Quotes by "AVIS Viswanathan"

Intelligence is really the ability to decide which battles to fight in Life…and when you employ your intelligence this way, you will awaken to the choice that perhaps, in most cases, it is best not to fight (any battle) at all. Almost always, the best way to live (and to win, if you like) is to not fight anyone – or anything. This understanding will interestingly help you choose wisely and in the event that you do choose to fight for a cause that you truly believe in, it will teach you to be detached from the outcome. When you are engaged only with the process, you discover the opportunity to be happy without getting keyed up about the result.

Every Life experience is teaching you a lesson. It is likely you may not see the experience as an opportunity to learn – not when you are going through it. But your experiences are always shaping you, teaching you; they are helping you understand who you really are and what your true potential is. So, don’t hate what you are going through if you are currently dealing with something that you didn’t bargain for or didn’t want in your Life. Just step back, climb onto the fly-on-the-wall position, and observe your Life. You will then notice unmistakable teachable, learnable, points of view embedded in your experience. To take them or leave them – well, that’s your personal choice! One thing’s for sure though, you will be a lot more at peace – and happy – when you learn from your experiences!

You can work for joy and you can work for money. Ideally, in the real world, if you can do work which you love doing, which also earns you money to pay your bills, then you are doing great. But if you are doing work that you loathe, and are doing it only for the money, then chances are you will be very, very unhappy. And if you are doing stuff that you love doing but are not earning any money from what you do, then while the going may be tough in a material sense, you will still be, interestingly, very, very happy! So, instead of complaining about your Life, ask yourself which category do you belong to. And learn to make an informed choice or be content with what you are doing – and having!

In your moments of solitude, when self-doubt, worry, anxiety and fear creep in, dive deep into what you love doing. This could be music, painting, gardening, reading, cooking…whatever…do whatever that makes you forget this world, that makes you forget your pain…surely, there is something that makes you forget who you are. Simply, go do it. When you do this, you will realize how you magically heal, how all your stresses and insecurities vanish. This is why Bliss is so powerful. This is why following your Bliss is so profitable. It helps you live in this world, inevitably trapped in the pulls and pressures of everyday existence, and yet be above all of it, thriving, living happily despite the circumstances.

When you come home, after a hard day’s work, don’t you feel you belong there…when you are on your way home…isn’t there a longing to get home, lounge, goof off, just be, just chill…so it is when your Bliss finds you or when you find your Bliss…you feel you have finally come home, to a place that you always longed for, where you truly belong.

Happiness is not quite about always getting what you want, or about buying stuff which you can afford, or even about being understood, recognized and celebrated by those around you. There will always be times in Life when you won’t get what you want, when you can’t even afford what you think are the basics and when you will imagine that the whole world is conspiring against you. Happiness is a decision. It is your decision. When you decide to be happy, the circumstances don’t matter. Happiness, then, is to be accepting of the Life you have, while celebrating it for what it is, and learning to be non-worrying, non-frustrated and non-suffering.

Nothing belongs to us. Everything and everyone will be gone someday – including you and me! Clinging on to people, material possessions, stances and opinions is a total waste of energy and precious time. If we review our lives closely, deeply, we will find that all our insecurities, our strife, our suffering, comes from whatever we are clinging on to. The moment you let go of whatever is possessing you, consuming you – a habit or a position or an object or a person or a relationship – you are liberated. You are free. It is only when you are free that you can experience Life – and its magic and beauty – fully…and live happily!

When you are feeling restless, confused, lost…when you are searching…don’t panic…it is a great sign. It means status quo does not appeal to you anymore. It means being economically secure does not quench your thirst anymore. It is only when you are lost that you can find yourself. The moment you look up from your earning-a-living circle, when you begin to search for meaning, for Purpose, when you begin asking why am I here and what am I doing/supposed to be doing with my Life, your Life’s Purpose, your Bliss will find you!

There is no need to respond to every provocation around you. Sometimes you may be the victim of someone’s wily designs, or their stupidity, or someone may blatantly harass you, or someone may just be plain insensitive. Every such act will provoke you. Your mind will justify the need to ‘fix the person’ then and there. But don’t rush into doing that. The best way to disarm someone is to not fight them at all. In fact, focus on the situation, on the issue that separates you both and not on the person in question. Give the situation and the issue time – give them calm, reflective, thought. And then respond unemotionally, to the issue – but respond only if you really must. Sometimes, even choosing to remain silent is a powerful response! Protecting your inner peace must be your priority, not settling petty scores!

Things are never as bad as you think they are when they first hit you. So, when a situation blows up in your face, don’t resist it, go with its flow. Chances are the ground beneath your feet may appear to cave in, or it may look like the roof over your head has blown away…you will imagine that there is no way you can survive this situation…you will fear that your Life, your world, is going to end. But don’t panic. Don’t worry. Just go with the flow, doing what you can – and what you possibly must – in the given circumstances. Slowly, with reflection, reason, prayer, letting go and acceptance, you realize that everything can – and must – be faced. And that the situation doesn’t seem so formidable after all! This is how you find strength and inner peace in a storm!

