Posted on by solangesuri2015

Youth

I remember the times when I was young
I could barely wait to grow and explore…
Life held so much promise…
I wanted to know love
I wanted to be versed in the language of beauty
I had ambitions…
And I knew in my heart
That learning the many dimensions of life
Would be one great adventure…

How true was the intuition of my heart…
And yet how unprepared it was
For all that was to unfold…
The heartbreaks, the disappointments, the challenges…
The ups—invariably cut down to size by the downs…
The black and the white that eventually
Always turned into grey.
Nothing, in life, it seemed
Would come easy…
Yet paradoxically,
The difficulties were rarely external.

As one grew, one realized
That dreams abide in our imagination
And living in the lap of time
Involves delays, limitations,
Constraints and conflicts…
The favourable is only an event away
From turning unfavourable…
Romance within the morass of existence too,
Looks different. It rarely is
Picture perfect.

Youth did grow and explore…
In and through its entanglements
With life it discovered–
Patience and determination
Acceptance and love
Resilience and faith.
It attuned itself to life’s rhythms–
Letting go and cherishing
Leaving behind and moving forward
Losing and gaining.

There’s no better teacher for youth
Than life itself.
While youth is blessed with potential
It is only through the spiritual powers
Of courage, compassion, faith and love
That such potential comes to live.
Youth is eternal
After every actualization of potential
One stands once again facing
The promise of new frontiers
The promise of something yet undiscovered.

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The Real Value

A value is that which enriches your existence
Like good health and strength…
Like grace and simplicity…
Like inspiration…
Like creativity…
Like kindness…
Like silence…
Like understanding…
Like clarity…
Like forgiveness…
Like harmony…
All the multifarious aspects of love.

A value is not a number.
It’s also not a thing of degree.
Being rich (in values)
Has nothing to do
With how much you have
It’s about what you’re able to bring.
A value is not a commodity
That you can trade.
Values cannot be purchased;
They can only be realized.
And once realized,
They fulfil your life.

How do you realize ‘real’ values?
Begin by understanding
That life is not an externality.
Life is what goes on inside of you.
Your inner restlessness
Is seeking rest and repose.
Your fear and insecurity
Is in need of assurance and strength.
Your emotional knots
Need release and expression.
Your hatred is unable to see love.
And your lack of trust is a poverty of faith.

Your desire to own
And be known, recognized and validated
Is a search for fulfilment.
None of these values
Can be mined from the world.
They cannot be purchased in a market.
They cannot be acquired via accomplishment.
They must be self-generated.
The fount of life is within you
It is you who creates
And sustains your life.
You are the real value.

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A Vision

At the heart of a vision
Is a good that is great.
It’s universal in its hope…
Large and all-encompassing in its fold…
Needed for the times to come.

However, achieving a vision
Is not as simple as wishing for it.
It requires work.
Its work is of inspiring change,
Enlightening… illuminating…
Fighting lazy assumptions,
Defeating doubt, breaking down barriers…
Challenging the status quo…
Questioning, learning, educating…
Fighting battles- some small, some big
But never losing sight
Of that which is worth fighting for.

A vision must be so great
It absorbs all that is small in us…
Our anxieties, our insecurities, our differences…
It must yield capability,
Competence and resilience.
It must ride on its own promise
While knowing well that
Life is inherently a kaleidoscope of contradictions
And that sometimes,
In order to move on
One must accept a temporary compromise.

A vision is corrective.
By design, it will guide you
It will clarify your understanding
And uplift your experiences to wisdom.
It will ensure that you too,
Are transformed
By the power of your own vision.

As you progress in its light
You will leave behind
Your self-interest, your ego, your pride…
Your darkness…
You will be protected in your solitude
(Even if you find yourself devoid of company)
And be freed of the shackles
Your times had bound you to.

Posted on by solangesuri2015

The Art of Simplicity

Organize. Arrange.
Declutter. Reduce.
Focus. Pay attention.
Respond as expected
Say what you mean
Mean what you say
Weed out the unnecessary
(So that you may know what you truly need).
Remove assumptions
Seek clarity
Decide quickly
Act in a timely way
Be patient with results
Know that the credit for any achievement
Must be shared
Express gratitude.
Contribute where you can
Perform where you must.
When you come to realize
That the world is but a stage
And it’s all just an act
And you’re just an actor
Pay attention to your pauses.
Bring intentionality to your silence
Prepare to exit.

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Forever

Forever, I’ve come to see…
Is not just the mush
Of teenage love letters

Forever is a promise
A passionate romance…
It’s a commitment…
An ideal…
It’s devotion…
It’s surrender…

It’s not a light word
But it’s sweet
Not a sugar-coated type of sweetness
But one that sweetens with
The passage of time.

‘Forever’ is not staid,
One-dimensional or unchanging
On the contrary,
It is allowing that which is changeable
To change; and allowing all
Change to be absorbed in its promise

It is a faith…
That we realize when we stop clinging
To the changing and let it go
And in the process, come to see
What is unchangeable and
Forever.

Posted on by solangesuri2015

Know Your Job

Be–
Without trying to be
Or trying to make others become
That is not work…

The true meaning of work
Is to discover within your relationships
With ideas, ideals and people…
That sweet emotion of surrender and devotion…

Such–
That to serve
Becomes more incumbent
Than to be served.

And to ascend
To so high a faith
That you can stop
Your pointless pursuit of outcomes.

Knowing well
That the highest intelligence is spiritual.
And all that needs to be done will–
In spite of your efforts- get done.

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No.

No, I will not be diminished
By your dismissal of me.

No, I will not disappear
Just because you refuse to notice me.

No, I will not conform;
I will not yield to your violence.

No, I will not further your agenda
While I secretly resist it.

No, I will not agree with you;
I will not prove you right about my adaptability

No, I will not be
Who you would like me to be.

My existence will not be exploited
By your machinations and for your ambitions.

No.

Posted on by solangesuri2015

Step Up. Step Forward. Step Back.

Life is a Tango
Best performed like a dance.
Be attuned to changing rhythms
Be light. Be ready. Be responsive.
Tease life. Challenge it. Own it.
Be graceful.

Grace is about offering yourself
To the divinity of the moment
Knowing that glory
Lies in defeating limitation.

Are you-
Feeling low? -Step up.
Feeling hopeless? -Step forward.
Feeling confident? -Step back.