Monday, May 24, 2010

ROLLER COASTER RIDE

I was going over what has been happening in life till now and I feel that one can sum it up as “ Life is nothing but a Roller Coaster ride.” It is full of UPs and DOWNs and the later happen when you least expect. My mind zoomed back to early 1965. I was undergoing training for glider flying. One of the instructors while in the air suddenly went in for aerobatics, to be more precise loop. During this I blacked out for a few seconds. Later on ground he told me that I would never make a flyer. I was very demoralized but some of my friends told me that he always used to make pupils underconfident. Next day another instructor took me up and told me while in the air that we will do some loops. I was scared of blacking out again. He told me that when we are in dive to gain speed for the manoeuvre I should keep my head up and not look down. He further said that when we pull out of dive to complete loop I should lower my head a little. This he said was to counter the affect on blood flow during these extreme manoeuvres. To say the least, I did not black out and enjoyed the aerobatics. Now relating to what I was thinking, when in down mode, we should keep our head up to see what we ought to achieve and similarly when in up mode we must lower our head to see where we could be if we do not sustain our good work. If we do not do this, we will black out, that is our mind will go in muddle making us lose logic.

Apart from this, a lot of other thoughts went through my mind which I am going to share with you all.

Why do we have to succumb to our EGO? It is nice to be proud but not at all EGOIST. Americaning Desi had put up very thought provoking post which I am reproducing below with hope she will pardon me for not taking her permission first :

“ Where there is humility there is the give and take of love. Usually we don't even know when we are working with our ego because it is deeply concealed. Even when someone points out our ego, we don't want to accept it and we continue to work with it. Ego finishes the ability to learn and negatively affects our relationships because there is no give and take of love. The method to overcome ego is to develop humility. Humility means to be strong within yet to be gentle and flexible. This enables us to bend i.e., to bow. When we bow it doesn't mean we are defeated, but it reveals our own victory. It is only when we bend and forgive will we be able to allow the flow of love in relationships. ”

I believe in God and do pray. But is it necessary to make a lot of show while doing so? God is within our hearts and we can all communicate with God with our honest approach. We make a lot of show while praying to gain praise from others but do we have a honest heart to indulge in what God sent us here for? And that is very simple thing – To live in harmony and peace with honest dealings with all. We ask God for blessings to make our life happy but when it comes to fellow humans we cheat and do all sorts of misdeeds for our selfish gains, don’t we?

We do follow some Holy Person or the other with blind dedication, obeying each & every whim of that person, but do we give respect our elders who made us reach where we are today?

We never think twice before pointing someone’s faults but do we look into our own true self to find where we are lacking? We tend to forget that when we point a finger at someone, rest three fingers are pointing at us.

We always expect a lot from others, be it relatives or friends but do we ever think of being there when they need us? We are in Take Take mode but do we ever come in Give Give mode? If you can not help someone, do not harm him or her.

There are so many virtues which we never think of but I will try to sum it up with just saying that let us be clear hearted without wishing bad for anyone, honest in our dealings and respect others if we wish them to respect us. I do not mean that be a punching bag but be strong with humility. Stand up for your rights and also see the same for others too. When you have to penalize someone, we ought to put ourselves in his or her shoes to see what would we have done in the same situation.

14 comments:

Preeti said...

so so true... a thought provoking post.

sulagna said...

you know jack uncle, you always get me thinking and pondering when i read your posts..and oh Gopal says a huge thank you for the card you sent him :)

Suruchi said...

Hi Jack,
Very thought provoking as always!
I was so impressed by the up n down mode actions explained so simply by you..that the rest of the post I just kinda skimmed through...

Religious beliefs and anti-ego drive mentioned here are pretty much similar to my own and I do agree there...

I hope the roller coaster ride of yours continues to be a pleasant one!

Ellen said...

A very apt description of life indeed. You have taken the words right out of my mouth... and read my thoughts. Lols! :-) Wonderful post and wonderfully written as your usual. Take care and God bless you and your family.

Sparkling said...

Wow! Glider flying!!! :)
While I was reading your whole post, only one thought came to my mind...I remember someone telling me a long time ago, 'Treat people exactly the way you'd like them to treat you'. You see, this line has stayed in my head since a loooonnng time and it sums everything that you said here.
Nice post :)

rohini said...

Life is like dat...u kn sir i was too thinking to write like this...and here u r...very well read...:-)

Jack said...

PREETI :

I am glad you found it worthwhile. Take care


SULAGNA :

I hope you do not mind doing that. Please tell Gopal he is most welcome. I do look forward to meet you both whenever possible, your visit to Delhi or if I get an opportunity to visit your city. Take care


SURUCHI :

I am glad you liked the comparission of ups and downs. It is so satisfying to find someone with similar beliefs. Thanks for your wishes, I too hope so but one has to face whatever it is BOLDLY. Take care


ELLEN :

I feel honoured to have similar thinking as you. Thanks for your wishes. Take care


SPARKLING :

If we all follow what has stayed embedded in your mind, would the life not be heavenly? Let us give a try, shall we? Take care


ROHINI :

Let us read what you say on this subject. It would be nice to see your thoughts too. Take care

Killer Drama said...

amazing, i loved this post. specially the bit about always looking up when in down-mode and vice versa. what a thought. if followed, it'll help me so much!

Mademoiselle Deva said...

this is very true our life is nothing but ups and downs I know that I am just going up. It's been a long time since the last time I felt this way.

Shayon said...

Check out the latest post on my blog. I have a feeling you'll like it :-)

Jack said...

C D :

Wish you all the best. Hope and pray that you always are on UP and UP only. Take care


DEVA :

May God always keep you on the upswing. Do keep your head down too, to see those who are not as fortunate as you. Take care


SHAYON :

Done that. Waiting to know who is he. Take care

Goddess of Nonsense said...

Very thought provoking.
The world would be a nicer place if we stopped caring for ourselves and started giving a little bit of love.
Amen to that.
I hope you have a nice day :)

Jack said...

K -ay :

I am so glad to see you here. Hope you have read my older posts too. It is human nature to care for self but if it is done without causing harm to someone else, it is fine. We at the same time should try to do something for others also. Thanks for your wishes. Take care

Tranquility Speaks said...

Very true. Lots of things summed up beautifully. Leaves me with absolutely nothing to add!