Life Lessons from Children

Hello Friends,

Welcome to Anbusivam's Blog Page.

Today November 14th is Children's Day in India. I had a wonderful opportunity to take part in Children's Day Celebrations organised in our office. Colleagues had come to office with their children and family today for the gala celebrations.

As usual I took up my role as an "Observer", started observing the cute little children over there running around, playing, singing and dancing. Kids just live their life enjoying every moment, enthusiastic about everything, eager to learn, curious about everything and with full of contagious energy. Practical life lessons we could learn by just observing child's play is plenty.

Few learning's from those cute little ones are here:

1. Live every moment:

Children live their life spontaneously. Literally every moment is experienced just during that moment and is thoroughly enjoyed. Nothing is pre-planned, they take life as it comes without much of worry. Kids don't waste the right moment at hand in thinking about the future or past, they just live in that moment completely involved. We adults always repent for what happened in the past or anticipate what would happen in future, and in that very process we miss the present right in front of us.

2. Ask lots of questions:

Kids ask lots of questions on matters very trivial to adults. What...? Why...? How...? When...? Where...? would be their major vocabulary once they start understanding things around. There would always be greatest level of curiosity to learn, to understand and to know about every thing around them. Most of the time they may not get answers for all their questions, but it doesn't stop them from asking more questions.

3. No emotional baggage's carried:

Children never carry emotional baggage's like we adults do always in life. Kids don't carry on with their emotions in life. As child I used to quarrel with my sister, we fought a lot for simple things in life. But that will last for not more than few minutes. We will be playing, jumping and running just after that. But now as grown ups we experience each and every situation with some or other pre-conceived ideas in life.

4. Contagious positive energy:

I would always consider "Contagious positive energy" to be the best in children. They enjoy life with full of positive energy that's instantly contagious. Doesn't matter how big our problem is, simply watching a child's play would make us happy and enthusiastic. Their positive energy is highly contagious.

5. No Inhibitions:

Inhibitions are meaning less in Children's world. They just don't worry about anyone and anything around. Unlike adults they don't worry about the consequences, just never bother what others would think. Kids would always want to be themselves, irrespective of where they are. They carry around themselves as just they are.

6. Curious about everything:

Children are curious about everything around. Curiosity is what makes them touch the fire, catch a fly, eat a bug, run onto the streets, jump from the stairs and many more. Always be ing curious to explore new things gives them a never ending learning experiences.

7. Ego Less:

There is nothing called "ego" in Kid's world. Children never have "I" conscious, they just go with the life as it comes without any egoistic thoughts. They fight and quarrel for a moment and next moment we would find them playing as if nothing had happened. The best part of child's behaviour is complete surrender to the loved ones most often the mother.

8. Express the Feelings:
Children would freely express their feelings no matter they are. Their feelings are readily available on their faces for every one to see. Kids don't hide or conceal their feelings and emotions, instead they express them right at that moment. We don't have to guess what's a child's feeling as it will be very obvious in her face. Openly expressing feelings makes life easier and simpler of us and people around us.

I've just listed few practical learning's we could take from Children. Of course we all has gone through that life as a child, but somewhere in the process of growing up we've acquired few things that are not very useful to us and dropped down few things that may be of great help in life.

Let's go back to our wonderful childhood, wake up the little child in us, live life king size.

With Love,
Anbusivam

Choosing to be Happy :-)

Hello Friends.

Welcome to Anbusivam’s blog page.

Reading my previous post When I grow up! I want to be a little boy, one of friends was sharing his childhood days with me over a cup of coffee. I always feel great and wonderful seeing people talking their joyful days of young age.

(One of the best expressions I clicked recently)

Last night when I was pondering over various things, landed up there in that conversation I had with my friend. I deeply felt the joy and happiness of my early days, those blissful moments. But, when I look at my present life, I had a tough question, “Where is that happiness, which was there with me moment after moment???”

As grown ups, we wait for someone or something to make us happy. May be, easy going university teacher, no traffic jams way to work, always green stock market, never troubling children, ever understanding boss, pretty wife, rich mother-in-law, admiring friends, it goes on and on. The moment any of these is not coming the way we wish, then starts the trouble. We become the embodiment of all distressing emotions like hate, anger, and frustration.

As a child, what was our state of emotion? Is it not happiness always? I am sure we remember our young days, where in someone or something has to make us unhappy. Our siblings, friends, parents or teachers some one should make us unhappy, otherwise we are just happy jumping, running without any reason and playing always.

Now, I can hear you saying, Do you want me to be happy in spite of all the turmoil’s happening in my life..? Yes, life is never a bed of roses for any of us, and that’s why life is life. If we can understand that Happiness is nowhere else but it’s now here within us. When it is there with in, why wait for some to trigger it? We should takeover the control of turning it on ourselves. Something like an automatic water level controller in our homes, we’ve an enormous reserve of Happiness with in ourselves (Ground Sump), just by choosing to be Happy at any moment we want (Overhead Tank) we can automatically control our emotions (Electric Pump) to fill us with the Happiness.

A popular greeting card quote by Henry David Thoreau says:

“Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.”

Let’s Choose to be Happy and Yes, Being Happy is Our Birth Right.

