Change your life in 30 little ways !

Scientists have suggested that, with a little willpower, it takes roughly 30 days for a person to form a new habit.  As with mastering anything new, the act of starting and getting beyond the preliminary stage where everything feels awkward is 80% of the battle.  This is precisely why it’s important to make small, positive changes every day over the course of at least a 30 day period.

It’s like the old saying:  “How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.”  The same philosophy holds true for making changes in your life.  Trying to bite off more than you can chew will only make you choke.  But taking smaller, manageable bites, one at a time – eating a little healthier, exercising a little, creating some simple productive habits, for example – is an amazing way to make positive changes and get excited about life.

And when you start small like this, you won’t need a lot of motivation either.  The simple act of getting started and doing something will give you the momentum you need, and soon you’ll find yourself in a positive spiral of changes – one building on the other.  When I started doing this in my life, I was so excited about it that I started this blog to share it with the world.

Below you will find 30 challenges to be accomplished over the course of 30 days.  If carried out diligently each of them has the potential to create a new positive habit in your life.  Yes, there is some slight overlap between a few of them.  And no, you don’t have to attempt all at once.  Pick 2 to 5 and commit the next 30 days, wholeheartedly, to successfully completing the challenge.  Then once you feel comfortable with these habits, challenge yourself with a few more the following month.

1. Use words that encourage happiness. – Typically, when I ask someone “How are you?” they reply, “I’m fine” or “I’m okay.”  But one lazy Monday afternoon last month a new colleague of mine replied, “Oh, I am fabulous!”  It made me smile, so I asked him what was making him feel so fabulous and he said, “I’m healthy, my family is healthy, and we live in a free country.  So I don’t have any reason not to be happy.”  The difference was simply his attitude and his choice of words.  He wasn’t necessarily any better off than anyone else, but he seemed twenty times happier.  Spend the next 30 days using words that encourage a smile.
   
2. Try one new thing every day. – Variety truly is the spice of life.  You can see or do something a million times, but you can only see or do it for the first time once.  As a result, first time experiences often leave reflective marks in our minds for the rest of our lives.  Make an effort to try something new every day for the next 30 days.  It can be a whole new activity or just a small experience, such as talking to a stranger.  Once you get the ball rolling many of these new experiences will open doors to life changing opportunities.
   
3. Perform one selfless act every day. – In life, you get what you put in.  When you make a positive impact in someone else’s life, you also make a positive impact in your own life.  Do something that’s greater than you, something that helps someone else be happy or suffer less.  I promise, it will be an extremely rewarding experience.  One you’ll likely remember forever.  Obviously your options here are limitless, but if you’re looking to assist an ordinary person in need without leaving your chair, check out GoFundMe.
   
4. Learn and practice one new skill every day. – Self-reliance is a vital key to living a healthy, productive life.  To be self-reliant one must master a basic set of skills, more or less making them a jack of all trades.  Contrary to what you may have learned in school, a jack of all trades is far more equipped to deal with life than a specialized master of only one.  And besides, learning new skills is fun.  Check out this article, this article, and this book.
   
5. Teach someone something new every day. – We all have natural strengths and talents that can dramatically help those around us.  What comes easy for you is no doubt challenging for others.  We tend to take these gifts for granted, often hardly noticing what we have to offer, and thus we rarely share them with others.  Inner happiness and zeal come from using these inherent gifts on a routine basis.  What do people thank you for?  What do people routinely ask for your help with?  Most people’s passions and talents help others in one way or another.  Perhaps for you it’s painting, teaching math, cooking a good meal or leading an exercise class.  For the next 30 days devote some time each day to sharing your talents and expertise.
   
6. Dedicate an hour a day to something you’re passionate about. – Take part in something you passionately believe in.  This could be anything.  Some people take an active role in their city council, some find refuge in religious faith, some join social clubs supporting causes they believe in and others find passion in their hobbies.  In each case the psychological outcome is the same.  They engage themselves in something they strongly believe in.  This engagement brings happiness and meaning into their lives.
   
7. Treat everyone nicely, even those who are rude to you. – Being nice to someone you dislike doesn’t mean you’re fake.  It means you’re mature enough to control your emotions.  Treat everyone with kindness and respect, even those who are rude to you – not because they’re nice, but because you are.  Do this for 30 days and I guarantee you’ll see the rudeness around you dissipate.
   
