If you believe in longevity, will you die in an accident?

If you fully believe you will have a long and healthy life, can an accident or natural calamity defeat it?

In all probability, no. Your brain, the subconscious part of it, which is in absolute harmony with the Universal Intelligence, will honor your beliefs.                                                                                                                                                                                                                              But how?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Will you escape an earth-quake that hits your area?  Certainly, if your belief in longevity is strong enough. Your subconscious mind which is, as already mentioned, in communion with the universal mind, will protect you. It will be seeking ways to save you. Being warned of the impending danger, It would ask you beforehand to go to another place on business or on a sightseeing trip or on some other pretext. If a quake happens in the night it would awake you up early enough and command you to go out and take shelter. At the worst, you would be among the survivors.

Will you die in a plane crash?

I think it is absolutely improbable. You will not be able to avert the crash. The forces involved –gravity of the earth and the weight of the aircraft—are too big for your thought energy to stop or control. But your subconscious mind which is in ‘tune’ with the Universal Mind would have asked you not to book a seat in the doomed aircraft.  You would go earlier or later. If you happened to be in it by some unknown reason (very improbable) there would be little chance for your survival. If the engine failed in midair gravity would certainly pull it down.  When that happens everyone dies. But if there is a survivor it would be you!

If you desire and expect health and longevity with all your mind and with all your heart there is almost no chance of running into an accident or succumbing to a disease. It will make you more cautious in everything. You will take precautions in driving.  You will not drive after drinking and you will be very careful in night driving and overtaking. Under no circumstance would you drive drunk or without adequate sleep. You will control your speed so that there is no chance for a major accident. You would be more alert about your safety in everything even without your knowledge. The subconscious becomes ever vigilant and makes you precautious all the time. Accidents simply do not happen. . When you walk or jog, you would take extra precautions too.  You will walk away from the carriageway so that no running vehicle can brace you. Your eyes and ears would be always alert to ensure your safety.

Those who think and worry about illnesses only get sick.  With your belief, your subconscious mind creates an invisible ring of protection around you all the time. Those who pursue big goals have no time to be worried about sickness and they are generally healthier. You will not be even led to situations where you will be infected with the HIV, Hepatitis B or any such deadly virus. There comes a guardian angel sort of thing around you all the time.  

Be youthful always and live more!

Genes do influence ageing. There may be a clockwork mechanism that make us age. But with a proper life-styles, one can increase his life-span by up to 30 years!

All our limbs and organs can function well up to 120 years! It is our mental outlook which invites ageing. Decaying is a universal phenomenon. But our mind can control the decay of our body tissues. It is not fully true that old age leads us to death. Death is brought about by diseases like BP, cancer, heart attack, TB, Pneumonia, AIDS, accidents, illnesses and in rare cases by old age.  The thought that one will have to be senile and useless in old age is totally unfounded. There are many who enjoy youthfulness in old age with all their organs functioning well up to 110 and more.

It is not necessary that because one is decrepit at 90 another should also be decrepit. If you exercise your body and brain, control food, and live for certain aims, you can be as healthy at 95 as another one is at 60.

Eating less (take food equivalent to 1200 calories a day) can add 50% more of your life span! Studies have conclusively shown that taking a serving or two of broccoli each day, one can add 5 years to his life. Having a pet and spending time with it regularly can give you 3 more years. If you live in rural setting amidst greeneries and with a lot of unpolluted fresh air you will get 7 years more! Having an understanding and loving partner will extend your life by about 5-7 years!

Leaving your memory and brain in a rut (doing routine things which give no challenges)

Make them rusted and the brain  prepares to die earlier. It is a self programming mechanism and if there is no use staying alive it just goes.

If you exercise fully (physically)  and throwing new challenges to brain (it can be doing  puzzles, going to new places, studying a new language, doing your daily chores with the less proficient hand, writing memoirs, recalling names of people you met, doing memory games) it will function like a youth’s brain.  

This is applicable to all our muscles and organs. Keep them exercised and let them be fit. Nobody can stop the chronological ageing but your mind will behave like that of an youngster if you exercise your body and brain, move more, control your food and have something to live for.    

Live long and healthy!

Acacia, a mountainous region of Georgia, is famous for longevity. Almost all are centenarians; their average age is 110. This region is  heaven-like for those who live in today’s air, water and sound polluted cities.

