, dedicated to all my friends who have been with me in good and bad times, and those who've always supported me, this one is for you all:
"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." 
Bernard Meltzer 

During my search, I came across many egg-related jokes that I shared with my daughter. The smile on her face brightened up my day. So here are some jokes that I thought all of you out there would enjoy too. After all, this blog is meant for brightening up your day too! So here we go cluck...cluck...

What day do eggs hate the most?
Fry-day.

What did Snow-white call her chicken?
Egg-white.

How do eggs leave the highway?
By going through the eggs-it.

How do comedians like their eggs?
Funny side up!

How do monsters like their eggs?
Terri-fried!

How do chickens call a school test?
Eggs-animation!

What did the eggs do when the light turned green?
They egg-celerated!

Why is momma so fat"
Because she did not eggs-cercise!

How did the egg get up the mountain?
It scrambled up!

What do you call an egg taking a snooze on the job?
Egg-zosted!

Who wrote the book Great Eggspectations?
Charles Chickens!

Why did the egg go to school?
To get egg-u-cated!

Why is the chef so mean?
He beats the eggs!

What do Chickens grow on?
Eggplants!

What do you call an egg who is on the computer too much?
An Egg-head.

What did the mommy egg say to the baby egg?
You're "egg-stra special."

What do you call a city of 20 million eggs?
New Yolk City

If fruit comes from fruit tree what kind of tree does a chicken come from?
A Poul-tree!

What part did the egg play in the movies?
He was an "Egg-stra".

What do you call an egg that goes on safari?
An eggs-plorer!

Hope you all have an eggciting day!

Day 6 - Live a life free from fear

"Fear is the needle that pierces us that it may carry a thread to bind us to heaven." 
James Hastings

Looking back at my childhood days, I recollect fear of cockroaches and monsters, but now as an adult my fears have multiplied manifold: Fear of failure, facing rejections, fear of being hurt, fear of loneliness, fear of losing near and dear ones, and so many more things. But life always has strange ways of showing, that my fears and doubts have many a times, been just a figment of my imagination. Once the needle of fear pierces you, it will take you down to your grave unless you find ways and means to face it and fight it.

We must not let fear rule our mind, for fear can rob you of your joys and dreams and most importantly your peace of mind. Fearful thoughts will only breed more fear. So learn to invite positive thoughts to attract success. Stop making negative assumptions about future. Hang out with people who have positive thoughts and who would feed you with positive energy. Live a life free from fear.

Have a fear-free day!