Impulse

People often say slow and steady wins the race. But I believe sometimes an impulse is necessary. Lets do a simple exercise. Take a single walnut, and not two since it becomes easier with two and does not serve the purpose of the exercise, and try breaking it with bare hands. Its hard and difficult to break .

Now fix the walnut in between two hands, and instead of pressing it, apply an impulse. An impulse is an act of applying force suddenly. We will see the walnut gets cracked open. 

Similarly some tasks do offer resistance and if you can overcome the threshold, your task will be done in blink of an eye. But you need to be careful and take calculated risk, as with the case of walnut the broken pieces and hurt you. 

Thank You, Sorry and Please

If only man uses more of 'Thank You, sorry and please' in their conversations, the world would have been a better place to live.

These words make you humble, and lowers the pride and passion in you. When there is no pride and passion, the tendency of the person confronting you to oppose you decreases and he has a sympathy towards you. So just by using these simple words, much of the violence could be avoided and the world could be a better place to live.

Character

A common quote states 'With power comes responsibility'. But I believe only if you have the character that you can accomplish your duties properly, you will be rewarded with power, so that there is harmony and you do not create chaos.  

Chanakya, one of the greatest economist the world has ever seen, says that a person's education can be said to be perfect if he treats each women other than his wife as his mother and sister. 

Good character nurtures positive thoughts, positive thoughts lead to good actions and good actions leads to a better environment near you. 

Gandhiji's Talisman

School text books in India usually do have a common text in the inside page of the front cover, but since its so common it is ignored in general. The text is as follows:

"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man (woman) whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he (she) gain anything by it? Will it restore him (her) to a control over his (her) own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj (freedom) for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?

Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."

- One of the last notes left behind by Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, expressing his deepest social thought. Bapu, or the father of the nation, was a great leader and this talisman takes your thinking to the right context and also helps you to understand the significance of your problem when comparing to the problems faced by the 'starving millions'.