Stress

Stress and depression can disturb the life as well as health of an individual. Being optimistic and taking help of others and planning can help ward off stress and depression. The storms and stresses of life will either drive us forward or back, depending on how we direct our course. It is easy to blame others when the real problems usually lie within us. Our own personal response means far more than all the influences that surround us. Many of our failures are due to childish reactions that we have carried over into adult life. This is a common cause of mental and physical illness. Most of our mental illnesses arise because the individual cannot cope with the stress and strain of life. It is the parent’s responsibility to help each child to grow up into full maturity and peace of mind. Main causes for stress are: Financial situation can cause stress at any time of the year. Overspending during the holidays on gifts, travel, food and entertainment can increase stress. Relationships can cause tension, conflict or stress at any time. Family misunderstandings and conflict can increase the stress. A conflict mainly arises with so increased needs and interests to accommodate. Loss of sleep often results in fatigue and quickly impairs a person’s normal judgment. The higher centers of the brain are the first to show the effects of overwork and anxiety. Such a person may become depressed, losing all interest in life and burdened with a sense of impending death. Stress may he caused by a variety of factors. External factors include loud noises, blinding light, extreme heat or cold, X-rays and other forms of radiation, drugs, chemicals, bacterial and various toxic substance, pain, and inadequate nutrition The factors from within the body include hate, envy, fear, or Jealousy. Stress symptoms Body, brain and nervous system react actively The body and the mind react to any stress factor. A large number of physical changes take place when a person is under stress. The brain and nervous system become intensely active; the pupils of the eye dilate; digestion slows down; muscles become tense; the heart starts pumping blood harder and faster; blood pressure increases; breathing becomes faster; hormones such as adrenaline are released into the system along with glucose from the liver; and sweating starts. All these changes like place in split second under the direction of the nervous system. If the stress factors are removed immediately, no harm accrues and all the changes are reversible. Poor sleep, frustration, increase in alcoholic intake etc Stress in its earlier and reversible stage leads to poor sleep, bad temper, continual grumbling, domestic conflict, repealed minor sickness, accident proneness, a feeling of frustration, and increase in alcoholic intake. Stress causes External stress factors like loud noises, drugs, etc Stress may he caused by a variety of factors both outside the body and within. External factors include loud noises, blinding light,extreme heat or cold, X-rays and other forms of radiation, drugs, chemicals, bacterial and various toxic substance, pain, and inadequate nutrition Internal stress factors like envy, jealousy, etc The factors from within the body include hate, envy, fear, or Jealousy. Home Remedies for Stress Stress treatment using Holy Basil (tulsi) The leaves of holy basil have been found beneficial in the treatment of stress. They are regarded as an anti-stress agent. Recent studies have shown that the leaves protect against stress significantly. It has been suggested that even healthy persons should chew twelve leaves of basil twice a day, morning and evening, for preventing stress Stress treatment using Sage The herb sage is considered valuable in stress. A tea prepared from the leaves of this plant should be given in the treatment of this condition. This tea is prepared by pouring a cup of boiling water over one teaspoon of dried sage leaves. The water should be covered and infused for several minutes. It should then be strained and sweetened, with honey, if desired. In the case of fresh leaves, a tablespoon of coarsely chopped sage leaves should be used and tea prepared in the same way Stress treatment using Nutrients Certain nutrients have proved beneficial in relieving stress. These are vitamins A and B; and minerals such as calcium, potassium, and magnesium which reduce the feeling of irritability and anxiety. Vitamin A is found in green and yellow vegetables. Some of the valuable sources of vitamin B are cashew nuts, green leafy vegetables, yeast, sprouts, and bananas. An element of vitamin B complex, pantothenic acid, is especially important in preventing stress. It has a deep effect on adrenal glands and the immune system; an adequate amount of this vitamin, along with vitamin A, can help prevent many of the changes caused by stress. Potassium deficiencies are associated with