Tastes Of India

10 things to learn from Japan.

1. THE CALM

     Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow itself has been elevated.

2. THE DIGNITY

     Disciplined queues for water and groceries. Not a rough word or a crude gesture.

3. THE ABILITY

     The incredible architects, for instance. Buildings swayed but didn't fall.

4. THE GRACE

    People bought only what they needed for the present, so everybody could get something.

5. THE ORDER

    No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the roads. Just understanding.

6. THE SACRIFICE

    Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. How will they ever be repaid?

7. THE TENDERNESS

    Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The strong cared for the weak.

8. THE TRAINING

     The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do. And they did just that.

9. THE MEDIA

     They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No silly reporters. Only calm reportage.
 

10. THE CONSCIENCE

      When the power went off in a store, people put things back on the shelves and left quietly!

FASTING PEOPLE TO OBSERVE RIGHTEOUS DEEDS TO ATTAIN FULL BLISS

 -MJ Mohammed Iqbal

Ramadhan can be considered as great favour and blessing to Mankind  and fasting has to be observed in the right sense in proper way. Holy Prophet (PBUH) has said "How many fasting men there are for whom there is no fast but only thirst; and how many men praying at night there are for whom there is no prayer but sleeplessness". Further Holy Prophet (PBUH) said that five things would break the fast and those were the telling of lies, backbiting, tale bearing, perjury, and the casting of coveting and lustful eyes"

From this one should realize while keeping fasting, one has to strictly practice humbleness, righteous deeds and obtain from the following.
To restrain eyesight from what is evil and from things which divert attention from godly remembrance.
To restrain from the tongue from useless talk, false – speaking, backbiting, slander, abusive speech, obscurity, hypocrisy and enmity.
To restrain the ear from hearing the evil talks because what is unlawful to utter is also unlawful to hear.
To save hand, feet and other organs from sins, evil deeds.
To save belly from doubtful things at the time of breaking fast.
To keep the mind of a fasting man between fear and hope whether his fasting would be accepted and he would be in the good books of Almighty.

Fasting protects the believers against the fire of hell, from the evil of lowly desire, it fortifies against plerts of Shait'an (Evil) and it strengths the resolve of the believer to gain the pleasure of Allah that is the reason Holy Prophet (PBUH) said "The fasting is like unto a shield. Therefore whenever one of you fasts let him not speak unseemingly or act foolishly. If any one disputes with him or swears at him, let him say, "I am fasting, verily I am fasting"

This is in need the month of patience and the reward for true patience is Jannah (Paradise). It is the month of sympathy with one's fellow human beings and provides opportunity for the believers to build-up Islamic personality. The meaning Islamic personality is nothing but one who firmly believes peace and love and adopts all the Islamic principles, practices, characters & morals to serve the cause of Islam in the path of Allah and his Holy Prophet (PBUH) as narrated in Holy Book Qur'an and Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Fasting people should understand and apprehend the rules of fasting and implementing carefully; should have sincere intention and orientation to Almighty and consider the worship of fast as one of the ways getting nearer to Almighty; getting closer to the words of Almighty by reciting Holy Qur'an, performing extra prayers like Taraweeh, midnight prayer, remembrance of Almighty all the time and make Tasbih towards him.

It is also to be noted that Islam has given exemption for those people who are ill or just be on a tiring journey during the month of Ramadhan, for those people Holy Qur'an says:

"….. (Fasting) for a fixed number of days; But if any of you is ill, or on a journey, The prescribed number (should be made up) From days later….." [2:184]

A renowned German professor wrote a book on the strengthening of will power, the basis of which he considers, is fasting as prescribed in Islam. In his book, professor explains that fasting is an effective means to establish the control of the sprit over the body, where man lives with a full control over himself, without being a slave to his physical inclinations of needs. The benefits of Ramadhan are immense such as enhancing the Taq'wa (faith), drawing closer to divine Almighty, acquiring patience, strong will, refinement of manners, especially those related to truthfulness and discharging trusts, being more charitable, sensing the unity of mankind, caring for one's healthy, striving for Ihsan (righteousness and sincerity) and staying away from showing off.