8. Concentrate on being positive at all times. – The real winners in life cultivate optimism.  They have the ability to manufacture their own happiness and drive.  No matter what the situation, the successful diva is the chick who will always find a way to put an optimistic spin on it.  She knows failure only as an opportunity to grow and learn a new lesson from life.  People who think optimistically see the world as a place packed with endless opportunities, especially in trying times.  Try to spend the next 30 days looking at the bright side of things.
   
9. Address and acknowledge the lesson in inconvenient situations. – It’s important to remember that everything is a life lesson.  Everyone you meet, everything you encounter, etc.  They’re all part of the learning experience we call ‘life.’  Never forget to acknowledge the lesson, especially when things don’t go your way.  If you don’t get a job you wanted or a relationship doesn’t work, it only means something better is out there waiting.  And the lesson you just learned is the first step toward it.  Over the next 30 days keep a written log of all the lessons life taught you.
   
10. Pay attention and enjoy your life as it happens. – When I watched the Academy Awards a few months ago I realized that most of the speeches actors and actresses make when they accept an award go something like this:  “This means so much so me.  My whole life has been leading up to this moment.”  But the truth is, our whole lives have been leading up to every moment.  Think about that for a second.  Every single thing you’ve gone through in life, every high, every low and everything in between, it has led you to this moment right now.  Ask yourself this:  How much of life are you actually living?  If you’re like most people, the answer is likely:  “Not enough.”  The key is to concentrate on a little less on doing and a little more on being.  Remember, right now is the only moment guaranteed to you.  Right now is life.  Spend the next 30 days living in the now, for real.
    
11. Get rid of one thing a day for 30 days. – We have so much clutter surrounding us at any given moment (at the office, in our cars, in our homes) and we’ve become so accustomed to it that we no longer notice how it affects us.  If you start cleaning up some of this external clutter, a lot of internal clutter will disappear as well.  Choose one needless item each and every day and get rid of it.  It’s that simple.  It might be difficult at first, so expect some resistance.  But after some time you will begin to learn to let go of your packrat tendencies, and your mind will thank you for your efforts.
    
12. Create something brand new in 30 days or less. – Creation is a process like none other.  Putting to use your innovative faculties and constructing something with your own two hands will leave you with an indescribable sense of wholeness.  There is no substitute for it.  The only caveat is that it must be related to something you actually care about.  If you are creating financial plans for clients all day and you hate it, that doesn’t really count.  But if you can find something you love, and create something related to it, it will make all the difference in your life.  If you haven’t created something in a while just for the sake of creating, do so.  Take the next 30 days and let your creativity run wild.
    
13. Don’t tell a single lie for 30 days. – With all the seemingly innocent, white lies that trickle out of us, this is way harder than it sounds.  But you can do it.  Stop deceiving yourself and others, speak from the heart, speak the whole truth.
    
14. Wake up 30 minutes early every morning. – Get up 30 minutes earlier than usual so you don’t have to rush around like a mad man.  That 30 minutes will help you avoid speeding tickets, tardiness and other unnecessary headaches.  Give it a legitimate try for 30 days straight and see how it impacts your life.
    
15. Ditch 3 bad habits for 30 days. – Do you eat too much fast food?  Do you play too many video games?  Do you argue with your siblings?  You know some of your bad habits.  Pick 3 and quit doing them for 30 days.  Period.
    
16. Watch less than 30 minutes of TV every day. – Entertain yourself with real-world experiences.  Great memories are the product of interesting life experiences.  So turn off the television (or the computer if that’s how you watch your TV programs) and get outdoors.  Interact with the world, appreciate nature, take notice of the simple pleasures life has to offer, and just watch as life unfolds in front of you.
    
17. Define one long-term goal and work on it for an hour every day. – Break your goal down into bite-sized pieces and focus on achieving each one piece at a time.  It really is all about taking baby steps, and taking the first step is often the hardest.  Spend an hour every day for the next 30 days working toward something you’ve always wanted to accomplish.  Take a small dream and make it a reality.
    
