Off and on life gives us some pleasant surprises and one such surprise came to me when I chanced upon the above piece of advice from the ocean. What made it special was the exceptional interplay of words related to the ocean that sound so similar to the words relevant to make sense of the advice when read aloud. Equally important and interesting is the fact that each sentence by itself is a piece of advice and when understood in its entirety makes us aware of the symbiotic relationship of the set of advices.
To appreciate the advice given by the ocean let us examine each of them at length.
Be sure of yourself – Confidence is a quality that all leaders and successful people have had in ample measure. Confidence comes from being sure of one’s self; ones knowledge, understanding, ability to confront challenges and the certainty that every step has a definite purpose and goal. Ironically it is those who are overconfident who invariably go well beyond the shoreline and end up as drowning victims. So there is a very thin line between being sure and being overconfident and success is all about seeing that the lines don’t blurr. Click on this link to get an idea of how confident mountain goats are and how tough it is for us to mimic them http://tinyurl.com/ky53cwn
Come out of your shell – A tortoise, they say makes progress only when it sticks its neck out of its shell. The same holds true for each of us. Confidence gets translated into momentum only when we are prepared to move out of our comforts zone and attempt what we have ever done before. Of course there is a risk of failure, but with proper planning, strategy and determination one can always mitigate the chances of failure. Have you any of you ever learned cycling without ever having a fall? Click on this link to see how a tortoise has to stick his neck to make good progress http://tinyurl.com/l9cc67t
Take time to coast – In chasing our dreams, we often forget to enjoy the wonders that life has freely given us. The gift of friends requires us to spare time for them, the love of family necessitates us spending family time together, the beauty of nature requires that we take a break, spend time and soak in its wonders. Instead of taking a motor boat, how about taking a paddle boat and meandering around the sea shore enjoying the sea gulls, the setting sun, the wind on our face and occasionally tasting the salty sea water that drenches us when the waves crash against the boat. Click on this link to enjoy seeing a clipping from a short film Paddle to the sea http://tinyurl.com/n6vh2mr . To see the entire 28min movie click on this link http://tinyurl.com/mt3w56v
Avoid peer pressure – Remember the times in school / college when we were threatened with dire consequences by our class mates if we snitched about an errant / mischievous class mate who anonymously created havoc. That was our first experience with peer pressure. At the work place and in social circles, many a time we would crave to live up to the expectations of others. Stress is a natural outcome of intense peer pressure. Similar peer pressure from family, friends and colleagues would later on be more self inflicted, especially if we kept comparing ourselves to them. The craze for more power, money, prestige, recognition are symptomatic of the subtle peer pressure that we occasionally succumb to. Live life on your terms and don’t let others dictate terms to you.
See life’s beauty – The wonders of nature, the unpretentious ways of wild life, the cry of a new born, the pitter patter of raindrops, the howling of the winds, the lit sky during a lightening, the care free love of a puppy, the clucking of hens but above all the smile on the face of fellow being are moments of exhilarating beauty. The essence of beauty lies in its captivating power to enthrall the heart, mind and flesh, astounding and mesmerizing us completely.
Don’t get tied down – We grow not merely because we think or because we are intelligent, but because we soak in experiences, learn from our mistakes and discover life beyond our imagination. Just as stagnant water does not help marine life, our own growth will flourish if we are willing to untie ourselves from the bondage of family ties, move away from the comfort of the familiar, embrace the challenge of change and risk being adrift, alone and isolated. However, by setting sail there is a real possibility of you discovering new horizons, rediscovering yourself and realizing your true worth.
Make Waves = Yes you can by doing what you never dreamt of doing, surprising the world around and by making a huge difference to the environment around you. Your attitude is the wind that will give the momentum and zip to the efforts you take. Strangely enough you will be able to ride the wave of success that you create provided you don’t get unbalanced by getting drunk on success. You are the water, the wind, the surfboard and surfer – discover all that when you make waves.
Try this:
- Click on this link and make a kaleidoscope as demonstrated in the video clip. http://tinyurl.com/4ypfgzm When you succeed you will realize the truth of the oceans wisdom.
- Set a target for yourself to collect a certain amount of funds in the coming week, for your favorite charity. The key is to collect funds from strangers whom you have never ever met or interacted with. If you exceed your set target, double the target and try the exercise once again after a month. If you did not meet your set target, analyze how you can do better and attempt it once again after a month with the same target in mind.
- Check out the meanings of the words in the original picture which are written in bold in the write up above. e.g. shore and sure
This post is courtesy www.actspot.com
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