How Do You Think?

How Do You Think?

Do you find yourself thinking in short, simple words but crafting long, winding sentences? Or maybe your thoughts come as complicated lines tangled with many ifs and buts? The longer your sentences grow, the harder your brain works to find connections between ideas. Eventually, the original thought gets lost in the maze of words. It’s a common experience—how many times have you started with a clear idea only to lose track as your explanation stretches out?

Our ancestors understood this well. That’s why proverbs became such an important part of their storytelling and wisdom sharing. Proverbs are short, sweet, and powerful. They deliver a message clearly and memorably, making sure that important lessons aren’t lost in confusion. Unlike long-winded explanations, a well-crafted proverb sticks in your mind and often becomes a guiding light through life’s challenges.

I’ve heard it said, “Write a good proverb, and your name will live forever.” That idea fascinates me. Proverbs capture the essence of human experience in just a few words, immortalizing wisdom across generations. One proverb I cherish is: “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” It feels like a simple sentence, but it carries a profound truth.

Motivation is like the sun rising in the morning—bright, inspiring, full of promise. It fuels your initial excitement to start something new. But just as the sun sets and the night falls, motivation fades. It’s fleeting, unreliable if you depend on it alone. Habit, on the other hand, is like the steady rhythm of day and night—constant and dependable. It’s the quiet engine that keeps you moving forward when motivation ebbs away.

When I think about writing, this proverb resonates deeply. Some days, motivation shines brightly, pushing me to create and explore new ideas. Other days, motivation feels distant, hidden behind distractions or tiredness. It’s in those moments that habit becomes my anchor—the discipline of sitting down, putting words on the page, and trusting that steady effort will lead to progress.

So, I’m learning to embrace both: to celebrate motivation when it comes and to build habits strong enough to carry me through the days and nights when it doesn’t. That’s the balance between the spark that starts the fire and the steady flame that keeps it burning.

Here is the link of my first book which is a result of gathered motivation.  I am hoping to build a habit of it.  I will let the time tell tales.

One Hundred Quotes for Thoughts eBook : Engineer, The Mind: Kindle Store

Do You Think What You Think?

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself

What am I really thinking right now?

It sounds simple, but how often do we pay attention to our own thoughts? 

Try it now — 

Think about what you are thinking. It is a little exercise that can help you understand your mind better and even improve how you think.

From the moment we were born until our last breath, our minds are constantly busy thinking.  But what exactly do we think about? 

That is a big question — and surprisingly, most of us are not fully aware of what is happening inside our own heads.

You might say, “Of course I know what I am thinking!” But research tells us otherwise.  

On average, our brain generates around 60,000 to 70,000 thoughts every single day.  That is an overwhelming amount! It is impossible to be fully aware of all those thoughts or control them.  Thoughts come and go so fast, they are like a river flowing inside our minds — continuous and automatic.

What Are Thoughts, Really?

Let us take a step back and look at thoughts more closely.

Simply put, thoughts are how our brain processes information.  Our brain is constantly receiving input from our senses — what we see, hear, smell, touch, and taste.  

It takes in all this information and works on it, even when we are not paying attention.

Because our brain is always busy processing, it is no wonder we have tens of thousands of thoughts each day.  But just like other automatic body functions — like breathing or digesting food — most of our thinking happens without us even noticing.

Can We Watch Our Thoughts?

Yessss!

It is possible to observe what is happening inside your mind.  But to do this, you need to understand a few key things:

• Thoughts are the brain’s way of processing information it receives from the outside world or from other thoughts.

• Every input your brain gets is analyzed to figure out if this is required or can it be ignored.  

• If it needs to be consumed, how best can it use to help you survive and succeed.

• Your brain constantly imagines different possible outcomes for every situation.

• For example, if you feel threatened, your brain might imagine running away or defending yourself — even extreme ideas might pop up.  But these are just thoughts, not actions. 

What you actually do depends on your past experiences and choices.

Don’t Be Afraid of Your Thoughts

When you start paying attention to your thoughts, you might feel surprised — or even shocked — by what you discover inside your mind.  That is normal!

Remember: 

Thoughts are just information being processed.  They don’t control you, and you don’t have to act on every thought that pops up.  They are like messages your brain sends to explore what is possible

How to Watch Your Thoughts

Here’s a simple way to start watching your thoughts: do nothing.

Sit quietly and simply observe what your mind is doing.  Notice how a thought starts from something you sense — a sound, a sight, a feeling — and then follows a path inside your brain.  You might see your thoughts branching out into many different directions, imagining many different possibilities.

The key is to watch without getting attached or worried.  You don’t have to believe or act on any thought that comes to mind.  Just observe.  This simple awareness helps you understand how your brain works without getting overwhelmed by it.

Why This Matters

When you become aware of your thoughts, you can see which parts of your brain are triggered by different inputs.  

This insight gives you more control — you can begin to guide your thinking instead of letting it run wild.

By learning to watch your thoughts, you can focus more clearly on what truly matters and make better decisions.  In other words, you can take charge inside your mind.