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said as Almighty Allah told, "All the deeds of Adam's sons (people) are for them, except fasting which is for Me, and I will give the reward for it.". Allah singles out fasting from all other types of worship saying, "Fasting is for Me", because no one knows whether you are fasting or not, except Almighty Allah. For example, when one is praying or giving charity or making good deeds, one can be seen by the people, so one might do the action seeking the praise of the people, but fasting is observed purely out of the love and devotion to Almighty and there is not an idea of show and exhibition of one's piety in it and it involves no hypocrisy in it and kept merely to seek the pleasure of Almighty.

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said "By him in whose Hands my soul is, the unpleasant smell coming from mouth of fasting person is better to Allah than the pleasant smell of musk. There are two pleasures for the fasting person, one at the time of breaking his fast, and the other at the time when he meets his Lord; then he will be pleased because of his fasting"

It is necessary that believers should keep in mind the divine merits of fasting practice righteous deeds which would provide both physical happiness and mental satisfaction. And of course Fasting is the source of both outward and inward happiness in the same way as it is remedy for both outward and inward ailments.

Courtesy:Gulf Today

LET US SEEK REPENTANCE IN THIS HOLY MONTH

Human beings naturally posses the qualities of angel,  and devil too. Man by nature weak and forgetfulness often makes mistakes, does wrong things deviates from the right path. Almighty the most merciful & forgiving likes His people to seek pardon from him and those who are repenting consciously towards Allah would be forgiven and this is called Tauba. Tauba means repentance for a sin by making promise not to do the same evil again and to return the correct path as instructed by Almighty and his holy Prophet(pbuh).

The first man Adam himself deviated the instruction of almighty, committed wrong in the heaven and there after repented much and much to seek forgiveness from Almighty and thus introduced the rule of repentance for the sin what he done in the past. Repentance is the beginning in the life of a person who intends to walk in the path of right.

Istifar is the arab word to seek forgiveness to God for commission and omission whether specific or general, Repentance(Taubah) which signifies the turning back sorrowful from a sin which has just been committed of and has chance of being made in future.As Man is not free from sin,Repentance is of utmost importance in the formation of a religious life. It has got three elements; namely, to have knowledge that the act done is wrong, to be sincerely repentant for its commission and to be careful in future not to commit it again. Therefore Repentance takes its birth from the light of knowledge and faith and a man of wisdom and faith can have the benefit to Repentance. An angel needs no Repentance because it knows no sin. The devil has got no need of Repentance because sins and virtues are all equal to it. As man has got both angelic and devilish tendencies, he has got greater necessity of Repentance in order to cleansing off the impurities that gather on soul from time to time. By the tears of repentance, the soul must be washed, and it is therefore a remedy for taking away misguided soul..

In case of sincere Repentance, the following results are obtained:
Mind forgets the recurrence of sins.
Mind becomes careful of committing future sins.
Such a man examines the previous omissions of compulsory duties from the dawn of intellect up to the day of repentance and tries to fulfil them.

Great scholar Imam Gazzali says there are four important principles in seeking repentance.
The first principle is form of repentance, its limit and its knowledge. It is the bounden duty of a man to make repentance after sin. If it is sincere, it is accepted.
The second principle is to turn away from sins, to know the major and minor sins, to know the duties towards God and to men, to know means of progress and retrogression for virtues and vices and to know the causes of minor sins turning into major sins.
The third principle is to know the condition of Tauba, search into past sins, expiation of sins and the classes of those who repent.
The forth principle is to know the causes of making Tauba and the medicines of persons addicted to vices

Almighty Allah in Holy Qur'an says: "…..be repentant to almighty all together that you may get salvation." [24:31]

Further Almighty says : "O ye believe! Turn unto Allah in sincere repentance!

