Life n its Lessons

When your life is defined by a simple action.. You change the concept of time. - Unknown

An Oak Tree: Michael Craig-Martin, 1973

I saw this not on facebook this afternoon…..Seems so complex in context of a conversation.. Yet i can find one word to define it…

In a room at Tate Modern there is a three-quarter full glass of water on a high shelf. It is a work by Michael Craig-Martin called An oak tree. Beside it there is the following text:

Q. To begin with, could you describe this work?

A. Yes, of course. What I’ve done is change a glass of water into a full-grown oak tree without altering the accidents of the glass of water.

Q. The accidents?

A. Yes. The colour, feel, weight, size …

Q. Do you mean that the glass of water is a symbol of an oak tree?

A. No. It’s not a symbol. I’ve changed the physical substance of the glass of water into that of an oak tree.

Q. It looks like a glass of water.

A. Of course it does. I didn’t change its appearance. But it’s not a glass of water, it’s an oak tree.

Q. Can you prove what you’ve claimed to have done?

A. Well, yes and no. I claim to have maintained the physical form of the glass of water and, as you can see, I have. However, as one normally looks for evidence of physical change in terms of altered form, no such proof exists.

Q. Haven’t you simply called this glass of water an oak tree?

A. Absolutely not. It is not a glass of water anymore. I have changed its actual substance. It would no longer be accurate to call it a glass of water. One could call it anything one wished but that would not alter the fact that it is an oak tree.

Q. Isn’t this just a case of the emperor’s new clothes?

A. No. With the emperor’s new clothes people claimed to see something that wasn’t there because they felt they should. I would be very surprised if anyone told me they saw an oak tree.

Q. Was it difficult to effect the change?

A. No effort at all. But it took me years of work before I realised I could do it.

Q. When precisely did the glass of water become an oak tree?

A. When I put the water in the glass.

Q. Does this happen every time you fill a glass with water?

A. No, of course not. Only when I intend to change it into an oak tree.

Q. Then intention causes the change?

A. I would say it precipitates the change.

Q. You don’t know how you do it?

A. It contradicts what I feel I know about cause and effect.

Q. It seems to me that you are claiming to have worked a miracle. Isn’t that the case?

A. I’m flattered that you think so.

Q. But aren’t you the only person who can do something like this?

A. How could I know?

Q. Could you teach others to do it?

A. No, it’s not something one can teach.

Q. Do you consider that changing the glass of water into an oak tree constitutes an art work?

A. Yes.

Q. What precisely is the art work? The glass of water?

A. There is no glass of water anymore.

Q. The process of change?

A. There is no process involved in the change.

Q. The oak tree?

A. Yes. The oak tree.

Q. But the oak tree only exists in the mind.

A. No. The actual oak tree is physically present but in the form of the glass of water. As the glass of water was a particular glass of water, the oak tree is also a particular oak tree. To conceive the category ‘oak tree’ or to picture a particular oak tree is not to understand and experience what appears to be a glass of water as an oak tree. Just as it is imperceivable it also inconceivable.

Q. Did the particular oak tree exist somewhere else before it took the form of a glass of water?

A. No. This particular oak tree did not exist previously. I should also point out that it does not and will not ever have any other form than that of a glass of water.

Q. How long will it continue to be an oak tree?

A. Until I change it.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people don’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.

And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

- Marianna Williamson

The problems you face will either defeat you or develop you — depending on how you respond to them. Unfortunately most people fail to see how life wants to use problems for good in their lives. They react foolishly and resent their problems rather than pausing to consider what benefit they might bring.

1. Life uses problems to DIRECT you. Sometimes Life must light a fire under you to get you moving. Problems often point us in a new direction and motivate us to change. Is Life trying to get your attention?

2. Life uses problems to INSPECT you. People are like tea bags . . . if you want to know what’s inside them, just drop them into hot water! Has Life ever tested your faith with a problem? What do problems reveal about you?

3. Life uses problems to CORRECT you. Some lessons we learn only through pain and failure. It’s likely that as a child your parents scold you not to touch a hot stove. But you probably learned by being burned. Sometimes we only learn the value of something … health, money, a relationship . . . by losing it.

4. Life uses problems to PROTECT you. A problem can be a blessing in disguise if it prevents you from being harmed by something more serious. Last year a friend was fired for refusing to do something unethical that his boss had asked him to do. His unemployment was a problem — but it saved him from being convicted and sent to prison a year later when management’s actions were eventually discovered.

5. Life uses problems to PERFECT you. Problems, when responded to correctly, are character builders. Life is far more interested in your character than your comfort. Your relationship to Life and your character are the only two things you’re going to take with you into eternity.

Until you really don’t learn … A “loop” is all that you will follow..

Do everything with a mind that lets go.
Do not expect any praise or reward.
If you let go a little, you will have a little peace.
If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace.
If you let go completely, you will know complete peace and freedom.
Your struggles with the world will have come to an end.

- Achaan Chah

One of the most memorable case studies on Japanese management was the case of the “Empty Soap Box”, which happened in one of Japan’s biggest cosmetics companies. Following is the Case Study

The Problem
The company received a complaint that a consumer had bought a soap box that was empty. Immediately the authorities isolated the problem to the assembly line, which transported all the packaged boxes of soap to the delivery department. For some reason, one soap box went through the assembly line empty. Management asked its engineers to solve the problem.