Next time you catch yourself thinking, ask: 

Are you really in control? 

Or 

Is your mind just on autopilot? 

The answer could change how you see yourself — and your life.

The Beauty of Minimalism: Embracing 'Less is More'

Minimalism, often hailed as a philosophy and lifestyle, revolves around the profound concept of 'less is more.' It advocates for eliminating nonessentials to unravel the true essence of life. In a world consumed by excess, minimalism prompts us to question the necessity of everything surrounding us.

The crux of minimalism lies in discerning between the vital few and the trivial many. It urges us to scrutinize our possessions, commitments, and desires, asking a fundamental query: Is everything truly important?

By embracing minimalism, we embark on a journey to simplify our lives, focusing on what genuinely brings us joy and fulfilment.

Crafting a list of essentials that contribute to our happiness becomes pivotal in this pursuit. These essentials could vary widely, encompassing cherished relationships, moments of solitude, engaging hobbies, or a sense of purpose. Minimalism teaches us that true contentment doesn't stem from accumulating possessions but from nurturing experiences that resonate with our core being.

In a world bustling with options, the minimalist philosophy prompts a crucial deliberation between the vital few and the trivial many. It challenges us to curate a list of essentials that genuinely contribute to our happiness, encourages us to relish the simplicity of moments, basking in the beauty of the present rather than seeking excitement in the future.

Saying 'no' to unnecessary requests isn't denying the person making them; instead, it's an affirmation of our boundaries and priorities. Minimalism empowers us to make deliberate choices, asserting our autonomy over the influx of obligations and distractions that often clutter our lives.

Ultimately, the essence of minimalism lies in being mindful, intentional, and content with 'just enough.' It invites us to shed the unnecessary layers that cloud our vision of a fulfilling life. By embracing this idea, we can unlock the tranquility that accompanies a decluttered existence, finding joy in the simplicity of living in the moment.

~The Mind Engineer.

Optimize Life's Beautiful Chances

I noticed something in yesterday's World Cup match between South Africa and England. South African batsman Marco Jansen played shorts at will, mocking the defending champions.

It was the last over, three balls before the end of their innings. The batsman on strike was Gerald Coetzee, who had just faced 2 balls. He pushed the ball to long on, took two runs, and remained on strike.

The commentator was upset, suggesting he should have settled for a single, wanting Jansen to face the next two balls. Running two in the last over was considered a crime for once. The other commentator was puzzled, asking why more runs were needed when SA already had 396 out of 300 balls, with a good chance of winning.

The answer was that when you have a chance to optimize, you should never waste it. You never know what the future holds; it's better to deal with abundance rather than scarcity.

This resonated with me; Life is similar. Every day is an opportunity to optimize your life. Not seizing these chances can lead to regret.

Life is beautiful; Use your days to make it even more so.

Know your Genie!

Once upon a time, in a dense forest, there lived a young boy named Sam. One day, while exploring the woods, he stumbled upon an old, dusty lamp. Intrigued by its resemblance to Aladdin's magical lamp, he decided to rub it, hoping for a miracle.

To his surprise, a Genie emerged from the lamp, granting him incredible powers. However, there was a catch. The Genie could only perform tasks within a limited radius of the lamp. Appu soon realized that it was challenging to catch a deer or explore faraway places with this constraint.

Disappointed with the Genie, Appu roamed in the forest.  And then, he stumbled on another lamp, which seemed like a first one.  He rubbed it vigorously, a second Genie appeared. This Genie possessed even greater powers, but there was a new restriction. He could only fulfill Sam's wishes when asked in a genuinely happy and joyful manner.

Appu found himself struggling to keep both Genies content. The first Genie demanded proximity, while the second Genie required a specific mood. The boy grew frustrated and unhappy, unable to meet the expectations of either Genie.

One day, Appu confided in his mother, pouring out his troubles and his feelings of discontent. Although skeptical, his mother listened attentively and offered him wise advice. She said, "Understand what each Genie wants and give it to them. In doing so, you will receive what you desire."

Appu pondered his mother's words and realized their profound meaning. 

Life, just like the Genies, had its own restrictions and demands. People around him, too, held the potential to bring happiness into his life if he understood their needs and fulfilled them.

From that day forward, Appu started empathizing with others, trying to understand their desires and needs. He discovered that by giving joy and happiness to those around him, he received an abundance of happiness in return.

And so, the young boy lived his life, treating every person he met as a Genie, understanding their desires, and giving them what they wanted. In doing so, he unlocked the key to a fulfilling and joyful existence. 

This thought was etched into his heart forever: 

Everyone is a genie—capable of bringing immense happiness if we understand them and give them what they want.

Planning - an important part of success

Planning is a crucial aspect of our daily lives, guiding us through tasks and activities, no matter how big or small. While we often associate planning with major projects or complex undertakings, it is equally important for our day-to-day actions. A well-crafted plan may not guarantee success, but it provides us with a clear direction and serves as a reference point to understand our missteps when we encounter failures.

