MONEY. MONEY. MONEY…………….

 Money mania seems to have taken over our society. Everyone is in the rat race for making money, young, middle aged and the old, alike. Fear that I might be left behind, dominates everyone’s mind. Result is, the Money Mania, money over everything ie love, caring, relationships, ethics & values. However, it’s always better to know little more, to make a wise, considered and mature approach to money in life.

   For certain sections of young and grown adults, earlier unimaginable sums, can be earned now at a relatively young age. Earlier, it took much longer to make money. Side by, they also learnt the real value of money and how to handle the money earned. Since they had worked hard for the money earned, they would spend it judiciously and save also. It could take years before one could even think of buying a house or affording a lifestyle or own things, one might have longed for years.

   Earning wealth is relatively easy compared to handling earned wealth, spending it judiciously, saving a fixed amount regularly in safe investments, also spending a part of the amount on charity or philanthropy or sharing, helping those not as lucky as you. When you earn wealth, it must also shine, please and satisfy your inner self, rather touching only outer physical body mass and disappear.

Some Sweet & Sour FACTS about MONEY you so dearly LOVE & ADORE:

1. People are good at smelling money and when you have it, many will like to befriend you, not because you interest them, it’s your money which they find interesting. They are mostly fair-weather ‘friends’. Do have them but don’t attach much importance to them. However, you need to be careful with them, do not expect much from them or count on them and if they ditch you, don’t feel disappointed. Never compare with them or confide in them.

 2. Since money or wealth is an important part of everyone’s life, you must clearly understand the correct role, perspective and place of money in life. Understanding money is also important because it plays a vital role in forming your ATTITUDE. Always consider yourself, the Master and money, your slave. Never try to impress others with your money, nor be impressed by theirs. Money and wealth is your personal domain, as long as you keep it that way, you will be happy and at peace. The moment you flout the equation, stress, pain, worry, doubt, envy, impatience, anger, irritation will always be there to give you company. Money cultivates high ego and accompanied arrogance. When we have money, flaunting comes naturally. Overcome and subvert that urge to live peacefully and contentedly for a serene existence.

 3. Because of our ignorance, most people equate happiness with fulfillment of their cherished desires. We remain in the illusion that when I will get my dream house, dream car or other objects or possessions, I will be happy. So many unrealized dreams are created through media ads, which tend to get converted into inferiority complex, disappointments, stress and frustrations, devaluing what you have, always fancying what you don’t have. But, after initial infatuation, follows the deep-set bitterness and negative emotions, when we realize that pleasures derived out of these fulfillments and acquisitions, are fleeting and temporary in nature. On the contrary, when we work on our inner peace we will be happy, vibrant, satisfied, fulfilled and contented.  

4. Wealth fulfills two basic human needs. Sense of security, which is physical and sense of achievement, which is emotional! After these two needs have been met by reasonable amount of earned wealth taking care of all your needs, additional wealth does not add to happiness. On the contrary, it caresses your ego, pride, greed, envy, jealousy and adds many more negatives. A person becomes a slave of these negatives but very strong emotions. More he accumulates, more clouded his judgment and thinking becomes.

4. GREED ; Present day culture of insatiable greed, never let you enjoy what you have. Greed focuses on what you do not have and some others have. If you have many things which others do not have, your sense of greed, dissatisfaction and discontentment, will simply ignore it. Greed can destroy what one has labored hard to achieve in ones’ life. Additionally, vicious present day culture of cultivated dissatisfaction through repeated TV ads, does immense harm to the psyche of the immature minds, which harps on, ‘only when you will buy the advertised article, you will be happy, you will belong to that class who can afford it’. So the dissatisfaction, temptation and lure in week minds, remain.

5. MAKE YOUR WEALTH WORK FOR YOU NOT AGAINST YOU: How to enhance your inner wellbeing, satisfaction, freedom and peace by earned or accumulated wealth? Answer is simple. Be generous in giving, sharing, helping and taste real inner pleasures, wellbeing and vibrancy in life. Be stingy and use your wealth only in selfish, self-serving pursuits for outward physical pleasures, you sow all vanities of life in full measure. Quality of your life is determined by, whether you are GENEROUS or STINGY with your wealth.

