Believe in Your Dreams and Yourself!

I hope this story encourages you in times when your dreams seem far away, or, when you are not able to believe any words of encouragement deep in your heart.

I was doing a diploma course. When the course ended, placements started. The first company came and I was not selected. My roommate got selected though. I felt good for her, but miserable myself because I started thinking that I'm not worth anything good. I'm worthless. My room mate had not come in until dark and I was feeling so miserable that I did not even want to enter the room we shared because I had memories of both of us studying in it all through the course. I felt so miserable that I found myself crying standing on the road talking to one of my classmates, unable to control my tears. When my roommate came, she consoled me, said all the words to encourage me, pointed out the mistakes I had made in the interview so that I would do better the next day. She made me gather strength for the next set of companies that were scheduled to come the next day.

She went to bed, saying that I should wake her up if I wanted to know something about the topics we had to study for the interview. After she went to sleep, I started saying to myself half-heartedly, "Tomorrow is MY day. The company cannot go without selecting me. I will get myself selected tomorrow." I did not feel this from deep inside but I kept on saying this the whole night, probably in my sleep too, and in the morning until I faced my interview. It went ok, not too good. Still I kept on saying these one-liners to myself but now there was a difference. I found a little belief started growing that "It actually IS my day" and now it was not half-heartedly that I said all that, I started to believe it. I was so charged up by this time by my growing belief that I found myself totally at ease and confident of selection that I found myself singing with my class-mates while people were going through the interview in their respective turns.

I went through the last stage of selection, which went quite well. In the evening when the results were announced I was not selected. I went home thinking that something is wrong, this was not possible. I was not in the mood to read the topics for the interview next day with some other company.

Morning came and I sat for another written exam for the first company, still thinking about what had happened yesterday. Before sitting for the exam, I was crying when one of my classmates tried to console me that I should not worry, everything will be fine. They gave the exam and it went bad.

I came out of the room and one student told me that our head of the placements was searching for me. I went to his cabin and he congratulated me saying, "You have been selected by the company that came yesterday". I couldn't believe it. I found myself saying, "I knew this had to happen". My heart said to me, "See! I told you, you could do it. Just believe in yourself!"

My belief eventually had made me achieve what I was wishing for. Then at that point I remembered that I had an intuition that I would get selected by this company when they had come to give their pre-placement talks.

So if you have a dream then just believe that you can achieve it no matter what. Even when you can't feel deep in your heart any words of encouragement, just believe in your dream and your heart will finally show you the way. And believe that there is God who sees us every moment. Believe in intuitions and gut feelings for they are voices of your sub-conscious mind.

- Author Unknown

Live Your Life To The Fullest

Today was a day similar to all other days..

I was coming back home after a busy full day. When I reached the entrance gate of my building, I found people dressed in white. I didn’t give it too much importance and went up to my floor. I got off the lift to find the door of my house open. There was a crowd of people.. I was frightened. I entered my house. I saw relatives gathered in the hall - all in white. The place was surrounded with grief. They were taking among themselves.
I saw their sad faces. and asked them what happed but they didn’t notice me. I quickly moved to the next room - I saw my parents sitting in front of a body covered with a white cloth.

Oooohhhh no. Who was it? I asked my parents but they continued crying and didn’t give any answer. I was bewildered and tried to guess who it was. I looked around the room trying to figure out which of the relatives was missing. Slowly I reached towards the body and tried to remove the cloth with my trembling hands.

It was me.

Now I realized why nobody noticed me. My life was over. Slowly I sat down in one corner and became listless. I tried to recollect what remained to be done in my life. My whole life was passing in front of my eyes.

I was surveying all my relatives who were present in the room. I try to hear what they were talking about me. I tried to recollect all my interactions with all of them. All the times that I wanted to apologize to them for my bad behavior and all the times I didn't because I was ashamed.

I am remembering the time which I missed out - to enjoy with my family, relatives and friends. I spent my whole life just running running and running - I forgot to enjoy with small kids.

I saw the wrinkles on my parents' face. I wanted to give happiness to them; I wanted to tell them how much I loved them. But now no one will hear me. I see some of my friends entering the room. I wanted to tell them ‘THANK YOU’ for their support and help...all the times I didn't do so only because of my ego.

I asked God to give me just a minute to tell all this too my family and friends..Please god give me only last one minute, only one minute …… I know, I will never get… Some tears drop. I closed my eyes.
I am remembering the goal which remains to be achieved. I wanted my family to become proud of me. I remembered all the time I wasted in what we loosely called ‘TIME PASS’. But now time has really passed. I wanted to help so many people but I couldn’t because of my laziness. I could see so many people whom I had wanted to meet and talk to, but as always I pushed it for tomorrow.
That tomorrow never came.