To effectively plan, there are key points to consider:

1. Set smaller, time-bound goals that are simple and reachable: Breaking down larger objectives into smaller, manageable tasks helps us stay focused and motivated. By assigning specific time frames to these goals, we create a sense of urgency and accountability.

2. Review targets with all involved parties: Collaboration and communication are crucial for successful planning. Involving all stakeholders ensures that everyone is aligned and working towards the same outcome. It also allows for valuable input and diverse perspectives.

3. Regularly review and reassess the plan: Plans are not set in stone. Regularly revisiting and evaluating the plan helps us monitor progress, identify potential roadblocks, and make necessary adjustments to stay on track.

4. Do background work for the next stage while working on the current one: Being proactive and preparing for upcoming tasks while completing the current ones saves time and makes the transition smoother. It allows us to anticipate challenges and reduces the likelihood of delays or setbacks.

5. Analyse failures to understand what went wrong: Failure is an opportunity for growth and learning. When a plan falls short of the desired outcome, it is essential to analyse and reflect on the reasons behind the failure. This analysis helps us identify weaknesses, make improvements, and avoid repeating the same mistakes in the future.

6. Ensure flexibility and account for variable factors: Plans should be adaptable to accommodate unforeseen circumstances. By considering potential variables and having contingency measures in place, we can mitigate risks and respond effectively to unexpected events.

7. Have alternate plans for unexpected events: No plan is foolproof. Having backup plans or alternative strategies in place prepares us for unexpected situations. It allows for swift adjustments and reduces the impact of disruptions.

In summary, effective planning involves setting achievable goals, regular review and adjustment, proactive preparation, analysing failures, maintaining flexibility, and having backup plans. By incorporating these key points into our planning process, we can enhance our productivity, adapt to challenges, and increase the likelihood of successful outcomes in our day-to-day activities.

For more reads:  https://mindreengineering.blogspot.com/

Your Focus is Your Destination: Everything Else is Just a Distraction

 

In the journey of life, we often find ourselves striving to reach our desired destinations. Whether it's personal or professional, we set our sights on a goal and work tirelessly towards achieving it. However, along the way, we encounter various distractions that can derail us from our path. Just like driving a car, staying focused on your destination is crucial, even when surrounded by chaos and distractions.

Imagine yourself driving to a particular place, eagerly anticipating your arrival. As you cruise down the road, you ensure you maintain a comfortable speed, allowing yourself to enjoy the journey. But then, you notice other cars recklessly speeding around you, overtaking in the wrong lanes, and honking loudly or even yelling at you. These distractions have the potential to pull you mentally down and drain your energy.

However, the key lesson here is to keep your focus unwaveringly on your journey and destination. Just as you maintain your composure while driving, it is important to stay composed and centered in your personal and professional pursuits. Remember, your focus is your destination, and everything else is just a distraction.

In the context of a car journey, the distractions may include cars that rush past you, drivers who display aggressive behaviour, or even unexpected obstacles on the road. Similarly, in life, distractions can manifest in various forms. It could be the fear of failure, societal pressure, comparison to others, or simply the constant barrage of information and stimuli in the digital age.

The secret to staying on track lies in recognizing that distractions are inevitable but controllable. Just as you can choose to ignore the reckless drivers around you and stay in your lane, you can choose to disregard the distractions that threaten to side-track you in life. It is within your power to filter out the noise and keep your focus on what truly matters.

 Often, people believe that progress means constantly moving forward, taking risks, and pursuing change at all costs. However, there are moments when holding your ground and maintaining the status quo is the most prudent decision. There is wisdom in recognizing when to pause, evaluate, and consolidate your efforts. Sometimes, staying focused on your current position and nurturing what you have already built is essential for long-term success.

 Distractions not only divert your attention but also drain your mental and emotional energy. They can leave you feeling overwhelmed, demotivated, and disconnected from your goals. By recognizing these distractions for what they are—temporary diversions—you can guard your energy and channel it towards the tasks that truly matter. Instead of being pulled down by external factors, you can maintain a positive mindset and a clear vision of your destination.

 Remember, life is a journey, and staying focused on your destination is crucial for success and fulfilment. Just as a driver must navigate through distractions on the road, you too must navigate through the distractions that life throws your way. Remember, your focus is your destination, and everything else is just a distraction. By holding your ground, filtering out the noise, and preserving your energy, you can stay on track and accomplish your personal and professional goals. Embrace the power of focus, and let it guide you to the destination you've set your heart on.

Re-telecast your victories!

India lost to England in the 2022 T20 World Cup Semi-finals by 10 wickets.   That's probably a very soft way of saying what happened in the match - Indian bowlers were clueless and was thrashed all over the park.  This is one of the days in Indian cricket the players and the fans would want to forget in life.  There was one other day where India lost to Pakistan in the same margin.

Having said the above, India is still a good team and is the No.1 Team in T20 Ranking winning 120 of 187 matches they played.  The Sports channel proves this.  You would see the repeat of all the "fantastic" victories India had when there are no major tournaments happening - and at the other end, you won't see any matches being re-telecasted if there was any such defeat like that semifinals.  This gives the audience the feeling that India is a great team - which it is and they can never lose.  These defeats doesn't even stay in our minds more than a day - we get along with life.

