Today I complete my 500 days of writing consecutively here on WordPress, with my 500th post. Special and heartfelt thanks to all my readers and followers who have supported me in this journey of writing.
I would like to mark this day by writing about one of my favorite topics Creativity.
Creativity is fueled by the fire of passion. Often instinctual and deeply captivating, it is an expression of your innate potential. With it you are in touch with your deepest core. You are consciously awakening to the infinite abundance within, in every channelling.
Creativity spurts in the most unexpected ways.
It surges forth a river of possibilities
It amplifies the potential within
It leads you to rethink and challenge the norms.
It dares to question the accepted and projects perspectives.
It explores and creates paths for evolution.
It defies conventions to envision out of the box ideas.
It justifies the necessity of freewill through the art of movements
To create resolutions in times of confusion and chaos.
To manifest simplicity in times of complexity.
To innovate and change the statuesque in times of staid compliance.
To design and redesign towards efficiency and effectivity of purpose.
When creativity dares it is in communion with infinite abundance.
Management calls for special skillsets but with changing times the skills have much to do with empathy in people management. Every head of department faces different sets of difficult situations but most common to all is getting the work done by the team effectively increasing productivity with the available resources.
You are improving your team every time you incorporate the following ways
1. When you talk less, and are listening more.
2 . When you begin to delegate work to the right team members and increase the sense of responsibility in them.
3.When you are able to speak assertively with confidence and empathy than simply ordering people around.
4. When you are able to analyze and share appraisals to resolve and find solutions in a non judgmental manner.
5. When you are able to steer and guide them in their endeavors without overtaking the joy of effort.
6. When you practising collaborating with your team instead of trying to be the controlling one.
Every team is unique as the people in it and this makes it uniquely interesting to manage as well.
The Sea: .
A professor took his class on a field trip to the ocean. Once at the water’s edge he handed each student a cup. Some were tall, some were short, some were thin, while still others were stout around the middle. No two cups were the same shape and no two cups looked alike.
In addition, every cup was a different color although from a distance you could see that many of the colors could fall into distinct groups. Some had a darker hue and some lighter. The one thing that all the different cups had in common was the amount of liquid they held. Each, to the drop, held identical amounts of whatever was to fill them.
The professor then had each student walk to the water’s edge and fill their cup to the very brim with ocean water and then step back into line. When every student had filled their cup the professor asked them, “What’s in your cup?” Of course, the unanimous response was water. “Yes,” replied the professor, “but what kind of water?” Ocean water yelled the students.
“Good,” said the professor. “Now let me ask you this? What’s the difference between the ocean water in the ocean and the ocean water in your cup?” One young man quickly responded, “That’s simple. The water in the ocean has sea life in it, but the water in our cups is just plain water.” His classmates all murmured in unison because his answer seemed to make sense.
“That’s not quite correct answered the professor. It’s obvious that your cups are not large enough to hold a fish, or a squid, or even a starfish, but there is still tiny life in your cup that can’t be seen. The same life that fills every drop of this ocean no matter what distant shore it falls upon. So wouldn’t you agree that the water in your cup would be identical to the ocean, only on a smaller scale?” From the looks on his student’s faces he could see the beginnings of understanding, and he was pleased.
The professor then went on to explain the message he was trying to convey to his students. “This ocean could be compared to God. Vast, powerful and without end. Loving and nurturing to all the creatures great and small that live within it. The cup is your human body. No two are identical. Each a different shape and color from the others. No one cup is better, more important, or for that matter worse than the others, only different in outward appearance.
Upon your birth God infused you with a small piece of himself. He sees you as his Greatest Miracle, the Greatest Miracle in the world. That piece of him is the spark of life which animates your body. Some may call it the soul, but it needs no name. It is your humanity. It’s what makes you and me the same.
So please remember this: whenever you harm another person, by your words or deeds. Whenever you bully another because you think you’re superior. Whenever you see another human being as less than you. Whenever you show a lack of respect for another, you aren’t doing it to them alone; you are doing it to yourself and to God. You see each of us is God walking around in cups of different colors, shapes and sizes.
And there is something else my students that I want you to know: God makes no mistakes and creates nothing but perfection. Therefore, you are perfect. And never let anyone tell you different! Oh, and one other thing, you were created for GREATNESS and not littleness. The choice is always yours.”
“A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by, and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace, and stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, and continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?”
Today’s ever changing corporate environment calls for new kinds of people management skills.
From managing teams to peoples problems and handling customer service,an empathetic approach helps create a positive difference and transform work culture.
So what is empathy after all?
Empathy is about being able to perceive and understand another’s point of view using their frame of reference.
To sense the flow of the moment with another.
To communicate with & be able to understand another’s perspectives insecurities and pain points.
Empathy is a positive approach aimed at improving teamwork and building teams , bridges gaps of communication implementing changes through appreciation, support & encouragement than unnerving others with negativity & criticism that can be rather demoralizing.
Empathy can create and build trust and rapport that you can tap into. In using empathic responses, problems can find meaningful and lasting solutions.
In using empathy with skill, you show respect & value for another.
There is a huge wave of empathy oriented approaches in businesses across the world. This is truly valuable and must be encouraged.
After all empathy is a main contender in a list of skills that show emotional intelligence quotient of an individual.
Can you waltz on ice?
