“Make the most of yourself....for that is all there is of you.” 
― Ralph Waldo Emerson



    “A tulip doesn’t strive to impress anyone. It doesn’t struggle to be different than a rose. It doesn’t have to. It is different. And there’s room in the garden for every flower. 
         You didn’t have to struggle to make your face different than anyone else’s on earth. It just is. You are unique because you were created that way.
  Look at little children in kindergarten. They’re all different without trying to be. As long as they’re unselfconsciously being themselves, they can’t help but shine. 
It’s only later, when children are taught to compete, to strive to be better than others, that their natural light becomes distorted.” 
― Marianne Williamson



“When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete,everyone will respect you.”
― Lao Tzu


"We must not allow other people's limited
perceptions to define us"~Virginia Satir

"....be yourself-not 

your idea of what you think somebody else's idea of yourself should be.”~ Henry David  Thoreau  

“You don't need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. 
You are what you are!” ― John Lennon 

P.S: Why so many quotes????
Just to remind you how unique and special each one is.... YOU are.May your day turn out to be as unique and special as you are.      
Namaste,
Bhagya                 
     

                                        

         

                                   

 

                                                                       

"You are the hero you've been waiting for. "~ Rob Kaye

YOU AND YOURSELF






It is rewarding to find someone whom you like, but it is essential to like yourself.


It is quickening to recognize someone as a good and decent human being,but it is indispensable to view yourself as acceptable.


It is a delight to discover people who are worthy of respect, admiration, and love, but it is vital to believe yourself deserving of these things.


For you cannot live in someone else. You cannot find yourself in someone else. You cannot be given a life by someone else. Of all the people you will know in a lifetime, you are the only one you will never leave nor lose.


To the question of your life, you are the only answer.


To the problems of your life, you are the only solution.


~ Author Unknown

"We are each gifted  in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light."~Mary Dunbar

"Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself." ~Richard Bach








P.S: 
When the body,mind and spirit work as one; when  there is unconditional self love,self acceptance and implicit belief in oneself...solutions are never hard to find.
Namaste,
Bhagya

                                              






           
                                                 

"A talent for repartee is one that increases with practice."~J. L. Motley.

Once, the people of The City invited Mulla Nasruddin to deliver a khutba/sermon.

When he got on the minbar (pulpit), he found the audience was not very enthusiastic, so he asked "Do you know what I am going to say?"


The audience replied "NO", so he announced "I have no desire to speak to people who don't even know what I will be talking about" and he left.


The people felt embarrassed and called him back again the next day.


This time when he asked the same question, the people replied "YES". So Mullah Nasruddin said, "Well, since you already know what I am going to say, I won't waste any more of your time" and he left.


Now the people were really perplexed. They decided to try one more time and once again invited the Mullah to speak the following week.


Once again he asked the same question - "Do you know what I am going to say?"


Now the people were prepared and so half of them answered "YES" while the other half replied "NO". So Mullah Nasruddin said "The half who know what I am going to say, tell it to the other half" and he left!     

“Repartee is something we think of twenty-four hours too late.”~Mark Twain 

P.S: Most of us feel what Mark Twain said.........
think of an appropriate rejoinder hours later:)
The artless art of repartee is inherent in some....
People who read about Mulla Nasruddin think he was anything other than intelligent.....but I think he was extremely intelligent....and no one could get him to do anything that he really did not wish to do.
Namaste,
Bhagya

“Comfort zones are most often expanded through discomfort.”
 ~Peter McWilliams




The Check






The business executive was deep in debt and could see no way out. Creditors were closing in on him. Suppliers were demanding payment. He sat on the park bench, head in hands,wondering if anything could save his company from bankruptcy.


Suddenly an old man appeared before him."I can see that something is troubling you," he said.


After listening to the executive's woes, the old man said,"I believe I can help you."


He asked the man his name, wrote out a check, and pushed it into his hand saying, "Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time."


Then he turned and disappeared as quickly as he had come.


The business executive saw in his hand a check for $500,000,signed by John D. Rockefeller, then one of the richest men in the world!


"I can erase my money worries in an instant!" he realized.But instead, the executive decided to put the uncashed check in his safe. Just knowing it was there might give him the strength to work out a way to save his business, he thought.


With renewed optimism, he negotiated better deals and extended terms of payment. He closed several big sales.
Within a few months, he was out of debt and making money once again.


Exactly one year later,he returned to the park with the uncashed check.
At the agreed-upon time,the old man
appeared. But just as the executive was about to hand back the check and share his success story, a nurse came running up and grabbed the old man.