How I wish we can do this to our lives, instead of harping on the things where we failed, crying about the relationship which dint work out, feeling bad about times where we were not on par - we start to celebrate things which we did successfully, go through in our mind where we did wonderfully, re-live the moments where we did "fantastically".

Life is a rollercoaster and it's bound to give you ups and downs.  Let's start forgetting the failures and take up only the lessons from it and move on with life.

You are as fantastic as the Indian Cricket Team!

The Magical Mind Tree!

 

“All is well, all is well, all is well”

 I am sure every one of you here, at some point in your life, have used this.  If you have not so far, try this next time when you are tensed and anxious.

 Let us assume a situation.  You enter your house one night and it is absolutely dark.  What would happen when you start thinking that there could be someone in the house or your house is haunted with ghost?  Things would start getting scarier, isn’t it?  Instead, what if you just focus on finding the light switch and switching them on, things would be completely different.

 What are you doing here… you are thinking and you are talking to yourself.  What you are thinking are just not thoughts that crosses your mind, but those are instructions that you give to your mind.  Your mind listens to everything you say, takes up everything you think and act accordingly to it.  All we need to give our mind are the words that would give us strength and support when needed.

 

Let me tell you a story…

 Long long ago, so long ago, nobody can say how long ago…..when there were no vehicles to travel and no cellphones for communications..

 There was a trader who set out from his motherland to a foreign land to do a business and amass wealth.  It was night when he was in the middle of a forest and do not know where to go.  He decided to take rest under a comfortable place and he found a place under a huge tree.

 While relaxing, he felt thirsty and desired for a glass of Water, “I wish I had some water with which I could quench my thirst right now!” There was a miracle. No sooner did he wish for water, a hug pot appeared before him which was full of water. He quenched his thirst and felt relieved.

 After some time, he felt hungry and wished for food. He said to himself, 'I wish I had a plate of tasty food be available to me now, I would be really lucky.'  As soon as he thought of it, there appeared a plate of tasty food before him. He ate to his full satisfaction.

 Too much of food made him drowsy and he said, 'How can I sleep on this rough surface? If there be a soft bed for me?' As he uttered these words, a colourful and comfortable bed of velvet appeared before him immediately.  He was happy and enjoyed a good sleep on the velvet bed.

 After he awoke, he began to think, 'I am all alone in the forest which is full of wild animals like lions, tigers and wolves who may come at any moment and can kill me. I would not be able to protect myself.'

 As he thought so, a ferocious tiger appeared there and attacked the trader. Poor guy was so scared that he could not even run and he was killed by the tiger.

 The trader knew nothing about the tree, that tree was a magical tree which fulfills all the wishes of the person standing under it.

 And now, all of us are under such a tree and the tree is our mind..

It is said that a man is always led by his thought. A positive thinking leads to positive results. It anticipates happiness and favourable result from every situation. Hence, we should always be positive.

 Why do you need to say only positive things to your mind?  The answer is very simple.  Positive thinking shows you the right path, it gives you hope and direction in every step of your life.  Such positive thoughts, when we keep repeating to ourselves, become a strong belief and it guides us to success giving us the ability to face and overcome all the difficulties in the path.

 Okay….how am I going to make myself think positively.

 It is pretty easy.

 Always use only positive words while thinking and while talking. 

 “ I am strong”  ”I am smart”  “I am happy” “I can reach my goal”  – builds confidence in you

 “ I can,”  I am able to”  “it is possible” – gives you strength to complete a task successfully.

 Positive thinking is just the right tonic you need to give your mind whenever you have any issues…not only during the difficult times, in fact for everything in your life.

 This small change in your thoughts would make a huge difference in your life.

 Let us think positive and be positive!

Do your have yours?

One fresh Monday morning, I logged into my work.

"Good morning!  How was your weekend?".  That was Ellen from the opposite desk, unpacking the bags to start work. 

 "It was good, relaxing and a lot of Netflix!".  That is my usual response and this is the usual conversation every Monday.

"How is your week looking ahead? anything exciting?" this was the next question today.  

New question.

Never asked before.

And this made me thinking.

What am I looking at this week, apart from lot of regular calls, regular activities, regular meetings and at the end wait for the next weekend.

Is just it? or Is there something that I can look forward to?

Is there anything that I can accomplish at a professional level or at a personal level?

I started asking these questions.

Do we have any idea how this going this day is going to end or how this week is going to end.  There can be adhoc stuff coming your way, there can be lot of additional work or there can be not much work and I can end up doing lots of time pass. I have no idea about this, but still at the end of the week, can I give myself some satisfaction of completing something or accomplishing something extra to help my future self? 

How do I get there, how do I get there!

The future breaks down to one week or even one day.

If your future is a palace, these days and weeks are the building blocks of it.  Look at your past and how you spent your days earlier, do you have a palace now or are you still building it.  

Mine is still work in progress with no proper structure.

That's okay. 