Acceptance does not make a problem go away. Accepting that a problem exists is the first step to dealing with it. When you stop denying its existence and accept that you have a problem, your ability to deal with it increases manifold. You become calm and you start exploring avenues for solving the problem. In denial mode, you are running away from the problem. And what you run away from, will chase you, will haunt you. But when you turn around and face the problem, accepting it, taking it head-on – you discover your inherent resilience and feel a strange ability to withstand any amount of pain! You may be in the throes of a huge crisis, but you are anchored and are at peace. This is why Life gave you the problem in the first place – for you to know who you truly are and what you are capable of!

A true, continuous, celebration of Life is the ability to always be happy and content no matter what is happening in your Life, no matter what you have or don’t have. Simply, Happiness is a decision. You are happy the moment you are content with what you have, when you accept what is. You are happy when you serve another, when you are making our world a better place.

Life’s magic and beauty does not lie in your ability to get all that you want, whenever you want it. Life’s truest, miraculous, nature reveals itself when you are given all that you need, exactly at a precise moment in time, when you need it the most. To recognize this magical quality about Life, you must be in a total let-go, in complete surrender, trusting the process of Life implicitly. This is what Faith is all about. When you are this way, you will discover that there is no logic to – and in – Life ever…it is all magic, magic, pure magic!

In today’s hyperactive social media-led environment, it is likely that a lot of pressure builds up within you to also want to be “seen”, to be “counted” among the others. It is possible that you feel distressed when people don’t talk about you or your work. You may also perhaps be agonizing over the fact that people who you think are creating far less value are more popular than you. Relax. The Purpose of your Life is not to be famous. Your fame is worthwhile only when it is relevant to posterity – when your work, and your Life’s message, lives on long after you are gone. So, just chill. Put your head down and focus on creating unputdownable value, doing meaningful work, than brooding over why you are not garnering attention and followership on social media! You will then see how happy you really are with what is!

The essence of Life is to be able to live with uncertainty, accepting it for what it is, embracing its inscrutability, without trying to dissect it, analyze it or justify it. Life’s beauty lies in facing it as a series of adventures. The endgame is always clear: your Life will end some day. But what will happen in the meantime, what kind of twists and turns will you encounter, what challenges will you be faced with? It is these myriad, often unpredictable, possibilities that make Life interesting. So, don’t resist Life, don’t run away from it either; turn around, face it and go with its flow…doing this does not make your problems disappear, nor will it make your passage easier, but surely, Life’s complexity gives way to a simple awakening, a realization. It is what it is. And accepting and living with what is, is Happiness!

This, I have consistently experienced in Life – that no matter how grave the circumstances are, it is not over, to use a cricketing term, until the last ball is bowled! So, even if it seems like a dead-end, a no-go situation, celebrate being alive. It may be dark all around you, there may be no light visible at the far end, everyone, and everything, may appear to be going against you…but do not give up yet. The only evidence that things will turnaround is that you are still alive. And that is a huge, huge, blessing! For, if you still have the gift of this lifetime, then anything is possible! So, bow your head down in complete surrender, in eternal gratitude and give in to Life, just flow with it! This is how you last through a numbing crisis!

Bliss has a funny, inexplicable, often bizarre, magnetic pull. To draw you into its fold, it will conspire to create opportunities and circumstances that will make you sit up, take notice, make choices, change direction and destination. You will be often left with a this-is-the-only-choice situation. Why? Because yehi hai right choice baby! Because Life wants you to arrive at the point where a new Life is waiting for you!

Everyone has a reason for saying or doing what they do. So, don’t judge people without knowing their story. You don’t have to agree with them at all, but don’t judge them, don’t label them. Let them just be. If they interfere in your Life, draw a line and tell them to step back. But, again, don’t black list them just because they differ with you. When we judge people we agonize more than them – because we are cooking in our views of them. They continue to be who they are – because they believe what they are saying or doing is right, that it is justified. So, why invite suffering in your Life by giving them so much importance? You stay focused on your inner peace. Don’t let anyone disturb it – not even your views of others!

As long as you are in the game, anything is possible. So, stay engaged with Life. No matter what you are faced with, no matter how dark it gets, no matter how impossible a situation appears to be, just go with the flow. You see, everything is happening for a reason. Just because you don’t see the reason, it does not mean there is no reason. And what has to happen, will happen, no matter how hard you pray – for it to happen or not to happen! So, just keep going, keep walking, taking one day at a time. There is no specific method or mantra for intelligent living – staying in the game, going with the flow, is the way!

There are only 2 things about Life that you can be sure about. 1. Of course, that you will die someday. 2. Life never ceases to amaze you, surprise you. Now, when you are amazed and surprised with Life giving you what you want or even more than that, you don't have a problem. But if Life amazes you and surprises you with what you don't want, what you don't like, you suffer. But the truth is that Life has not done anything different. It has only continued to amaze and surprise you. The problem is not with Life then. Your suffering comes only from your expectations. So, drop all your expectations, embrace your mortality and live fully as you will die any moment. When you live this way, you will be anchored no matter what is happening to you!