When winters turn grim and cold
Can you create joy and cheer?
Even in moments of melancholy.
Can you see a silver lining of hope?
In the dark dreary night to help you cope
Can you see beauty in every dusk and dawn?
Letting go of fear & doubts in the twilight hours.
Can you instill trust in another & move in faith?
Inspite of not knowing the way as yet.
Can you believe you can lead the way?
Inspite of being in a maze in the now.
Verily you are stable in balance
And you have taken your stance.
Clearly then you are dancing in this moment.
Clearly you are waltzing on ice.
A beautiful post on Germination of Ideas by my dear friend Ali Anani brought me to spring forth with some of my reflections.
Birthing ideas…
Ideas find their own way to germinate
At times they stay dormant almost invisible and untraceable.
And sometimes they emerge out of nowhere
As if they have a mind all their own.
So whether there are plenty of ideas or one is starved of ideas.
It matters not where they originated from…if it is the mind or heart spaces.
But it matters what path they take how they are applied?
What seeds they sprout in the emergence?
And yet, an idea that remains undeveloped, unappreciated today becomes a genius breakthrough someday.
On too much and too less
Too much of liberty and free will
At times may lead to aimless explorations and confusions.
Too less freedom leads to slavery and subjugation.
Too much thinking can create stress and be overwhelming
Too many ideas can be hard to contain.
Too little fodder for thoughts leads to bland existence.
It’s our choice actually…
Are we to live or simply exist?
Is there a paradox of enrichment?
Is overdoing a crime
To answer this, I ask
Is there bad in the good and good in the bad?
Too much of anything will lose its charm and character.
Appreciation declines and contentment reduces.
As it all turns to excess!
So I believe in equanimity that comes in finding equilibrium
Moderation is the key.
Too much sadness is unbearable
Too much happiness may lead to boredom.
For in too much of the good times
Values are lost and things are taken for granted.
Let there be a balance
In thoughts words and deeds
So there is neither depression of deprivations
Nor extravagance in enrichments.
Guess like ideas find their way to shoot in suitable time in time.
Like life itself, ideas also know how to balance and counterbalance themselves in life and living.
Sometimes life gives you beautiful memories where you least expect it from. Or maybe all happens for a reason. We were meant to meet!
A month back, work took me all the way to China. And while some industry visits were happening as scheduled, a small moment of connection and conversation resulted in great joy and camaraderie. Met some very beautiful and loving hearts. We warmed up almost instantly with each other. We shared much about our cultures, our food and traditions. We spoke to each other from the heart all with the help of a translator app. It was such a beautiful flowing conversation. We circumvented language barriers although I spoke in English into the app and them in Chinese. It hardly came in the way. By the end of it what mattered was the joy that emerged. The beautiful moments shared will always be treasured in my heart.
Thankful to the useful translator app that made it so simple. And helped create fond memories of that day!
Everyone had tears in their eyes on the day of his farewell.
One of the employees said,
“Sir, there is one thing we want to learn from you.
You worked here for so many years.
Leave aside about scolding your subordinates,
we have never seen you even shouting at them.
We have scolded our subordinates on the pressure of work or for other reasons.
We want to know about the seed of your patience.”
The Boss said,
“This all comes from the incident of my childhood.
My father was working as a lower-level employee in an office.
He was a very nice person.
He was respected very much in our family.
It happened one day,
I was studying in the 4th standard.
I had gone to the office of my father for some reason.
I saw that my father was not on his seat.
I waited outside.
After some time,
the door of the Boss opened, my father came out of the door.
I saw the face of my father had turned red.
He went straight to a corner and stood there looking outside through a window.
He had not seen me.
I went to him and called him slowly.
He was taken by surprise and turned back to look at me.
I saw a stream of tears flowing down his eyes.
He was slightly disturbed seeing me. He did not find time to wipe out his tears.
Can my father cry anytime?
He was the strongest man in the world for me.
It was out of my wildest imagination that someone could hurt him.
I ran straight to the room of the Boss.
Father was calling me from behind.
But, listening to nothing,
I went inside and asked the Boss,
“Why did you make my father cry?”
The Boss was also surprised.
Thereafter, my father tried to make me understand.
But, that day I had decided to take revenge on the Boss.
From that day I decided that I will study well and become a Boss one day,
but I will not make my subordinates cry anytime.
Because, they are not only the employees of my office, they are also respected and dear father or brother or somebody of their families and belong to someone important.
People say it is not possible to control others without scolding them.
I say, what is love then for?”
People who come to work are the ones who devote their best and quality time of the day to work, leaving not much time for their families. They do deserve better treatment from their surroundings._
Ships don’t sink because of the water around them; ships sink because of the water that gets in them. Don’t let what’s happening around you and your circumstances get inside you in your mind and weigh you down.
Make your life such where peace becomes your priority and no negativity can exist in your life.
*Just because you’re angry that doesn’t give you any right to be cruel.*
*Anger, on the other hand, doesn’t solve anything, it builds nothing, but it can destroy everything.*
*Neurologist claim that every time you resist acting on your anger, you’re actually rewiring your brain to be calmer and more loving.*
*The less you respond to rude, critical, argumentative people… the more peaceful your life becomes.*
*Explain your anger instead of expressing it, and you will find solutions instead of arguments.*
Savvy Raj 
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