Today is brick for my futur palace.  I have now decided what I wanted to accomplish at the end of this week.  I am going work on my bricks for a beautiful palace.

Do you have yours?!

Let us be a little nicer!

On my way back home in my bike, after a tiring day at work, I was following this car.  The car had one of the unusual signs in the back of the windows which says,  “Learning, sorry for any delay.”

I was tired, but still I was very patient and following them with the same speed.  To my surprise, they were doing very well for someone who is learning.  I am sure everyone would have done this some time in our life.

I asked myself this question:  Would I have been so patient if there was no such sign in the car?  Maybe, No!

There are some signs like this to tell everyone that “I am learning” – but there are no signs which says, “Going through a depression” or “Lost a child” or “Striving hard to achieve what I want, but not getting any help” or “Going through tough times in life”.

We don’t know what the other person is going through.  When we can be nicer and helpful (by at least not adding any additional pressure) to a stranger on the road, I am sure we can be nicer to people around you – who might be going through some tough phases in life – which you might never be aware of.

Let us give everyone an extra dose of love and kindness and help them in the journey of whatever they are going through.  You cannot solve all their problems with this – you might not know your one act of kindness or a smile can make a big big difference in their life.

Can you give me 2 mins please?

 

"Can you give me 2 mins please?" Dhivya answered the phone call

How often have we said this? And how often was this really 2 mins?

I am trying to give some insight on how words work in our brain - if you are someone who can't take any advise or criticism, please do stop here.  Its not for light hearted people!

There is a whole branch of psychology known as NLP, Neurolingusitic program.  This deals with the connection between how our brain works versus how words are used.  Which inturn means, the choice of words you use has a great impact on how your brain works, how your emotions rally up and what do you actually mean when you say something to people.

For Dhivya, what she said just means give me some time or i am in the middle of something or i cant speak to u right now or give me some time or maybe she is not in a mood to speak now and she has decided to respond politely.  She could have said these words directly, but she choose to use the "2mins", this is probably because she has not sorted out herself what she wants in her mind actually and what she says to others.

This at the very core means, what comes out of your mouth is never what you want actually - your caring words for others are probably not genuine care!  It might sound rude, but sometimes it happens.  

Why does this happen? What can we do to improve on this area if we want to communicate better?

"Ask yourself what do I actually want to say".  The solution maybe simple, but it is difficult to follow as most of the time we do not what to say or we don't want to say what we think for various reasons.  

But, why do we have to do this? why can't I continue saying "2mins"? ...We can do it, but we are allowing the disparity of what we think inside versus what comes out of mouth to increase and this is a very big hindrance in achieving what we want to get in life because we are not clear between what's going on in your mind versus what actually you do.

As mathematician says, the shortest distance between two points in a straight line, start vocalising what you think in your mind, at least to yourself and you would really know how far are we from what is happening in our life to how you want it to happen.

Easy said than done!...But it's never late to try.  Who else would look at you so close if you can't face your internal self?

Oh no! or Oh Good!

 

Ann had tough time reacting to what I was sharing to her.  She was absolutely confused as to be happy or sad on what I said.  I was telling her that my Cat passed away yesterday and she did not know if she need to say “Oh No!” or “Oh Good!”

 

Tommy, my Cat was 4 years old and it was the pet of the house.  Providing an animal food and shelter makes it a less animal, whose normal instinct is to hunt and safe guard its life.  It is not the best thing we could do to them as we are robbing its natural way of existence in this world to fight against anything coming its way, internal or external problems.  We realized it when Tommy fell ill and it has gone into its shell of not responding to anyone and just lying down in a corner of the room, for hours, days and months together.  That’s the Cats way of recovering and that would be the best way of recovery for any “body” in this world as all the life can cure themselves without any external intervention.

 

In this process, it starved and lost lots of weight.  The family couldn’t take the suffering it went through and it hurt more when it did not allow us to come closer to do any help.  Tommy’s battle was tough and we could see it losing the battle day by day.  Life, as it always does, wins eventually!  Everyone of us was sad.

 

Ann, knowing everything about Tommy and liking it very much, for sure felt relieved that Tommy would suffer no more, but was also under the pressure to console us as we were grieving about Tommy.  She dint know if she needs to say “Oh No, you lost Tommy! Or “Oh Good, at last Tommy will suffer no more!”

 

Emotions are sometimes such complicated to understand and handle.  We are mostly programmed to react to the acceptance of the person to whom these emotions are expressed and not what you feel actually.  What we express mostly would be for the society and what we feel inside is actually who we are and how we would see the situation. 

 

Either we make both of these similar or we understand and accept that these can never be same because of the way in which we see the world.  If not, we would get stuck as Ann, not sure what to react and how to handle the situation/person.

Stay Calm, Stay Positive!

 

Why is it important to stay calm and positive during tough times?

 When things are not going your way or you have a huge list of problems piling every day to your kitty, one of the key things that you should be doing is to stay calm and be positive. 

 Everyone understands this and it’s always easier said than done!  Absolutely True!!