"I'm so glad I caught him!" she cried. 
"I hope he hasn't been bothering you. He's always escaping from the home and telling people he's John D. Rockefeller."


And she led the old man away by the arm.


~ Author Unknown



"The hardest thing to do is leaving your comfort zone. But you have to let go of the life you're familiar with and take the risk to live the life you dream about."- T. Arigo




"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone."~Neale Donald Walsch


  
P.S: 
What an amazing story !!!!!! Seems more like a Divine Intervention.
I would have preferred to spell check...as cheque.Call it an old stick in the mud approach :) However,apart from the fact that it is someone else's piece of writing......I appreciate the fact that it allows me to check my own mindset.
Ever so often one forgets that the best helping hand is always at the end of one's own arm.
Sometimes.....getting out of one's comfort zone... is all that is required of us.
Namaste,
Bhagya

"The greatest gift I ever had 

Came from God; I call him Dad!"

~Author Unknown

    The Best Gift




One of the most inspiring true stories I have come across ......was about a little boy whose father gave him a small chalkboard on which he could practise writing.


One day the little boy called out to his father asking him the spelling of the word best.The father answered him.


A few moments later he asked again,
“How do you spell kid?”


Another question followed soon after.
“How do you spell ever?”


When the little boy came to show his father what he had written .........he expected to see something like..."I am the best kid ever."


Imagine his astonishment when he saw the board on which was written......
"You are the best dad a kid can ever have."


For the father..... it was one of the best days of his life and message on the chalkboard ........the best gift ever.


In fact, he got his son another chalkboard because he wanted to hang the one with the message on the wall.....so he could see it for the rest of his life.


I am sure it is still there.

P.S: What a blessing to be able to look up to one's father!!What if, every child could have a father like the child in the story ?????
What would the world be like ?
Greetings and all good wishes to all fathers everywhere.
Namaste,
Bhagya


                                   

“It's usually the ones who are willing to do anything and everything for another that end up getting hurt.”~Author Unknown 


 


 The Camel's Head


One night a camel looked into the tent where his master was sleeping. "How warm it is in there!" he said. "I should like a good place like that myself."


The next night he put his head inside the door. "You will not mind my putting my head into the tent, I am sure," said he to his master. "The wind is cold tonight."


"Not at all," replied his master; "there is plenty of room."


In a little while the camel said, "Kind master, my neck is very cold; would you mind if I put it inside the tent?"


"Oh, no," said his master.


Now the camel seemed satisfied. But in a little while he wakened his master, saying, "My forelegs are getting cold. I should like to have them under cover."


His master moved over a little and said, "You may have a little more room. I know it is a cold night." So the camel moved a little farther into the tent.


Very soon the camel wakened his master again, saying, "I keep the tent door open by standing in the door. That makes it cold for both of us. Had I not better come wholly in?"


"Yes, come in," said the master. "There is hardly room for both of us, but I do not want you to suffer from the cold," So the camel crowded into the tent.


It was not long before the camel was inside and the master outside the tent.



" People are slow at understanding you, but very quick at taking advantage of the things you say."
~Author Unknown 



"Saying nothing... sometimes says the most."
~Emily Dickinson 






 "I have had to learn about saying no."~ Jaclyn Smith



 P.S: Be willing to give an inch.......and lose it all !!!!! That is the story of the master who (like so many of us.....is not good at saying,"NO".
Those who choose not to learn to say no....when it is important to do so....always end up being taken for granted.
Namaste,
Bhagya
                                                                                                             

"The word guru is a compound of two words, gu and ru. Gu means darkness and ru means light. That which dispels the darkness of ignorance is called guru.The energy and action of removing darkness are guru. Guru is not a person, it is a force driven by grace. "- Swami Rama


Who Is The Most 
Powerful  Master



One of Yu's disciples was talking to a disciple of Rinzai:

"My master is a man capable of doing miracles, that is why he is respected by all his pupils.
 I have seen him do things far beyond our capabilities. And your master? What great miracles can he do?"

"My master's greatest miracle is that he doesn't need to display any great wonder, in order to show his pupils that he is a wise man."

~Paulo Coelho


"Haven't you seen a balance? The lighter side goes higher. He who is spiritually higher than others does not consider himself a guru." - Sri Ramakrishna



A Guru does not have to DO .........
just BE........and by virtue of that being-ness be a catalyst for transformation and self realization in others.
Namaste,
Bhagya