Day with a Difference – 06-Sep-12

Quote of the day

“Deal with the world the way it is, not the way you wish it was.” – John Chambers

Thought of the day – The secret of happiness

A certain shopkeeper sent his son to learn about the secret of happiness from the wisest man in the world. The lad wandered through the desert for 40 days, and finally came upon a beautiful castle, high atop a mountain. It was there that the wise man lived.

Rather than finding a saintly man, though, our hero, on entering the main room of the castle, saw a hive of activity: tradesmen came and went, people were conversing in the corners, a small orchestra was playing soft music, and there was a table covered with platters of the most delicious food in that part of the world. The wise man conversed with everyone, and the boy had to wait for two hours before it was his turn to be given the man’s attention.

The wise man listened attentively to the boy’s explanation of why he had come, but told him that he didn’t have time just then to explain the secret of happiness. He suggested that the boy look around the palace and return in two hours.

“Meanwhile, I want to ask you to do something”, said the wise man, handing the boy a teaspoon that held two drops of oil. “As you wander around, carry this spoon with you without allowing the oil to spill”.

The boy began climbing and descending the many stairways of the palace, keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon. After two hours, he returned to the room where the wise man was.

“Well”, asked the wise man, “Did you see the Persian tapestries that are hanging in my dining hall? Did you see the garden that it took the master gardener ten years to create? Did you notice the beautiful parchments in my library?”

The boy was embarrassed, and confessed that he had observed nothing. His only concern had been not to spill the oil that the wise man had entrusted to him.

“Then go back and observe the marvels of my world”, said the wise man. “You cannot trust a man if you don’t know his house”.

Relieved, the boy picked up the spoon and returned to his exploration of the palace, this time observing all of the works of art on the ceilings and the walls. He saw the gardens, the mountains all around him, the beauty of the flowers, and the taste with which everything had been selected. Upon returning to the wise man, he related in detail everything he had seen.

“But where are the drops of oil I entrusted to you?” asked the wise man. Looking down at the spoon he held, the boy saw that the oil was gone.

“Well, there is only one piece of advice I can give you”, said the wisest of wise men. “The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon”.

Author: Paul Coelho in “The Alchemist”

Joke of the day – Some hidden terms

1. Close project coordination. (We sat down and had coffee together.)

2. Test results were extremely gratifying! (Unbelievable, it actually worked!)

3. We will look into it. (Forget it! We have enough problems already.)

4. The entire concept will have to be abandoned. (The only guy who understood the thing quit.)

5. Customer satisfaction is believed assured. (We are so far behind schedule, that the customer will take anything.)

Have a great day!

Regards,
Prasanna

Day with a Difference – 23-Aug-12

Quote of the day

“Age is whatever you think it is. You are as old as you think you are.” – Muhammad Ali

Thought of the day – The happiest man in the world

Finding true happiness is a universal aspiration. We all want it, but can we all have it? Genuine happiness can’t be faked, it’s written all over our faces when we are truly contented or overjoyed, and likewise, a forced smile does nothing to hide underlying sadness or despondency.

One man who believes that everyone can create their own lasting joy and well-being is Matthieu Ricard. His face is the very picture of serenity. The corners of his mouth lift in a permanent half smile and his eyes are liquid and gentle.

Ricard has been scientifically declared the Happiest Man in the World. This title sits comfortably alongside the many other descriptions of this 64-year-old Frenchman who is an author, photographer, former molecular geneticist, researcher, devout Buddhist monk and translator for the Dalai Lama.

Ricard earned his “happiest man” status after a series of laboratory tests in 2004 revealed an extraordinary capacity for joy. Researchers cluttered his bald scalp with 256 electrodes, seeking to gauge the effects of meditation on brain activity, and what they observed was groundbreaking. Ricard and the other meditating monks in the lab showed a sharp spike in activity in the prefrontal cortex, the area linked to positive emotions such as happiness. After more than 35 years of practicing meditation, Ricard is particularly proficient at controlling his mind. He’s a long way down the path to enlightenment and cites meditation as a key ingredient in achieving true and lasting happiness. In his bestselling 2007 book, Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life’s Most Important Skill(Atlantic Books), Ricard defines happiness as “a deep sense of flourishing that arises from an exceptionally healthy mind”.

