Self Reliance - True Story
Once a Tamil writer Lena Thamizhvanan went to London. He was sitting in a park. He
watched a kid riding a bicycle. Due to some problem in bicycle he went straight to ditch
nearby and got scratches and bleeding over his body. The bicycle was also in bad shape
after accident. Writer went to help and asked him to give his hand. This kid replied "I can
help myself". He (was so self reliant that he) didn't want others to show mercy on him.
He took the broken cycle in his hand and went back to his home.
If this guy can do, YOU can also get up from your problems, depression, negative
thoughts etc without any help from outside.
HELP YOURSELVES
Swami Vivekananda quotes on "Help Yourself"
[When a disciple pleaded helplessness, Swamiji thundered:]
What nonsense are you talking? Within you lies indomitable power. Only thinking, "I am
nothing, I am nothing,' you have become powerless.
You do not deserve to live if you cannot help yourselves.
It is diabolism to say, "I am so miserable." Every man has his own burden to bear. If you
are miserable, try to conquer it, try to be happy.
Therefore, stand up, be bold, be strong. Take the whole responsibility on your own
shoulders, and know that you are the creator of your own destiny. All the strength and
succour you want is within yourselves.
It is a tremendous error to feel helpless. Do not seek help from anyone. We are our own
help. If we cannot help ourselves, there is none to help us... this is the last and greatest
lesson, and oh, what a time it takes to learn it!... Just think of that huge mass of misery,
and all caused by this false idea of going to seek for help!
There is no help for man. None ever was, none is, and none will be... But you are spirit.
Pull yourself out of difficulties by yourself! Save yourself by yourself! There is none to
help you - never was. To think that there is, is sweet delusion. It comes to no good.
You may pray to everyone that was ever born, but who will come to help you?... Help
thyself out by thyself. None else can help thee, friend... Get hold of the Self, then. Stand
up. Don't be afraid. In the midst of all miseries and all weakness, let the Self come out,
faint and imperceptible though it be at first.
FACE THE BRUTES
The following incident took place during Swami Vivekananda's wandering days, when he
was staying at varanasi. It conveys a profound message to the world. One day,while
returning from the Durga temple, Swamiji was chased by some monkeys. To save
himself,Swamiji started running, but the monkeys ran still faster and grew increasingly
aggressive. Meanwhile, an old monk who was witnessing the scene called out to him:
'Stop running. Face the brutes.' Swamiji heard his call and turned to 'face the brutes.'
Swamiji drew a great lesson from this incident. He learnt that one should not run away,
when faced with danger or difficulty; and instead, one must face it boldly. In his later life,
addressing a gathering in New York,he said; 'That is a lesson for all life-face the terrible,
face it boldly. Like the monkeys, the hardships of life fall back, when we cease to flee
before them. We have to face fear and troubles and ignorance, if we expect them to flee
before us.
There are a few fortunate souls who are lucky enough to attain success without pitfalls;
the rest have to pass through the hurdles and difficulties. But the real hero is who
welcomes challenges in life and faces them with boldness and courage. Such a person
crossing all the hurdles comes out successfully like a lion.
LANCE ARMSTRONG
When celebrated French cyclist ,Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer
with a 40 percent survival chance and told he'd never be able to cycle again ,his first
thought was ,I'm going to die. On second thoughts ,he decided to fight back and declared
himself a cancer survivor ,instead of a cancer victim.
Later ,when he coughed up blood ,he told himself there was nothing to worry as he'd
coughed up only a little blood .A few years later not only was Lance declared cancer
free ,he even won the Tour de France cycling championship again.
While the doctors found his recovery unbelievable .Lance firmly believed that a mind
that thinks positive can conquer the body.
This story reveals that anything is possible. YOU can do anything. YOU have all the
power inside you to do anything.
Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so.
If there is sin, this is the only sin--to say that you are weak - Swami Vivekananda
You are lions, you are souls, pure, infinite, and perfect. The might of the universe is
within you. Why weepiest thou my friend? - Swami Vivekananda
THE CHAINED ELEPHANT
As I was passing the elephants, I suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge
creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages.
