On Positive Thinking

July 16th, 2011

My Dear Rishi,

This week I have been missing you quite a lot. Last weekend was Manav's birthday party and it was amazing how all the kids were playing with me. Rishi, whenever I see any kid, I see you in them from babies to 10 year old. As much I miss you, I always have positive thoughts about you, about us and that is what sustains me from within.  I love you Rishi.Today's story is about Positive Thinking and Attitude goes with the positive thinking.

 Positive Thinking.

By Francie Baltazar-Schwartz

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, “If I were any better, I would be twins!”

He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, “I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?” Jerry replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.’ I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.”

“Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,” I protested.

“Yes it is,” Jerry said. “Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line:" It’s your choice how you live life.”
I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I’d be twins. Wanna see my scars?”
I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. “The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door,” Jerry replied. “Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live.”

“Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?” I asked. Jerry continued, “The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, ‘He’s a dead man.’ I knew I needed to take action.”

“What did you do?” I asked.

“Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me,” said Jerry. “She asked if I was allergic to anything. ‘Yes,’ I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply… I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Bullets!’ Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.”

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

Rishi, always be positive in your thoughts, words and deeds.  Your positive attitude will sustain you, hold you together facing your trials and tribulations of life. Stay positive, be kind, be compassionate, be loving.

Sow a Thought, Reap an Action,

Sow an Action, Reap a Habit,

Sow a Habit, Reap a Character,

Sow a Character, Create your Destiny”

By Swami Sivananda

Love you Rishi,

With tons of love, kisses and hugs,

Daddy

Judgement

 July 09th, 2011

My Dear Rishi,

Today evening I wanted to do something different and went to see an Opera at United Church on College and Bathurst. By the way this is the same place your mommy and I used to take Honey for her Doggy classes.

Today I was pondering about "Judgement". We all love to judge others, but when someone judges us we become very defensive or aggressive towards the other person. Hopefully one day just the way I realized, you may also realize that all unhappiness stems from a very simple judgement that is, " this is bad" or this is wrong".  I have learned one thing in life is that if you must judge, than walk in other person's shoes for few minutes. Since this is impossible, so just accept people for who they are.  Just let it be and be happy, be kind, be compassionate, be loving. If you are unhappy about something in life, just ask yourself, "What am I judging? Who am I judging? Who am I to judge? Why do I need to judge?".. Today's story is about Judgement.

Judgement

There once was a man who never lost his smile.  One day he lost his job. "This is bad news,"said his colleagues. The man smiled, "It is," he said. Within a week he found a job that paid double his previous wage. "This is good news," said his friends.

The man smiled, "It is" he said.

On the first day of his new job, the man who never once lost his smile spoke up to disagree with his new boss. "This is bad news," said his new colleagues. The man smiled, "It is," he said. The next day, his new boss commended the man for being honest and forthright with his opinions.

"This is good news," said his colleagues.

The man smiled ,"It is," he said.

A month later, the man who never once lost his smile was badly inured in a terrible car crash. He was hospitalised for six moths as a result. "What bad news," said his friends said. "It is," the man said, still managing to smile. He received a fiver-figure settlement for his injury.  "What a great news," his friends said.  The man smiled, "It is, " he said.

A year later, the man never lost his smile lost all his money as the stock exchanged collapsed.

"Bad luck," said his friends. "It is," the man said, and still he smiled. Soon after he was laid off from his job. "Bad times," commiserated his friends.

"It is," said the man, who had now lost everything, except his smile. His friends, amazed that the man was still able to smile, asked, "How can you still smile when things are so "bad?" The man replied, "I see nothing as "bad". His friends countered, "But when we commiserate and say "Too bad" you say "It is," you agree" ."No," said the man. "When you say "bad" or "good.  I simply say "It is," and in doing so I am practicing acceptance and freedom from judgement. It's because I don't get caught up in judgement that I can always attend to keep my smile".

Rishi when you see, you don't see as it is, you always see your judgement of it. When this happens, it is lack of acceptance and openness that causes you so much pain. Pain is a choice, suffering is optional.

When ever I come to see you in Singapore, you come running to me with open arms and give me a hug. There is so much love in you sweetheart, there is so much joy. You know why Rishi, because you are free from judgement, you are pure joy, pure love, you are happy, happy, happy..  Thank you Rishi for your hugs and so much love. I love you Rishi.

Here is something for you to ponder on:

Fear, without judgement, is love.

Anger, without judgement, is love.

Guilt, without judgement, is love.

Depression, without judgement, is love.

Jealousy, without judgement, is love.

Hate, without judgement is love.

Anxiety, without judgement is love.

Sadness, without judgement is love.

Pain, without judgement is love.

Love, without judgement is love.

Another way of saying the samething for each of the above words is that you drop the judgement, drop the story you associate with each word, the only thing left is LOVE. You are that love. True love is free from judgement. When you are free from judgement, you are accepting and there is openess. Rishi, your heart and mind are like parachute, they work best when they are open.

With lots of love, hugs and kisses,

Daddy