Please live your life today..to the fullest. We never get the last one minute to say BYE ..

- Author Unknown

Winning Means Giving It All

As I approached the final mile of the race I realized there were only three opponents left. Obstacles standing between my goal and me.....the finish line.

As I reached the first opponent, I closed my eyes and heard this message: "You only fail if you fail to try." I peddled with all my might and took his place. One down, two to go.

As I neared number two I once again closed my eyes. Knowing this one would be harder, I searched for strength. Not only was I more tired than before, but this opponent was the second strongest. Suddenly I heard the voice from within: "You only see the obstacle when you take your mind off the goal." I visualized the finish line and continued to push my body to it's limit and took position number two.

My last opponent, my last obstacle was in first place for a reason. He symbolized every goal that I hoped to achieve. Knowing this would be the toughest moment of the race, I again closed my eyes. This time I waited for the message. But it didn't come. As the fear rose from inside I realized it was up to me, not this voice, to win the race. With that in mind, I opened my eyes and it hit me. On the back of my Opponent's shirt was the message. It read "If you can read this........I'm winning!!!"

Then with every ounce of energy in my body and soul, I peddled and fought the toughest battle of my life. As I crossed the finish line, I realized that first place means nothing if you haven't given 150%. There is always someone out there who is a little faster or a little stronger, but the real champion is the one who reaches the finish line with nothing more to give.

- Unknown

Doing The Right Thing

Each day as you wake up, make the decision to strive to do what's right.

Approach your life as you would your game....

...when you make a mistake, learn from it, correct it, and get ready for the next point. Life moves too fast to sulk and dwell on the past.

...when you're down, fight harder to get back on top. Life is full of hardships. Fight hard against those feelings of despair.

...when you're doing everything right and still can't win, be patient. No matter how good we are or how hard we struggle to make the right decisions, life often makes us wait.

...when you are on top of your game, relax and enjoy it. Life is fully appreciated when we survive adversity and can relax in the sunlight of success.

Each sunrise brings a new opportunity. No matter how bad the day before was, today is brand new. When you wake up, seek the strength and courage to do the right thing.

- Author Unknown

Life Is About Correcting Mistakes

Monica married Satyajeet this day. At the end of the wedding party, Monica's mother gave her a newly opened bank saving passbook, with Rs.1000 deposit amount.

Mother: 'Monica, take this passbook. Keep it as a record of your marriage life. When there's something happy and memorable happened in your new life, put some money in. Write down what it's about next to the line. The more memorable the event is, the more money you can put in. I've done the first one for you today. Do the others with Satyajeet. When you look back after years, you can know how much happiness you've had.'

Monica shared this with Satyajeet when getting home. They both thought it was a great idea and were anxious to know when the second deposit can be made.

This was what they did after certain time:

- 7 Feb: Rs.100, first birthday celebration for Satyajeet after marriage

- 1 Mar: Rs.300, salary raise for Monica

- 20 Mar: Rs.200, vacation trip to Bali

- 15 Apr: Rs.2000, Monica got pregnant

- 1 Jun: Rs.1000, Satyajeet got promoted

..... and so on...

However, after years, they started fighting and arguing for trivial things. They didn't talk much. They regretted that they had married the most nasty people in the world.... no more love...Kind of typical nowadays, huh?

One day Monica talked to her Mother:

'Mom, we can't stand it anymore. We agree to divorce. I can't imagine how I decided to marry this guy!!!'

Mother: 'Sure, girl, that's no big deal. Just do whatever you want if you really can't stand it. But before that, do one thing first. Remember the saving passbook I gave you on your wedding day? Take out all money and spend it first. You shouldn't keep any record of such a poor marriage.'
Monica thought it was true. So she went to the bank, waiting at the queue and planning to cancel the account. While she was waiting, she took a look at the passbook record. She looked, and looked, and looked. Then the memory of all the previous joy and happiness just came up her mind. Her eyes were then filled with tears. She left and went home. When she was home, she handed the passbook to Satyajeet, asked him to spend the money before getting divorce.

The next day, Satyajeet gave the passbook back to Monica. She found a new deposit of Rs.5000. And a line next to the record: 'This is the day I notice how much I've loved you thru out all these years. How much happiness you've brought me.'

They hugged and cried, putting the passbook back to the safe.

Do you know how much money they had saved when they retired? I did not ask.I believe the money did not matter any more after they had gone thru all the good years in their life.

Moral :

"When you fall, in any way,
Don't see the place where you fell, Instead see the place from where you Slipped. Life is about correcting mistakes."