 We as a species have always tried to overcome the problem we faced.  It absolutely rare that someone doesn’t do anything or react to things that are happening around them; and whenever there is a threat or things not going in our way, we invariably are reacting or working on something to get to a safe land - it doesn’t matter if, what you are working is helping you or making your situation worse.

 But whenever we work on something, it is with the belief that the action would help you come out of the problem.  After all the hard work that you put, when the result is not in your favor, it leads to a lot of frustration OR when a feeling of helplessness creeps in, it has a huge effect on you psyche as well or you body.

 This is where staying calm and being positive helps!  You may wonder how?

 Staying calm and being positive in any situation doesn’t put the focus on the immediate hurdles or the setbacks that you encounter, but puts the focus on your final target.  This gives you motivation to continue on your path and keeps yourself healthy mentally and physically even amidst your troubles.

 No matter what the goal is OR how far or near you are to your goal, you need yourself to be actively working towards what you wanted to achieve – and this can only happen when you stay calm and positive during the time when things are not going your way

 Like I mentioned earlier, easier said than done! 

 When are already trying a lot of things to achieve something we wanted, why not try this as well to see if it helps!  If it doesn’t help, you don’t have to practice further.  But if it helps, you are sure to reach your goal much faster.

 I am sure it will help!

Festivals – are they relevant now?

Why?

 About 10,000 years ago, men had his lives blend with nature.  He placed events around his life based on the nature and things which he was able to track, like climate, weather, seasons – he relied on nature to track time and based on that, he decided on when to start a work – predominantly agriculture and when to complete it.  Until the next suitable time for agriculture, he had designed ways to keep him occupied, focus his attention on other areas, or sometimes get prepared for the next agricultural season.

To pass on this information to his next generation, in an attempt to give them a “ready-made recipe” to work with nature, he started having festivals.  Festivals are those “time-tags” in his life which either marks a beginning of something or marks an end of something.  It is this time, where he decides to plough the ground or care for his cattle or use the harvested items or save himself from the weather change.  Basically he designed this to safe-guard himself and prepare for future.

Do we really understand?

Even though we follow a lot of festivals, I am not sure if we understand the real reason as to why this was started in the first place.  We are now trying to decode the reason as to why men at ancient times started doing something and in that attempt, we are trying to find the possible benefits of something that is already happening – but it may be unclear if this was the primary reason as to why something is being done.

The reason being, the way of life changed leaps and bounds.  Our life is far more safe and sophisticated compared to how men lived 10,000 years ago, and it is impossible to try to track his mindset back to why he has started doing something, when you have no clue on what he was going to at that period.

Conclusion?

Do we then conclude that celebrating all these are “waste of time” – or are we doing something which are completely irrelevant to what we are now?

Emotions and Health - Part 2

Emotions and Health - Affirmations

Affirmations are "self-talk" statements.  These are statements which we tell ourselves on every aspect of life and are so powerful - just because we are the only ones who we listen to. 

When structured correctly positive affirmations can have a great influence on your thoughts and your mindset.  This can increase your enthusiasm, motivate you to achieve your goals and provide you with surplus resource of mental energy as these prepare your mind for what you want to achieve.

Continuing from the part 1, below are the next set of dis-ease and the emotions which are associated with that, along with the affirmations which could help in faster healing. 

Part: Elbows
Issue:  Pain and stiffness
Probable Cause:  Elbows and arms signify a lack of capacity & ability to hold the experiences of life. Resisting change of directions and acceptance.
Emotional affirmation:   “I easily flow with new experiences, new directions and new changes“
Physical treatment:   Just wrap your hands around yourself as if hugging your own self and say this to yourself.  "I trust, love, accept, approve and forgive myself." As many times as possible everyday. 
  

Part: Hands
Issue:  Pain and lack of strength
Probable Cause:  Pain in the hands may be caused by all ways of dealing with hold & handle, clutch & grip, grasping & letting go.
Emotional affirmation:  “I choose to handle all my experiences with love and with joy and with ease. “
Physical treatment:  Hold a pen/pencil tightly in your hand as if you are holding a situation in your life and then when ready to "Release" the situation just throw the pen/pencil with full force & free yourself. 
 

Part:  Abdomen
Issue:  Abdominal cramps.
Probable Cause:  Fear, stopping the process
Emotional affirmation:  “I trust the process of life.  I am safe. “
Physical treatment:  Place your hands on the belly button (navel) & do 4-4-4-4 count breathing.
4 count Inhale; 4 count Hold; 4 count Exhale; 4 count Hold.
Do it as long as comfortable. 

Part: Hips
Issue:  Lack of flexibility and difficulty in movement
Probable Cause:   Major thrust in moving forward
Emotional affirmation:  “I am in perfect balance.  I move forward in life with ease and with joy at every age. “
Physical treatment: Sit on the floor placing the legs straight.  Try to twist your hips with hands stretched on both the sides.  Do 3 rounds with 5 reps each. 