He who returns from sin is like one who has got no sin. Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) says that "Think that a man went to a vast field with a camel loaded with food and fuel. He slept thereafter leaning his head. When he awoke, he did not find his camel there. Then he began to search for it running to and from and said after getting tired of hunger and sun: I will go to my former place to sleep, such a sleep that it may cause my death. Then he placed his head upon his heads and slept there to meet with death. When he awoke, he found his camel standing before him with food and water. His joy then knew no bounds.Smilarly God becomes more pleased with the repentance of a believer than his joy."

Imam Hasan Basri while narrating on repentance said "When Almighty accepted the penitence of Adam, the angles blessed him and Gebriel and Michael came to him and said :O Adam, God accepted your repentance and cooled your eyes. Adam said : O Gebriel, what will be my rank if after acceptance of this repentance some questions are asked? God then revealed to him: O Adam there will come sorrows and difficulties over your followers and repentance will be open to them. Whoever among them will repent, I will accept his repentance as I have accepted yours. Whoever seeks my forgiveness, I will not be miser in accepting his forgiveness as I am near and accept invocations. O Adam, when I shall resurrect the repentant men, they will smile and enjoy and their repentance will be accepted."

Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) whose all sins are forgiven by Allah and free from evil completely used to seek repentance to Almighty every day 100 times (and in some saying it is mentioned more than 70 times a day).

"Oh people, turn to Allah in repentance and seek his forgiveness, for surely I make repentance one hundred times daily" Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) told his companions.

One of the companions of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said "Prophet (PBUH) said : If anyone continually asks pardon, Allah will appoint for him a way out of every distress and a relief from every anxiety and will provide for him from where he did not reckon"

One of the companions of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Anas ibn Maalik said : "Prophet (PBUH) said: All of Adam's descendants constantly err, but the best of those who constantly making error are those who constantly repent."

 in the light of Holy Quran and Prophet's (PBUH) teachings he will definitely attain salvation. Ramadhan ,the month of forgiveness gives opportunity for believers to think of their wrong side, ills, and repent, weep by heart and make their souls enlightened with truth and purified towards salvation and peace.

Courtesy: Gulf Today

HOW AND WHEN TO EAT FRUITS TO AVOID CANCER....!!

Must Read

A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this mail sends it to 10 people, you can be sure that we'll save at least one life. 
Hope that at least you've read this... 
It could save your life !!

"The disease of trying to please everyone will eat you up. It is better to earn a bad name and live a good life than to earn a good name and live a bad life " Please find below very useful health tips - EATING FRUITS