breathlessness, fatigue, insomnia, and low blood sugar. Potassium is essential for healthy heart muscles. Nuts and whole grains are good sources of this mineral. Calcium is a natural sedative. Deficiencies can cause fatigue, nervousness and tension. Dairy products, eggs, almonds, and soya beans are rich sources of this mineral. Magnesium is known as nature's tranquilliser and is associated with the prevention of heart attacks. It is found in many fruits, vegetables, seeds, dates, and prunes Stress treatment using Other Foods There are many foods which help in meeting the demands of stress and should be taken regularly by the patients. These include yoghurt, blackstrap molasses, seeds, and sprouts. Yoghurt is rich in vitamins A, D, and the B complex group. It relieves migraine, insomnia, and cramps associated with menstruation. Blackstrap molasses, a by-product of the sugar-refining process, is rich in iron and B vitamins. It guards against anaemia and is good for heart disease. Seeds such as alfalfa, sunflower, pumpkins, and sprout are rich in calcium and quite effective as deterrents of listlessness and anxiety. If a loved one has recently died or you aren't near loved ones, realize that it's normal to feel sadness and grief. It's OK now and then to take time just to cry or express your feelings. You don't have to force yourself to be happy. If you feel alone, seek out family members and friends, or community, religious or social services. They can offer support and companionship. Getting involved and helping others can lift your spirits and broaden your social circle. Find new ways to celebrate together from afar, such as sharing pictures, e-mails or videotapes. Try to accept family members and friends as they are, even if they don't live up to your expectations. Set aside grievances until a more appropriate time for discussion. And be understanding if others get upset or distressed. Before you go shopping, decide how much money you can afford to spend on gifts and other items. Then be sure to stick to your budget. If you don't, you could feel anxious and tense for months afterward as you struggle to pay the bills. Prepare a plan for shopping, baking, visiting friends and other activities. That'll help prevent to create any confusion Take sufficient sleep for 8-10 hours. Spending just 15 minutes alone, without distractions, may refresh you enough to handle everything you need to do. Go away to a silent place, even if it's the bathroom, for a few moments of solitude. Take a walk at night. Listen to light music. This is very useful home remedy for stress. Drink a hot cup of milk mixed with honey and cinnamon or nutmeg. It will help calm you down. Avoid foods or drinks with alcohol, caffeine, chocolate or sugar. Eat regularly, and eat whole foods such as vegetables and grains, avoiding processed foods. Drink beverages with hops, such as non-alcoholic beer, for relaxation. Chew twelve leaves of basil twice a day, morning and evening, for preventing stress. This is also very useful home remedy for stress. Prepare a tea by pouring a cup of boiling water over one teaspoon of dried sage leaves. The water should be covered and infused for several minutes. It should then be strained and sweetened, with honey, if desired. Vitamins A and B; and minerals such as calcium, potassium, and magnesium, which reduce the feeling of irritability and anxiety, are also very helpful in reducing the stress. Foods, which are helpful in reducing the stress, include yoghurt, blackstrap molasses, seeds, and sprouts. Regular physical exercise plays an important role in the fight against stress. Keeping anger within you adds to feelings of stress; blowing up in a rage is almost as bad. Take a hot bath. It is a very good stress reliever. Diet for Stress Lifestyle change, optimum diet, regular exercise and rest In dealing with stress, the lifestyle of the patient needs a complete overhaul. He should be placed on an optimum diet, and be encouraged to take regular exercise and adequate rest. If this is done, many diseases caused by stress can be eliminated. Diet plays an important role in the prevention and healing of stress induced diseases. Food to be avoided during stress Certain foods associated with stress and anxiety should be scrupulously avoided. These foods are caffeine in coffee and many soft drinks, salt, sugar, cigarettes, and alcohol. Other stress treatment Do Regular physical exercise and eliminate unnecessary stress Regular physical exercise plays an important role in the fight against stress. It not only keeps the body physically and mentally fit, but also provides recreation and mental relaxation, Recreation and rest are also important. The patient should set a definite time for recreational activities, and should take a holiday at regular intervals. Above all, he should simplify his style of living to eliminate unnecessary stress

