Striving towards Excellence

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Male or female, young or old; there is a great power within each and every individual in this world. The earth has many seasons like summer, fall, spring and rain, which the Sun is devoid of.

Similarly, it is the body that goes through the changes of aging from child to youth, from adulthood to old age, while the mind remains ageless.We can keep our minds in total alertness and joy, at all ages. “This is easier said than done,” you may think. Is it really possible to achieve it?

Yes, it is one hundred per cent possible. But we need to practice certain things to achieve this. We need to see a lot and listen a lot.

“What is that you are saying? Every one has eyes and ears. Every one sees and listens! But is everyone full of vigor and joy?” you may ask.

Think for a while! Every one has pens and pencils, that are required to come out with a beautiful piece of art or even an interesting piece of writing that you just can’t put down.

But does everyone become a prolific writer or a talented artist? Just as pens and pencils are mere tools, so are eyes and ears.Only if one knows how to use pens and pencils does one become a writer or an artist.

In the same way, if our eyes and ears are in an effective manner, happiness can be surely be attained.

Most of us focus our attention on what is not in front of us.

We almost always miss seeing things in front of us.

This reminds me of the story of a Italian father and son. A rich Italian father was celebrating his only son’s birthday. The highlight of the day’s programme was a soccer game.

The stadium was flooded with people who longed to watch the enthralling match between the two most famous teams of Italy.The crowd roared with joy as the teams competed with each other, but the birthday boy watched the game without enthusiasm. He looked at his father and questioned sulkily, “Dad! Why are you so stingy?”

The father, who had spent millions of dollars for the celebration of his only son’s birthday, was perplexed. He looked at his son surprised.

The son explained, “In this hot sun, look how these fellows are chasing only one ball. How sad? Could you not be little more generous in providing each one of them a ball so that they could play with them happily?”

At times, we are just like this boy. We fail to notice the joyful, energizing aspects of many incidents taking place in front of us.

Instead, we brood on meaningless issues and miss all the fun in life. So make sure we focus on the right things in life which makes life more meaningful and more fun everyday as you trudge the path of life.