EATING FRUITS... It's long, but very informative  We all think eating fruits means just buying fruits, cutting it and just popping it into our mouths. It's not as easy as you think. It's important to know how and when to eat. What is the correct way of eating fruits?  IT MEANS NOT EATING FRUITS AFTER YOUR MEALS! * FRUITS SHOULD BE EATEN ON AN EMPTY STOMACH.  If you eat fruit like that, it will play a major role to detoxify your system, supplying you with a great deal of energy for weight loss and other life activities.  FRUIT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FOOD. Let's say you eat two slices of bread and then a slice of fruit. The slice of fruit is ready to go straight through the stomach into the intestines, but it is prevented from doing so. In the meantime the whole meal rots and ferments and turns to acid. The minute the fruit comes into contact with the food in the stomach and digestive juices, the entire mass of food begins to spoil.... So please eat your fruits on an empty stomach or before your meals! You have heard people complaining — every time I eat watermelon I burp, when I eat durian my stomach bloats up, when I eat a banana I feel like running to the toilet, etc — actually all this will not arise if you eat the fruit on an empty stomach. The fruit mixes with the putrefying other food and produces gas and hence you will bloat!  Graying hair, balding, nervous outburst, and dark circles under the eyes all these will NOT happen if you take fruits on an empty stomach. There is no such thing as some fruits, like orange and lemon are acidic, because all fruits become alkaline in our body, according to Dr. Herbert Shelton who did research on this matter. If you have mastered the correct way of eating fruits, you have the Secret of beauty, longevity, health, energy, happiness and normal weight. When you need to drink fruit juice - drink only fresh fruit juice, NOT from the cans. Don't even drink juice that has been heated up. Don't eat cooked fruits because you don't get the nutrients at all. You only get to taste. Cooking destroys all the vitamins. But eating a whole fruit is better than drinking the juice. If you should drink the juice, drink it mouthful by mouthful slowly, because you must let it mix with your saliva before swallowing it. You can go on a 3-day fruit fast to cleanse your body. Just eat fruits and drink fruit juice throughout the 3 days and you will be surprised when your friends tell you how radiant you look!  KIWI: Tiny but mighty. This is a good source of potassium, magnesium, vitamin E & fiber. Its vitamin C content is twice that of an orange.  APPLE: An apple a day keeps the doctor away? Although an apple has a low vitamin C content, it has antioxidants & flavonoids which enhances the activity of vitamin C thereby helping to lower the risks of colon cancer, heart attack & stroke.  STRAWBERRY: Protective Fruit. Strawberries have the highest total antioxidant power among major fruits & protect the body from cancer-causing, blood vessel-clogging free radicals.  ORANGE : Sweetest medicine. Taking 2-4 oranges a day may help keep colds away, lower cholesterol, prevent & dissolve kidney stones as well as lessens the risk of colon cancer.  WATERMELON: Coolest thirst quencher. Composed of 92% water, it is also packed with a giant dose of glutathione, which helps boost our immune system. They are also a key source of lycopene — the cancer fighting oxidant. Other nutrients found in watermelon are vitamin C & Potassium.  GUAVA & PAPAYA: Top awards for vitamin C. They are the clear winners for their high vitamin C content. Guava is also rich in fiber, which helps prevent constipation. Papaya is rich in carotene; this is good for your eyes. Drinking Cold water after a meal = Cancer! Can u believe this?? For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this 'sludge' reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal. A serious note about heart attacks HEART ATTACK PROCEDURE': (THIS IS NOT A JOKE!) Women should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting. Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line. You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack. Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms. Sixty percent of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know the better chance we could survive.  A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this mail sends it to 10 people, you can be sure that we'll save at least one life. Hope that at least you've read this... It could save your life !!

Concept of God

BHAGAVAD GITA:

"Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures."
[Bhagavad Gita 7:20]

UPANISHADS:
1.  "Ekam evadvitiyam"
"He is One only without a second."
[Chandogya Upanishad 6:2:1]1

2.  "Na casya kascij janita na cadhipah."
"Of Him there are neither parents nor lord."
[Svetasvatara Upanishad 6:9]2

3.  "Na tasya pratima asti"
"There is no likeness of Him."
[Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:19]3

THE VEDAS

1. Yajurveda  The following verses from the Yajurveda echo a similar concept of God:

1. "na tasya pratima asti"
    "There is no image of Him."
    [Yajurveda 32:3]5

2. "shudhama poapvidham"
    "He is bodyless and pure."
    [Yajurveda 40:8]6

3. "Andhatama pravishanti ye asambhuti mupaste"
    "They enter darkness, those who worship the natural elements" (Air, Water, Fire, etc.). "They sink
    deeper in darkness, those who worship sambhuti."       
    [Yajurveda 40:9]7 

2. Atharvaveda
The Atharvaveda praises God in Book 20, hymn 58 and verse 3:
1. "Dev maha osi"
"God is verily great"
[Atharvaveda 20:58:3]9
3. Rigveda1.  The oldest of all the vedas is Rigveda. It is also the one considered most sacred by the Hindus.
The Rigveda states in Book 1, hymn 164 and verse 46:  "Sages (learned Priests) call one God by many
names."
[Rigveda 1:164:46]

2. The Rigveda gives several different attributes to Almighty God. Many of these are mentioned in
Rigveda Book 2 hymn 1.
Brahma Sutra of Hinduism:
The Brahma Sutra of Hinduism is:

"Ekam Brahm, dvitiya naste neh na naste kinchan"

"There is only one God, not the second; not at all, not at all, not in the least bit."
 