18. Read one chapter of a good book every day. – With the Web’s endless stream of informative, easy-to-skim textual snippets and collaborative written works, people are spending more and more time reading online.  Nevertheless, the Web cannot replace the authoritative wisdom from certain classic books that have delivered (or will deliver) profound ideas around the globe for generations.  Books open doors, in your mind and in your life.  Read an online book list and find a good book to grab at the library today.  Then spend the next 30 days reading at least one chapter a day until you reach the end. 
    
19. Every morning, watch or read something that inspires you. – Sometimes all you need is a little pep talk.  For the next 30 days, before you eat breakfast, or leave the house, watch a motivational video or read something (quotation, blog post, short story, etc.) that inspires you.
    
20. Do something every day after lunch that makes you laugh. – Watch a funny video clip on YouTube, read your favorite comic strip, or find a good joke online.  A good chuckle stimulates the mind and can give you a renewed level on energy.  The best time for this laugh is during the lull in the mid-afternoon, when you need it most.
    
21. Go alcohol and drug free for 30 days. – This challenge depends on your individual circumstance.  If you are a heavy user of alcohol or a particular drug it is not recommended that you quit cold turkey.  You need to see a physician and ease off of the substance slowly.  But if you are a casual user, quit right now for 30 days.
    
22. Exercise for 30 minutes every day for 30 days. – Your health is your life.  Don’t let it go.  Eat right, exercise and get an annual physical check-up.  
    
23. Get uncomfortable and face a fear every day. – With a strategy of continuous small steps into uncomfortable territory we are often able to sidestep the biggest barrier to positive change:  Fear.  Sometimes we’re afraid we’ll fail.  Sometimes we’re subconsciously afraid we’ll succeed and then we’d have to deal with all the disruption (growth) and change that follows success.  And other times it’s our fear of rejection or simply our fear of looking like a fool.  The best way to defeat fear is to stare it down.  Connect to your fear, feel it in your body, realize it and steadily address it. Greet it by name if you have to: “Welcome, fear.”  Fear can be a guiding friend if you learn how to swallow it, and listen to it only when it serves its true purpose of warning you when you are in danger.  Spend an hour every day for the next 30 day’s addressing a fear that is holding you back.
    
24. Cook one brand new, healthy recipe every day. – Cooking is fun, challenges your mind, and if done correctly, provides vital nutrients to your body.  Win-Win-Win.  
    
25. Spend 10 minutes every evening reflecting on what went well. – For the next 30 days spend 10 minutes every evening pondering the small successes that occurred during the course of the day.  This process of positive reflection will remind you of all the tiny blessings in your life, and help you to celebrate your personal growth.
    
26. Have a conversation every day with someone you rarely speak to. – People are interesting creatures, and no two people are exactly alike.  Interacting with different people will open your mind to fascinating ideas and perspectives.  So for the next 30 days strike up a conversation daily with someone you rarely speak to, or someone you’ve never met before.  Find out what makes them tick.
    
27. Pay down debt and don’t create any new debt for 30 days. – Live well below your means.  Don’t buy stuff you don’t need.  Sleep on big purchases.  Create a budget and savings plan and stick to them.  For the next 30 days pay for things in cash and micro-manage every cent you make and spend.  
    
    
28. Let go of one relationship that constantly hurts you. – Keep people in your life who truly love you, motivate you, encourage you, enhance you, and make you happy.  If you know people who do none of these things, let them go and make room for new positive relationships.  Over the next 30 days, if relevant to your situation, gradually let go of one person in your life who has been continuously hurting you and holding you back.
    
29. Publicly forgive someone who deserves another chance. – Sometimes good relationships end abruptly because of big egos and arguments based on isolated incidents.  If there’s someone in your life who truly deserves another chance, give it to them.  If you need to apologize too, do it.  Over the next 30 days give your story together a new chapter.
    
30. Document every day with one photograph and one paragraph. – For 30 days bring a camera with you wherever you go.  Do your best to take one photograph that represents a standout experience from each day.  Then, before you go to bed each night, write one paragraph in a notebook or journal that highlights your day.  If you do it all digitally you can unite your daily photograph and paragraph in one digital space (like a personal blog), which can be easily reviewed in the future.  Many moons from now these old photos and journal entries will ignite your recollection of interesting memories you would have otherwise forgotten.
    

