Invest in Relationships

People come first, let us invest in relationships. What is the point of achieving our dreams but being alone there, having no one to celebrate success with. Today we might have become well connected electronically, spending hours reading blogs, surfing internet, chatting online, doing FB, Orkut etc... but we have forgotten the importance of conversation and human touch, power of dinning and eating together with family and friends.

Let us work to build the bonds of humanity by being loving to kids and family, kind to friends, supportive to team members and customers. Relationships are most basic but most beautiful treasures of life; let us value them, realizing our own best through our relationships. Ultimately Business and life is all about forging human bonds.

Most of the time we take relationships for granted. We find it hard to say we value, love and treasure friends and families. Give the best when friends and families are around. No man is an island and we have to live in a community, in communication with others to survive and develop as a whole and complete person.

In the quest of the success, one important area which can be utilized as a feedback source for our life is human relationship. The quality and type of relationships that exists in our life can say much about our personality that we have gained over the period. Our relationship with other people mirrors our human life in different ways. We can measure the quality of our life by the quality of relationships we have with others. Having relationships that support us is probably the biggest key in becoming that grand person we envision to become.

Good relationships are central to a meaningful and fulfilling life.
For a high quality of life, a person should have relationships that bring fulfillment, stability, and contentment for life satisfaction. Quality of life really is not dependent upon one’s degree of wealth or material possessions. It is more dependent upon the relationships a person has - at work, in the family and friends, and the degree of intimacy and satisfaction they bring into a person’s life.

Healthy relationships support, encourage, inspire, and help one to improve and develop in a natural and functional manner. Healthy relationships are not just desirable, they are essential to human growth and development - satisfaction and fulfillment in life. In healthy relationships, one feels safe, valued and respected.

A great place to start improving our relationships is with our attitude: open mind and senses towards other people. If we are aware of this, and focus on improving our communication and relationships, we will begin to feel great about our self. A person with good communication skills will move swiftly towards his goals and dreams.

Loneliness is a powerful factor in our making an idol of a human relationship. It often drives us to value a human relationship for a kind of satisfaction it cannot deliver. There is always a price for the prize. Nothing is for free. However, with enough effort, focus, and determination that prize will become a reality and it will be well worth the price!

Money Is A Means To An End
We must learn this early in our life that money is only a means, a type of usefulness, an instrument. Like all instruments, it has certain purposes, but it will not do everything. One must learn how to use it, what it will do, but above all what it will not do."
Material goods are to be used and people to be loved, don’t do the other way round, loving the possessions and using the people. It is fatal for our own self.
Once we understand that money cannot purchase the emotions, relationships, or feelings that truly lead to happiness, money (and material possessions) will become much less important to us. If we do something just for the money, the love of it will soon die. If we do something we love, then the money is secondary but it will come a lot easier and it will last longer.

PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN THINGS.

We work hard to make more money to have more possessions, some worthy and some not so necessary. Owning a luxurious bungalow is costly but we rationalize that the family will have so much fun and great memories together. But at times to build that bungalow, the family is no longer together. Material possessions are not as important as possessing shared experiences with our family. Furnishing our home with family is our best investment.

The key here is only when one is grounded in spirituality and has started the journey of a loving relationship with one self, which leads to know and develop a loving relationship with the Supreme, can one truly reap pure love and, more importantly, bring forth that pure love into other relationships.

Raksha Bandhan - Bond of Protection

Relationships are the essence of any festivity and it holds true for any Indian festival. Each occasion brings the family together which calls for a celebration. Raksha Bandhan is a celebration of one such relation - that of a brother and a sister. It is one of the widely celebrated Indian festivals. The term 'Raksha' means 'protection' and 'Bandhan' means, 'bond'. The underlying essence of the Hindu ideals of love and harmony is portrayed in all the festivals which are reminders of the oneness in all beings- and so very much in this one. With my brother sitting thousands of miles away, I am exploring the meaning of this festival, I am sure all my love and blessings are reaching him there too.

Raksha Bandhan, also known as 'Rakhi' is celebrating the divine bond of love between brother & sister. Sisters tie a delicate cord/ thread of 'Rakhi' on their brother's wrist, pulsating with sublime sentiment and pray for his long life. Brothers, in turn, give them enticing rakhi gifts and vows to protect and care for them lifelong. Thus, the affectionate festivity of Raksha Bandhan becomes a token of blessings, wishes, enthusiasm & love.

Sister shows respect to the brother in the form of adoration or worship. The sacred thread tied on a brother's wrist by the affectionate sister, is the ceremonial expression of her pious hope and wish that her brother be guided by spiritual vision. This symbolic thread is a token of remembrance and inspiration for the brother. Rakhi symbolizes the sacred relationship between a brother and his sister. Just as the brother gets the thread tied in order denote his promise to protect his sister, similarly, the sister prays to God for the protection of her brother. The greater the sister's spiritual emotion, devotion, her yearning towards God, the greater is the effect of her prayers on her brother's well being and his spiritual progress.

This ritual not only strengthens the bond of love between brothers and sisters, but also transcends the confines of the family. The celebration of Raksha Bandhan has its origin in religion and stretches further beyond its boundaries for a broader view of universal brotherhood which paves way for universal oneness. Love is the underlying essence of every religion. Unconditional love for all beings can be realized when one understands his true self, the spiritual self or the 'Atman' which is the same in all beings and which stretches beyond all seeming disparities. Spiritual oneness, is the ultimate end of observing rituals and festivals and same is recognized by the observance of Raksha Bandhan.

Raksha Bandhan thus serves as a reminder of our true nature, the real self which is lost in the apparent differences. So let us observe the rituals of the festival and celebrate it keeping in mind its essence, its true spiritual import. The spiritual significance of Raksha Bandhan is when one takes a sacred divine vow of purity with the God, to live a life of purity in thoughts, words and actions. Rakhi, tied on the right hand, is only symbolic and it is a gentle reminder that we must protect ourselves spiritually from the vices less we commit spiritual suicide in bondage of materialism.

This life of purity and the freedom from material bondage elevates the soul to its original pure religion of peace and silence. Raksha Bandhan is not an isolated festival, but it is an activity in a major event in the world cycle, for the purification of all souls as well as the elements.

It is important to protect our elevated conscience or divine intellect by not coming under the influence of anger, greed, arrogance, lust and attachment. When need turns into greed, believe it or not, one is on the highway to hell.

To cheat, deceive or steal are sinful acts and are opposite divinity. To pledge a life of purity and live a life of sin is to commit suicide. One may deceive others and maybe oneself, but one cannot fool the God. The wages of sin accumulate hundredfold if one is knowledgeable compared to that of being ignorant of the consequences.

On this auspicious occasion of Raksha Bandhan, August 24, 2010, let us take a moment for deep spiritual introspection and free ourselves from the bondage of greed, the lust for power and a slave of promiscuity and make God our eternal companion for true peace, happiness and prosperity.