 [Al-Qur’an 

"Say: He is Allah,
The One and Only.
"Allah, the Eternal, Absolute.
"He begets not, nor is He begotten.
And there is none like unto Him."
                         [Al-Qur’an 112:1-4]

CHRISTIANITY:
(i) "My Father is greater than I."
[The Bible, John 14:28]

(ii) "My Father is greater than all."
[The Bible, John 10:29]

(iii) "…I cast out devils by the Spirit of God…."
[The Bible, Mathew 12:28]

(iv) "…I with the finger of God cast out devils…."
[The Bible, Luke 11:20]

(v) "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgement is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me."
[The Bible, John 5:30]

"Shama Israelu Adonai Ila Hayno Adna Ikhad".
It is a Hebrew quotation which means:
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord"
[The Bible, Deuteronomy 6:4]

JUDAISM

"Shama Israelu Adonai Ila Hayno Adna Ikhad" It is a Hebrew quotation which means
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord"
[The Bible, Deut 6:4]
"I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour."
[The Bible, Isaiah 43:11]

I am lord, and there is none else There is no God besides me."
[The Bible, Isaiah 45 : 5]

Secret & Principles of life

The secret of life is to make the best
of whatever comes along,
Make every day fresh and new,
Go in search of knowledge and experience. 



Let your questions and
your answers reconcile.
Do your best to remember
that the best kind of learning curve
is an educated smile. 



Share your magic with the people
who share your memories.
Let your feelings run deep.



Be in touch with the people
who live in your heart.


To really know what success means, earn it.
Don't rely on some elevator to get you there.
The higher the floor you want to reach,
the more important it is to take the stairs.



The easiest lessons to remember
are the ones you learn the hard way! 



Appreciate the little things
that make each day
unique and special. 

"If I could wish for my life to be perfect, it would be tempting but I would have to decline, for life would no longer teach me anything."

Life is like having a cup of tea . You sit by the side of the window, lift the cup and take a careless sip , only to realize, somebody forgot to put the sugar. Too lazy to go for it you somehow struggle through the sugarless cup.

Till you discover undissolved sugar crystal sitting at the bottom...

---That's LIFE      

"Life is a one way street...no matter what options you chose none of them leads back....so enjoy every moment of your life coz none of them will happen the same way again..."

*Thomas Paine*

Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.

*Soren Kierkegaard*

"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

*Walter Bagehot*

Principles of life

    * Winning isn't everything. But wanting to win is.

    * You would achieve more, if you don't mind who gets the credit.

    * When everything else is lost, the future still remains.

    * Don't fight too much. Or the enemy would know your art of war.

    * The only job you start at the top is when you dig a grave.

    * If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for everything.  

    * If you do little things well, you'll do big ones better.

    * Only thing that comes to you without effort is old age.

    * You won't get a second chance to make the first impression.

    * Only those who do nothing do not make mistakes.

    * Never take a problem to your boss unless you have a solution.

    * If you are not failing you're not taking enough risks.

    * Don't try to get rid of bad temper by losing it.

    * If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

    * Those who don't make mistakes usually don't make anything

    * There are two kinds of failures. Those who think and never do,

      and those who do and never think.

    * Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win.

    * All progress has resulted from unpopular decisions.

    * Change your thoughts and you change your world.

    * Understanding proves intelligence, not the speed of the learning.

    * There are two kinds of fools in this world. Those who give advise

      and those who don't take it.

    * The best way to kill an idea is to take it to a meeting.

    * Management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right

      things.

    * Friendship founded on business is always better than business  

      founded on friendship.

Some Words of Buddha & Mother Terasa

If you judge people, you have no time to love them.

Mother Teresa

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.