As you progress through these challenges remember, personal growth is a slow, steady process.  It can’t be rushed.  You need to work on it gradually every day.  There is ample time for you to be who you want to be in life.  Don’t settle for less than what you think you deserve, or less than you know you can be.  Despite the struggles you’ll face along the way, never give up on yourself.  You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and twice as capable as you have ever imagined

Sourced from : http://www.marcandangel.com/2011/12/25/30-challenges-for-30-days-of-growth/

The Gift of Tears

There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.

You survive because you can cry. You cry your way through disappointments, hurt, heartbreak, unmet expectations, betrayal and pain . You also cry your way through happiness, overwhelming, immense joy and laughter. Tears cleanse and heal you. They enable you to endure all that life gives you.

A life without tears is unimaginable. Tears are what make our life beautiful, enabling us to experience happiness, joy, struggles, failures and victories and play a critical role in helping us evolve as better human beings.

Had it not been for tears, surviving failures and struggles would be impossible. The beauty of tears lie in the space they provide to express our vulnerability that we try to hide. A space for outburst that reveals our humane side and enables us to experience our true selves.

Tears are thus a blessing in disguise and the greatest of gifts to - Experience Life !

When Baroda was treated to an overdose of love!

Sometimes a hug is all what we need :)

Hugs are universal medicine and the best part about a hug is you can't give one without getting one ! 
Hugs are magical and an instant dose of happiness. 

Religions dissolved, apprehensions and possible inhibitions overcome , hearts were bridged, an abundance of love overflowed when a group of volunteers decided to dedicate a Saturday morning to spreading love and smiles to reach out to people and make them feel loved.

Sometimes it’s better to put love into hugs than to put it into words. The feeling is more than beautiful! 

Right from the health conscious doctor on his morning jog, a beautiful 60 something cancer survivor to the the labourers were treated to a dose of love which left them smiling and over whelmed! The initial apprehension was natural and expected and we were questioned for our intentions and affiliation with any organisations if any and as to why we were doing this! And that is when the magic began. When people got to know that it was a group of volunteers who wanted to spread some love and smiles – support and appreciation poured in. Two 22 some things  on their regular jog joined in to spread some love. 

Selfless love is the purest form of expression when it is in the medium of a heartfelt hug – it is sure to touch your heart! I remember a lady absolutely overwhelmed by the hug (turns out it was her birthday that morning) and then being treated to a group hug, could it get any more amazing..oh yes it can! What followed was an abundant overflowing of love -  nani- nanas', a group of doctors, a cancer survivor, few labourers, the sweepers, kids, teenagers,an expectant mother, watchman – everyone got a big dose of love! Imagine a volunteer with open arms walking towards you with smile on his/her face to make you feel loved – How can that not make your day!

And if you're wondering if this is the  first of its kind – here's some history on the Free Hugs campaign!

The entire world is waking up to the power of hugs and it all started in June 2004 when an Australian who went by the pseudonym Juan Mann started giving out free hugs in his local shopping mall. Mann had reached a point of personal crisis in his own life: his parents had divorced and his fiancée had broken off their engagement. He realised that people were living increasingly disconnected lives. The need for human contact had been neglected. In Mann's eyes, we were living in a computer-mediated culture where friends were made through My Space and families were breaking down. Where previously small-scale local communities had been integral to individual well-being, now people were pursuing far-flung separate lives in different corners of the globe.

Mann hand-wrote a sign advertising Free Hugs and went to the Pitt Street Mall in central Sydney, where he stood for 15 long, lonely minutes before an elderly lady took pity on him. Her dog had just died, she confessed, and the hug had made her feel better. Soon Juan Mann was handing out hugs every few seconds. As the days passed, more volunteers with their own handwritten signs came and stood alongside him.

In 2006 he was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and Free Hugs went international: branches sprang up in Taiwan, Israel, Italy, America, Switzerland, Norway, India, Portugal and the UK. It seemed to touch a nerve.

Everyone is fighting a battle. Everyone has a different story of struggle and overcoming and it is in times like these when the power of a heartfelt hug wields its magic! 

