Ramakrishna’s Blind Men & The Elephant

A number of blind men came to an elephant. Somebody told them that it was an elephant. The blind men asked, ‘What is the elephant like?’ and they began to touch its body. One of them said, ‘It is like a pillar.’ This blind man had only touched its leg. Another man said, ‘The elephant…

Read more

What I want is muscles of iron and nerves of steel, inside which dwells a mind of the same material as that of which the thunderbolt is made.

This quote from the great Swami Vivekananda comes from a letter he wrote while living in London in 1896. I stumbled across this while researching my hopefully soon to be published book The God In The White City. View the letter in full

Read more

O Hidden Life

The Universal Prayer or Universal Invocation as it is known, was written in 1923 by Annie Besant (1847-1933) when she was the President of the Theosophical Society. O Hidden Life, vibrant in every atom;O Hidden Light, shining in every creature;O Hidden Love, embracing all in Oneness;May all who feel themselves as one with Thee,Know they…

Read more

The Dawn

This is a beautiful and inspiring poem by the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore (7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) – reading this at dawn is a great way to greet the day. Look to This DayFor it is the Day of Days. In its brief space lie –All the Verities and RealitiesOf existence. The…

Read more

“If”

“If” is a famous poem by English writer Rudyard Kipling, published in 1910. If you can keep your head when all about you       Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,    But make allowance for their doubting too;   If you can wait and not be tired by…

Read more

Why all this talk about UFOs?

UFOs have been around for a long time – there are even UFOs mentioned in the Bible. Today they are discussed in the big news sites of the world: CNN, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Fox News, The Guardian, The Daily Mail, Sky News to name but a few, and these are but…

Read more

Rise to the occasion

Everyone has problems. For some people fighting over the remote is a problem because if they lose they don’t get to watch their favourite TV show. Others have more basic problems around food, water and shelter. Sometimes our problems can be overwhelming – to the point that they consume a large part of our lives.…

Read more

Sow a habit, reap a destiny

You are the architect of your own fate. You are the master of your own destiny. You can do and undo things. You sow an action and reap a tendency. You sow a tendency and reap a habit. You sow a habit and reap your character. You sow your character and reap your destiny. Therefore,…

Read more

Everything is a present

You’d think being imprisoned in a concentration camp would break your spirit wouldn’t you? It certainly would do for most people. But not for the incredible Alice Herz Sommer. Her eternal, unflinching optimism enabled her to see the experience as a gift. Imagine that – a gift! You know what? It turns out – adversity…

Read more

Are you inspired enough?

Image: kelsey_lovefusionphoto Image: nattu Image: Childrens Book Review Image: mikebaird Image: thombo2

Read more

You’re dreaming!

That’s not how you do it. You’ll never make it. No chance mate. Not likely. It’ll never happen. I won’t hold my breath. Fat chance. Don’t give up your day job. Don’t let the nay-sayers define what you can do! Do it anyway. Do it anyway. Do it anyway.

Read more

Are you moving or standing still?

Even if you think you’re standing still, you’re not really. The wonderful Planet you are standing on is spinning, The incredible Solar System in which the beautiful Mother Earth resides is rotating, The vast Galaxy in which our Solar System and countless other Solar Systems reside is also rotating, Our magnificent Galaxy, one of many…

Read more

We are insignificant

You are but one person on a planet of 7 billion people. In this sense we are all insignificant. The Planet you live on is but one planet is a Solar System. The Solar System is but one Solar System in a Galaxy of countless Solar Systems. And the Galaxy is but one of countless…

Read more

Dean Karnazes is a bit of a freak

…or is he? He has run over 300 miles in one hit. Take a moment to fully appreciate that – 300 miles in one go. It took several days without sleep. Think about the last time you went for a run, it was probably less than an hour. He ran for 24 hours a day!…

Read more

Change happens

If there’s one thing you can guarantee, it’s that things will change. Sometimes your life is going really well. You’ve got a great set of friends and a great job. The place you’re living at is great. Then things start to change. You fall out with someone at work. Suddenly it’s not quite so enjoyable.…

Read more

The good times will return

You know when you’re going through a bad patch things can just seem so damn difficult… Even the simplest of tasks is a struggle. It’s like you’re walking through thick mud. Sometimes it seems as if everything is against you. As if even ordinary things are out to get you. Bad things seem to happen…

Read more

Are you a leader?