It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for
some reason, they did not.
I saw a trainer near by and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood
there and made no attempt to get away. "Well," he said, "when they are very young and
much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold
them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They
believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free."
I was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because
they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they were.
Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot
do something, simply because we failed at it once before?
It has been said throughout history that what ever you believe, with conviction, you can
achieve. Don't be like the poor elephant and go through your life stuck because of a
limiting belief you were given or developed years ago. Take charge of your life and live
it to the fullest. You deserve the best!
Moral
Failure is part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life.
CONFIDENCE
When Henry Ward Beecher was a young boy in school, he learned a lesson in self
confidence which he never forgot.
He was called upon to recite in front of the class. He had hardly begun when the teacher
interrupted with an emphatic, "No!" He started over and again the teacher thundered,
"No!"
Humiliated, Henry sat down. The next boy rose to recite and had just begun when the
teacher shouted, "No!"
This student, however, kept on with the recitation until he completed it. As he sat down,
the teacher replied, "Very good!"
Henry was irritated. "I recited just as he did," he complained to the teacher. But the
instructor replied, "It is not enough to know your lesson; you must be sure.
When you allowed me to stop you, it meant that you were uncertain. If all the world says,
'No!' it is your business to say, 'Yes!' and prove it."
The world will say, "No!" in a thousand ways.
"No! You can't do that."
"No! You are wrong."
"No! You are too old."
"No! You are too young."
"No! You are too weak."
"No! It will never work."
"No! You don't have the education."
"No! You don't have the background."
"No! You don't have the money."
"No! It can't be done."
And each "No!" you hear has the potential to erode your confidence bit by bit until you
quit all together. Though the world says, "No!" to you today, will you determine to say,
"YES!" and prove it.
ROLE MODEL
A certain king had a son. Although in his late teens, the son looked very small and bony.
His spindling legs, sunk chest, thready muscles and a poor stamina to match, indicated
that he needed help. The royal doctor suggested nutritious food and tonics to vitalise the
young prince, but nothing worked. He still remained weak and under-developed. The
king became very worried and wanted a solution. One day, as good luck would have it, a
wandering monk came to the king's palace. He was given a warm welcome and was
accommodated in the royal guest house. The monk, endowed with a keen power of
observation, soon learnt of the king's worry and offered to help the young prince. He
asked the king to send for the royal sculptor. When the sculptor arrived, the monk asked
him to carve out a statue of a fully grown up, well-built man. He wanted a full-size statue
with perfectly formed muscles and biceps, well expressed in it. The sculptor followed the
instructions and made the statue ready in a short time. 'Look here, young man,' the monk
addressed the young prince, 'you must keep this statue in your room and look at it as
often as you can.' Thus saying, the monk went away. The young prince, having placed the
statue in his room, would look at the statue everyday. When he got up in the morning, he
looked at the statue. As he walked in and out of the room, he looked at the statue. While
sitting, studying, eating, resting, all through the day, his eyes fell on the statue. 'Can I too
have a well formed and beautiful body as this?' the prince asked himself one day. He had
developed a desire to be what he admired. Soon, he learnt how to do physical exercises,
how to lift weights, flex his muscles and follow other related rules of body building.
Within a few months, the skinny, bony, young man was transformed into a strong, well
formed muscular figure. The statue had transformed a weakling into a strong man, just a
statue.
Every field of life, has a statue. A sportsman has his statue, his favorite idol. A cinema
goer, a scientist, a teacher, a politician, an accountant, a driver, even a thief, everyone has
his own statue. The point is not whether you have a statue, but what statue you have.
Does your 'statue' make you a complete human being? Does it take care of all your
needs? That is how one must select one's role model. Once a role model is selected, one
can't help becoming that.
Swami Vivekananda said, 'Take up one idea. Make that idea your life-- think of it, dream
of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body be full of
that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.'