How does it feel when you walk up to a complete stranger give him/her a hug , post which you realise that he has been feeling miserable about himself or about life and the hug just transformed into  a ray of hope – a feeling that said Yes you matter and you are loved! 

Hug a stranger today- You never know you might have just touched a life! 

Gift yourself that happiness that one gets when you give from your heart – could be hug or even a smile

And to you who is reading this – A big virtual hug to you! You are loved! :)

Are you compassionate or sympathising ?

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”- Dalai Lama



Compassion is the most beautiful of emotions in the world second to Love. It is in helping someone one that you find a greater joy. The joy of having made a difference however small. Reading an article by Shaheen Mistry (Founder - Akanksha Foundation) reminded me of how we have somehow lost sensitivity and the feeling of empathy. Most of us understand compassion of sympathizing with needy but it goes so much more beyond that.True compassion arises when you are sensitive to the pain and needs of others and can feel the same. We cannot be even close to Buddha who was an epitome of true compassion but we can at least nurture the same to build a better world.

We all have that spark, we are beings of love and have an abundance of compassion but somehow are yet to ignite it. I for a fact know that your heart yearns to help the little girl who tugs at your shirt on a street asking for alms to fill her food plate but u helplessly push her away not wanting people to notice you or rather wait for someone initiate the act of charity inspiring you to do that the next time.Do we need others to ignite that spark with us ? are we so bounded by what society thinks of us to put it before the need take our step towards helping someone.the very reason the world sees so less of  true compassion. We want to help an accident victim to get emergency help fearing legal intervention and wait for an individual to come forward to help the victim and then we aid the same.

My work colleague and a dear friend wakes up at 4.30 a.m in the morning to deliver milk packets which he fishes by 8.00 and travels about an hour to reach work and thus is back at 7.30 p.m to tender to household responsibilities.This is does to support his family. He is not that educated by our"defined standards" but his compassion has to be seen to be believed. recently he helped a poor blind man in his locality (He hardly knew him) to undergo an operation by supporting him with Rs 12000 and financially helps everyone who is in need of support without expectations.

Raghu Bhaiya - My inspiration and a friend for life from Moved by Love, Sabarmati Ashram. A polio stricken 15 year old began his journey of helping others by arranging chappals at a Gurudwara.Today with the help and support from Moved by Love and Gramshree, He runs a free voluntary tiffin service titled "Tyag nu Tiffin" ( Food by sacrifice) wherein he delivers lunch and dinner on his own  in  to about 16 old women(left to fend for themselves by their children) in the slums of Ahmedabad.

There have been times i have felt guilty of not helping someone in need when i really wanted to for i put my perceptions before the same. The next time is i see a kid yearning for good i will not hesitate to share my own :)

For it is in doing for others that we truly live !

It is when you give of Yourself that you truly Give - Moments in Reflections of a Wednesday Circle

“Meditation is the tongue of the soul and the language of our spirit”
Jeremy Taylor
Meditation is rightly called the food for the soul. It the moment when you
connect to your true self and are at peace with your heart. It is when you are
overwhelmed with love, compassion and gratitude. The moment when you are aware
of your breath, devoid of thoughts and one with the higher self. What happens
when 25 souls come to gether to connect with their true selves, The atmosphere
reverberates with peace, divinity and bliss. The ambience turns blissful and
the moment, divine.

I experienced a sense of gratitude that is beyond words to express. i go back to the moments as i write this and reflect on the compassion,peace and love that i felt when i was among them. A passage from The secret of Work by Swami Vivekananda was read out as a part of the sharing circle that reflected on our role as Traders in life,virtue,religion and love. The process of giving and taking. The desires and expectations that let us down. Insights on true giving
without a sense of expectaion, the virtue of detachment with the result and Acceptance were shared. A sense of whole hearted giving has to be inculcated to be able to experience true happiness and success and thus truly live. It is when you give of yourself that you truly giving without expecting anything in return. True giving is disconnected from recieving,from a result. it is whole hearted giving in the form of efforts,love,compassion,dedication and surrender.

They say if you change someone's life, you're a change maker and if you save someone's life, you're a Hero! Khushroo Poacha has been and continues to be a hero to millions of lives.

