Living passionately is not about....

Living passionately is an important aspect of a fulfilling life. But passion doesn't have to be reserved for just our goals. We have become so goal oriented that we have lost being involved in the activity and the journey. I agree that without passion for the journey itself, and that includes all areas of life, there will be disappointment when we reach our destination.

Besides, there is no destination. Life is an on-going process of evolution. So when we focus on reach the goal to feel satisfaction, we are reaching for a ghost.

So the only definition I can see is a bad habit is anything that has a disruptive, sabotaging and negative impact on our life. But in general, if we focus on strengthening our positive qualities, rather than trying to weed out every little negative action, we will create a more positive and productive lifestyle.

Happy Deepavali

A colorful festival that is celebrated by all Hindus worldwide is Deepavali, which is also known as the festival of lights. This festival usually falls around late October and November.

One important practice that the Hindus follow during the festival is to light oil lamps in their homes on Deepavali morning. By lighting the oil lamps, the Hindus are thanking the gods for the happiness, knowledge, peace and wealth that they have received. The Hindus consider Deepavali as one of the most important festivals to celebrate.

There is even an interesting legend behind this festival. The story goes that Narakasura, a demon, ruled the kingdom of Pradyoshapuram. Under his rule, the villagers suffered a lot of hardship as the demon tortured the people and kidnapped the women to be imprisoned in his palace. Seeing his wickedness, Lord Khrishna set out to destroy the demon and the day Narakasura died was celebrated as Deepavali, the triumph of good over evil!

The Hindus usually awake early in the morning of deepavali around 3am and the first ritual will be having an oil bath, which is an important feature of Deepavali. Hindus will be dressed in their new clothes on Deepavali. Most of the ladies would be clad in silk saris or Punjabi suits of various bright shades. Hindus particularly dislike dressing in black on that day, as they consider black an inauspicious color for the festival.

Hindus would also pay their respects to the elderly and most families would go to the temple after having breakfast. This is also an important practice for them. The reason why they would be going to the temples is to pray to get happiness and prosperity on Deepavali. The houses would be decorated with oil lamps and children will play with firecrackers to celebrate the festival. On the first day, they would not go visiting but would stay at home to welcome the guests who visit them.

Visiting Hindus during Deepavali will be an interesting activity, as you will get to taste a wide variety of delicious food. In every home that you visit you are bound to be served with a tempting spread of sweets. Some of the popular sweets are halwa, burfi and laddu.

Hindus love eating spicy food and for non-vegetarians they indulge in favorites like chicken tandoori, prawn sambal and fish head curry. In homes of Hindus who are vegetarians popular dishes like thosais, idlis and naans are prepared.

Source: http://meme.essortment.com/whatisdeepaval_rgwe.htm

Discover your passion and you'll find your fortune

We grew up choosing the educational course that promised would make us most money and potential advancement. We just didn't follow our passion in life. In the end many ended up miserable and unfulfilled.

One of the things I've learned from people who are truly successful is that they are passionate about what they do. The greatest sportsman and actors are passionate about their craft. So the lesson they teach is find what you are passionate about and just do it. You won't have a problem focusing because you'll be doing what you love.

People who are passionate about something, spend as much time around what they love as possible. So to them, work is no longer work, work becomes fun, and who doesn't love to have fun.

Find a quiet place by yourself, close your eyes, and focus on what you are passionate about.

What would you do all day long if you could, if you are thinking about sleep, your passion for life isn't strong enough.

Discover your passion and you'll find your fortune.

Be passionate about what you do

Many of us when we were young were passionate about everything that we do. We loved painting, playing, reading our favourite books, running, and using our imaginations to create fabulous, fantastic worlds.

Next time question then is why, as we get older do we find it so hard to focus on fun?

What is the event that changed us as we grow up?

Personally I believe what changes is that many adults have forgotten how to have fun. That includes me. Most of us take life so seriously that we forget that the journey is a large part of what makes the goal so precious. If you find no joy in the journey, there is a good chance in time you'll find no joy in the goal.

Motivation at the street

A former colleague of mine has decided to go ahead to set up his own business. He left my present company about 2 years ago to pursue a career in IT which is a total stranger to me sometimes.

He was always the brightest learner in my department.Quick to learn, blessed with good memory and a passion to provide good customer support to my project team at all times. Everyone of us likes him and it was sad to hear him leaving the company at that time.

Recently I met him on the streets and we chatted over coffee. He had since set up his own web design company as he felt there is growing web demand here in this country. I did applaud his decision to go after his dream but he seems a little lack of confidence at this time as he fears of falling on his face and having to crawl back, defeated.

I told him nobody really failed in life. We all get what we go after – without fail. The difference between positive and negative thinkers is that the positive thinker goes after what they want, while the negative thinker, more times than not, accepts whatever comes along.

So all of us need to believe that we can achieve and have that passion to go for it. Just be prepared to face the tougher challenges on the way to living our definition of success.

Quite strangely, I'm surprised I can give such a pep talk to someone. Maybe I can be a motivator now!

Striving to improve

One thing I have learned of being positive is that you can attract more friends. And most amazingly, most of the people around you are positive-minded even though there are some cynics who always like to retort you when you make a positive forecast of something.

A couple of years ago, I was very negative person. People dislikes me I guess and I know that. That's why I became more negative. Somethings I felt I was ostracised. However, through Marie Callas, I gradually looked into my behaviour and mental process and decided that I need to change something so that I can be at peace with myself.

What I learn from Marie Callas was that when I was thinking negatively, I forced myself to think about something good that has happened to me recently. Come on, I strongly believe no matter how bad your life is, there ought to have something little spisodes in life that cheer you up, even for just a few minutes. Yeah, focus on that! It's the life energy that you should tap on and you go on from there.

If you can, paint these success stories in your mind. We all need to remember these little waves of optimism and positive energy. The more you do it, the better you will get at it.

Wishes and more wishes

Recently I received psychic Marie Callas' latest letter. I looked through with great interest becauuse this is something I have not seen before.

In this letter, Marie Callas seems to understand my feelings because she says through her, I can fulfil seven wishes. Everyone has the wishes in their mind so do I. My wishes are to have more riches, peace to my family, and peace to the world.

I shall not go into the details of each wish as it is very personal and I don't want to reveal them here. Wish has to be specific. It is better than you can state the amount that you need, the time, the place and visualise your wishes in great amazing clarity as if they are right in front of you. Please do not give vague wish as they will not come to you as clear as you want to be, because the heaven does not know what is it that you are looking for, hence you may experience disappointments.

Marie Callas says she'd help me to get my 7 wishes come true. I wrote them down on a the paper and return it to her together with my cheque. I feel great and peaceful after that because I trust Marie Callas.