learning to #teachtheweb :)

Below is my attempt to create video with mozilla PopcornMaker for #teachtheweb :)

Follow Your Heart ... NOW!!!

(Don’t wait for someone to aim a gun point-blank at you!)

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

- Henry David Thoreau

Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.

- Henry David Thoreau

My name is Marcos Sampayo. I was born in a middle class family in Goa as an ‘ordinary’ boy but I had so many dreams and fascinations … Among many other things, one thing that I liked, as many children do, was to fly! But my story is different … I see the birds flying in the sky and I wanted to be up there with them. I hear the roaring noise of an airplane hovering in the sky and I rushed out (even straight from the bath-tub, at times) to the balcony just to have a glimpse of it … The years went by but my passion about flying did not die … I invariably stretch my gaze at the blue sky whenever I hear the familiar sound of flying objects…

As I grew up, the only thing that ‘flew’ was time! … I had to park my dream ‘in some corner of my heart’ and move on … I was probably waiting for ‘someday’ when I will follow my dream. I still subscribe to aero-sport magazines but that is the only thing I did for my ‘love’.

I completed my regular education and joined my family owned grocery shop. I was making decent earning and even started growing my dad’s business. As my father neared the retirement phase, I took complete charge of our business and I am engrossed completely in the routine.

One day, my life took a sudden turn! It was a normal day, like any other so far … Customers were pouring in the store at regular pace in the morning … then the rush dropped as the sun rose above the head … I heard a big roar of an airplane and since there were not many people in the store who needed attention, I stepped out and gazed at the airplane … As the aircraft gets lost in the distant clouds, I returned back to the counter with a ‘sigh’ and started attending to the few new shoppers. Suddenly, there is a stranger who enters the shop and changes everything. He takes out a pistol from nowhere, fires a shot in the air and frightens everyone outside the shop before he rushes right to the counter. He then aims the pistol at me and threatens to kill me if I do not give him all the cash. I am frightened like never before and in no time emptied the cash drawer into the armed robber’s bag and begged to leave me alive. The seasoned robber then thinks of further frightening me and said ‘I still want to kill you! So, lie down on the floor’. Not left with any other choice, I do as instructed … but to my surprise, I find out that when the robber pulls the trigger, I am not hurt at all – there was no more bullet in the gun! The robber runs out of the store laughing at my plight – I was still trying to grasp my breath.

This event ruined me – I was frightened to death during the few minutes that keeps flashing in front of my eyes – even after I was released unhurt physically. I spent the next week in isolation. The introspection resulted into a reinvented Marcos! I decided to make the most from this ‘gift of life’. I did not bother at all about the financial loss I incurred … instead, I took the ‘boldest’ decision of my life! I sold off our shop and joined a flying club. I studied hard to become a certified ‘Hang-Glider’ Pilot. I then set up my own adventure tourism boutique firm (vôo duplo de asa delta) in Goa and not only live my ‘passion’ but I make a decent living out of it (‘more than what I would be making from my boring shop’ – as I likes to emphasize)!

While taking the tourists from across the globe up in the clouds, I always share my story of life – and invariably poses a thought provoking question to everyone – “Will it take some insane to aim a pistol point blank at you?? Please DO NOT wait for a single day. You may not be as lucky as I was – FOLLOW YOUR HEART, NOW!”

So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains

And we never even know we have the key.

- Lyrics from Already Gone, performed by the Eagles for their 1974 On the Border album

RAT RACE or CAT PARTY?

do you feel stuck?

leave the stress of a RAT RACE ...

instead join the fun of a CAT PARTY (Contenment And Tranquility - Personal Achievements w. Respect To Yourself) :D

i want for myself ...

... whatever i want for everyone else :)


ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः
सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः ।
सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु
मा कश्चिद्दुःखभाग्भवेत् ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah
Sarve Santu Nir-Aamayaah |
Sarve Bhadraanni Pashyantu
Maa Kashcid-Duhkha-Bhaag-Bhavet |
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

Meaning:
Om, May All become Happy,
May All be Free from Illness.
May All See what is Auspicious,
May no one Suffer.
Om Peace, Peace, Peace.

as you sow ...

... so shall you reap :)

This is a saying I was taught early in my life ...

It is true ... Whatever seeds one plants, the corresponding fruits will grow up

Recently, i happened to ponder upon a very important understanding related to the same concept. One should not get attached to the place where one has put in their seeds ... some of the fruits take very long time to grow up ... instead, move on after planting your seeds with best intentions and rest assured you will get to enjoy even bigger/better fruits on the way (grown from seeds planted by someone else with equally great intentions much earlier than you did) ... thereby, you can enjoy new 'places' as well and get the benefits earlier (than had you waited patiently at your own 'farm') :D

It is certain that if your intentions were noble than the fruits you get to enjoy will be at least better and earlier (than your own fruits) - but you need FAITH in the GRACE!

Happy New 2013 & not-so-new ‘happy’ alphabets :)

This new year, I have once again decided to make it even more ‘happy’

I would make extra efforts to make frequest use of the following ‘happy’ alphabets

A – Abundance
B – Bliss
C – Compassion/Care
D – Divinity
E – Enthusiasm
F – Faith
G – Gratitude
H – Happiness
I – Inquisitiveness/Integrity
J – Joy
K – Kindness
L – Love
M – Motivation
N – New
O – Openness
P – Positive
Q – Q…
R – Respect
S – Spirituality
T – Thankfulness
U – Universalism
V – Vision
W – Wisdom
X – X…
Y – Yearning
Z – Zestful

Can you think of better positive/happy words for any of the letters? I am going to fill up/expand the happy alphabets and would love to hear from you (PS: this is from my 2 year old blog - but even more relevant today)

Make every moment in 2013 (& beyond) a ‘happy’ one!!!

value?

Spiritual Story by Unknown [from http://www.spiritual-short-stories.com/spiritual-short-story-70-Life+as+a+Jewel.html]

One afternoon Guru Nanak and his company were resting on the banks of the Ganges at Patna. Mardana was idly inspecting a stone he had picked up along the road, thinking of the vast throngs who had come to hear the Guru. "Master," said Mardana, "you teach a way for every person to find liberation. But many of those who listen still seem to spend much of their time in conflict, and in seeking out excitement and other idle pursuits. Why do they waste away their lives so?" "Most people don't recognize its value," replied the Guru, "although human life is the dearest treasure on this earth." "Surly everyone can see the value of life," said Mardana. "No," said Nanak. "Each man places his own value on things according to what he thinks. A different man with different knowledge will place a different value. That stone you found in the dirt will make a good example. Take it to the marketplace and see what you can get for it." Puzzled, Mardana took the stone to the marketplace and at a stall that sold sweets asked what the vendor would trade for it. The man laughed. "Go away, you're wasting my time." He next tried a produce seller. "I have paying customers to wait on," said the grocer. "I'll give you an onion for it just to get you out of here." Mardana tried several more shops with no better response. Finally he came to the shop of Salis Raj, the jeweler. Salis Raj's eyes opened wide when he saw the stone. "I'm sorry," he said, "I don't have enough money to buy your gem. But I will give you a hundred rupees if you will let me look at it a while longer." Mardana hurried back to the Guru to tell him what had happened. "See," said Guru Nanak, "how when we are ignorant we mistake a valuable gem for a worthless stone. If someone had told you its value before you knew what it was, you would have thought they were crazy. Such a jewel is human life, and whatever you've traded for it, that is what is yours."