It was an absolute privilege and a humbling experience to hear Khushroo Poacha
share his life journey. Khushroo Poacha runs indianblooddonors.com (IBD), a site thatlets
blood donors and patients in need of blood connect with each other almost instantaneously.
He also does not accept cash donations The site has been live for almost ten years and with over 50,000 donors in its database, IBD is perhaps a classic example of what the Internet is
truly capable of. But more importantly, it is a reflection of a single human
being's desire to make a difference to this world.

It all started in the mid-'90s when Khushroo Poacha, an employee with
theIndian Railways in Nagpur saw a doctor being beaten up because he couldn't save
a patient's life. No one in the mob seemed to understand that it was the lack
of blood that caused the death."A few years later, I witnessed the death of a welder because he couldn't get blood. The two incidents really shook me up," Poacha says, "And that
was when I expressed to my wife my desire of doing something." Poacha, however, had
no clue about how he could make a difference until one day, sitting in a cyber
cafe with a 56 kbps connection, the idea came to him."I did not know head or toe of the Internet, let alone about domain names, but I knew this would be the tool that would make a difference," he says, explaining the dotcom extension to the site. Over the next few months, Poacha
liquidated practically all his savings,purchased a domain name and started up
indianblooddonors.com.

"During the time, there were no companies booking or hosting web domains in
India . I was paying USD 300 every three months to keep the site live and running. Meanwhile, I had spent almost Rs 40,000 in developing the site and had gone practically bankrupt," he says.
Poacha says he even went to a local newspaper to place an ad. "I needed visibility and that was the only way I thought I could reach out to the people. The day the ad appeared, I was expecting a flood of registrations," he recollects. "No one registered."


The silver lining to the dark cloud came when someone from the outskirts of his hometown Nagpur contacted him, expressing interest. "It was a saving grace,"Poacha says.
Meanwhile, the dotcom bubble had burst and Poacha was being told what a
fool he had been. And then there were household expenses to be taken care of too.
"There were many occasions when unpaid phone bills would be lying in the
house and there would be no money to pay them off," Poacha recollects,
adding that "things always have a way of sorting themselves out. And mysteriously
during such times, a cheque would make its way into the mailbox." Poacha admits that his wife was quite apprehensive about his endeavour."But she believed in me," he says, "And that has made all the difference."

Visibility, however, was still an issue. No publication was willing to write about him. No major hospital or blood bank was interested in taking his calls. And then the 2001 Gujarat Earthquake happened. As visuals of the devastation flashed before his eyes on television, Poacha realised yet again he had to do something.

Only this time he knew just what. "I called up Zee News and requested them to flash the site's name on the ticker and they agreed." Five minutes later, the ticker was live. Ten minutes later, the site crashed."I spoke to the people who were hosting the site (by now website hosting
had started off in India) and explained to them the situation. They immediately put me on a fresh server and over the next three days or so I received some 3,500 odd registrations," Poacha recollects.

Realising the difference he had made, the 42-year-old started working on getting visibility again.
Over the next few months, Poacha had contacted every major magazine and sure
enough, a few responded. "Outlook (magazine) wrote about me, then The Guardian followed he says.

Along the way, IBD had also gone mobile. All you had to do was type out a message and send it to a short code and you'd have a list of blood donors in your inbox.As luck would have it, the service became far too popular for Poacha's pocket. "By then I had stopped taking cash donations and had to discontinue it," he says.Interestingly, IBD is not yet registered as an NGO. "We function as individuals. We don't take donations and only accept bumper stickers (of IBD)
and postage stamps to send out those stickers and create awareness," he says, "I was asked to deliver a lecture at IIM during a social entrepreneurship seminar and was asked what my sustenance model was. I replied I didn't have one. And I have been doing this for the last ten years."

Today, the database of IBD is growing at the rate of 10-15 users every day and the requests have grown from 25 to 40 per day. Poacha says he eats, drinks and breathes IBD. "The zeal I had ten years ago has not diminished and the site continuously sees innovation." The latest, Poacha tells us, is the option of being an exclusive donor to one patient.