You should be. Anyone and everyone can, and should, be a leader. There are so many people out there waiting to be inspired. Desperate to be motivated. Eager to be encouraged to rise up and do something meaningful. They’re waiting for a leader to rally them, to bring them together, to unite them. To focus…

Read more

Where is the love y’all?

People killing, people dying, children hurting, you hear them crying… – The Black Eyed Peas Where is the love y’all? This song always leaves me thinking. Have a listen below and focus on the lyrics. For a pop song it actually raises a very good point. Where is the love these days? Let’s stop fighting. Let’s…

Read more

A very bizarre situation

If you were from another Planet, another Solar System, or another Galaxy and you happened to visit earth to observe the goings on here, it’s fair to say that you’d be pretty taken aback. To put it mildly. Here is a species of people that seem pretty much intent on self destruction. They kill each…

Read more

For a healthy mind, start with a healthy body

Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity. – John F. Kennedy If you want a healthy mind then it helps to keep a healthy body. Common sense? Not that common unfortunately. But how can your mind work…

Read more

You are a powerful force

You are a force to be reckoned with. You have awesome potential. Unlimited – literally. The things you could do are incredible, unbelievable, stunning. You could be an unlimited source of inspiration to others. You could be a light to lead the way. Your influence could be profound. Your legacy could be legendary. You could…

Read more

In hindsight – but NOW!

Remember back when you were in high school… knowing what you know now, what would you do differently if you were back there again? Probably lots – in my case, probably almost everything! The same goes throughout our lives. Looking back on things we can see where fear held us back, and we can see…

Read more

Your Facebook status won’t change the world

When the world is going through troubled times we sit at home watching the news and we feel powerless to help. The problems seem so massive that we feel that they are outside of our hands – that there is nothing we can do to help. If we give $100 to the Red Cross, what…

Read more

It’s strange what actually motivates people

This morning I overheard someone complaining about how the lady at the coffee shop was rude to them. They were really irate; irate enough to say “I’m going to write a letter!” Wow that lady at the coffee shop must have been really rude. What did she do, was she foul mouthed? Did she rip…

Read more

A Round Tuit

When I was a kid my Dad had a round tuit. Heard of one before? It was an circular plaque that was on the wall of his business. If you’ve always said that you would get a round tuit one day then that day has come because here’s one for you to print out for…

Read more

The past does not equal the future

I used to work for a recruitment company and when interviewing candidates we always asked people for examples of how they had done a particular task in the past. For example, Can you tell me about a time when you were under a lot of pressure and how you dealt with it? The idea being…

Read more

For the sake of it, or for a good reason?

Think about what you do in your day, the routines you go through, the good things and the bad – are all of those things done for a good reason, for a real purpose? Probably some of them are. But definitely some of them aren’t. Some of what you do is done for the sake…

Read more

Book Review: Soul Survivor – The Reincarnation of a WWII Fighter Pilot

What an amazing story! A child, born to very traditional Christian parents, starts having memories of a past life as a fighter pilot in the Second World War. From the age of two he is able to give them extraordinary details about the planes he flew and the people who he served alongside. The father…

Read more

The one sure way to make your problems smaller

Simply become aware of the problems of others. Feeling sorry for yourself? Take a walk around the children’s ward of your local hospital. Stop and talk to the kids. Ask them why they’re there and see how they are coping. If you are a human being this is guaranteed to work. Perhaps you have really…

Read more

Heroes!

CNN Heroes is a great place for inspiration. Narayanan Krishnan was on in 2010  and is an inspiring role model we can all learn from. How awesome would the world be if we all followed the spirit of his example?

Read more