How does one overcome anger and hatred?

It’s all very well to talk about love and its healing power. Infact I and everybody else at intentblog do that all the time.And we really mean it-well i certainly do :-)

I reiterate it over and over again not only to myself but to everyone I am blessed to share my life with. I talk about love and forgiveness and miracles & magic & I sincerely believe in all of it too.
I get 100’s of letters and emails from perfect strangers telling me how my words and actions have brought about a happy change in their life and thinking. It scares me. Puts too much pressure on me especially on days when I want to feel weak and vulnerable and so badly need a shoulder to cry on. I just want to be a cry baby!
I want to yell, abuse, slap people, and tell a few others to go to hell where they belong.
I also want to be extremely self indulgent/obsessed, belligerant and rabidly aggressive.

ok ok- thats a bit strong for me but what the hell. Allow me.

So ok -We all know that love is the cure for all maladies. At most times in my life I exercise this philosophy with great efficiency and things around me move smoothly and my world turns into a happy place.

But there are other days when I am filled with so much anger and hatred and frustration and resentment it scares me. I wonder about the force which brings it on.

I recognize that it’s most often emotional triggers from people or events in my life – (i recognize them very clearly)
and my inability to will it away and eliminate it all together from my life.
It angers me-the gulit and despair i feel about all this hatred and rage that i feel-but still i cant make it go away

Some other times I’m not even sure of the triggers.

PMS times don’t count-on those days every woman is allowed her unpleasantries.

I discuss it with my friends and colleagues often-some of them recommend an hour long cry(minimum) but that does not cut it.

We all agree it will pass but how does one get through these moments?

Distance from upsetting stimuli does not take it away.

Analysing and coming to terms with our frustrations and shortcomings dosent help either

No amount of creative activity, painting , writing, reading, praying, partying,meditating, philosophysing, positive thinking, jogging on the beach or 100 kisses from my daughter seems to take it away.
The monster keeps wrenching at the heart and tearing it apart.

& i wonder
What makes one kind of emotion beneficial & the other detrimental? Who's to decide?
Emotion is emotion-what makes it good or bad? Is every emotion not equally valid?

Does everybody feel this way sometimes?

So what does one do at times like this?
Besides blogging of course…:-)

Ohmygawd! Does anybody have an answer?

An airport and some mercenaries

I was on another delayed flight today, waiting inside the plane for over an hour and a half. I switched on the tiny TV screen, flipped past the laughter challenge show, past the food show, past the travel show, and was hooked on to an edge-of-the-seat hockey match between India and Pakistan.
An image stayed with me. A man soaked in sweat, in the Indian team’s light blue T-shirt, walked slowly holding his stick after Pakistan beat India 4-3.
But let me take you back an hour and a half.
I was at the departure lounge back at the airport, doing what I always do when waiting in public places: looking at people and trying to guess who they are, what lives they live, and inventing stories about them. Two metres away from me to my left, there was a man completely invisible in the rows of chairs, dressed in a full-sleeved black T-shirt and shorts, listening to songs from his mobile phone and sharing the headphone with his friend on his right.
It was the same man.
It was India’s hockey star, top national team player and former captain Dilip Tirkey.
The celebrated defender. The guy who I would watch in amazement on my tiny TV screen at 30,000 feet an hour and a half later, walking back in dejection and complete exhaustion after the defeat to Pakistan.
Dilip sat looking around, barely talking, a face lost among hundreds seated across the huge lounge. He fiddled with his rug sack, the colour of army fatigues. He ran his hand through his short hair. He caught me looking at him. I didn’t say anything.
He then stood up, in the centre of the departure lounge, completely and utterly unnoticed. People walked past him, several people came and sat next to him, picking up newspapers from seats around.
Many of them front-paged pictures of the new mercenaries – players of the IPL cricket league, every man worth some crore of rupees. And there were copies of the entertainment supplement of the Times of India, which had a story about how Kingfisher chief Vijay Mallya had convinced Beyonce Knowles to perform at the inauguration of the IPL, and Shah Rukh Khan had prevailed upon Amitabh Bachchan and his family.
Tirkey went back to his seat – next to the lean man with whom the player had shared the headphone wearing it in an ear each. The other man wore a black cap that said: “Condemned”. I am not sure if it was bitter sarcasm, or a Freudian slip.
I picked up the newspaper with the Beyonce story. It asked readers to turn the page. There, it told them the entire story was for April Fool’s Day.
And I suddenly realised the subject of the joke was sitting next to me, wearing his black T-shirt, a headphone in one ear.
The joke was on him.
The joke was on us, this country that loves to throw money on mercenaries.

