Perception

 Shakespeare said "There is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so". How true isn't it? The most hated enemy of one is the most loving person to another. The perception power of mind is such that it is how we channel our thoughts in an optimistic or pessimistic track. 1.4kg weighing human brain which is the thought center holds the key to success or failure. It is how we react to situations and people that determines end result.

 A famous saying goes "Minds are like parachute, they function only when open". When we perceive we get help from stereo typing that has been generated in our mind by our experiences. A chain reaction of stereo typing, called ceiling effects are created within our mind that does not allow it to open beyond the boundary formed by stereo typing.

Winston Churchill said "The price of greatness is responsibility over each of your thoughts".  Let our perceptions guide us but not rule us when we face situations and people.

Responsibility

Responsibilities are looked in one from childhood until our end and sometimes even after that. Starting from education, work, family, society we are expected to take up responsibilities in our different walks of life. It is one that is to be with us for all our life. Is responsibility in-born or can be seeded into one?

"The state of being obliged to do something ", this is Oxford definition. Was Gandhi obliged to fight for Indian independence, Mandela for South Africa's independence, Mother Teresa to serve for people, Hitler to dream to rule the world, Lee Kuan Yew to build Singapore from a third world country to first world, Al-Qaeda's Bin-Laden to launch attack on WTC? All of them lived for a cause they believed in. Was the responsibility in-born in these individuals? On closer look it would be that, they felt obligated to do. But why would they want to?

The answer could be, it is what one believes in strongly. So it looks like responsibility is not in-born but tags along with one in course of life shaped by society & situation which do play an important role. If Gandhi had not been thrown out from train compartment in Pietermartizburg, South Africa, he might not have fought for Indian freedom. Germany's surrender in World War1, caused Hitler to strongly believe he had to prove that Germany was the best nation in the world. So situations do act as source of responsibility to grow within one, be it for good or bad. Even though they are not around, their lives are a lesson for others to embrace for good. They are seen as idols and roles models by many for how to be and how not to be.

Responsibilities taken on own gets one more motivated than those given to them which are called empowerment. I feel an individual to grow and excel in life, one has to take responsibilities on their own in right way for betterment of self and society.

Expectations

Great Expectations the book by Charles Dickens is well known. The expectations that I am writing today is not related to the book, but is something that will relate to every individual. As humans every one have expectations, varying from low to high based on situation, outcome & benefit. A child has expectations that resides mostly for few days, as a teenager dreams take form as expectations that shapes our youth and to a certain extent of our middle age. Career, marriage & family implants a different level of expectations into our minds that pushes us through to our retirement. To have expectations in every stage of our life is it good or bad? is it for betterment or deterrence of individual?

Some believe rather than to expect and get disappointed when the expected does not happen, its better not to expect and when the unexpected happens be happy. I wonder if you do not know what to expect then how can the individual be happy when the unexpected happens? As a simple example, a student sits for an exam, and expects certain results based on how he/she performed in the exam. If we ask the student not to expect the outcome of the result and be happy with the outcome if its a distinction or high distinction, that will not motivate the student to prepare well for the exam. The same can be applied to a company's earnings / profits.

Few others believe, take life as it comes without any expectations and hopes. People think they are very simple minded when they say this as their principle in life. It wonders me how does humanity grow without expectations? If no expectations are there in our minds we would not have electricity, laptops, i-phones & i-pads, there wouldn't be progress in career ladder, growth in businesses, we wouldn't be driving cars, flying in air from horse driven carriages, dwellings with comfort & luxuries from thatched huts. This shows expectations are for improvement & innovation.

Humanity has travelled a long way to where we are today by expectations and dreams. The optimistic approach would be to train up the mind to expect with hopes and when it happens be happy and when it doesn't accept the disappointment and analyze why it did not happen and if possible and time permits try it again to make it happen. This could be termed as mental maturity. Therefore expectations are for the betterment of the individual, society and humanity. As end note would like to say, Expectations should not feed for stubbornness & rigidity but flexibility & innovation.

U-Turn

Everyone might have heard & known about U-turns both in driving and in life. We would have faced with many people who have made U-turn in our lives. This is not about the U-turn in life as this will rekindle bad experiences.

U-turn in driving is something we keep to the driving side (either right hand traffic or left hand traffic - depending on driving type - right hand or left hand drive) and then turn around 180degrees to take the opposite direction. This all drivers would be well aware of. However there was a very different U-turn that I took along with my friends recently in a trip that made me think how even a U-turn can be guided to be taken differently. This was a country with right hand side driving where usually one takes U-turn by keeping to the right most lane and then take a U-turn. However this was different, the U-turn sign on the express way guided us to the left most lane which led to another expressway which led to another expressway that brought us back to the expressway we started before on the opposite direction. Atlast we made the U-turn after 20mins of drive. This could be called as EXIT in most places, but in this country it was called as U-turn where we had to take two exits to make a U-turn.

This made me think that how even a simple U-turn concept can be looked at very differently. Is this what called out of box thinking? having different perspectives? Only when our ancestors thought differently and had different perspectives inventions, discoveries were possible. These people could be called as the outliers. The greater the number of outliers faster is the growth for mankind. The last 20years is witness of this in an exponential way, the computers and internet have made people to think different and share ideas.

To foster this kind of thoughts children should be encouraged when they question and think differently, employees should be encouraged to try new ways to handle problems, this will pave way for better future and growth.