I can sleep when the wind blows

Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast.
He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were
Reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the
Awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops.
As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received
A steady stream of refusals.

Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached
The farmer. "Are you a good farm hand?" the farmer asked him.
"Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man.

Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help,
Hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from
Dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.
Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore.
Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed
Next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the
Little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming!
Tie things down before they blow away!"
The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No
Sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on
The spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm.
To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had
Been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens
Were in the coops, and the doors were barred.
The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down.

Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his
Hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while
The wind blew.

Moral of the story

When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically,
You have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the
Wind blows through your life?
The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because he
Had secured the farm against the storm.
We secure ourselves against the storms of life by
Grounding ourselves in the Word of God.
We don't need to understand, we just need to hold
His hand to have peace in the middle of storms.

One of the best motivational speeches you'll ever hear.

Al Pacino in 'Just another Sunday'

I dont know what to say,really,
3 minutes to the biggest battle of our professional lives,
All comes down to today
Either, we heal, as a team, or we're gonna crumble
Inch by Inch,
Play by play
Till we're finished,
We're in hell right now,
Gentlemen, believe me
We can stay here,
Get the shit kicked out of us
or
We can fight our way back
into the light
We can climb outta hell one inch at a time
Now, i cant do it for you
I'm too old
I look around,
I see this young faces,and i think
I mean,i've made every wrong choice a middle-aged man can make
I..I pissed away all my money,
Believe it or not
I chased off anyone's who's ever loved me
And lately,I cant even stand the face I see in the mirror
You know, when you get old in life,things get taken from you
Well thats..thats part of life
But, you only learn that,when you start losing stuff
You find out, life's a game of inches
So is football
Because, in either game,life or football,
the margin for error is so small,

I mean, one half a step too late, or too early, and you dont quite make it,
One half second too slow, too fast, you dont quite catch it,
The inches we need are everywhere around us...
They're in every break of the game, every minute, every second....
On this team, we fight for that inch...
On this team, we tear ourselves and everyone else around us,
To pieces for that inch...
We claw with our fingernails for that inch...
Because we know,when we head up all those inches,
Thats gonna make the fucking difference, between winning and losing!

Between living and dying!!
I'll tell you this: in any fight,
Its the guy who's willing to die,who's gonna win that inch...
And I know, if im gonna have any life anymore
Its because I'm still willing to fight and die for that inch...
Because, thats what living is!
The six inches in front of your face...!!

Now, i cant make you do it,
You gotta look at the guy next to you,
Look into his eyes! Now
I think you're gonna see a guy,
Who will go that inch with you...
You're gonna see a guy, who will sacrifice himself,
For this team, because he knows,
When it comes down to it,
You're gonna do the same for him...

Thats a team, gentlemen...
and, either we heal,NOW, as a team, or we will die...as individuals...thats football, Guys...thats all it is...now, what are you gonna do?

Where The Mind is Without Fear

This is one of my personal favourites.

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow
domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the
dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought
and action--
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

- Rabindranath Tagore

This poem is from Gitanjali, literature. Offering of Songs, published in English in1910.Biography: Tagore, Rabindranath (1861-1941), Indian poet, philosopher, and Nobel laureate, was born in Calcutta, into a wealthy family. He began to write poetry as a child; his first book appeared when he was 17 years old. After a brief stay in England (1878) to study law, he returned to India, where he rapidly became the most important and popular author of the colonial era, writing poetry, short stories, novels, and plays. He composed several hundred popular songs and in 1929 also began painting. Tagore wrote primarily in Bengali, but translated many of his works into English himself. He was awarded the 1913 Nobel Prize in literature, and in 1915 he was knighted by the British king George V. Tagore renounced his knighthood in 1919 following the Amritsar massacre of 400 Indian demonstrators by British troops. Some of his more famous works are 'Balaka', 'Sonar Tari', 'Chitali', and 'Gitanjali'. His selected poems 'Sanchaita', and selected short stories 'Galpagucha' were published in India 1966. Two of his songs are national anthem of India and Bangladesh. In 1901 Rabindranath Tagore founded a school at Santiniketan, West Bengal, India, which later developed into an international institution called Visva Bharati, where he tried to revive the spirit of education of ancient India, the famed "Gurukula" system, when students spent their childhood at their teacher's house and studied there.

Turn the wheel ...dammit..

The wheel can turn...but when?

As a young bangladeshi kissed the turf at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff....you could literally feel the energy vibrating through the entire Bangladeshi team..it was a sight to behold..they had played their hearts out..and beat all odds to come out trumps. You could feel the wheel was turning.....
Life ...life is a game of sorts...you win some..you lose some..but..it is important to make winning a habit..and come back stronger on losing..
Till yesterday..I presumed..Sania was just another media hype !! But at the 'Centre court' as she played..there was something..you couldn't help notice...there was this teenager knocking hard on the doors of stardom... If she hadn't played the first set so casually..maybe she would have won..maybe the doors would have opened up faster for her..! But at the end of the high energy drama ..you could feel...you could feel, she would be someone to reckon with..soon...

In our lives, we come across many moments..when we say to ourselves..'Had I put in a bit more effort ...I could have certainly done a lot more better'...Dont you feel that these are ways to spoil ourselves just a little more....! Remarks to console our sorry self...to pity ourselves. Instead..why dont we put in our best at the first oppurtunity! Why don't we say to ourself..'Whatever..I do, I am going to give it my best..each and every time'. Why don't WE ! ...May be this is human nature..

For those looking for some inspiration need not go far beyond Kiplings 'IF'..but..the scenario described is too theoritical to be true. But..if we can put in our best to follow what he says ...then..surely..'Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!' .