The Corporate Servants

Contributed to IndiaVed by Bhaskar Tripathi, an Computer Scientist, Adventure Freak and World Traveler by Email
The Corporate Servants
Guys, Normally, I dispense from using offenseive slang in my vocal conversation. However when I get pissed off from my current 8-9 hour office cubicle life, enthusiasm spurts the influx of energy in my hot blooded muscles and my fingers are compelled to type the instructions recieved from "that thing" resting above my two shoulders.
This might force all you non-sportsmen,non-entreprenuers,non-rockstarts,non-artists (in crux non-achievers), to think what have you really done in your life...read-on these thoughts,you might get the courageto show that middle finger to everyone in the world when you disagree!!
“It was true that I didn’t have much ambition, but there ought to be a place for people without ambition, I mean a better place than the one usually reserved. How the hell could a man enjoy being awakened at 6:30 a.m. by an alarm clock, leap out of bed, dress, force-feed, shit, piss, brush teeth and hair, and fight traffic to get to a place where essentially you made lots of money for somebody else and were asked to be grateful for the opportunity to do so? You, hear those boring mission statements from your business leaders,nod your head in approval and come back to your seats and again start earning your living.
You are taught to think out-of-box,innovate,communicate,inspire,manage (blah-balh-blah) etc. As if this were not enough, you will also be constantly expected by your bootless corporate bosses to be good,gel up with tardy,old people and be coroborrating in every statement they utter.
Purpose and achievement of your life ?
These are my thoughts for our so called corporate leaders.No offence meant please ! , plain facts...

You are proud of being a mere corporate servant . As if you were a politician,sports superstar,business tychoon or a celebrity.
You still do not have those guts and courage to do something different in life.
You followed a 10-15 year cumbersome process to climb up the corporate ladder and managed to become a VP/country head,however it was a process not a business legacy.
Face this hard fact that you have burnt out your body and do not have any other physical skills left in your body to earn a living in a non-intellectual way.You cannot even become a yoga instructor.
You have always worked for others, never for yourself for more than 10-15 years, so you cannot innovate and run a business empire.If you cannot run a bussiness, even after learning it for that long,you are not the best.
I think enough of bashing the business leaders. :):)
Its a rule of the game that they have to be like this...and they have achieved quite a lot in their lifes.You should take inspiration from them to to think out-of-the-box,innovate,communicate,inspire,manage (blah-balh-blah) etc. LOL :)

Why all Nice Girls go to the Bad Guys?