STRENGTH AND POSITIVE ATTITUDE
Sandow is a mighty man of muscle, but a stronger one than he has just made his
appearance in London. His name is Letti, and at a private view he performed remarkable
feats of strength, despite the fact that he does not appear to be gifted with any exceptional
physical capabilities.
Herr Letti is only 5 ft high, weighs 10 st, is 37 years old, a miller by trade, and was born
near Munich. His muscles are quite untrained, yet he lifted a huge anchor on which were
four men, the whole weighing 1500 lbs. He thus beat the world?s record lift of 1100 lbs
by 400 lbs. Not content with this, he tried his strength against a 16 hp motor car, to
which, when the car was going at 35 miles an hour, he was attached by means of a strap.
He stopped the progress of the car immediately, and pulled it back across the arena. Until
six months ago Herr Letti had no idea of his strength; he was never trained, and lives like
an ordinary man.
Herr Letti does not have exceptional physical capabilities as said above. But what made
him do such feat? His positive attitude. He sown positive thought that he can and got
strength. But habit of thinking positive does not come in a single day. It comes by
practice. If you practice positive attitude your life will change.
“Sow a thought, reap an action
Sow an action reap a habit
Sow a habit reap a character
Sow a character, reap a destiny”
‘We are what our thoughts are’
“On the quality of our aim & thoughts, depends the quality of our life”
YOU ARE DIVINE STARS
Swami Vivekananda said: ‘I was once travelling in the Himalayas, and the long road
stretched before us. We poor monks cannot get any one to carry us, so we had to make all
the way on foot. There was an old man with us. The way goes up and down for hundreds
of miles, and when that old monk saw what was before him, he said, "Oh sir, how to
cross it; I cannot walk any more; my chest will break." I said to him, "Look down at
your feet." He did so, and I said, "The road that is under your feet is the road that you
have passed over and is the same road that you see before you; it will soon be under your
feet." The highest things are under your feet, because you are Divine Stars; all these
things are under your feet. You can swallow the stars by the handful if you want; such is
your real nature. Be strong, get beyond all superstitions, and be free’
REFUSING TO ACCEPT FAILURE
Sir Edmund Hillary was the first man to climb Mount Everest. On May 29, 1953 he
scaled the highest mountain then known to man-29,000 feet straight up. He was knighted
for his efforts. He even made American Express card commercials because of it!
However, until we read his book, High Adventure, we don't understand that Hillary had
to grow into this success. You see, in 1952 he attempted to climb Mount Everest, but
failed. A few weeks later a group in England asked him to address its members.
Hillary walked on stage to a thunderous applause. The audience was recognizing an
attempt at greatness, but Edmund Hillary saw himself as a failure. He moved away from
the microphone and walked to the edge of the platform. He made a fist and pointed at a
picture of the mountain. He said in a loud voice, "Mount Everest, you beat me the first
time, but I'll beat you the next time because you've grown all you are going to grow... but
I'm still growing!"
Never mind failures; they are quite natural, they are the beauty of life, these failures.
What would life be without them? It would not be worth having if it were not for
struggles. Where would be the poetry of life? Never mind the struggles, the mistakes. I
never heard a cow tell a lie, but it is only a cow--never a man. So never mind these
failures, these little back slidings; hold the ideal a thousand times, and if you fail
thousand times, make the attempt once more. But if you cannot see that thing which you
like best, and then see infinite life before the soul. Take your time and you will achieve
your end. - Swami Vivekananda
THE AMAZING STORY OF CLIFF YOUNG!
Cliff Young passed away a couple of years ago. But not before he had set some pretty
astonishing records in ultra marathon running.
Every year, Australia hosts an 875-kilometer endurance racing from Sydney to
Melbourne – considered to be the world's longest and toughest ultra-marathon. It's a long,
tough race that takes five days and normally participated by world-class athletes who
train specially for the event. Backed by big names in sports like Nike, these athletes are
mostly less than 30 years old men and women equipped with the most expensive
sponsored training outfits and shoes.
In 1983, these top class runners were in for a surprise. On the day of the race, a guy
named Cliff Young showed up.