7. HOW TO ENJOY YOUR WEALTH IN FULL MEASURE; Remain down to earth, person of humility, valuing people more than money in all your dealings. Never consider anyone inferior because he is less wealthy. Give due respect to everyone irrespective of their financial status. Money shines, when you are not stingy but generous and open-hearted in giving. The amount you give will not make any difference to you but to the receiver, it can make hell of a difference, can use the money for eating, feeding his family, education or medical expenses.

  

So, for a graceful vibrant living, make it a habit to spend a part of your income in making a difference to those not as lucky as you. This one habit will create that soothing feeling of inner well being, when you would look back, with great satisfaction and pride, how you handled your wealth.

JOY OF GIVING.

Humans are, by nature, Negativity Inclined. They are mostly selfish. Hence when they do something for others like GIVING, HELPING or SHARING they do it with expectation of some returns in the shape of monetary benefit, fame, their name being published in newspapers or magazines, so that public should know that they have done so much and want accolades for all the good work. In the process, the act of Giving, Helping or Sharing becomes an object of GIVE & TAKE. This way the whole action is diluted. A pious action of a Big Heart becomes Small. Such Selfish Action inflates our Ego, arrogance, up-man-ship, envy and jealousy.

On the other hand, when you GIVE WITHOUT EXPECTATION OF RETURN, you live WITH REAL JOY & HAPPINESS. We do not Give for others sake. We Give for our own Happiness and Peace. Try it & you will find the true joy embracing you, the Joy you might have been missing in life otherwise. In fact, when we are GOOD & Spread GOODNESS, GOOD ONLY REBOUNDS. When we Share Happiness with others, HAPPINESS MULTIPLIES but when we Share Grief, Grief Divides. More we Give, More we Get. KIND, COOPERATIVE, HELPFUL AND GRACEFUL we are, More of these return to us by Divine Grace. 

When we are HONEST, ETHICAL & VALUE-BASED, More and More people are Attracted to do business with us, use our services or want to be our Friends, generating all round Prosperity, Growth and Progress for us.

All the GOOD we do, first benefits us then only the recipient for whom it is done. So it is more and more Logical that we keep doing GOOD always for GOODNESS to Return to us and make our lives JOYFUL, VIBRANCY, PEACEFUL, SERENE & HAPPY.

ASTUTE PARENTING :.......... Contd. from last post of 14.2 '15.

The Big Question is: Where can you teach VALUE EDUCATION Best, in School or at Home?

The answer is easy and simple, at Home only. In spite of the fact, that these high end CORRUPT GREEDY SCAMSTERS  went to good schools and colleges, still they want to jail for various charges. 

Had they been instilled good Values at home and had their parents also exhibited those values in their daily life during the growing years when they were children, these people would definitely had not been so greedy or persons with criminal mentalities. 

Whatever we are, we are what we learn at home during our formative years, 4 to 14 years. Many people tell that 'Moral Science' is a subject in most schools. You can see, it had little effect on these white collar scoundrels or anyone else. Because in school, you only hear or read which has little effect on the child. Only with personal example and by being the role model to the child, parents can instill values, morals, discipline, civic sense, common courtesy, patience, compassion, kindness, contentment, sincerity and many other positive humane values and qualities which go on make a person who can become a true asset to our society. Greedy parents mean more greedy children.If the child sees the conduct of his parents bereft of high values, he will learn lower values from the street.

In any case, school teachers are loaded with heavy syllabus and are responsible for entire class comprising of say 50 or 60 children. These values have to be taught personally but a teacher is in no position to give personal attention to each child in such matters of great importance for the parents but not for the teacher. It is they who have to live with the children not the teacher, specially in their old age. Often, parents take great pains and pride in bringing up the child. Sometimes, they even take heavy loans to educate the children and send them abroad for higher studies. When the children settle abroad, making a guest appearance in India, many parents feel let down, destined to  spend the old age in loneliness with a feeling of rejection. With aspirations of the younger generation going higher and higher, such homes are a common sight.

There will be many differing views on the above. Each person has his own priorities and decide accordingly. Class of a grown up person can be easily judged from his pleasing, arrogant or rude manners and the way he conducts himself. As the child is growing, Positive Traits such as GENEROSITY, DISCIPLINE, PATIENCE , DILIGENCE, HONESTY, COURAGE OF CONVICTION & WISDOM etc. must be inculcated  to help the same child to become a person of good conduct and substance. 