 They are active, energetic and hardworking. They respect the old and look forward to becoming ‘seniors’. The ‘acacians’ do not retire. The young work for more than 12-14 hours. Those who have passed 90 work a few hours less. They are always fruitfully engaged. They live in harmony with nature; songs and dances are an integral part of their lives. And they are, at any age,  healthy and happy.   

The place is full of hills, valleys and mountains. There is a lot of scope for physical exertion. It is common for them to walk up to 20 miles a day!  They climb hills, go down the valleys, swim in fresh waters, cultivate vegetables, fruits and engage in animal husbandry. They eat comparatively less and that too fruits, fresh vegetables, milk products and whole grains.  No fast food, no oil, no fried stuff, not much fat, less salt, less sugar and more water.   

They ride horses, swim, walk long distances and sleep well. Even those who have crossed 100 believe that they are still young. The society respects ‘senior citizens’ (above 100). They are still active in the society.Compare this with our stressful, sedentary life-style eating all fast, oily fatty foods! No wonder we become incapacitated earlier and die in youth as diseases overpower our vital organs. 

Shall we infer the secrets of a long, healthy life from the Acacians?  Exert every day (either through exercises or work) , move more, eat less that too fruits, and vegetables like spinach, broccoli, carrots and grains; have an active social life and engage oneself in useful work all the time.      

Stop feeling sorry

The dark clouds will swim away and the brilliant sun will emerge from behind.

There will be days which are less sunny when things just do not seem all that right. But they are going to change. There will be warming rays and fragrant zephyrs. There is no meaning in a smile if one has not experienced a tear.

What is the good in getting upset over small things which are not the way you wanted them? Worrying is not going to change a thing. There are ways to make you happy even in a very bad situation. You can turn round your mind to something good that happened sometime back. You can listen to the lisping of your child or talk to a bosom friend. Now there is a trying time. Tomorrow it will all be so easy. Life is like that. It is a tear and a joy; it is a smile and a cry.

Stop feeling bad about yourself. When something goes awry, do not start to blame yourself. There are such incidents in everyone’s life. It is comforting to know that everyone worries too. If you are feeling bad about your terrible childhood, well, what can be done about it? Those who enjoyed a splendid one are lucky. But it is not their mistake you did not get a good childhood. Further, they did not ask for theirs either. That is the way life is. But if you harp on your unpleasant past, no one will be interested in you. There are so many who have gone through much more trying situations. There are millions who are blind, deaf, mute, crippled, mentally retarded and imbeciles. In comparison you are thousands of times luckier and privileged. 

Life gives no guarantees, But you have a choice. Spend your time brooding up in self hate or roll over and get back to your feet and have a big laugh at the small irritants and simply march forward. Remember over 90% of all worries never happen. And worrying is not going to help the 10% that might happen. Be prepared to face them. But there is no need to cross a bridge before you come to it.

Mark Ingles had lost both his legs in a mountaineering expedition. The double amputee managed to climb Mount Everest! Helen Keller was blind, mute and deaf. Still she kept a warming smile and inspired millions to go up in life forgetting all their afflictions. Our problems are small in comparison. Let us dump our troubles into the waste basket and rise up with a heartening smile. There are so many out there much worse than we are.

All we know: we do not know

There is birth, growth, romance, tears, joy and death. Why do we take birth, grow, have passion for pleasure, money and possessions? Is not everything  destined for darkness? Whence do I come from and whither do I go? Is there anything after the darkness? Is there anything before the light?  

Is the birth into the light and the death into the darkness preplanned or accidental?

Who or what are we? Why do we, our planet and this universe exist? All of us must have experienced these basic questions at some moment or other. Many have attempted to give  answers to these questions, each from his/her particular perspective. The Theo-centric ones attribute everything here to a supernatural, omniscient, omnipotent and everlasting Being. They find a purpose for creation. But who created God? Something cannot come from nothing or exist for all times. Examination on close quarters  will rip this theory apart and reveal a chasm of darkness all around.

Science tries to explain everything in terms of physical, chemical, biological and gravitational laws. But they fail to explain the ‘why’ of it.  Emmanuel Kant said this: “Sepere Aude” or have the courage to know. He states that the content of the universe, life and their destinies are still contentious or unresolved issues. There are a lot of scientists who believe that this universe appeared out of nothing as quantum fluctuations of energy which grew into its present immensity.  This was not inevitable but fortuitous. It could have not formed at all or formed in an altogether different way.