What was different about Young was that he was 61 years old and instead of wearing
state of the art trainers and a comfortable t shirt and shorts he showed up in overalls and
galoshes over his work boots.
Everybody thought that it was a crazy publicity stunt. But the press was curious, so as he
took his number 64 and moved into the pack of runners in their special, expensive racing
outfit, the camera focused on him and reporters started to ask:
"Who are you and what are you doing?"
"I'm Cliff Young. I'm from a large ranch where we run sheep outside of Melbourne."
They said, "You're really going to run in this race?"
"Yeah," Cliff nodded.
"Got any backers?"
"No."
"Then you can't run."
"Yeah I can." Cliff said. "See, I grew up on a farm where we couldn't afford horses or
four wheel drives, and the whole time I was growing up-- until about four years ago when
we finally made some money and got a four wheeler-- whenever the storms would roll in,
I'd have to go out and round up the sheep. We had 2,000 sheep, and we have 2,000 acres.
Sometimes I would have to run those sheep for two or three days. It took a long time, but
I'd catch them. I believe I can run this race; it's only two more days. Five days. I've run
sheep for three."
When the marathon started, the pros left Cliff behind in his galoshes. The crowds smiled
because he didn't even run correctly. Instead of running, he appeared to run leisurely,
shuffling like an amateur.
Now, every professional athlete ‘knew for certain’ that it took about 5 days to finish this
race, and that in order to compete, you would need to run 18 hours and sleep 6 hours.
The thing is Cliff Young did not know that!
When the morning news of the race was aired, people were in for another big surprise.
Cliff was still in the race and had jogged all night down to a city called Mittagong.
Apparently, Cliff did not stop after the first day. Although he was still far behind the
world-class athletes, he kept on running. He kept running. Every night he got just a little
bit closer to the leading pack. By the last night, he passed all of the world-class athletes.
By the last day, he was way in front of them.
Not only did Cliff Young run the Melbourne to Sydney race at age 61, without dying; he
won first place, breaking the race record by 9 hours and became a national hero!
Now for the Sydney to Melbourne race, almost nobody sleeps. To win that race, you have
to run like Cliff Young did, you have to run all night as well as all day. And today ultra
marathon runners affect a similar running style to Cliff Young...it saves energy!!
Never be held back by the norm
Never be held back by so called 'correct' beliefs
Create your own reality
Create your own destiny
Be proactive, not reactive
Be the best you that you can be!
if u r down then never get too down,and if u are high do not get too high
nothing in life is bad,everything is there for a Vision not for reason
JUST DO IT by Neil Eskelin/Elbert Hubbard
Author Elbert Hubbard told the story of an incident during the Spanish-American War. It
was imperative that the president get a message to the leader of the insurgents. His name
was Garcia and he was known to fighting somewhere in the mountains of Cuba, but no
mail or telegraph could reach him. Someone said, "There's a fellow by the name of
Rowan who will find Garcia for you if anybody can."
Rowan took the letter without hesitation. He sealed it in a leather pouch strapped over his
heart. He landed in the dark of night off the coast of Cuba and make his way to the
mountains, and after much difficulty, found Garcia. He handed him the letter, turned
around and headed home. Hubbard tells this story in "A Letter to Garcia." Rowan
didn't ask, "Exactly where is he?" or "I doubt if I can do it." There was a job to be done
and he did it.
Instead of making a dozen excuses why you can't complete the task, think about Rowan.
Deliver the goods!
DETERMINATION
Once a big fat Mouse and a lively little Mouse were hopping along together when they
had the misfortune of jumping into a pail of fresh milk. They swam for hours and hours
hoping to get out somehow; but the sides of the pail were steep and slippery and death
seemed to be certain.
When the big Mouse was exhausted he lost courage. There seemed no hope of rescue.
'Why keep struggling against the inevitable? I cannot swim any longer.' He moaned.
'Keep on! Keep on!' urged the little Mouse, who was still circling the pail. So they went
on for a while. But the big Mouse decided it was no use.