Part: Knees
Issue:  Stiffness and knee pain
Probable Cause:  Pain in the knee is a sign of pride & ego
Emotional affirmation:  “I am flexible and flowing. “
Physical treatment: Lie down on the floor, place the left ankle over the right knee & move the right knee up & down for 5 minutes. Then do the same with right ankle placing it above the left knee for 5 minutes

 

Part:  Calves
Issue:  Calf stiffness and cramps
Probable Cause:  Calf pain is caused by stress, emotional tension
Emotional affirmation:  “I am relaxed and I am control of the situation.  I believe in the positive outcome”
Physical treatment:  Press the tender point 20 times located exactly in the center of the calf(behind). Twice daily.

 

Part:  Ankles
Issue:  Ankle pain and stiffness
Probable Cause:  Pain in ankles mean lack of ability to receive pleasure.
Emotional affirmation:  “I deserve to rejoice in life.  I accept all the pleasure life has to offer.”
Physical treatment: Lie down on the floor, legs slightly apart & rotate the ankles clock-anticlockwise 50 times

 
Part:  Feet
Issue:   Feet pain
Probable Cause:  Feet pain represents our lack of ability to understand one self, life or others
Emotional affirmation:  “My understanding is clear, and I am willing to change with the times.  I am safe”.
Physical treatment: Take a tennis ball & place it under the feet & roll on it. Can do it while sitting or standing
 

Most of the dis-ease pschosomatic .  Change of mindset can help a long way to get back to our comfortable self.

Creating Habit!

    What is a Habit?  It is a repeating unconscious pattern of behavior which is not an outcome of conscious thought.  In simple term, it is just like a clock alarm - which executes when it reaches the mark, unfazed by any external factors.  So are the habits, these are actions which are a result of a trigger.  The trigger and the action are not controlled consciously.  There is nothing called a bad habit or a good habit, it is just the favorable/unfavorable outcome of the habit decides the characteristics of it.

    How is a habit formed?  The super powerful brain of us, sometimes choose to become lazy in order to cut down its workload and try to map every input received to an action.  When same action is repeated continuously for a same input, it decides just to map the input to the reaction and execute it every time it gets the same input, bypassing all the thought process, excluding the external factors and ignoring the alternative favorable outcome.  Thus we end up unconsciously acting to a situation in a same way, until we consciously decide to change it.  It is like getting back to home from office in our car.  The input would be to get to home in car, once we get used to it, are we consciously driving the vehicle, trying to analyze the speed of it and changing the gear, and taking right/left turns in the road?  It just happens as a habit and our super powerful brain relaxes itself with some good music on the way back home.

    Now the interesting part – Can we understand the automatic thought patterns, set the required trigger and by thus create a habit all by yourself – consciously!  Is this possible? – Yes it is.  But you need to know exactly what you wish for and what the trigger is, if not the whole thing would go wrong and you would end up with too much thing to correct.

    To have this set up initially, you need to first know what exactly you are looking for as the outcome and what is the trigger which can get it going.  Once this process map of this is completely figured out, all you have to do is kick start the trigger consciously and take it through to the outcome you want, slowly doing it step by step.  You might have to do this for a couple of times after which you would notice yourself that your brain doesn’t even wait for you to take you through to the steps, it will just run past all the process and end up in the final outcome.  Thus, you have created a habit!

    Once a habit is set, it would take another habit to override the earlier one – in other terms, erasing the brain map of input to trigger and rewriting another one.

    This above chunk of text maybe too complicated to understand, but this is something you and me have been doing day in and day out, right from brushing our teeth to going to bed.

    You can try a simple trick! – Try asking why you do some act of yours until you really find out why?

     Happy working on your brain!

    ~MindEngineering!

Emotions and Health

Emotions have a huge impact on our body and our body fights hard with its own chemical factors as well as with our psychological factors to solve any dis-ease that occurs.  Most of the cases, when the psychological factor is identified and solved, resetting of the chemical reaction becomes much easier.

 Whenever a “dis-ease” happens to our body, one of the major cause is an obstructed or incorrect thought patterns which happens inside us.  When it accumulates over a period of time, it leads to major issues.  If we can identify the incorrect thought pattern and correct it, the “dis-ease” which we face would move out of us and would help us to lead a healthy and happy life.

 Fortunately, a lot of people have done research in this field and have identified illness which are related to certain type of emotions and have suggested ways (both psychological and physiological) which could help in our body to heal itself.

 I have tried to put together information which I have gathered from various text to provide one consolidated list for some of the “dis-ease” which we face often in our daily life.

Below are some of the “dis-ease” we face, the emotions which are associated with that and affirmation which could help in faster healing.

 

Part: Head

Issue:  Headaches

Probable Cause:  Can be caused by invalidating the self. Self-criticism. Fear.

Emotional Affirmation:  “I love and approve of myself.  I see myself and what I do with eyes of Love.  I am safe.”

Physical treatment:  Do left nostril breathing (Chandra nadi).  Inhale-Exhale through left nostril 2 sets of 10 counts twice a day. 