Similarly life, the arising of a self organizing faculty whereby vitality with growth and reproduction kept alive, is itself a big mystery. Once the organic process got started, it became self generating and self changing. Man is the outcome of a series of events like evolution, mutations, and selection under climatic swings and cosmic impacts. There is no truth to maintain that evolution inevitably moves towards more exalted beings.   Evolution can only explain the various forms of life. But why is all this happening? All that we know is we do not know. 

Is there a short-cut to success?

Is there a short cut to achieve an aim or a target without much sweat or years of toil?

We have all heard about the rags to riches stories. We also know that people like Lincoln rose to greatness from the lowliest levels by hard work and persistence against all odds. 

Thinkers like Napoleon Hill advocate thoughts are things. Many after him have tried to prove that anything you find down here begins as thoughts. Your future is what you think about today. But if thoughts are things, there must be millions of things created for each one of us each month as an equal number of thoughts pass our minds. Obviously, all our thoughts do not transform themselves into reality. Hence they say only persistent and strong thoughts turn real. We all know it is not easy to maintain intense thoughts which border on faith for long periods of time and work for them. We are ordinary people and our myriad thoughts remain just thoughts. 

Don’t give up that quick. Is there an easy way out? Can we get whatever we want without sweating much or making our thoughts intense over long periods of time? Try this out. Keep the thought of whatever you want for more than half the time you are awake for just three years. No need to make it intense, no need to try and try until they become real. Just make sure 35,000 thoughts are on what you desire (there are around 70,000 thoughts that pass our minds a day) for 3 years. You might  get what you want. It.has been tried out by me and some others who attend my seminars. Well, is it possible to count our thoughts? No. Let it be the predominant thought when we are awake. Or let our minds have the desire every minute of the time for just 3 years. 

 Your practical goal is just 3 years away!  The only requirement: streamline your thoughts. Simply keep the thoughts on what you want. But if some 'alien' thoughts flood your mind even for a day we may have to start all over again. Focus on just one thing, one goal and get it in 3 years.. How does this work? Your super-power brain will make you work for it continuously from the start and attracts forces, circumstances and people that will materialize your desire. Why not you try it out? Good luck! 

Future is not past

The other day when I was in the midst of seminar, at the peak of the motivation I was giving to those assembled there, someone asked me: Who has inspired you most?  Without a moment’s hesitation I replied: my mother. She had worked hard to see that her 7 children did not die of starvation or diseases. Without her hard work I would have been dead and gone long back.

We were so poor that I had to work when I was five. I had to complete weaving one bamboo mat before I could be free in the evening. There was no square meal any day (except on festivals) and we were hungry, emaciated and half naked. My father was less concerned with the family and the children compared to our mother. She would work from dawn to dusk weaving bamboos at the same time looking after all the 7 of us, feeding us whatever little she could afford and getting us help or rustic medical aids whenever we were sick or in trouble.

There were times when I longed for 1 cent to buy a sweet. How hard I had wished for 5 cents (when I was in the fifth grade to watch a circus show arranged in the school! There were times I would wait for an ordinary Marigold flower at the gate of my class mate’s house.  (As I was very poor I never felt like entering the house and he never invited me in) 
 

Every day I worked and worked and went to school at the nick of the time without having proper food, clothes or reading a newspaper. I passed matriculation without knowing one English sentence correctly. Envying those who knew the language well, I vowed that I would master the language. As my family could not afford to send me to college, I sought the help of my parish priest who admitted me into the petit seminary for ecclesiastical studies. In the seminary, we aspirants had to converse either in English or Latin. It was a golden opportunity and I started devouring English words and phrases like a lover. I used to read anything I could lay hands upon noting down every beautiful word and phrase.  I would write down ten difficult words every day in a piece of paper to study and to commit them to memory on the way to the urinal or on the way back from the dining hall. I would sit glued to the old radio in the study hall to hear news from BBC.  As I wanted to develop the correct accent, it was important to listen to English spoken best. This practice continued for more than 5 years. Even while I convalesced in the infirmary, I used to devote my entire time (there was a lot of it as I did not have to go for mass, classes and prayers) to improve the language.

 I started writing one page a day starting with simple topics like ‘my mother’, ‘my father’, ‘my school’, ‘my village’ and so on. In about three to four years what I had written in loose paper was enough to fill 5 volumes or more. I appropriated difficult words and phrases by using them in sentences and even in the conversations I had with the fellow aspirants. I was rather obsessed with the study of the language and in a few years I could command it. Words would cascade down in an incessant flow and I had developed a style of my own (These days, as I do not pursue ‘everyday a page’ writing habit, I feel I have lost the sheen of writing I had so painstakingly developed). But even today I am very comfortable with English and I can continue speaking to an audience for a full day or two uninterruptedly and in good command.