Buddha

An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.
Buddha

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
Buddha

Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.
Buddha

Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.
Buddha 

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.
Buddha

He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye.
Buddha

Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.
Mother Teresa

God doesn't require us to succeed; he only requires that you try.
Mother Teresa

I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness.
Mother Teresa

Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.
Mother Teresa

Mother (arab poem)

"The mother is a school: if you prepare her properly,

you will prepare an entire Nation of good character"

Ahmed Shawqi ( An Arab Poet)

Gandhi’s Top 10 Fundamentals for Changing the World

by Henrik Edberg

“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”

“The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problem.”

“If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide.”

Mahatma Gandhi needs no long introduction.
Everyone knows about the man who lead the Indian people to independence from British rule in 1947.

So let’s just move on to some of my favourite tips from Mahatma Gandhi.

1. Change yourself.

“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”


“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world - that is the myth of the atomic age - as in being able to remake ourselves.”

If you change yourself you will change your world.
If you change how you think then you will change how you feel and what actions you take.
And so the world around you will change.
Not only because you are now viewing your environment through new lenses of thoughts and emotions but also because the change within can allow you to take action in ways you wouldn’t have – or maybe even have thought about – while stuck in your old thought patterns.

And the problem with changing your outer world without changing yourself is that you will still be you when you reach that change you have strived for.
And so in this new situation you will still not find what you hoped for since your mind is still seeping with that negative stuff.
And if you get more without having some insight into and distance from your ego it may grow more powerful.
Since your ego loves to divide things, to find enemies and to create separation it may start to try to create even more problems and conflicts in your life and world.

2. You are in control.

“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”
What you feel and how you react to something is always up to you.
There may be a “normal” or a common way to react to different things.
But that’s mostly just all it is.
You can choose your own thoughts, reactions and emotions to pretty much everything.
You don’t have to freak out, overreact of even react in a negative way.
Perhaps not every time or instantly.
Sometimes a knee-jerk reaction just goes off.
Or an old thought habit kicks in.
And as you realize that no-one outside of yourself can actually control how you feel you can start to incorporate this thinking into your daily life and develop it as a thought habit.
A habit that you can grow stronger and stronger over time.
Doing this makes life a whole lot easier and more pleasurable.
3. Forgive and let it go.

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

“An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

Fighting evil with evil won’t help anyone.
And as said in the previous tip, you always choose how to react to something.
When you can incorporate such a thought habit more and more into your life then you can react in a way that is more useful to you and others.

You realize that forgiving and letting go of the past will do you and the people in your world a great service.
And spending your time in some negative memory won’t help you after you have learned the lessons you can learn from that experience.
You’ll probably just cause yourself more suffering and paralyze yourself from taking action in this present moment.

If you don’t forgive then you let the past and another person to control how you feel.
By forgiving you release yourself from those bonds..
And then you can focus totally on, for instance, the next point.

4. Without action you aren’t going anywhere.

“An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.”

Without taking action very little will be done.
However, taking action can be hard and difficult.
There can be much inner resistance.

And so you may resort to preaching, as Gandhi says.
Or reading and studying endlessly.
And feeling like you are moving forward.
But getting little or no practical results in real life.

So, to really get where you want to go and to really understand yourself and your world you need to practice.
Books can mostly just bring you knowledge.
You have to take action and translate that knowledge into results and understanding.

You can check out a few effective tips to overcome this problem inHow to Take More Action: 9 Powerful Tips.
Or you can move on to the next point for more on the best tip for taking more action that I have found so far.

5. Take care of this moment.

“I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present.”

The best way that I have found to overcome the inner resistance that often stops us from taking action is to stay in the present as much as possible and to be accepting.

Why?
Well, when you are in the present moment you don’t worry about the next moment that you can’t control anyway.
And the resistance to action that comes from you imagining negative future consequences - or reflecting on past failures - of your actions loses its power.
And so it becomes easier to both take action and to keep your focus on this moment and perform better.

Have a look at 8 Ways to Return to the Present Moment for tips on how quickly step into the now.
And remember that reconnecting with and staying in the now is a mental habit - a sort of muscle - that you grow.
Over time it becomes more powerful and makes it easier to slip into the present moment.

