Live to dream

'Dreams are not what you see while sleeping, dreams are those that keep you from sleeping' a beautiful quote by Late APJ Abdul Kalam.

We all have dreams, many a times these dreams stay in the back recess of our minds and stay there forever. Its takes a brave heart to live their dreams. Some how we have moved from the innocence which our dreams used to be build on. In our hectic lifestyle we have moved away from reality into something which i honestly have no name for. This way of living, constantly online, being overtly passionate about social platforms, somehow dreams have now turned into e- personalities and that's where many dreams reside.
I am a day dreamer, i dream with my eyes open and enjoy every moment of it.  I don't remember the book or was it some one who had told me decades ago, if you  are dreaming or thinking about it, its meant to happen. I believe that if a thought enters my mind and if i still believe in it after couple of days then i put in all my effort to see it take shape. My dreams are plenty, as a child i always thought of conducting large public events and creating magic on stage. True to my dream i went into events industry and did some of the most magical and grand events to speak off. To me day dreaming is something i look forward to. Please don't take me wrong, i get my work done and do not procrastinate  my work. But to come up with an idea and take it to its final place day dreaming is very interesting and fascinating to me. 
When i have a problem, this helps me. I can be anyone and see the situation as i want to through any one's eyes and find the solution. Somehow i feel when you put yourself in other people's shoes, it helps you to understand the situation better and instead of using our mindset and perception, we truly see the situation from another perspective and this has at many times helped me in being effective with my decisions. Now i am not debating about my decisions, but for me to not look back and have a regret at any of the decisions i have taken so far, this is what has helped me.
As children we have so many dreams. I can list mine and i get a smile on my face that i have ticked off most of my childhood dreams in reality. Events, travelling, meeting famous people, partying at the most happening cities and places, helping people to find themselves; Journey within (Soul Studio takes care of this) and finally marrying someone who would love me for who i am. My husband Rolf, loves the dreamer in me and it was his push which made me follow my dreams by founding Soul Studio.

I never had a dream to have a big house, or many cars, millions of bucks in my bank account. And i am happy that i was looking for meaning in my life not materialistic comforts. I am glad with events i got to meet some very special people, met people who have made a difference in our world and i got to travel across the globe for my work and vacation. To help me understand different cultures, it was never about money, i was living my dreams and money is always a side effect when one is living their dreams. I don't know how much is enough to live, but once you get what you want nothing is enough. To a dreamer when one dream is fulfilled they chase another.
I dont know, how many people get a chance to make their dreams into reality. Its always a tussle between our heart and mind and we true to ourselves follow our mind thinking after i have made enough in my life i will follow my dreams. How many succeed to give up their current lifestyle to follow their dreams? Lucky are those who get a chance to even live one of their dreams.
I love when i hear some one say ' i am following my dreams'  or  ' i am living my dream', at that moment i feel the person is alive  and some of the best startups are dreams which have turned into reality. It takes that one second, one move towards what one believes in to make a success story.
When you look at the world with coloured glasses, everything is coloured. But when you look at the world as your stage, you create something as your legacy in this world.

So what's it gonna be; follow your dreams and let the world be your stage?

Truth has no temperature

"Ekam Sat Vipra Bahudha Vadanti" Rig Veda (1.164.46)

There is only one truth. But the sages/ people say it differently to suit there purpose.

Absolute truth is the derivative of my mindset and what i believe to be real is my truth. What ever form i choose to adapt to, my truth automatically adapts to my form. Then what is truth? The absolute truth? Has anyone ever experienced it?
I am a Hindu by birth married to a Christian. So what is my truth of religion here? Do i give up being a Hindu and adopt my husbands religion or do i live in my truth of God being one, we human's have given different names to the same universal consciousness to gain our absolute truth ; our identity, our religion. This is the society of demarkation we all live in.
So where do i fit in this society of demarkation, as my truth is that i am a global citizen who believes that we are part of the same universal consciousness, therefore i have no other religion than love. Can i in my moment of truth say my religion is love?
Now i must have upset few zealots who believe that religion is very important, therefore my truth is a lie for them. How can anyone have Love as religion, there is no religion with the name of love. Are they wrong? Well if all religions talk about unconditional love then maybe my argument of my religion being love is true.
The boundaries of truth have always been tainted with our vision and our needs. We have become the fabric of this society where white lies have taken the definition of truth. What my right hand does my left hand does not need to know, is the mantra of today's modern fast paced society.
I remember many years ago, i had called in for a team meeting. The agenda was to educate my team of white lies and to consciously as an organization, we remove white lies from our mindset. No more lame excuses for coming late to office or taking a leave with a pretext of not well. Let's try to tell the truth and see how it works. It actually worked great for us. The team was charged, they were not judged if they came late and said the truth, that they did not hear the alarm. Or getting late for meeting and saying the famous words " i am 5 minutes away" and these 5 minutes at times happen to be half hour late. We actually got more work done and the trust among the team members grew. We had removed the emotions which come from white lies and there was just plain truth which was being said. 
After trying within, we tried the same technique with our clients. At first they freaked out, but slowly and gradually came the trust and a strong relationship which i share till date with many of my clients. .The truth, did set us free from telling white lies and then trying to remember what we had said earlier to counter any further lies. We had moved beyond the vicious cycle of lies.
While healing i hear a lot about people's lives when they come to me. What is said in the healing circle stays there. There is no judgement in the circle and lightens up the burden which many of us carry with us. We believe in our white lies, we start dreaming about them, we start living our white lies and one day eventually our whole life becomes one big white lie.
I teach one meditation which is all about accepting who we are. With the threads of white lies interwoven in our lives and many a times we validate our own lie to believe in ourselves and very often we are very scared of people judging us. This simple meditation is looking at your absolute truth and accepting it. This is the journey within to break ourselves from the survival tactics which we all have build of white lies to live in this society.
Truth is only a fragment of my own imagination, my belief, my values, my life is what is my absolute truth without any emotions. There is no high, or low in truth. In life there is no absolute truth other than we are all connected to each other through a seamless energy which binds us and this universe together.
This is the only truth, rest is all derivations of our mind.