- Author Unknown

7 Ways to Make a Good Impression

Impressions are important: they leave an initial taste in people's mouths that can remain prevalent for the entire relationship. If you are paranoid about what kind of impression you make, run through these seven list items and see if you are consistent with them; if you are, then you will probably expose the best of yourself. If not, then work to meet these standards.

1. Dress: The absolute first impression you will make on someone will be through your clothing, because that is what is seen from a distance, and cannot change throughout your meeting. Make sure to dress according to the situation-don't over or under dress-and maintain within the limits of good taste. If you aren't sure if what you're wearing looks good, ask people for an honest opinion. One last thought: always, and I mean always, pull up your pants.

2. Hygiene: Take a shower! Shave! Brush your teeth! You must be fully bathed and groomed before you meet with someone for the first time, because scruffy looking people generally don't seem as neat and mature. Pay attention to the little elements like breath: keep a pack of mint gum with you wherever you go, and periodically check to make sure you aren't killing bugs every time you breathe out. If you sweat heavily, keep a small stick of deodorant/anti-perspirant close, and if you notice you're stinking you can freshen up. People notice the minutiae!

3. Manners: At the table and with other people be civilized, polite and respectful: keep your elbows off of the table, open doors for people and address everyone-initially, at least-by their formal title. This will make an especially good impression on senior citizens, because you will prove that you aren't one of those "new fangled punks."

4. Speech: Have clean, clear diction and speak sans "like" or "you know." It is important to be articulate because that inspires a feeling of intelligence and education in the person you are meeting with. Always leave out profanity, and whatever you do, make sure to speak loud enough for all to hear, because conversationalists are easily agitated if you force them say "excuse me?" more than a few times.

5. Discretion: Choose what to share about yourself: forget to tell everyone about that time you went camping and ruptured your appendix, then fell face first into a pile of bug infested leaves-it is rude and will alienate you from the group. Try to withhold from conversations on personal subjects like religion or more disgusting topics like personal medical care. Before you speak, think about the possible impact of what you might say, then imagine its implications in the long run.

6. Humor: Humor can be your most powerful tool or your doom, because everyone has a slightly different sense of humor. What might be hilarious to you might seem disgusting to another, or vice versa. Try to withhold from any jokes that aren't family or dinner table friendly; you can tell those later.

7. Start and End with a Bang: I am a classical musician, and in my orchestra, among other messages, the conductor tells us that the "audience remembers mostly the first and last notes of a symphony." This is the same in a personal encounter: whoever you are meeting with will remember how you greet them, and then in what manner you left them. If you feel you have trouble with this, practice a few different phrases in the mirror, and introduce elements like: "pleased to meet you," or "honored to make your acquaintance." Ignore the antiquity of these phrases; it often makes them more memorable.

Making a good impression will set any relationship off on a good foot. If you are in a situation where you need to be judged at face value-such as a job interview or date-then make sure to go through this list and make sure you are within bounds of reason and good taste on all of your decisions.

- Unknown

Look Around You

A very special teacher in high school many years ago had a husband who unexpectedly died suddenly of a heart attack. About a week after his death, she shared some of her insight with a classroom of students. As the late afternoon sunlight came streaming in through the classroom windows and the class was nearly over, she moved a few things aside on the edge of her desk and sat down there.

With a gentle look of reflection on her face, she paused and said, "Before class is over, I would like to share with all of you a thought that is unrelated to class, but which I feel is very important. Each of us is put here on earth to learn, share, love, appreciate and give of ourselves... and none of us knows when this fantastic experience will end. It can be taken away at any moment. Perhaps this is God's way of telling us that we must make the most out of every single day."

Her eyes beginning to water, she went on, "So I would like you all to make me a promise... from now on, on your way to school, or on your way home, find something beautiful to notice. It doesn't have to be something you see - it could be a scent - perhaps of freshly baked bread wafting out of someone's house, or it could be the sound of the breeze slightly rustling the leaves in the trees, or the way the morning light catches one autumn leaf as it falls gently to the ground. Please, look for these things, and cherish them.
For, although it may sound trite to some, these things are the "stuff" of life. The little things we are put here on earth to enjoy. The things we often take for granted. We must make it important to notice them, for at any time ... it can all be taken away."

The class was completely quiet. We all picked up our books and filed out of the room silently. That afternoon, I noticed more things on my way home from school than I had that whole semester. Every once in a while, I think of that teacher and remember what an impression she made on all of us, and I try to appreciate all of those things that sometimes we all overlook.

Take notice of something special you see on your lunch hour today. Go barefoot. Or walk on the beach at sunset. Stop off on the way home tonight to get a double dip ice cream cone. For as we get older, it is not the things we did that we often regret, but the things we didn't do.

- Author Unknown