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love
Anbusivam

When I grow up! I want to be a little boy

Hello Friends.

Welcome to Anbusivam’s blog page.

Chinmaya Mission, Bangalore gave me a great opportunity to spend three days of my last week in a serene atmosphere at Chokkahalli 60kms away from Bangalore. I was with wonderful children of 8th, 9th and 10th grades. Being with them brought back my childhood days, which made me write this post...!!!

Do you ever yearn to be a child again? “Sure I do”

Joseph Heller said “When I grow up! I want to be a little boy”

Well, we all were children at one point of time with a lot many dreams and beliefs about our life when we grow up. As a child we never had any problems, worries, sadness, tension, anger and sense of failure. Children celebrate other’s victory because they know that they don’t have to be best at everything they do.

An infant's mind is unconditioned for it is not influenced by the world. Such Pure mind is free of imprisonment from false ego — lust, anger, greed, delusion, jealousy, selfishness, fear, desires, confusion, conflict, fear, grief. As an infant, we all were born with such a pure mind! However, afterwards, while growing up, we were programmed and trained to identify with the feeling of "mine, mine!”. In the process, side by side, false ego gets developed as we grow from infancy to adolescence. The moment physical ego becomes stronger in us, we become prisoner of cravings, fears and delusions. To all of us too-serious, on-the-edge, busy-and-preoccupied adults Many of us miss the freedom of childhood

Have you ever keenly observed children playing…..watching the child’s play is a wonderful experience. Child doesn’t care about consequences, it has no inhibitions, it has no fear, and all it knows is happiness, happiness and happiness.

There is a small kid next home in my home town and I used to play with him whenever I go home. One day he came back from school complaining about the girl next door who is his classmate. He was telling his mom, that he had a big fight with her in the school; she had taken his eraser and broken his pencil too. He had decided that he will never talk to her or play with her.

Then a little latter I saw him going to her home and call her to play, and both were playing, laughing, giggling as if nothing happened at school. I just went near and caught him and asked that he was telling that he will never play with her just a few minutes back to his mom. He told me something that instantly caught my mind, that I can never forget, that was “Anna! That was in the morning, this is evening…that was at the school, this is home!!!” The children never carry all the way with them, the big baggage of ego as we grown up do always. Children have neither past nor future; they enjoy the present, which very few of us still can.

Have you not seen a child in anger, at one moment, kick, scratch, pull the hair, beat, cry in the lap of its mother, sometimes cry rolling in the floor? But as soon as that anger is gone, the same child in all its pure love freely runs to its mother laughing, giggling, kissing and making mother totally forget all the past and get her ready to do anything to protect and nourish the child? Have you watched this? In a child's heart, the clutter of failure and judgment are not there for us to stumble over. In a child's heart the fears and pain of life's wounds have not shortened the stride or clipped the wings of imagination. In a child's heart, the eyes do not see the boundaries of nation, state, race or culture.

Be then a child in life, but let's understand it dosen’t mean being childish, ita all about being a child like. There is a huge difference between childish and child like. That’s what our great ancient masters insisted….get into the state of “Bala - Buddhi”.

“Bala – Buddhi” also characterizes the state of complete inner surrender.

“Bala - Buddhi” is transparency, Pure Truthfulness.

Let’s all rebounce back to our Own Nature, “Bala – Buddhi” i.e. Child like.

As it is said in the great book of Christ -

“Who ever humbles himself like a child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven!!!”

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love
Anbusivam

Power of Language from Taare Zameen Par

Hello Friends,

Welcome to Anbusivam’s blog page.

About a week ago I watched the most applauded Hindi movie Taare Zameen Par. There is a scene, after in which the little boy Ishaan had a fight with another boy, got yelled at by his dad, after a shower he comes into the room where his dad is stuffing his suitcases.

Here goes the dialogue:

Ishaan : Papa, where are you going…?
Dad : I am leaving the house, I’ll not come back.
Ishaan : I am sorry Papa; I’ll not do it next time. I am veryyy sorryyy Papa.
Mom : Why are you scaring the child? Dear, Papa is going on an official trip, not because of you.

A single word, his mother said changes his emotions completely. Yes, by changing a word we can scare a child to any extreme. One frightening word can make a child shake and cry. The moment we change that word back to a pleasant one, the child is perfectly fine. Simple words can carry deeper meanings, create stronger feelings and attitudes.

Language is not just a mere communicating tool; it can change attitudes, transform lives. Words communicate not just the literal meanings; it does much more than that. Simple words communicate emotions, fears, happiness, confidence, joy, sorrow…and so on. Writers use language to illustrate and describe thoughts, situations and factual content. In our schools, colleges, offices and in the society, we are constantly confronted with languages either inspiring or depressing. How often we come across a person who really understands the power of language?? I think most of the times, most of us, use language just for the sake of talking, complaining, fighting, and screaming at others. We all know the importance of language, but we always overlook that in our every day conversations.

Constructively chosen language benefits the most. Simple turnaround in our language can bring wonders in our life. The moment we learn to use language efficiently, to get the best out of every situation we encounter in our life, the journey called Life becomes easy and effortless.

Let’s understand the power of language. Let’s make our lives easy and effortless.

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love,
Anbusivam