Ricard has shared his thoughts on happiness with a worldwide audience. A seasoned speaker on the world circuit, he has proffered his insights into happiness to everyone from students to corporate groups. He explains it simply as “a deep sense of serenity and fulfilment, a state that actually pervades and underlies all emotional states”. Looking inwards to find joy rather than relying on external conditions, he believes, is the way to achieve contentment and wellbeing: “It’s quite clear that the outer conditions are not enough. The way we interpret and translate those outer conditions in our inner experience is what determines either a sense of well-being or misery.” So does that mean we all have the capacity for contentment, no matter what our circumstances are? Yes, Richard says. He believes we can certainly teach ourselves to be happy if we can learn to train our minds – a discipline as important and beneficial as taking care of our bodies. Mind training is more than just a “supplementary vitamin for the soul”, he says with a smile. “We love to go jogging for fitness and we do all kinds of things to remain beautiful, yet we spend surprisingly little time taking care of what matters most: the way our minds function, which is the ultimate thing that determines the quality of our experience.” In keeping with his Buddhist training, Ricard says meditation is the most efficient way to train the mind, allowing all thoughts and emotions to pass across our consciousness without lingering to distract us. But, he insists, you don’t have to have the discipline of a monk to practise the kind of meditation that can make a difference to your happiness levels. Half an hour a day for a few months is all it takes to achieve benefits. “Meditation is not just blissing out for a few moments under a mango tree and trying to empty your mind unsuccessfully – it is really a deep change that comes through mind training.” Again, Ricard stresses that it’s not what’s happening around us that makes us unhappy, but rather the way we choose to react to it. “We can’t modify the whole world to our taste but we can change our mind. If we change our mind we can change our world.” The pursuit of happiness is becoming a modern obsession. As life becomes more complex, our ability to process our reactions to various outside influences comes under strain. Momentary bursts of happiness are simply not enough to sustain and satisfy us over the long haul. For Ricard, creating an underlying sense of contentment and wellbeing relies on nurturing a range of skills. “Genuine happiness,” he says, “doesn’t mean pleasant feelings one after the other. It’s more like a cluster of qualities that we can develop as skills – like openness, genuine altruistic love, compassion, inner strength and inner peace.” Ego and self-centeredness, says Ricard, are the biggest threats to true happiness. Taking the focus off ourselves and concentrating on showing compassion to others is the beginning. Clearly amused by his nickname, the Happiest Man in the World doesn’t profess to hold all the secrets to happiness, but his message is disarmingly simple. “[We need to nurture] loving kindness, unconditional love, an act of generosity with no strings attached . . . and inner peace, inner strength, inner contentment. Together, those make a way of being – and that is what genuine happiness is.”

Source: http://www.rdasia.com/the-happiest-man-in-the-world

Joke of the day

A married couple has been out shopping for hours when the wife realizes that her husband has disappeared. So she calls his
cellphone. “Where are you!?” she yells. “Darling,” he says, “do you remember that jewellery shop, the one where you saw that diamond necklace you loved? But I didn’t have enough money at the time, so I said, ‘Baby, it’ll be yours one day’?”
“Yes!” she shouts, excitedly. “Well, I’m in the bar next to it.”

Have a great day!

Regards,
Prasanna

Day with a Difference – 13-Aug-12

Quote of the day

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. – Stephen Covey

Thought of the day –Five simple rules for a happy life

1. Don’t be overly emotional – HAVE FAITH

2. Don’t ever give up – KEEP TRYING

3. Don’t make things complicated – KEEP IT SIMPLE

4. Don’t take things too seriously – LAUGH AT PROBLEMS

5. Don’t be a grown – up – STAY YOUTHFUL AS A KID

Joke of the day

Law of Gravity – Any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

Law of Probability – The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.

Law of Random Numbers – If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal & someone always answers.

Variation Law – If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now (works every time).

Law of the Bath – When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.

Have a great week ahead!

