...of sources of light and inspiration.
Yes, the title of this bout of rambling does sound a wee bit philosophical ( hey but my ruling planet is jupiter.. have this tendency to overanalyze everything remember !!!! ) but before it takes on even a semblance of some meaning, there are a few true anecdotes that are worth mentioning.
A very busy and extremely successful business executive was out grocery shopping with his 4 year old. The sales girl asked the little boy how old he was and pat came the response - "I graduated from pre-school yesterday and my dad wasn't even there".
Since then the executive makes sure no matter where in the world he is, his frequent flyer miles are spent on taking the first flight out so he can make it to soccer games, graduations and other events that matter a lot more than mergers and acquisitions.
A dear friend was playing hide and seek with his children. During the course of the game, when his son was unable to "seek" him, the little one had a serious meltdown. It was enough to strike home the point that no matter how many emails are pending in his inbox and how many calls await his immediate attention, nothing mattered more to my friend, in the long run, than his son growing up with the complete and secure knowledge that daddy is never "hidden", all he has to do is turn around and he will always find him by his side.
I sent the song Majhi Re from the movie Bong Connection to all my friends, one of them thanked me and in his response wrote a little note that went something like this - "Reminded me of times when my brother & I would fill our bathroom with water, let our boats float & believe we had set sail to conquer the world... we're in different corners of the globe today, but am sure our boats are out there somewhere... making their way forward,together... :)"
His email filled my eyes with tears.
A gentleman had just started on his first job. He invariably ended up working late every evening, trying to ensure he made it to the boss's good books. Each evening as he sat in his cube in rapt attention of the computer screen, a slightly handicapped Hispanic woman came to clear his garbage bin. She usually did it very silently but one day asked him, why do you work so late? He replied that it was his first job and he had to do his share. She smiled and said, will you go to the Christmas party next week? . He said he would. She asked, who are you going with and he said no one in particular and asked her the same question. She said she was going to take her mother with her. He smiled back and casually said, save a dance for me, will you? .
Two weeks later, it was the Christmas dinner, all 500 employees and their guests of that office were in a pretty location in their holiday finery. It was time for the first dance and of course not one of the 250 pairs even dared to venture and take center stage. This gentleman in my story felt a tap on his shoulder. The Hispanic woman gently said in her broken English.. I did save a dance for you. He didn't bat an eyelid. He excused himself from the company of the lovely lady he was with and took center stage with this handicapped woman who cleaned his garbage every day. The hall filled up ever so quickly but for him, that dance lasted a lifetime.
These stories are not secondhand nor will they be the ones that make the rounds on the Internet, they are true anecdotes that I have had the privilege of hearing from friends and colleagues, people I have respected but a recent event led me to believe they are worthy of more than respect. They are the sort of people you want in your life because they inspire. They inspire you to make the right choices for the right reasons and live those choices with pride and fortitude.
I was at a conference recently where the keynote speaker talked about a concept called the "heliotropic effect". Wikipedia describes Heliotropism as the dirunal motion of plant parts (flowers or leaves) in response to the direction of the sun. Basically, if you keep a plant near the window, it will lean towards the light. We have all done this experiment in our 5th grade Science class. How did this relate to the conference topic? Well he went on to explain that when organizations and people focus on the positives, the successes, and build on those, it leads to greater success. He substantiated this with a lot of research and data that did appeal to the analytical portion of my brain...but that is also the lesser developed of the 2 sides of my pea-sized cerebellum so it was what he said next that got me to sit up and listen...
His exact words were, "as I studied this effect in organizations, it resonated with the basic truth of human nature where we want to move from darkness to light, from ignorance to knowledge..." as he went on , the speaker's voice somehow dimmed and all I could hear were the words I have heard in prayer so many times in so many different ways...
As I was driving back from the conference, I thought of this prayer and I thought of the 4 different incidents that I related earlier and then a simple epiphany happened in my pea sized brain. We look for inspiration in a lot of places, in books, in our parents and elders, within us, in the lives of great people, in those we love...and yet, inspiration sometimes is like a beautiful source of light and even without our knowledge, often times we find ourselves drawn to ideas or people because of the example they set without even realizing. Sometimes we recognize it, sometimes a lifetime passes by and we don't - but whether we are able to realize the significance of such people and events in our lives or not, they touch us no matter what, and just like the little plant by the window-sill that bloomed at the rising sun, we look back and one day thank the person in silence and say...
-- I don't know where you are today, but I am so grateful you touched my life and made it that much better.
Yes that was my simple thought in this post, the realization of something I never thought I was blessed with, or maybe even arrogantly took for granted. So this post is dedicated to all the wonderful people who have made me a better person, who continue to inspire me without my knowledge.
Thank you ever so much for being the light outside my window-sill ...
