To dare as much as to retreat
In the ebb and flow of life —
Waves teaches us much!
To reach the pinnacle of success
Is one thing,
But truth of nature is, it changes.
So, the glory must recede in humility.
Such is the way of balance.
There is no gain in holding on.
There is grace in letting go.
Such is the circle of life.
Savvy
In the lives of many women
Being strong is not an option
It is a necessity!
In a world riddled with inequalities
In a world full of double standards
Standing up for yourself
Becomes a tool for survival.
In those tricky moments
In a blink of an eye
Push comes to shove
Pleasure turns to pain
Hurt and betrayal
Seems to fill the air
There she is, left standing alone
To fend for herself on her own.
It is then that she meets fear in the eye
Faces the dark side of humanity
Sensing power in her vulnerability.
Who says a woman is weak?
Watch her rise like a phoenix!
Tremendous is her tenacity!
Resourceful is her resiliency!
The strength of a woman
Braves through the rising storm
Daring beyond the hurt and pain
Fighting through the wrong doings
She moves on to heal and build
In hope and faith in a new morrow
For she knows in her heart
Tommorow is another day!
Savvy
My dedication to Women all around the world!
Every Day is Women’s Day !
Happy Women’s Day!
My reflections on the stunning capture of the Cherry blossom Tree on Mount Fuji in Japan.
On the razors edge , there is poignant elegance
Beautiful poise, precariously in balance
Amidst the fury of the fire raging beneath
She stand resolute in her calmth
Not helpless but in knowing Nature’s ways
That in time all is well back to base
Beauty on the outside burns off into the ember
Leaving an ashen pile of dust to remember
Yet deluding the fury in being uprooted
In the strength of the grounding firmly rooted
Leaving an evergreen picture of poise
She has that stoic stance of grace
A pose of composure on destiny’s face
In spite of a life abruptly denied
She is the beauty of Grace personified !
Savvy Raj
Image credits
Why Practice Matters?
Learning any skill requires disciplined and repeated practice. Skill Development is an art itself .
Without the effort of practice , skills cannot improve or sustain.
While practice may not make every person perfect it will certainly better them gradually.
Practice makes you learn until you start to work instinctively.
To reach the level of an expert, practical training is a progressive module which creates challenges as you go along. Every stage a bit tougher than the earlier one.
What is important to remember is that practice is not only necessary but it is necessary to practice efficiently and effectively.
Does practise makes it perfect?
Practice is to engage and rehearse repeatedly in order to perfect a skill to mastery , but not all who practice acheive the level of an expert even with structured and deliberate practice standards in place . So we can safely say practice makes one better gradually.
A consistent practice of any talent or skill will begin to show results for sure. It could be tangible jump or it could be a little step according to the amount to time, focus and energy given to practice. In time the results could be exponential in its rewards as well.
Practice can be truly rewarding and a great source of confidence.But practice needs not only consistency but also determination in perseverance.
A few tips to improve and implement a practice routine..
Be ready to self reflect so as understand why you are motivated to continue practicing.
Be willing to develop the learners mindset and maintain it.
Be mindful of your behavioral changes as you improve and work on it positively to sustain you.
Be engaged proactively to adjust your practice levels as per requirement.
Be focused to set short and long term goals and work on achieving them.
Most of all…
Continuity of practice is important after achieving a set goal…
Keep your practice going!
Savvy
Blooms and blossoms Photos by Savvy Raj
My photo of the day! Blooming in my terrace garden…
Roses have a beauty of their own
Colours contrasting with the green leaves
They blossom and capture hearts
Arrestingly captivating
To look at , enticingly fragrant
So delicate and fragile
But in all their vulnerability
Their charm flows in abundance
Always a sight to behold
Amazingly significant
For a Life so short lived!
Such is the wonder of life and living!
Savvy
Amazing nature! Amazing beauty!
Teaching us it is not the length of time we live , but in how best we can live the time we have!
Savvy
Here is share of my mothers reflections after reading my yesterday’s poem
Every example stood out for me and I just had to share .. with some pictures for the same and a title.
“A seed has to undergo so much to come out of the earth with new shoots of tender leaves
Gold nuggets have to undergo much before they become beautiful ornaments
Raw diamonds and precious stones have to undergo much to get their brilliance .
A mother has to undergo so much before the birth of a wonderful life.
A rock and tree have to so much undergo before they become priceless sculptures
All things of Nature have to go through a lot of transformations before a finer end product emerges.
Never fear the blow of the hammer, the cutting of the axe, the heat of the burning fire or the hurts, pains and insults one has to bear as each blow makes them stronger, shapes them to what they are going to become. Gives them more power, value and a beautiful form.
Keep smiling. The smile and silence can unsettle the opponent.