It is interesting to speculate on the reasons that make females so anxious to debase themselves. Though they would never admit it openly. But it is quite obvious from their actions. Apart from other things, it is quite obvious from their mating behavior. Human females, like most other mammals, have the responsibility to select the opposite sex. The selection mechanism is the same as the natural selection process, i.e. the survival of the fittest. The nature has designed this entire system so that the best genes are carried to the future species. This has been the selection mechanism for all the other animals, which has triggered the evolution of species and the variety of life forms on earth. This fundamental reason of natural selection has been the key factor in deciding the behavior of the female animals in all the species. The best genes in case of animals are of course of the strongest animals in terms of physical parameters. So the female animals select those male animals, which win over other males in the battle preceding sex. In other words the strongest and the most influential of the males have the first right to sex in animal kingdom. This of course means that many male animals are deprived of sex throughout their lives. But this ensures the best genes are being propagated. This wonderful mechanism of the nature has created the variety of life forms on earth. The selection mechanism of human females has also been the same since the beginning. That was required to be the same during the stone ages and even early days of ancient civilizations. The best genes were of those men who were the most dominating in the society and hence the females selected those. But since the evolution of technology and science, the growth of the human civilization has been largely dependent upon the intellectuals who have leashed fire, found wheel, steam, electricity, crossed oceans, built sky scrapers. The survival is no more dependent upon the brute physical strength or domination, but the intellectual soul. So the best genes are not of those, who are just strong enough to collect the food, but of those who can modify the genes so that the food becomes unnecessary. But it seems that the human females have not evolved enough to match the speed of social evolution to modify their selection mechanism to select the right genes. They are still lingering in their naked pasts. They still need to look up at the man’s eyes, as if they were pleading for food in exchange of sex. They still need to be dominated and tampered like their ancestors. Only difference is that now, there is no true purpose behind it. They have not yet recognized that the society has already offered them equality and they no more need to be dependent on a strong and dominating man. One of the interesting traits of the modern female is, she cries for independence to go for a man, who treats her no better than a slave. This thrills them for some obscure reasons. As if it gives them the assurance that, “yes this is the man who is strong enough to save me from the beasts, who can bring me food.” They will not feel attracted towards a man who treats them as equal, because he is not strong enough to dominate them. Why is it that they think so weak of themselves that they cannot defend themselves in a society that is almost secure? Why is it that they want to be dominated, tampered, and abused? Why can’t they take up an equal position with male, when it is being offered to them? When will they recognize that the strength in the human society has changed its focus? It is no more with the people who are merely strong enough to dominate a female or a few of their fellowmen. They can’t recognize the strength of the human soul that is driving the human society, human civilization further, when the rest are simply adding to the inertia of it. It is the strength of these intellectuals, which has controlled the nature, tamed the brute force of the fire. Which has measured the sky and the sea. It is these humans, which are strong enough to stand against the god. It is the wealth created by these men that they are feeding upon. These are the people who are strong enough to stand by their own ideals. This is the true representation of the strength in the present human society. The females should recognize this changed nature of measure of strength among males and perform their responsibility correctly before the growth of the civilization becomes stagnant due to the extinction of the strong men.

Just to be Born is Not Enough to be Alive

Someone said, "people visiting here ask, WHY DO WE LEAD SUCH A RICH LIFE?
Osho:-

- Life means abundance, richness, in every possible dimension. Just look at existence. Do you think it is poor? Look at the millions of flowers, their fragrance; look at the millions of stars. Man has not been able yet to count them, and I don't think he is ever going to be able to count them. With your bare, naked eye you only see, at the most, three thousand stars -- and that's nothing. And these stars are expanding. Just as a flower opens up and the petals start going away from the center, the universe is continuously flowering, blossoming, opening -- and with a tremendous speed. The stars are going farther away from the center. We don't know exactly where the center is; but one thing is certain, that the whole universe is running fast, moving, alive.
Those people who ......(ask that question) don't know what life is for. They have never lived. Yes, they have been born; but just to be born is not enough to be alive. They will vegetate and think they are living. And one day they will die, without ever having lived at all. These are the miracles that go on happening all around the world; people who have never lived, die -- such an impossibility! But it happens every day. And many have recognized it at the moment of death, and have said it is so, that "it is strange; for the first time I am realizing that I missed life."
If you live, for what? To love, to enjoy, to be ecstatic -- otherwise why live at all?
And what is 'richness'? -- just making life more and more enjoyable, more and more lovable, more and more comfortable, more and more luxurious.
The man who knows nothing of the great world of music is poor; he is missing one of the greatest luxuries of life. The man who does not know how to enjoy Picasso, van Gogh, does not know anything about the colors. If he cannot enjoy Leonardo da Vinci, how can he enjoy a sunrise, a sunset? Millions of people go on living, never recognizing a sunrise, never stopping for a moment to look at a sunset and all the colors that the sunset leaves behind in the sky. Millions of people never raise their eyes towards the sky and the splendor of it.
Living can only mean one thing: living life multidimensionally -- the music, the poetry, the painting, the sculpture... but it is all luxury. I am not a worshipper of poverty; I worship luxury. And existence is luxurious, abundantly luxurious. Where one flower will do, millions of flowers blossom. Have you ever felt that existence is miserly? What is the need of so many stars?
If these fools who ask you the question, if they meet the creator they believe in, they will ask, "What is the need of so many stars? Why this luxury? A few less won't do? What is the need of so many birds, animals, human beings?"

