The Way to Victory

Victories of life are won not on the fields nor in the marts where the deci­sive struggle takes place, but in the obscure and forgotten hours of prepara­tion. Success or failure lies in the hands of the individual long before the hour of final test comes.

In the higher fields of success there are no accidents; men reap precisely what they have sown and nothing else; they do well precisely what they have prepared to do and they do nothing else well.

The world puts its force into us when we put ourselves in right relation with it: Experience makes us constantly wiser if we know how to rationalize it: Time deposits all manner of treasure in our imagination and memory, if we hole the doors open.

Nothing is lost upon a man who is bent upon growth, nothing wasted on one who is constantly preparing for his work and his life by keeping eyes, mind, and heart open to nature, men, books and experience. All things that he has seen, heard, known and felt come to his aid at the critical moment to make his thought clear and keep his illustration luminous, his speech eloquent and inspiring.

-Compliments of Indiana State University

A Basketball Player

I don't like CCPing..but I had read a wonderful article on who a basketball player is and would like to share it with you guys.

"A basketball player can come in any size, shape, or color. There is no common denominator except a love for the game and a desire to get the most out of his abilities. He is not only proud of his strengths, but understands his weaknesses. He is concerned first with the good of his team and knows that individual recognition will come through team excellence.

A basketball player has the enthusiasm of an evangelist, the discipline of a monk; the heart of a warrior; and never loses the honesty and character of a small boy.

He appreciates the support of thousands of fans, but he is much more aware of the example he is setting for some small boy watching from the sideline. He is happy when he scores a basket but never forgets that a teammate threw him the ball. While he never lets up at either end of the floor, the other team is not his real opponent; it is the full extent of his own potential that he is always playing against. He lets the referees, with occasional assistance from his coach, do the officiating.

A basketball player is made and not born. He is constantly striving to reach his potential knowing that he will bypass other players who cannot withstand the strain of this quest for excellence. He realizes that the challenges and competition of today's game will better prepare him for tomorrow's world. He knows that the true measure of his performance is not recorded in wins and losses but in how much of himself he has given to the game.

A basketball player never realizes when the odds are stacked against him. He can only be defeated by a clock that happens to run out of time. He is what a small boy wants to become and what an old man can remember with great pride that he once was. "

(available at http://www.coachingtoolbox.net/filingcabinet/a-basketball-player.html)

sometimes you need some time..on your own

Why is it that we never seem to be alone…be it physically or mentally…I'm in my room now….even assuming theres nobody banging on my door, there’ll be somebody buzzing on Gtalk (with a sup!)….if not that then theres always the cell phone which beeps a message or else a phone call from the person you just spoke to a few hours back. But apparently that’s not frequent enough. I mean come on!! A whats up and in reply a nuthin much..gimme a break..! we just chat for the heck of chatting…where’s the peace of mind…. Where’s solitude..sometimes I just wish I could go back in time and not have to be answerable to everybody all the time, 24 hours of the day.

My Philosophy

No obstacle is too great; no distance is too far to traverse. Stand by what you believe in, live life on your own terms. How can you ever be satisfied? I think I have realised today the purpose behind my birth, the reason for my existence. We are all part of a process. Each one of us is in a constant battle, between what we desire and what we should do. Every moment of my existence I ask myself: what do I want from my life? I think I have the answer now: Everything. Right from when I was a child, I was being prepared, mostly at an unconscious level, to work towards my purpose. My mother reading me Wind in the Willows, back then, it was the sound of the words that made me chuckle. I did not gather the import of the writing at the age of 1 and a half. Through our schooling, we are asked what we want to become. The answers range usually from: I want to be a good human being, I want to be successful, I want to be a pilot, a computer engineer, doctor, fire-fighter, and soldier to what not. It was the thrill of the job that inclined us to the field. I went through the same phase. If I wanted to play cricket for India then, why don’t I want to do so now? The sad answer seems to be this. As we grow older, we become afraid. Afraid not of our incompetency, we are afraid of our potential. All of us can make things happen. Nothing is impossible. We grow up in a state of denial. We don’t want to get free. We are afraid to attain the self- realisation. I visualise self realisation as a man standing on a cliff, the highest point in the whole universe, he stands there alone with none else for company. He is blinded by light, all encompassing, and the brightest he will ever see. This is what makes me sad. All of us see this light within us, all of us see ourselves on top of the cliff, yet we blind ourselves, shield ourselves away from our purpose. The idealism we cherish through our childhood diminishes to a point of non existence. We resign ourselves to our desks in office. We fall prey to the instincts of survival. Is that all we are expected to do? The most successful men are those who are unafraid of giving themselves up to the brightest light. They know that their purpose is what is supreme. They work towards their goal. Life comes only once. Should we die unfulfilled? Shouldn’t we have a zest for living?

I believe all of us are philosophers in our own right. We don’t need Plato to tell us about an ideal state. The day we as individuals realise our true potential and work towards our purpose will be a day when humanity will flourish. Ironically again this is similar to Plato’s concept of enlightened individual self!

I have had all the requisites of a happy and contented life. I am 17 now. Throughout I have been blessed with tools without which I would never have seen this day. This piece is dedicated to those tools. What are they?

They are parentage and education. My gratefulness to my parents goes beyond words. People say that the Supreme Creator is God, I do not know. I am just a part of the Universal Process; it is way beyond me to comment on the existence of the Supreme Being. My parents are my creators, I can’t think beyond them. My father is a principled man. He has always stood by his ideals. He has always believed that one should only do what he likes. A person should choose his path and cannot be compelled to do so. I don’t want to make this essay a personal one, and then you wouldn’t be able to associate with it. So I won’t talk about his life or the particular instances that are the basis of my analysis of my father. I think I can fairly conclude that he was individualistic. I have inherited from him the analytical mind.

My mother on the other hand is determined, she never gives up. For more than twenty years she has perspired. She quit a well-paying job and bore two children, my sister and me, five years apart. One of them was very troublesome. A multi tasker that she is, she managed to balance her writing with taking care of us. And she hasn’t compromised on either. Every rejection makes her more resolute. She knows she belongs to the big league and she will not quit until she gets there. I also admire her patience. She goes out of the way to help people. She cooks even when she doesn’t like cooking; she has tolerated and successfully tamed two men with a lot of attitude: me and my father, I salute her.

Education, it opened my eyes. I have never learnt anything by rote. Without understanding the concept, without asking the question ‘why’ I don’t think that true learning can ever take place, and true knowledge can never been achieved. The world is in such a sorry mess today only because of the absence of the above two tools.