A full-fledged lesson of CHILDHOOD - PARENTING appears in our book 'YES TOGETHER WE CAN' on page 33. Just access our website www.rewardinglife.in to read it. Along with other lessons, this shall help you becoming a better parent basically for your own benefit. It shall help you now & later. So long then.

ASTUTE PARENTING.

Have you ever analyzed what all these high profile, rich and famous CORRUPT SCAMSTERS and CRIMINALS (mostly crimes of murder & rape, because lesser crimes are below their standards) have in common? I mean those rich & famous who have already spent time in jail, are in jail or may be going to jail after likely conviction.  Commonality is, they all had good schooling while some of them even went to elite schools, colleges and professional colleges, secondly, most of them belonged to rich families & thirdly, there was no pressing need for them to indulge in such heinous crimes and scams, stashing away badly needed funds for development, in their personal foreign bank accounts or otherwise just accumulating more and more not knowing what to do with such ill gotten wealth.

In spite of their best schooling and good 'education', they could not resist the temptation of amassing illegal wealth, were greedy to the core, Egoist & full of Arrogance, had no dignity & grace and immature enough to think that they are above everyone else and would get away with the crime or corruption. They always thought who can touch them. But ultimately destiny did and they are ruined with little chance of a make up.

What went wrong? 

Shall explain in the next post on Monday (16.2.'15). But in the mean time, please access our website www.rewardinglife.in. Our first book 'YES TOGETHER WE CAN' is there in full text. Please read lesson no. 6, 'Childhood - Parenting' to understand what went wrong with these white collar SCAM & CRIMESTERS.  

CHANGE FOR BETTER. (Pl. see our Introductory Post 'VALUE EDUCATION for ALL' dt. 12.02.2015)

All around when you look, you will find mostly selfish, greedy, self-centered people living an insecure & unsatisfactory life which only they know. These vanities make them Egoist, Impatient, Angry, Restless, Uncooperative, Arrogant, Jealous, Envious and often Hate-filled. Through money, show-off, opulence, up-man-ship, their whole life centers around themselves. But, whatever, we live long enough in life, we get used to, even miseries. 'Nanak, Dukhiya sab sansar'  wrote Guru Nanak, some five centuries ago. ("whole world is unhappy"). Let us examine some alternatives which requires 'CHANGE'.

It is said that 'change is the only constant in life'. Still, we fear change. There are lingering insecurities in our mind which take over when we think of change. But for progress, growth, better living habits & a better life, we must change our mindset. Because, if we keep doing the same thing, we shall lead the same type of life full of arrogance, jealousy, anger, impatience and restlessness. There is one more important thing about change. We can only change 'OURSELVES' not everyone else. We must accept others as they are who might change once they see you living a better life through change. So, one of the governing rule of life is 'CHANGE WHAT YOU CAN BUT ACCEPT WHAT YOU CANNOT'. Trouble starts in our lives when we do not accept what we cannot change and keep cribbing, complaining or blaming others for that.

Now just look at the ALTERNATIVE we are suggesting. Life reflects. What we are, same we see in others. Create love, giving-sharing-helping attitude, gratitude & forgiveness, shun hostility & embrace humility, be polite and courteous and so many things which we think we are doing for others. NO. We are wrong. We do not do such good things for others, WE DO FOR OURSELVES, for our own happiness, peace and joy. Others will respond the same way, with goodness, courtesy and positivity. Throw out the negativity of any kind from your mindset. Wash it down with positive attitude and resulting in positive thoughts,a feel good factor. BECOME A POSITIVE PERSON. Seeing you CHANGE, others will follow suite. 

Enjoy your new found stature as a POSITIVE PERSON. Bring in required changes in your life, if in spite of everything, you feel miserable at times. It is easier than what you think. So, do not start from today but from NOW. Life is not to be wasted on feeling miserable about past or feeling insecure about future. Do not give any place to fear in your mind, since 92% of things will not happen the way you think and more you think negative, fear grows. DO GOOD FOR GOODNESS WILL RETURN, TO FEEL LOVE BE MORE LOVING. Enjoy what you have rather what you want.  Our Thanks & Gratitude.    

VALUE EDUCATION for ALL

Even after 67 YEARS of our independence,
why are we, still, a Poor Third World Country? 