..........................................................

I teach you to live tremendously, ecstatically, in every possible way. On the physical level, on the mental level, on the spiritual level, live to the uttermost of your possibility. Squeeze from each single moment all the pleasures, all the happinesses possible, so that you don't repent later on that, "that moment passed and I missed." Do not think of the past, because in thinking about the past you will be missing the present moment, which is the only moment, which is all that exists. And don't think of the future: of another life, of the kingdom of God -- all sheer nonsense.
Tomorrow does not exist at all. It is always today -- always and always today.
It is always this moment. So squeeze it. Don't leave any juice in it. Once you learn to squeeze all the juice out of it, you will never think of the past. What is there left to think of? Then the past leaves no traces on you. It is only the unlived past which becomes your psychological burden.
Let me repeat: the unlived past... those moments which you could have lived, but you have not lived... those love affairs which could have flowered, but you missed... those songs which you could have sung, but you remained stuck to some stupid thing and missed the song.... It is the unlived past which becomes your psychological burden, and it goes on becoming heavier every day.
That's why the old man becomes so irritable. It is not his fault. He does not know why he is so irritable -- why every thing and each thing irritates him, why he is constantly angry, why he cannot allow anybody to be happy, why he cannot see children dancing, singing, jumping, rejoicing, why he wants everybody to be quiet -- what has happened to him.
It is a simple psychological phenomenon: his whole unlived life. When he sees a child start dancing his inner child hurts. His inner child was somehow prevented from dancing -- perhaps by his parents, his elders, perhaps by himself because it was respected, honored. He was brought before the neighbors and introduced: "Look at this child, how quiet, calm, silent; no disturbance, no mischief." His ego was fulfilled. Anyway, he missed. Now he cannot bear it, he cannot tolerate this child. In fact it is his unlived childhood that starts hurting. It has left a wound. And how many wounds are you carrying? Thousands of wounds are in line, because how much have you left unlived?
So the people who come here...(and ask the question), they come here almost dead, carrying their own dead bodies here. When they see you alive, they are shocked. They would have been immensely happy if they had seen ascetics sitting under juniper trees, naked, starving, praying to God, who does not exist. They would have been immensely happy, because then you were far more dead than they were; in comparison they have managed better than you. They would have respected you because you helped them to feel better. When they come to visit here, seeing you, they feel themselves empty, spent -- meaninglessly. It hurts. It hurts deeply, hence the question, "Why do you live so rich a life?"
But richness is your birthright.
You have not come with anything written on your forehead. You can go to the surgeon and let him look into your forehead. Nothing is written there, and nothing is written in the lines of your hand. You come in this world absolutely like a plain, unwritten, open book. You have to write your fate; there is nobody who is writing your fate. And who will write your fate? And how? And for what? You come in the world just an open potentiality, a multidimensional potentiality. You have to write your fate. You have to create your destiny. You have to become yourself.
You are not born with a readymade self. You are born only as a seed, and you can die also only as a seed. But you can become a flower, can become a tree. And out of one seed there can come millions of seeds. Do you see the abundance and richness of existence? One seed can make the whole earth green, the whole universe green -- what to say of the earth! Just one seed... how much potential is carried in a single small seed! But you can keep it in your safe, bank account, and live a life which is not life at all.
I am all for richness in every possible way. And remember that richness is possible only if you allow it in all the ways.
Do not be deceived by the old idea that you will be spiritually rich if you starve your body; if you physically torture your body you will be spiritually rich -- no. It is absolutely unscientific. I have seen people who have tortured their body their whole life, but I have not seen their soul being enriched by it. In fact their soul has died long ago.
Your body and soul are not enemies. They live in harmony.
You are a harmonious whole. Everything is integrated with everything else. You cannot make one part rich and another part poor. The whole becomes affected, becomes either poor or rich. You have to accept your wholeness.
So live, and live intensely. Burn the torch of your life from both the ends together. Only such a man can die blissfully, smiling.
A master was dying... it was just the last moment. His disciples had gathered. One disciple asked, "Master, you are leaving us. What is your last message?"
The master smiled, opened his eyes, and said, "Do you hear the squirrel running on the roof?" Then he closed his eyes, died. The disciples were at a loss... what kind of message is this? "Do you hear the squirrel running on the roof?" But that was his whole life's message: just the moment. At that moment he was enjoying the squirrel. Who bothers about death? And who bothers about the last message? He was in the moment, herenow. And that was his message: don't move anywhere else, just remain here and now. Even at the moment of death... the sound of the squirrel on the roof, and he enjoyed it.
Now, such a man must have lived immeasurably, immensely, incredibly. No regret, sheer gratitude... smiled -- what else do you want as a last message? A smile is enough. And to smile at the door of death is possible only if there are not unlived moments standing in a row behind you, pulling, asking you, "What about me?"... those incomplete moments.
But if there is nothing incomplete, every moment has been completed, there is nothing; it is just silence. And if every moment is completed, there is nothing in the future either, because it is only the incomplete moment which asks for tomorrow: if you have not been able to fulfill it yesterday, fulfill it tomorrow. But if there is no yesterday incomplete, then there is no projection for tomorrow. Then this moment is all.