6. Everyone is human.

“I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.”

“It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.”

When you start to make myths out of people – even though they may have produced extraordinary results – you run the risk of becoming disconnected from them.
You can start to feel like you could never achieve similar things that they did because they are so very different.
So it’s important to keep in mind that everyone is just a human being no matter who they are.

And I think it’s important to remember that we are all human and prone to make mistakes.
Holding people to unreasonable standards will only create more unnecessary conflicts in your world and negativity within you.

It’s also important to remember this to avoid falling into the pretty useless habit of beating yourself up over mistakes that you have made.
And instead be able to see with clarity where you went wrong and what you can learn from your mistake.
And then try again.

7. Persist.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

Be persistent.
In time the opposition around you will fade and fall away.
And your inner resistance and self-sabotaging tendencies that want to hold you back and keep you like you have always been will grow weaker.

Find what you really like to do..
Then you’ll find the inner motivation to keep going, going and going.
You can also find a lot of useful tips on how keep your motivation up in How to Get Out of a Motivational Slump and 25 Simple Ways to Motivate Yourself.

One reason Gandhi was so successful with his method of non-violence was because he and his followers were so persistent.
They just didn’t give up.

Success or victory will seldom come as quickly as you would have liked it to.
I think one of the reasons people don’t get what they want is simply because they give up too soon..
The time they think an achievement will require isn’t the same amount of time it usually takes to achieve that goal.
This faulty belief partly comes from the world we live in.
A world full of magic pill solutions where advertising continually promises us that we can lose a lot of weight or earn a ton of money in just 30 days.
You can read more about this in One Big Mistake a Whole Lot of People Make.

Finally, one useful tip to keep your persistence going is to listen to Gandhi’s third quote in this article and keep a sense of humor.
It can lighten things up at the toughest of times.

8. See the good in people and help them.

“I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won’t presume to probe into the faults of others.”

“Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men.”

“I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.”

There is pretty much always something good in people.
And things that may not be so good.
But you can choose what things to focus on.
And if you want improvement then focusing on the good in people is a useful choice.
It also makes life easier for you as your world and relationships become more pleasant and positive.
And when you see the good in people it becomes easier to motivate yourself to be of service to them.
By being of service to other people, by giving them value you not only make their lives better.
Over time you tend to get what you give.
And the people you help may feel more inclined to help other people.
And so you, together, create an upward spiral of positive change that grows and becomes stronger.

By strengthening your social skills you can become a more influential person and make this upward spiral even stronger.
A few articles that may provide you with useful advice in that department are Do You Make These 10 Mistakes in a Conversation?and Dale Carnegie’s Top 10 Tips for Improving Your Social Skills.
Or you can just move on to the next tip.

9. Be congruent, be authentic, be your true self.

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

“Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”

I think that one of the best tips for improving your social skills is to behave in a congruent manner and communicate in an authentic way.
People seem to really like authentic communication.
And there is much inner enjoyment to be found when your thoughts, words and actions are aligned.
You feel powerful and good about yourself.

When words and thoughts are aligned then that shows through in your communication.
Because now you have your voice tonality and body language – some say they are over 90 percent of communication – in alignment with your words.


With these channels in alignment people tend to really listen to what you’re saying.
You are communicating without incongruency, mixed messages or perhaps a sort of phoniness.

Also, if your actions aren’t in alignment with what you’re communicating then you start to hurt your own belief in what you can do.
And other people’s belief in you too.

10. Continue to grow and evolve.

”Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.”

You can pretty much always improve your skills, habits or re-evaluate your evaluations.
You can gain deeper understanding of yourself and the world.

Sure, you may look inconsistent or like you don’t know what you are doing from time to time.
You may have trouble to act congruently or to communicate authentically.
But if you don’t then you will, as Gandhi says, drive yourself into a false position.
A place where you try to uphold or cling to your old views to appear consistent while you realise within that something is wrong.
It’s not a fun place to be.

To choose to grow and evolve is a happier and more useful path to take.