The Solution
Post-haste, the engineers worked hard to devise an X-ray machine with high-resolution monitors manned by two people to watch all the soap boxes that passed through the line to make sure they were not empty. No doubt, they worked hard and they worked fast but they spent a fortune doing so.

The Smart Solution
When this same problem was posed by a small company, they did not get into complications of X-rays, etc but instead came out with another solution. They bought a strong industrial electric fan and pointed it at the assembly line. He switched the fan on, and as each soap box passed the fan, it simply blew the empty boxes out of the line.(Genius)

Moral of the story: KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) i.e.always look for simple solutions. Devise the simplest possible solution that solves the problem.

So, learn to focus on solutions not on problems

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university Professor.

Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the Prof. went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, some plain-looking and some expensive and exquisite, telling them to help themselves to hot coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the Prof. said “If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. That all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the better cups and are eyeing each other’s cups.”

“Now, if Life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn’t change. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it.”

1. Tunnel Vision : The tendency to focus only on the immediate crisis or sore spot . Under stress, things look worse or more complex than they really are.

The solution
Perspective : Ask if it will matter in 6 months . Ask what else is going on? How did I create this situation and, in an ideal world, what would I like to do about it?

2. Fear : The anxiety or terror that things will go badly, that we will fail or be embarrassed.

The solution
Humor and Curiosity : Modern life has very few saber-tooth tigers . The situation is rarely life or death . Ask, What’s the worst that can happen? What’s the best? What can I learn? What would I do if I had no fear?

3. Confusion : The sense of being lost or unclear about our direction . The sense that we don’t know our own priorities anymore.

The solution
Responsible Choices : Choose your values and priorities and set your own path . Your life is yours . Check your moral compass, pick a direction and do something extraordinary!

4. Guilt : The belief that we have hurt or failed or sinned and deserve punishment . Guilt is either accurate, because sometimes we do behave badly, or it is false and simply an illusion.

The solution
If we have transgressed, we must make restitution, ask forgiveness, learn from our error and move on . If it is false guilt, set it down as an unnecessary and irrational burden.

5. Shame : The belief that we are worth-less than others, that we have a terrible, incurable flaw . It is not that we have done something wrong (guilt), but that we are bad or wrong.

The solution
Clear, rational thinking : Everyone has behaved badly, but no one was created badly! Any flaws only serve to make you stronger, more heroic or more compassionate toward others.

6. Loneliness : The belief that no one loves us, that no one cares and we must desperately cling to anyone who finds us attractive or acceptable . This creates dependency, not intimacy.

The solution
Accurate Self-Assessment : Not everyone will love you, but many people will if they meet you, get to know you, and spend time working/playing along side you.

7. Resentment : Holding anger and refusing to move beyond real or imagined mistreatment in the past . Some people spend their whole lives as “victims”, nurturing a terrible event in their past.

The solution
Let go! Life is not fair and people do not always behave well or kindly . Use your trauma to make you wise, kind, gentle, and strong . Holding anger will not work.

8. Self-Doubt : The repeated, endless questioning of your own abilities, opinions or actions . The inability to take a stand, to act boldly, or to follow-through.

The solution
Action! Think clearly, then take action and follow-through : Start small, but do it! You are the world’s expert on your life! Use your wisdom to live well.

9. Stubbornness : The refusal or inability to re-assess a situation, change your mind, or admit you were wrong.

The solution
Wisdom and Humility : Only a fool stays on a course that is headed for disaster! Search for new and better information, remain flexible, open and creative . When the situation changes, adjust accordingly and set a new course.

10. Addiction : Humans become addicted to drugs, but we also become addicted to our jobs, our opinions or our lifestyle . We can be addicted to people and need them rather than love them.

The solution
Take a vacation! Periodically, walk in someone else’s shoes . Break your habits, re-arrange your schedule, delegate those things that only you can do “right” . Use habits and traditions to set you free, don’t let habits enslave you!

A city boy, Raj, moved to the village and bought a donkey from an old farmer for Rs.1000. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day.

The next day the farmer drove up and said, “Sorry Rajji, but I have some bad news, the donkey died while I was bringing him here.”

Raj replied: “Well then, just give me my money back.” The farmer said: “Can’t do that. I went and spent it already.”
Raj said: “OK then, just unload the donkey.”
The farmer asked: “What you are going to do with him?”
Raj: “I’m going to raffle him off.” (Note: To raffle is like lottery - draw lot to a group of people each paying the same amount for a ticket and there is a big prize for the people who win.)
Farmer: “You can’t raffle off a dead donkey!”
Raj: “Sure I can. Watch me. I just won’t tell anybody he’s dead.”
A month later the farmer met up with Kenny and asked, “What happened with that dead donkey?”
Raj: “I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at Rs. 10 each and made a profit of Rs 4990 with the donkey worth Rs. 1000 as the prize.
Farmer: “Didn’t anyone complain?”
Raj: “Just the guy who won. So I gave him back his Rs. 10.”

No situation is so bad that it cannot be turned around. You need to just think hard. So look at your glass always as half full rather then half empty.

“I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me, but it’s hard to stay mad when there’s so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all at once and it’s too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that’s about to burst, and then I remember to relax and stop trying to hold on to it and then if flows through me like rain and I can’t feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life. You have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m sure but don’t worry you will someday.”

“American Beauty”