Regards,
Prasanna

Day with a Difference – 08-Aug-12

Quote of the day

“One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.” – Arthur Ashe

Thought of the day – A Beautiful Soul

One hot summer evening as Jane was making dinner for her two young children, somebody knocked at her door. When she opened the door she had a huge shock. A frail old man with a terribly distorted swollen face stood there. He told Jane that he needed somewhere to stay as he had been looking for a place all day and everyone had turned him away. He knew it was his appearance that had put people off. Jane felt terrible and told him she would make some arrangement for him in her living room, as she had a very small apartment with one bedroom which she shared with her two young children. The man told her he was very happy to sleep on the chair on the terrace as it was a very pleasant evening. Jane gave the old man some blankets and asked if he would like to join her for dinner. The man politely refused and told her that he had already eaten at the hospital down the road where he was receiving treatment for his face. He told Jane about himself and his family. He was a tailor and he had one widowed daughter who was unwell and he helped support her and her son. He thanked God that he was in a position to help support his daughter and grandson as they were the light of his life. A small smile from them made his world a brighter place. In the morning before leaving he asked Jane if when he came again for treatment could he stay on her terrace again. He told her that she and her children had really made him welcome and they had not been put off by his appearance. Jane smiled and told him he was more than welcome to come any time. On his next trip he arrived early in the morning. As a gift, he brought beautiful clothes for Jane and the children. Jane was so touched she knew that he had made them himself. Following this visit, the old man didn’t come again but almost every month he sent gifts for the children and Jane. He never forgot the love Jane and the children had shown him in his time of need. About 15 years later, Jane was visiting a friend who had a greenhouse, she showed Jane her flowers, they came to the most beautiful one of all, a golden chrysanthemum, bursting with blooms. But to Jane’s great surprise, it was growing in an old dented, rusty bucket. Jane thought to herself, “If this were my plant, I’d put it in the loveliest container I had!” Jane asked her friend why she had not put this gorgeous flower in a beautiful container. Her friend explained, “I ran short of pots and knowing how beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn’t mind starting out in this old pail. It’s just for a little while, till I can put it out in the garden.” Her friends words made Jane feel a huge warmth in her heart and she laughed out with delight. She remembered the kind old man and she imagined what God must have thought when he made him, “Here’s an especially beautiful soul, he won’t mind starting in this distorted body.” Just as her friend had thought about the beautiful flower in the dented pot. Jane thought about the old man now in God’s garden, how tall his lovely soul must be standing. Sadly so many of us judge people by how they look, when we need to look deeper into a person’s soul and stop discarding them because of their appearances.

Joke of the day

A telephonic exchange between a hotel guest and room-service, at a hotel in Asia, which was recorded and published in the Far East Economic Review:

Room Service: “Morny. Ruin sorbees”
Guest : “Sorry, I thought I dialled room-service”
RS : “Rye..Ruin sorbees..morny! Djewish to odor sunteen??”
Guest: “Uh..yes..I’d like some bacon and eggs”
RS: “Ow July den?”
G: “What??”
RS: “Ow July den?…pry, boy, pooch?”
G : “Oh, the eggs! How do I like them? Sorry, scrambled please.”
RS: “Ow July dee bayhcem…crease?”
G: “Crisp will be fine”
RS : “Hokay. An San tos?”
G: “What?”
RS: “San tos. July San tos?”
G: “I don’t think so”
RS: “No? Judo one toes??”
G: “I feel really bad about this, but I don’t know what ‘judo one toes’ means.”
RS: “Toes! toes!…why djew Don Juan toes? Ow bow singlish mopping we bother?”
G: “English muffin!! I’ve got it! You were saying ‘Toast.’ Fine. Yes, an English muffin will be fine.”
RS: “We bother?”
G: “No..just put the bother on the side.”
RS: “Wad?”
G: “I mean butter…just put it on the side.”
RS: “Copy?”
G: “Sorry?”
RS: “Copy…tea…mill?”
G: “Yes. Coffee please, and that’s all.”
RS: “Tendjewberrymud”
G : “You’re welcome”

Have a great day!