 

Part:  Neck

Issue:  Neck pain

Probable Cause:  Inflexibility & Stubbornness

Emotional affirmation:  “It is flexibility and ease that I see all sides of an issue.  These are endless ways of doing things and seeing things.  I am safe “

Physical treatment: Rotate the neck clock - anticlockwise 3 times at least once a day.

 

Part:   Shoulders

Issue:  Pain in the shoulders and shoulder stiffness

Probable Cause:   Pain in the shoulders indicate that the person carries a heavy emotional burden. Shoulders carry everything.

Emotional affirmation:  “I choose to allow all my experience to be joyous and loving.  I am enjoying the responsibility that I have and I am confident I would be able to fulfill it“

Physical treatment:   Rotate the shoulders clock-anticlockwise 3 times at least once a day.

 

Part:  Upper Back

Issue:   Upper back pain

Probable Cause:   Upper back pain manifests lack of emotional support.  Holding back feelings or doesn’t feel appreciated or loved.

Emotional affirmation:  “I love and approve of myself.  I appreciate all the facets of life.   Life supports me and loves me.  “

Physical treatment: Place the hand in Namaste position in the centre of the chest, thumbs touching the chest. Apply pressure with the thumbs to the chest and exhale through the mouth. Do it 15 times. 

 

Part:  Lower Back

Issue:  Lower back pain

Probable Cause:  Pain in the lower back indicates fear of money, lack of financial support.

Emotional affirmation:   “I trust the process of life.  All I need is always taken care of.  I am safe. “

Physical treatment:   Stretch the back muscles and provide support and relaxation to you back.

 

.............To be continued

Planning is important!

Plan - A very important aspect in day to day activities.

"Planning" does not always mean that it is related only to big tasks or tedious tasks, it is even for our day to day acts, just that since those actions are so small, the planning we do are even smaller and sometimes they are not even noticed by ourselves.

Any activity you do, you need to plan it properly.  Not all plans might lead to success, but it would surely give you a direction.  Even if you fail, you would know where you have gone wrong.  It is better to know your targets and how much you deviate from them, than to shoot in dark.
Things that might help you while planning -----

1.  Set smaller goals with a time frame, work on them with your usual speed, YOU ARE DEFINITE TO FAIL (Well, if you don’t, then you would not need any planning) and when you fail, analyze where you have gone wrong – This self analysis part is the first and foremost part and basis of your planning.

2.  Redefine your goals and targets now. 

3.  Review them at regular intervals, just to keep track that you are on right direction.

4.  Let the targets be simple/short term and reachable, this would give you immense confidence once you accomplish your targets, which in turn would boost you to set up targets which are challenging - Life would be boring if you end up meeting your targets regularly.

5.  Review the targets with everyone involved in the chain, if you feel it is not necessary for them to know about the plan in details, it is better to keep your mouth shut, because, sometime not everyone who knows the plan in detail would think alike.

6.  Always do your background work for the next stage while you are working in the current stage, this makes your tasks wee bit easier.

7.  When your plan fails, do a bit of analysis on where you went wrong. NO BLAME GAMES PLEASE.  Damage is already done; all you could do is learn your lesson and get ready for the next challenge, after all life is a learning curve.

8.  Make sure your plan is flexible and does not depend on any "variable factors" then you are sure to run into problems.

Always have an alternate plan in place in case of any unexpected event.

Five things are happening in your house at the same time. In which sequence would you solve them?

Five things are happening in your house at the same time.  In which sequence would you solve them?

 

a.       The telephone is ringing

b.      The baby is crying

c.       Someone is knocking or calling you from the front door

d.      You hung the cloths out to dry and it is beginning to rain

e.      You left the tap on in the kitchen and the water is already overflowing

 

Certain questions have no right answers, but they give us more details about the person who answers them, thus making the question more serious and making you to put more thoughts into your answers.

 

In the above question, it would seem as though there are more than 1 event that is happening at the same time in your house and what is the sequence in which you would solve them.  This answer would reveal your order of priority to the things you would want to attend or you are comfortable to solve immediately.

 

Though this answer gives you more information than you reveal, it will be a complete foolishness to decide who you are as a person, based on these answers.  The answers would tell your order of priority at this given time and probably most of the times – but never mean that this would be the same order every time.

 

Below is how I would deal with this and it reasoning.

 

e.            You left the tap on in the kitchen and the water is already overflowing

- Save your natural resources.  One small step would help you save for future.

b.            The baby is crying

- You might not know why the baby is crying.  Attend the baby first to make sure that there is nothing serious about why the baby is crying before proceeding to other items.

a.            The telephone is ringing

This probably takes priority when mobile phone was not invented as you might not know who would have called you unless you pick the phone.  Pick the phone, get the details and inform to call back and get to the next on the list.

 

c.             Someone is knocking or calling you from the front door

d.            You hung the cloths out to dry and it is beginning to rain

 - These two items are last on the list.  As once you come out of the house, you can attend both of them.  The guy at the door will not walk away since he knows someone is home and would attend him sooner than later.  Cloths would always dry once you get them back to dryer again.

 

The above answers just show that would be the sequences to attend the items at that given time and may not be necessary every time.