It is winning over self that is more important than winning over others

Happy Vijaya Dasami,
On this auspicious day of Vijaya Dasami, I would like to share with you a short story. In today’s world of endless opportunities, it is winning over self that is more important than winning over others. Here is the story of a historic victory that demonstrates the importance of self-belief….
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Self-belief behind USA's historic win
Source: http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/usa/story/mexico-0-1-usa-mens-national-team-international-friendly-review-michael-orozco-fiscal-game-winner-081512
On 16^th Aug of this year, for the first time in 75 years, the US soccer team came into the fabled Mexico City stadium and accomplished something it had never done before: beat arch-nemesis Mexico. How?
The victory of the US soccer team was simply a historic one. The Americans were outplayed in this game in every way imaginable, compressed into their own half, defending most of the time, and relying on their goalkeeper not to allow the dominating Mexicans to score a goal. Even when beaten all over the field, the USA grabbed on to one great run, one great flick, and one goal. And they made history.
Jurgen Klinsmann, the former German player and the current Coach of US soccer team, said after the game that his team had accomplished something very special and had learned to believe in itself. We told our players before the game, “You have nothing to lose, give it all you have. Can we play better? Yes. Can we play a cleaner game? Yes.” Belief was the theme the players carried with them as they entered the Azteca arena. Tim Howard, the US goalkeeper, said after the game how his team controlled its fear and won the sweet victory.
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We all have our own fears and shortcomings. It is those fears and those self-limiting thoughts that restrict our success and our growth, more than anything or anybody else outside of us. It is time to look in, recognize such fears and shortcomings, and win over them, and win over the enemy within. Believe in yourself first, bring in the required discipline, and give your best efforts. YOUR SUCCESS is guaranteed.
May this Vijaya Dasami give you the desired strength to help you win over such fears and shortcomings!
With love and regards,
Siva

Unstoppable Updates (4) Sand or Stone: Which one is your choice; and When?

Hi,
As I was talking about the learning I made from my visit to the hostel room of a student in my previous post, I mentioned that there were two posters on the wall of his room. The other one was also depicting a story with a great message. Here it is....
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Sand and Stone
Author unknown (Source: http://www.naute.com/stories/sand.phtml)

A story tells of two friends who were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, she wrote in the sand:

"TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE"

They kept on walking, until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but her friend saved her. After she recovered from the near drowning, she wrote on a stone:

"TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE"

The friend, who had slapped and saved her best friend, asked her, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now, you write on a stone, why?"

The other friend replied: "When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand, where the winds of forgiveness can erase it, but when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone, so no wind can ever erase it."

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND TO CARVE YOUR BLESSINGS IN STONE. 
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While memory is a gift that God endowed human beings with, it could be a boon or a bane, depending on how it is used. Though the amount of time that humans spend on this planet is limited and short, there is a tendency to remember and act as if one is going to live for ever. If bitter experiences are forgiven and forgotten and the better experiences are engraved and embedded, how nice and peaceful life would be! Oh God! May you bestow the humans with this ability too to forget the bitter and remember the better!

To your SUCCESS,

With love and regards,

Siva

value4value@gmail.com

Unstoppable Updates (3) Peace: Where do we find it?

Hi,
I visited this evening the hostel room of a student at BITS-Pilani KK Birla Goa campus, and found a couple of inspiring posters with stories written on them pasted on the wall of his room. The title of one of them “Real Meaning of Peace” attracted my attention. Read the whole story instantly. Immediately felt that I should Google for the story and share it with you. Found it without any difficulty, and reproduced it below:
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The Real Meaning Of Peace
Author Unknown (Source: http://www.inspirationpeak.com/shortstories/realpeace.html)


There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest - in perfect peace.

Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?

"Because," explained the king, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace."
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We too go through the hustle and bustle of the places where we live, face the challenges on a daily basis, encounter the troubles every now and then, stumble up on the obstacles we come across, and find irritants that could easily flare up the tensions within as well as outside. is it still possible to remain peaceful? perhaps, YES! If a bird could achieve it, why not we?

To your SUCCESS,
With love and regards,
Siva
value4value@gmail.com

Source of images: http://netraptor.org/blog/2010/11/robin-on-nest/