"During my journey, I realised there were some patients who required blood every month. So if you want, we can put you onto them so you can continue making
a sustained difference to one person's life." IBD is currently on an auto pilot mode and Poacha continues to keep his day job. He says, "Initially I would take the calls and personally
connect the donor with the patient's relative. But I know only three languages and I'd get
calls from all over India," he laughs.

Poacha recounts an incident that never left him: "A man from Chandigarh called me and told me he was desperately seeking A-ive blood for his 2-year-old. About five minutes after the call, he got the (difficult to find) blood group he needed. Soon after the surgery he called me up crying, thanking me for saving his child's life. For me, it was just another day at work. But his whole world was at stake that day. I can never forget that call."

Last year Poacha was invited to the Asian Social Entrepreneurs Summit 2008 in South Korea where venture capitalists argued that it wasn't possible to sustain an endeavour without money. He says, "I pointed out that Mother Teresa had no revenue model when she started the Missionaries of Charity. If you want to do good work, you simply do it."

He belives that a good heart and the will to make a difference is all that it takes to make a change. You dont have to be an organisation to be able toimpact lives. all you need is the heart to do so.

And when you want to do from your heart, the Universe is with you. Everything falls in place,problems disappear and new opportunities surface. It is beautiful and inspirational to know how things worked for him. His wife recollects how Khushroo becomes restless when he does not get a call.For all that adds meaning to is life and is areason for his being is being
able to help someone.

All that you need to make a difference is a heart to do so.To give of yourself with love,compassion and dedication. It was incredibly humbling to have been in
the presence of one such soul.

Prayer , Compassion and Meditation

The day begins at the break of Dawn. A group of 20 young women who are being trained at Safai Vidyalay to become Aanganwadi workers/teachers (They would be trained to provide outreach services to poor families in need of immunization, healthy food, clean water, clean toilets and a learning environment for infants, toddlers and pre schoolers). are about to leave for a daily ritual called "Prabhat Feri" (Prabhat meaning Dawn and Pheri meaning walk ) singing prayers and bhajans by Gandhiji and Vinoba bhave. i grabbed this incredible or rather blessed opportunity of joining them. The choir was led by Gopal Dada (an 86 year old inspiration who has been part of the freedom struggle and is presently volunteering at the Ashram). The serene atmosphere added to the divinity of the place . Bhajans of "Vaishnava jana to tene kahi ye peda parayi jaane re" and "Ishwara allah tero naam" filled the ambience and me with a sense of completeness and bliss.
( that comes in being in a place you've always longed for).Coming back there was a prayer session (comprising of oneness prayer and various other bhajans)

What added meaning to the day was a visit to a blind school at Gandhinagar with Caroline(lovingly called Karuna for her compassion and attachment with the blind kids and her dedication towards making a difference to their lives) and her mother Fredrich. It is heartening to see her compassion for the kids that rubs off on others whho come in contact with her. The day was spent interacting and connecting to the kids,encouraging them to come together to paint the school walls with what they love.The music class was an absolute delight,Music brings these kids alive. it fills me with an incredible sense of joy to see these kids dance their heart out.
The day ended with a blessed and magical Meditation and reflection sharing.
The Magic will be rubbed on in the next post :)

Love and Gratitude

You can do no great things but only small things with great love.

Love is the essence of life. A life a Sabarmati Ashram teaches you this. From the lady who serves you food, the volunteers who run projects in various communities,the administrative staff, the children at the ramdev pir tekra (slum belt) to the young girls and boys at the ashramshala.their hearts are brimming with love that is reflected in their eyes and the way they welcome you.they open their hearts to you. Shramdaan is a part of your daily life, it could be cleaning up the local compound or painting the terrace , from watering the plants to feeding the birds, each day offers you a new experience,teaches you the power of love, offers you an opportunity to be grateful for every moemt, every person you meet.Be rest assured of being touched by every individual you meet at the ashram who is an inspiration in disguise.

The community prayers are a critical part of beginning the day and sets a beautiful tone to the same.Prayer is an inevitable , powerful and the most beautiful part of your life at the Ashram.
Praying for one ness, for every new learning and experiencew, for the abundance of love, for every meal offers you a life filled with gratitude.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and
more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It
can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision
for tomorrow.” - Melody Beattle.

Love and Gratitude are a way of life at the Ashram.

Blessed to be here!