A very busy and extremely successful business executive was out grocery shopping with his 4 year old. The sales girl asked the little boy how old he was and pat came the response - "I graduated from pre-school yesterday and my dad wasn't even there".
Since then the executive makes sure no matter where in the world he is, his frequent flyer miles are spent on taking the first flight out so he can make it to soccer games, graduations and other events that matter a lot more than mergers and acquisitions.
A dear friend was playing hide and seek with his children. During the course of the game, when his son was unable to "seek" him, the little one had a serious meltdown. It was enough to strike home the point that no matter how many emails are pending in his inbox and how many calls await his immediate attention, nothing mattered more to my friend, in the long run, than his son growing up with the complete and secure knowledge that daddy is never "hidden", all he has to do is turn around and he will always find him by his side.
I sent the song Majhi Re from the movie Bong Connection to all my friends, one of them thanked me and in his response wrote a little note that went something like this - "Reminded me of times when my brother & I would fill our bathroom with water, let our boats float & believe we had set sail to conquer the world... we're in different corners of the globe today, but am sure our boats are out there somewhere... making their way forward,together... :)"
His email filled my eyes with tears.
A gentleman had just started on his first job. He invariably ended up working late every evening, trying to ensure he made it to the boss's good books. Each evening as he sat in his cube in rapt attention of the computer screen, a slightly handicapped Hispanic woman came to clear his garbage bin. She usually did it very silently but one day asked him, why do you work so late? He replied that it was his first job and he had to do his share. She smiled and said, will you go to the Christmas party next week? . He said he would. She asked, who are you going with and he said no one in particular and asked her the same question. She said she was going to take her mother with her. He smiled back and casually said, save a dance for me, will you? .
Two weeks later, it was the Christmas dinner, all 500 employees and their guests of that office were in a pretty location in their holiday finery. It was time for the first dance and of course not one of the 250 pairs even dared to venture and take center stage. This gentleman in my story felt a tap on his shoulder. The Hispanic woman gently said in her broken English.. I did save a dance for you. He didn't bat an eyelid. He excused himself from the company of the lovely lady he was with and took center stage with this handicapped woman who cleaned his garbage every day. The hall filled up ever so quickly but for him, that dance lasted a lifetime.
These stories are not secondhand nor will they be the ones that make the rounds on the Internet, they are true anecdotes that I have had the privilege of hearing from friends and colleagues, people I have respected but a recent event led me to believe they are worthy of more than respect. They are the sort of people you want in your life because they inspire. They inspire you to make the right choices for the right reasons and live those choices with pride and fortitude.
I was at a conference recently where the keynote speaker talked about a concept called the "heliotropic effect". Wikipedia describes Heliotropism as the dirunal motion of plant parts (flowers or leaves) in response to the direction of the sun. Basically, if you keep a plant near the window, it will lean towards the light. We have all done this experiment in our 5th grade Science class. How did this relate to the conference topic? Well he went on to explain that when organizations and people focus on the positives, the successes, and build on those, it leads to greater success. He substantiated this with a lot of research and data that did appeal to the analytical portion of my brain...but that is also the lesser developed of the 2 sides of my pea-sized cerebellum so it was what he said next that got me to sit up and listen...
His exact words were, "as I studied this effect in organizations, it resonated with the basic truth of human nature where we want to move from darkness to light, from ignorance to knowledge..." as he went on , the speaker's voice somehow dimmed and all I could hear were the words I have heard in prayer so many times in so many different ways...
Asato Maa Sadgamaya
Tamaso Maa Jyothir Gamaya
Mrityor Maa Amrutham Gamaya
Lead me from the unreal to the real.
Lead me from darkness to light.
Lead me from death to immortality.
Lead me from darkness to light.
Lead me from death to immortality.
As I was driving back from the conference, I thought of this prayer and I thought of the 4 different incidents that I related earlier and then a simple epiphany happened in my pea sized brain. We look for inspiration in a lot of places, in books, in our parents and elders, within us, in the lives of great people, in those we love...and yet, inspiration sometimes is like a beautiful source of light and even without our knowledge, often times we find ourselves drawn to ideas or people because of the example they set without even realizing. Sometimes we recognize it, sometimes a lifetime passes by and we don't - but whether we are able to realize the significance of such people and events in our lives or not, they touch us no matter what, and just like the little plant by the window-sill that bloomed at the rising sun, we look back and one day thank the person in silence and say...
-- I don't know where you are today, but I am so grateful you touched my life and made it that much better.
Yes that was my simple thought in this post, the realization of something I never thought I was blessed with, or maybe even arrogantly took for granted. So this post is dedicated to all the wonderful people who have made me a better person, who continue to inspire me without my knowledge.
Thank you ever so much for being the light outside my window-sill ...
posted by Archer | 11:07 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home