Regards,
Prasanna

Day with a Difference – 07-Aug-12

Quote of the day

“You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one.” -John Wooden

Thought of the day – Love Thy Neighbour

There once was a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won a prize. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors. “How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?” the reporter asked. “Why sir,” said the farmer, “didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn.” The farmer was very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor’s corn also improves. So it is with our lives. Those who choose to live in peace must help their neighbors to live in peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well too. For the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all. The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn.

Joke of the day

A guy walks into a post office one day to see a middle-aged, balding man standing at the counter methodically placing “Love” stamps on bright pink envelopes with hearts all over them. He then takes out a perfume bottle and starts spraying scent all over them. His curiosity getting the better of him, he goes up to the balding man and asks him what he is doing. The man says “I’m sending out 1,000 Valentine cards signed, ‘Guess who?'” “But why?” asks the man. “I’m a divorce lawyer,” the man replies.

Have a great day!

Regards,
Prasanna

Day with a Difference – 23-Jul-12

Quote of the day

“The difference between a successful person is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.” –Vincent Lombardi

Thought of the day

Once upon a time the colors of the world started to quarrel. All claimed that they were the best. The most important. The most useful. The favorite.

Green said:
“Clearly I am the most important. I am the sign of life and of hope. I was chosen for grass, trees and leaves. Without me, all animals would die. Look over the countryside and you will see that I am in the majority.”

Blue interrupted:
“You only think about the earth, but consider the sky and the sea. It is the water that is the basis of life and drawn up by the clouds from the deep sea. The sky gives space and peace and serenity. Without my peace, you would all be nothing.”

Yellow chuckled:
“You are all so serious. I bring laughter, gaiety, and warmth into the world. The sun is yellow, the moon is yellow, the stars are yellow. Every time you look at a sunflower, the whole world starts to smile. Without me there would be no fun.”

Orange started next to blow her trumpet:
“I am the color of health and strength. I may be scarce, but I am precious for I serve the needs of human life. I carry the most important vitamins. Think of carrots, pumpkins, oranges, mangoes, and papayas. I don’t hang around all the time, but when I fill the sky at sunrise or sunset, my beauty is so striking that no one gives another thought to any of you.”

Red could stand it no longer he shouted out:
“I am the ruler of all of you. I am blood – life’s blood! I am the color of danger and of bravery. I am willing to fight for a cause. I bring fire into the blood. Without me, the earth would be as empty as the moon. I am the color of passion and of love, the red rose, the poinsettia and the poppy.”

Purple rose up to his full height:
He was very tall and spoke with great pomp: “I am the color of royalty and power. Kings, chiefs, and bishops have always chosen me for I am the sign of authority and wisdom. People do not question me! They listen and obey.”

Finally Indigo spoke, much more quietly than all the others, but with just as much determination: “Think of me. I am the color of silence. You hardly notice me, but without me you all become superficial. I represent thought and reflection, twilight and deep water. You need me for balance and contrast, for prayer and inner peace.”

And so the colors went on boasting, each convinced of his or her own superiority. Their quarreling became louder and louder. Suddenly there was a startling flash of bright lightening thunder rolled and boomed. Rain started to pour down relentlessly. The colors crouched down in fear, drawing close to one another for comfort.

In the midst of the clamor, rain began to speak:
“You foolish colors, fighting amongst yourselves, each trying to dominate the rest. Don’t you know that you were each made for a special purpose, unique and different? Join hands with one another and come to me.”

Doing as they were told, the colors united and joined hands.

The rain continued:

“From now on, when it rains, each of you will stretch across the sky in a great bow of color as a reminder that you can all live in peace. The Rainbow is a sign of hope for tomorrow.” And so, whenever a good rain washes the world, and a Rainbow appears in the sky, let us remember to appreciate one another

Joke of the day

Q: what is the difference between a train station and a teacher?

A: train stations mind the trains and teachers train the minds!

Q: three men were in a boat. It capsized but only two got their hair wet. Why?

A: the third one was bald!

Q: Why shouldn’t you tell a secret to a pig?

A: Because they are squealers.

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Have a great day!

Regards,

Prasanna