Make each experience as a stepping stone to rise high,
A lesson to learn, to mould you to become a better, stronger, mature, independent and fearless as a person than before.
Remember there is dawn after every dusk.
Yes, your transformation will be hard. Yes, you will feel frightened, messed up and knocked down. Yes, you’ll want to stop. Yes, it’s the best work you’ll ever do.
Robin Sharma
Knowledge needs constant upgrades
Learning is a continuous stream
Ingraining is a choice in the flow
In refuting and analysing, decision are taken
In the dance of the heart and mind
The spirit of the soul finds communion
Acknowledging is the path of understanding.
Acceptance brings forth the wisdom of the being.
That in the river of time
From learning and unlearning
Emoting and feeling
Sensing and knowing
All is a flow
Changing to the course
Meandering along
Yet certain of the truth of the flow
Of the wisdom of infinite
Potential of possibilities.
Savvy
Today marks a personal milestone in blogging as I publish my 101st post. I have completed my continuous 100 days of writing on WordPress.
On a lark after a challenge to post a few of my favourite songs for three consecutive days came my way from a fellow blogger and friend Dr Sridhar. I decided to take it up and posted my favourite songs for three days. Then I started thinking if I could manage to post for a week and continued to write . The seven days went smooth and easy and then I upped my goal a little further to see if I could write a post everyday for a month.
I had a few ground rules established in my head . First that this was no competition to complete in pressure but simply an effort to see if I would find an inspiration to write on anything that caught my fancy each day . Second would I have the perseverance to continue and be able to dedicate time towards the effort .
Thirdly I wanted to see if I could keep my readers and audiences interested if I happen to post everyday.
And most of all I wanted to test whether my creative instincts are effected in anyway by habit…
A months regular posting on WordPress got me supercharged to aspire some more. Wp would egg me on with reminders of completing a 30th day streak of posting on WordPress.
It was no surprise that once I reached 30 I wanted to try and reach the 50th day.
Seemed then that I could do it if I was smart enough to manage my writing time around the early hours of the day. And that’s what I did.
No one in my family or friends knew much about this plan, but I was pretty clear how to go about it by then and dedicated a bit of time to writing every morning no matter what.
A few learnings.
Have a goal that seems workable, it is easier to focus.
Persevere… and believe you can work towards it.
Push your goal a step ahead as you reach a level.
Manage your time better, to make it happen
Value your goal and be dedicated.
Your creative sense will begin to work for you all the more…
Believe in your self and be passionate
Trust that you will find the way!
And most of all enjoy the journey as much as the destination.😊
Although I have written on WordPress for a few years now and I would have written and posted perhaps continously as well earlier without my own realisation. This was a task that had a goal and hence it is different to me.
The last few months have been personally challenging in terms of health where I was even admitted to the hospital and I am continuing to battle a condition that might require surgery soon. So basically being unwell literally I use the relatively painfree bits of time in the day, I have in my hands for creative enrichment …be it writing or painting and more.
Blogging through I reached my 50th day of posting. And I knew I couldn’t stop it in my heart . The magic figure of 100 floated in my mind and I was sold to the idea of making it happen.
Today it is the 101st day streak of publishing a post everyday and I truly wonder how I managed it all along with my present condition.
My biggest take back has been the loving support and generous comments from my readers which kept me going .
But other than that was a learning and affirmation that if we really make up our mind , we can beat the odds and find a way to acheive our goal .
Besides that I realised how my reading others blogs and writing every day would bring up some topic to contemplate creatively for the next day. The best part was I never had to try too hard … every post I wrote and shared I enjoyed with all my heart.
Writing gives me a sense of completion.
A feeling of contentment of a job well done. And if its well received it truly makes my day… and my fellow writers this I am pretty sure you would agree as well.
Thank you my dear readers and friends for staying with me right through. It has been an absolute pleasure to share and learn along the way… on what I can gratefully now call Project 101.
Wishing an awesome year 2019 for us all !
God bless all!
Savvy
The Heart of Nature
Plays tunes for those who listen.
Pull a single chord in nature
You will hear it commune in the synchrony
Being In nature we understand
The value of balance
And we learn to trust in faith
As we inspire wonders of nature.
And a certain reverence for life.
For in respecting life in and around us
We learn to understand ourselves more.
Nature teaches us much,
If we truly care to listen.
Savvy
An interesting article for those who believe that all we see is all that exists.
It stimulates our lateral thinking :
To something that is beyond!!
This lovely parable is from “Your Sacred Self” by Dr. Wayne Dyer.
In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?”The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”
“Nonsense” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?”
The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.”
The first replied, “That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.”
The second insisted, “Well I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.”
The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover if there is life, then why has no one ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere.”
“Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.”
The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?”
The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her this world would not and could not exist.”
Said the first: “Well I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist.”
To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above.”
*May be this is one of the best explanations to the concept of ‘GOD/Source’!*
Sharing one of my favorites 🙂
THE DANCER An Excerpt From The Wanderer by Khalil Gibran
Once there came to the court of the Prince of Birkasha a dancer and her musicians. And she was admitted to the court. And she danced to the music of the flute, the lute, and the zither.
She danced the dance of flames and fire, and the dance of swords and spears; she danced the dance of stars and the dance of space, and then she danced the dance of flowers in the wind.
When she had finished, she approached the prince and bowed her body before him. The prince bade her to come nearer, and said unto her, “Beautiful woman, daughter of grace and delight, whence comes your art? And how is it that you command all the elements in your rhythms and your rhymes?”
And the dancer came near and bowed her body again and said, “Gracious majesty, I know not the answer to your questionings. Only this I know: The philosopher soul dwells within his head, the poets soul dwells within his heart, the singers soul dwells about his throat, but the soul of the dancer abides in all her body.
A few lines I had written on similar thoughts… on the Dance and the Dancer.
How can you separate the dancer from the dance?
Savvy
Here is a beautiful story that is worth a read and share.
A young woman was sitting at her dining table, worried about taxes to be paid, house-work to be done and to top it all, her family was coming over for Thanksgiving the next day. She was not feeling very thankful at that time. As she turned her gaze sideways, she noticed her young daughter scribbling furiously into her notebook. “My teacher asked us to write a paragraph on “Negative Thanksgiving” for homework today.” said the daughter, “She asked us to write down things that we are thankful for, things that make us feel not so good in the beginning, but turn out to be good after all.”
With curiosity, the mother peeked into the book. This is what the daughter had written:
“I’m thankful for Final Exams, because that means school is almost over. I’m thankful for bad-tasting medicine, because it helps me feel better. I’m thankful for waking up to alarm clocks, because it means I’m still alive.” It then dawned on the mother, that she had a lot of things to be thankful for! She thought again… She had to pay taxes but that meant she was fortunate to be employed. She had house-work to do but that meant she had her own home to live in. She had to cook for her family for Thanksgiving but that meant she had a family with whom she could celebrate.
Moral:We generally complain about the negative things in life but we fail to look at the positive side of it. What is the positive in your negatives?
Look at the better part of life this day and make it a great day”
Verses & Photography by Savvy Raj
Nature…
Is full of wisdom for those who seek…
Teaching lessons in living well.
Here are …
Five valuable lessons from nature
Find the Balance and you will thrive.
Sense the synchrony in life and living.
There is always a Purpose of being
Love makes the world go around and life worth living.
Change is the order of nature and the only constant.
Relate to the the wisdom of nature!
It has all the answers.
Savvy
I am not alone
I am not alone
When I am walking at dawn
For I have the company
Of a waking sun.
I am not alone
When I am walking at dusk
For I witness the dance of heavenly lights.
For Twilights hold a special meaning
In the witnessing
Of transitions in transcendence.
Of day to night
And night to day…
In this world
Remember
You are not alone
In the dark of the night
With twinkling stars to show you the way.
You are only alone
When even in midst of the many
Your heart seeks a little
Respite from company!
A safe space to witness
Your emerging thoughts
A zone to turn into
A tranquil place to been in
To sense a balance
With your thoughtful self
Amidst the scurry hurry
Of life and living.
Savvy
Often ‘ alone’ is equated with loneliness. Alone may also mean simply being a witness to, by and with your self. It may arise from a need to explore to discover the self as much as the world in mindful introspection and contemplation. Every now and then a little time spent quietly with your self can truly help expand and regain the much needed equanimity to handle the worldly issues.
Meditations are a positive wonderful way to recharge our system.
Do you like to find time to be alone
With your thoughts and nothing else?
Do share
Savvy
Beautiful flower
Tell me your secret
How unassuming of you
To show up with so much beauty
All for a single day in the sun?
Beautiful flower
You paint a lovely picture
Of hope and positivity
Of endearing tenderness
That speaks much without a word.
Beautiful flower
Your colour makes my day better
Having seen you blossom in full glory.
You awaken a sense of purpose
In one and all relentlessly every day.
Beautiful flower
Your sight brings joy
Your touch gentleness
Your being fragrance
You are a sight to behold!
Beautiful flower
My heartfelt gratitude to you.
For bestowing us all, your grace of being.
Today and every day!
Savvy
A few pictures that I clicked this morning in my terrace garden. I don’t know the names of these beauties but I do know they made me reflect with a certain gladness, simply partaking in a vision of their tender presence.
Savvy Raj 
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