Carpe Diem : Seize the moment

'The future depends on what you do today" as said by Mahatma Gandhi

My moment is what i feel now, what i went through yesterday is history , i have yet to know what i will feel tomorrow but this moment is when I am... Alive. I have never been a buff for history, people say that we need to know where we have come from, what we have achieved from yesterday and in order to not let history repeat itself, lets engage in understanding history.
One day i tried walking backwards, i tripped as my eyes were in front and my footsteps were moving backwards. Then i tried moving forward but with my back as i wanted to look backwards and move forward. Well i tripped again. That's the day i realised past is past, if we keep looking for answers in our past, only outcome will be we will trip and history will repeat itself. I am not a scholar nor can i debate on this topic as their are many views on this topic, but from my heart i do feel that some where we all know that past cannot be changed, future is what we make by living in our present.
I remember one day at work, we were working on a pitch and we were sure about what our client wanted therefore the work was in full swing to ensure we get the business. My colleague who was taking care of the account, comes to me to tell me that the client has shared our ideas with our competition and we will not get the business. What action had been taken, and i was told none. Now as we didn't have much time but just that day to ensure we get the business. We called our client, insisted on an immediate meeting with his team and presented our ideas without any graphics. The point was after our presentation, any other agency even presenting amazing graphics on the same idea would not have been entertained as the ideas belonged to us. This was the choice we made and the risk we took to ensure we had the business. Past did not matter that our ideas were shared. What we had was that moment to make a decision to make our future and get business.
Its always that blink of a decision we make to seize that opportunity which knocks at our door, many a times we let go of this as we are uncertain of the outcome. Many a times we are shy of going ahead with an idea which comes in our mind as we don't know how people will react.
When i started writing my blogs, i had no idea if people will like them, appreciate or just laugh at them. No idea at all, but as i enjoy writing my thoughts, i one day just started writing.
Similarly one day i left my corporate world and decided to teach people meditation. Every one i know was shocked, what you retiring from your work and to do this? Being in entertainment industry, glitz , glamour and hard work and all of a sudden i am talking about meditation. Yes the thought had sounded very corny to me too... from capitalist to spiritualism. Well i never wanted to open an agency of my own, i frankly had no time when i was working. I wanted to create something substantial which could eventually help people and in my tryst with destiny i seized the moment when i had the courage to quit. I did get second, third, fourth thoughts , even went back to the same world for an year and half but then i realised, i was looking backwards in my life. What i had, not what i will make. This realisation got me back on my tract to pursue my dream of creating a stress free environment.
Every morning i practice old tibetan Death Meditation. If today is my last day on earth, will i do what is expected from me by people, or will i create something which will help humanity at large. This can be both capitalistic as well as spiritual , the thought is to be alive and seize the day!
Carpe Diem ... time waits for no one... let this be your moment.

Cogito ergo sum : I think, therefore i am

French philosopher René Descartes in Discourse on Method, 1637, where he attempted to prove his existence as a thinking being, by thinking. 'I think, therefore I am'. Descartes' original statement in French was "Je pense, donc je suis". In philosophy this is lesson number one. 

The only thing i am certain about is my existence, and that also i am not so sure but i can feel myself and my thoughts, therefore i exist. 