- Osho, From Unconsciousness to Consciousness, 1984

Luck or Hard work?

You've probably heard your parents or teachers tell you throughout life to work hard and it will pay off. Give it your best shot and you will succeed. Put your heart and soul into what you want and you can have anything you set your mind to. Then there are those that swear by luck.

Destiny is everything according to these believers of fate. You can only have what you are destined to have.
I look around me and think about the many people in my life that are at different phases in their careers. There are those that have done well, some that have lost their path to success and others that have succeeded beyond my wildest expectations. I have seen 25 year olds becoming Directors and Program Managers, entrepreneurs all around in their mid 20's - mid 30's, young CEO/CTO/CFOs and yet some still searching for the "perfect job".

I have a cousin that just started a company last year thats already valued at 10's of millions of dollars. A friend of mine signed a deal last year making him a millionaire for at least the next 10 years. Another friend who is making recording deals and is a millionaire before hitting 25. One whose trust fund is maturing next month and another whose kids will probably never have to work.

So is it hard work that brought them where they are or is it luck? Sure most of these people have put a lot of effort and sleepless nights into getting to where they are today. These are smart individuals with immense drives and great ambitions that lead them to success and prosperity. The trust fund babies had it all handed to them on a silver platter but they will probably spend their lives working hard in trying to maintain it. But is it just plain hard work that is solely responsible for the incredible success these people have achieved?

There are so many people that I know that are total worker bees that work above and beyond the call of duty yet they are not nearly as successful. The employees that are first in and last out yet are still awaiting promotions after doing their job well for 12 years. People that have built companies from the ground up and given it their all only to see it crumble in front of them due to freak accidents or poor economy. Classic example is of those that invested in the real estate or stock market. There are those that made millions and others that followed that lost millions. A relative of mine doubled his business thanks to a storm that hit the city next to his destroying all business in that city hence allowing my cousin to step in and take more business. I mean isn't that just pure luck? The storm could've hit his city just as easily and then he'd be outta business but instead here he is richer faster than he had expected.
I have a cousin in India who says he's just waiting for his good fortune to come. He doesn't think he has to do anything because he knows its his fate to be rich in life, his palm reader said so. He is still living with his parents and unhappily unmarried. So clearly, just luck doesn't do it.

What is it that pushes you to that next level, beyond the norm?? Is it equal amounts of luck & hard work or the "right" combination of the two? If so, how do you get to the right combination???