Why, vast majority of our people have to go Hungry & are Deprived of the basic amenities of life?

Why do we have such colossal Income Disparities?

Why is Corruption & demonic Greed so rampant in our society, mostly indulged by people who are already   rich & 'educated'?

Different people will have different answers but 
we strongly feel that it is

Lack of VALUE EDUCATION
in our Education System

which has kept our country where we are.

OUR PRESENT EDUCATION SYSTEM:

In our Education System, students learn various subjects - Science, Technology, Medicine, Commerce, Economics, Management etc. which just help them earn a living. Education system caters only for the individual materialistic needs mostly, not the Collective Needs of our society. Such an Education System has created a Society generally devoid of ethical values, rampant self-centered selfish outlook, insatiable greed, anger & impatience, Intolerance, road rage, disregard for established laws, irresponsibility, blame-game, ingratitude, lack of civic sense in vast majority of people.

OUR RESOLVE:

To create awareness towards VALUE EDUCATION through various articles in this series of Blog, spreading Goodness, instilling humane Values & Wisdom for Self-Development-Empowerment and in turn, paving the way for a more caring society through  

      'VALUE EDUCATION for ALL'

WHAT WE MEAN BY 'VALUE EDUCATION':  

   Education, Professionalism and Wisdom are most important assets in a Person. While Education and Professionalism can be had from any of the umpteen Schools, Colleges and Professional Institutions in the country, Wisdom comes with experience but experiences in life take time. By the time, one attains 'Wisdom through Experiences', it's too late in life and Wisdom thus attained, cannot be put to much use. Winston Churchill once said, 'First duty of a university is to teach Wisdom'. But unfortunately, what to talk of teaching, Wisdom is not even mentioned in any curriculum anywhere. 

   Living Life is not only breathing & surviving. It means living a Rewarding Life full of Satisfaction, Peace, Happiness & Joy. Life which matters & has  significance not only success which most people live for. To achieve these goals, apart from Wisdom, person needs to develop such Life-Skills as Ethics, Civic Sense, Discipline, Patience, Humility, Positive Attitude, being Kind-Compassionate-Considerate, Attitude of Giving-Helping-Sharing, exhibiting Tolerance and Emotional Control, Common Courtesy, Self-Belief-Confidence, abiding by law and regulations, meeting Adversities-Challenges-Problems with Aplomb, sense of Responsibility & Integrity, Altruism, Perseverance, astute Time-management, Forgiveness and Gratitude, being a Good Listener, developing Leadership qualities, Enthusiasm, Team Spirit, Collective effort and Fair mindedness, True perspective of Money in Life, are some of those.

VALUE EDUCATION. WHY?

   'VALUE EDUCATION' is just like cement & steel used in a skyscraper. It comprises of Wisdom plus all the above and umpteen related skills, singly or combined, which provide powerful antidotes to self-deception, self-doubt, confusion, worry & misplaced fears, leading to a Rewarding & Graceful living full of Joy, Vibrancy, Peace, Happiness, Goodwill, Tranquility and Optimism. 
   Often, we find people blaming onslaught of western cultures for many of our society's ills though we want to reach their standard of living and ape them. But do we ever try to reach their standards vis a vis- Discipline, punctuality, devotion to duty, astute work culture, sense of responsibility & fair-play, honesty, hygiene, civic sense, respect for prevailing law and regulations, childcare, road discipline, patience and umpteen other parameters in which they excel and are way ahead of us. Look at Japanese, how much courtesy & mutual respect they shower on each other.        Glaring difference between an under-developed country like ours and developed country is DISCIPLINE which is one of the most important part of 'VALUE EDUCATION' we are talking about. In developed societies virtues like Discipline, Patience, Tolerance, Punctuality, Common Courtesy, Civic Sense, Consideration for others, etc. are all part of the growing process in society. A child automatically learns these virtues but in our country reverse is the case. Hence, it is all the more important to learn  these virtues through 'VALUE EDUCATION' if we want to cherish the prosperity we all are aspiring for, since Prosperity without Peace has no meaning in life.

TO BUILD A NEW INDIA IS
OUR COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY. 

LET US BUILD A NEW INDIA THROUGH
VALUE EDUCATION.

YES TOGETHER WE CAN.