Life is a game...

... and the winner of the game is the one who enjoys it in happiness at all times!

Addiction

I was 'speaking' to my cousin yesterday - online via MSN - him in Singapore and me in London. I have always been fascinated by technology and how it has made the world a smaller place to be in... Anyway, we got into a rather interesting conversation and he thought I should blog our conversation.

The conversation started of with a discussion on addiction...

We are all addicts.

Definition of addiction: something you are emotional or psychological dependent on.

We are all addicted to one thing or another. It's not just substances (drugs, alcohol, tobacco...) either - the 10secs or 10mins hit- that we're addicted to anymore. If you google the word 'addict' you get hits naming a mirad of different types of addiction that are out there - be it shopping, food, television shows or people. One that doesn't come up is the addiction to speaking. I think there are good number of people who are addicted to speaking. There are people who just love speaking about what goes on in other people's lives; there are those who just love talking about themselves and there are those who prefer to talk because they feel uncomfortable with silence.

I appreciate the importance of language and words but if we are talking gibberish, gossiping, speaking hurtful words or just for the sake of talking then all we are doing is just wasting our energy. These types of conversations lead to nothing but exhaustion, a false sense of esteem and frustration.

Only when we use the right words at the right time is there power in our words. Those words will not only inspire others but help them grow and follow their own path. This is clearly seen through out history with great people like Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi who have truly made an impact on many people's lives - just by them living to their words and values.

A nice way to live...

A little while ago I was attending a talk in London (you may have seen the summary of talks on 'Let's Get Spiritual', it was one of these!) and the speaker said something that really touched my heart. I can't remember the exact words but at that moment I felt my mind opening up towards something new. To a different way of seeing life that could really make a difference to me!

She related facts about a friend of hers' who always seemed to find herself in places (quite often work places or events) where people feel hopeless or even depressed. At that moment I caught myself thinking; well maybe it's because she is a bit depressed herself that she attracts these types of situations & people... (we are so quick to draw conclusions!)

She had a completely different take on it though- she realised that the reason why she often found herself in these situations was because she is really good at giving hope to people! These situations were opportunities for her to express her specialities!! I thought to myself: "Wah, this is an amazing awareness. If each one of us were to think & act in this way there would be world transformation!"

To be honest I am quite far away from mastering this headspace, it's so much easier to say: "Why is this always happening to me?, Why can't I have what this person has, What have I done to deserve this situation?, How bad must I be... ?"

As I have started to practise this awareness though I found that situations can be triggers that actually have the potential to awaken our specialities. Two questions kept coming up for me. "Do I recognise that life is there to help me?" and "Do I acknowledge my specialities?" As I kept realigning myself to these questions I found myself starting to enjoy life 10 times more, and 100 times more...

Cool, isn't it?