The journey from an ignorant undernourished half naked boy to a  position of strength  in a foreign language and professionally which emboldened me to become a trainer and conduct seminars in a number of foreign cities is a testimony to the principle, ‘the future is not the past after all.’

‘The rags to riches’ stories of people are all well known to all. The biographies of Henri Ford, Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Alva Edison et all had inspired me when I was a little more than a boy. The life of Abraham Lincoln who was so poor  that he had to go to the forest, cut down trees and fend his family from the age of 9 (when children of his age were comfortably nestled in schools) has ever been awe inspiring. I had read Napoleon Hill’s book, ‘Think and Grow Rich’ when I was twenty and I have continued reading it for the last two decades (whenever I felt a ‘little down’ in life).

 Later I came across the lives of thousands who have overcome penury and made themselves immensely rich and famous.  Some of them stand out in my mind like Wilma Rudolf who was born in a hut to colored parents and who was struck down with polio. Her mother’s encouragement, her incessant attempts to stand up and walk on her legs without the support of crutches is still awe-inspiring. She became one of the greatest athletes of all times by winning 3 gold medals in the 1961 Rome Olympics in running. She proved beyond doubt that future is not the past after all.

Dhirubhai Ambani's life and success story has impressed me too.  It is very rare that you see people rising from nowhere to the top, especially so in an underdeveloped society where the society believes in Karma or pre-destiny. His life is a perfect example to showcase the rags to riches story. He was born in a relatively poor house with 7 children. He started the great company Reliance with just $20) in his pocket and made it the biggest corporation of India. He once said, ‘24 hours of a day 7 days of a week, 52 weeks of an year I have Reliance in my mind.’ Anybody can achieve success in this way in any enterprise.

Helen Keller was blind, deaf and mute. She did not dwell on her disabilities nor appealed to the sympathy of others; instead she inspired the blind and the crippled to live their life to the full. How difficult it was for her to learn even one word without eyesight, hearing and speech. But she mastered the language and wrote inspiring books in the Braille system and enlightened the blind, the deaf and the mute.

The future is not the past. It is not always the well-fed kids who are sent to the best schools and given every comfort who succeed in life or who climb to the very top.  By and large it is the poor, the disadvantaged and those who have to surmount difficulties who scale the heights and sit atop the peak. All the poor and the entire disadvantaged do not do so.  There are millions born poor or crippled (mentally or physically) who continue to be in the same state. The main reason could be their ignorance of the fact that one can overcome one’s hardships and rise up from the lowest levels. Many of them tend to believe that they are destined to poverty or sickness and they wallow in the mires. But if their thoughts can be redirected from very young days to believe (like in the case of Wilma Rudolf) that ‘whatever the human mind can conceive and believe it can achieve,’ they will have a totally different future which has nothing to do with their past. Thoughts are all important and one’s success or failure, one’s poverty or riches are very much dependent on the dominant thoughts of the mind.   Dream, consistently dream, a bright and prosperous future or anything you cherish and it is almost certain that it will materialize. 
  

  I have to agree that there is a lot of luck in one's life: the country, state and house one is born into, the educational and economic status of parents, their connections and ability to promote their children and much more. One's intellectual capability, energy level, physical appearance, confidence levels and social skills are all, to a large extent, transmitted from parents and early home environment. But there is no point in crying over the bad luck (that is how the game of life is played); let us try to better ourselves with whatever we have got.  The simple reason is that our future does not depend on our past. We can create the future of our choice by simply dreaming what we want continuously, perhaps, until we get them.  And when you dream, don’t forget to dream big. 

Stop looking towards your past and keep gazing at your future. Let your life be always forward and not backward. Whatever has happened has already happened.  What is in store in the future is all that matters.

Again, let us not regret by looking back; nobody has ever gained anything by doing so. It is a sheer waste of energy. Forget that which are behind. It cannot bind nor influence your future without your permission. Your days to come will not be rosy if you are tormented by the agony of the past. Stop trying to change the past; it will always remain as it was. The more you turn your attention on the past events the less will be the energy left to look forward, to plan and work for future events. The dreams of the future are not built on the events of the past.

If you are sad and depressed it will be about something which has already happened. If you live in your past you kill your future. No one can have a bright future if he thinks about the past, its misfortunes and follies