What does this mean to us? Life has changed, many perceptions of past have been forgotten and in our busy lives, we don't even have a moment to think about ourselves. So how can i a 'materialistic person' ever doubt my own existence?
Then we have the doubters who take this one step further, instead of doubting themselves we have now started looking at everyone with coloured glasses of doubt.
My first lesson in life; when in doubt, doubt the doubt.
I personally have trouble with non trusting and doubting people. I cannot understand what is half trust and if one doubts you, instead of asking you directly they will play the game of non communication on the subject but they will still be your friend, colleague or do business with you. At times i feel its the fear of god knows what, which makes the doubters never come out in open and ask. If one cannot speak their mind out then why even have the cloud of doubt?
Then you have the thinkers and argumentative people. They seem to have a opinion about everything. God forbid don't get into a discussion with these people, they always seems to have the last say. I find these people very interesting, they seem to know everything and have very stoic opinions about everything too! I personally don't need a wikipedia or google when i am with such people, they are as i smile to write my entertainment quotient. I doubt my own sanity when i am amongst such learned individuals. What amuses me most is that these people assume what my mind is thinking and what my next action will be. My reaction and actions are assumed, assimilated and strategies are worked on how to deal with me. Interestingly i might pay these people huge sums of money on contractual basis as many a times i have no idea how i am going to react to a situation.
When i teach people meditation, and ask them to still their mind as the first baby step to meditation, i try telling each person, remember who you are. For us to know whether we exist or not, what i am thinking or what is my purpose in life, where have i come from etc etc is not going to get any answers. But if we realise who we are, and then take the meditation forward we have in truth given wings to trust and instead of doubting the doubt we have started painting the empty canvas of our life's journey within. A person who can think, is someone who can ultimately bring changes within themselves and in their surroundings. Like in corporate world we prefer leaders, mavericks and adapters but definitely no company has any place for dissenters. Similarly while meditating, a positive thought and a positive outlook about oneself helps us deal with fears, addictions and mindsets much better which are also considered as three pillars of stress in our daily life.

If one can be honest to themselves and remember who you are: I think, therefore i am .... one with the universal consciousness, i have no fear and as i am nothing, therefore i am everything!

Take the journey within and let trust replace doubt. Fear is nothing other than our addictions and our mindset playing with us.

Yo-Yo Life

I did a hit search on Internet, and found thousands of funny, motivational, depressing , name any terminology quotes on life. They were very interesting, sounded more like a backlash of all pain, hurt, ego, happiness, Funny, spiritualism, love; name an emotion and you could feel them while reading these quotes. 

Well life is life, and we all play our part in it. Definitely we get no rehearsal time, its one shot one moment. But then same scenes keep repeating in our life, we do get choices and our choices define our life eventually. This sounds so simple, makes me smile as i write this because none of us take life simply. Our every moment is destined with this mystical four letter word Life.

When i was a kid, i never understood or dwelled  into the meaning of life. Never felt the need, as my needs were met by my parents. I did not have to go to work, pay my bills or be responsible for someone else actions. My life depended up passing the exams, being liked by my friends , if a nail broke, oh my god or the new boy who joined school, on whom i had developed a crush must like me. Mundane teenage problems and if anything went wrong, oh my life was over!

Drama queen is what i would call myself if i look back. It was just an exam, if i did not pass it i would have to study harder that's all for next time. Being liked by people, was wearing masks and not being myself but the sacrifice was worth, for my low self esteem. New boy liking me seriously how shallow but then i was a teenager and this was my life. Every one can relate to this situation in school and college. Now comes the fun part, first job, first responsibility and from here the badgering of life starts. 

Small things effect us so much that, at times we forget the larger picture and our life becomes something which we never imagined. Work pressure, performance pressure, family pressure, well we live in pressure made by us and we blame our life for this. For every choice which we make, if things don't go as planned we have the fall person, Our Life to blame. Funny how smoothly we can pass all our misfortune and failures to Life.

Well this goes on and on till the day we live. 

What is Life? Question asked by many,  What is the meaning of my life? Now we can take the capitalism route or the spiritualism . Some where the two routes would definitely meet for me to find the meaning of my life. But then i am too busy with my work and i have no time to think about myself or what i want from life. So when things are going my way, its a beautiful life. And when things go the other way, why ME? Why is my life like this? 

I love the Yo-Yo relationship i have developed with my Life. There are highs and lows, at times i turn with the curve on my high to reach my goals and many a times i fall flat on the low. 

When people come to me to learn meditation, i ask them one question and also ask them to answer in a blink, unfortunately till date i have never got the answer to this question from anyone. Let me put it out for all of you, to know your life, one should be able to answer this in a blink, if one cannot, then do take a journey within is all i can say.

What is it you want from your life?

If you cannot answer this one question about "what i want from my life', then what exactly are you doing in this world?

We look for happiness outside, while many a times wise people have told us to look within for happiness. I tried being happy inside but then many times people outside changed my happiness quotient inside, this made me think maybe i was doing something completely wrong. the Yo-Yo life was now controlling every element of mine.

Therefore after much debate within myself i thought about defining life as i would see it. And strangely when i tried looking at the four letter word, the first thing that popped to my mind was "Look inside for entertainment"
All of a sudden i realised only thing , Life is simple, don't complicate it.
Wow what a summation of life.