'Little brother, We may as well give up' he gasped. 'I am going to quit struggling.'Now
only the little Mouse was left. He thought to himself. 'Well, to give up is to be dead, so I
will keep swimming.'
Two more hours passed and the tiny legs of the determined little Mouse were almost
paralysed with exhaustion. It seemed as if he could not keep moving for another minute.
But he thought of his dead friend, and intoxicated with determination, the little Mouse
kept on swimming around and around the pail, chopping the milk into white waves. After
a while, just as he felt completely numb and thought he was about to drown, he suddenly
felt something solid under him.
To his astonishment, he saw that he was resting on a lump of butter which he had churned
by constant paddling! And so the successful little Mouse leaped out of the milk pail to
freedom.
Arise, Awake and Stop not till the goal is reached - Swami Vivekananda
WILMA RUDOLPH (1940 - 1994) - WINNERS NEVER QUIT
A little girl - the 20th of 22 children, was born prematurely and her survival was doubtful.
When she was 4 years old, she contracted double pneumonia and scarlet fever, which left
her with a paralyzed left leg.
In her autobiography, Wilma wrote, "Every Saturday when I was a kid my mom would
take me on a bus from our home in Clarksville, Tennessee, to a Nashville hospital 60
miles away for treatment on my leg. Then, during the week my brothers and sisters would
take turns massaging my leg. If it wasn't for my family, I probably would have never
been able to walk properly, no less run.
Wilma shed her leg brace when she was 11 years old. She went on to become a basketball
star in high school. Ed Temple, the coach of the Tennessee State "Tigerbelles' track team.
By 13 she had developed a rhythmic walk, which doctors said was a miracle. That same
year she decided to become a runner. She entered a race and came in last.
For the next few years every race she entered, she came in last. Everyone told her to quit,
but she kept on running.
One day she actually won a race, and then another. From then on she won every race she
entered. Eventually this little girl - Wilma Rudolph, went on to win three Olympic gold
medals.
At age 16 Wilma competed in the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics and won a Bronze
in the 4f "100 relay. Four years later she became the darling of the 1960 Rome Olympics
when she won three Gold Medals - in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, and the 4f "100
relay.
If you think about it, Wilma's doctors were right. Wilma was not born to walk. She was
born to RUN!
Next time a so-called expert tells you you can't do something, think again. If it's in your
heart, if you believe it's possible, and if you are willing to do the work, you just might
prove the experts wrong - just like Wilma Rudolph did.
NEVER QUIT - EDDIE ARCARO'S STORY
Eddie Arcaro dreamed of becoming the world's greatest jockey but after watching him
ride a horse for five minutes, reality reflected a harsh contradiction. He was awkward and
clumsy, and in his early years in the saddle he couldn't do one thing right. He was left
behind at the post, he got trapped in traffic jams, he got bumped and boxed in. In his first
100 races he never even came close to winning. Still, he got right back on and tried again.
Even as a schoolboy, Arcaro had set his own track in life. Because he was only a little
over five feet tall and weighed barely 80 pounds, the other students shunned him. So he
played hooky instead, hanging out at the local race track where a trainer let him gallop
the horses. His father reluctantly agreed to let him pursue a career as a jockey, even
though he knew it was a long shot. The trainer had told him so. "Send him back to
school," he said. "He'll never be a rider."
No one was betting on little Eddie Arcaro, no one that is except Arcaro. He was
determined not just to ride, but to become the world's greatest jockey. But first someone
would have to give him a chance. He pleaded and persisted until he finally got to ride in a
real race. Before it was over, he'd lost his whip and his cap and had almost fallen off the
saddle. By the time he finished the race, the other horses were on their way back to the
stables. He'd come in dead last.
After that, Arcaro went from track to track, looking for any opportunity to ride. Finally,
an owner who felt pity took him in and gave him his next chance. One hundred trophy-
less races later, he was still giving him a chance. The trainers saw something in this
unlucky jockey, something they couldn't define. Perhaps it was potential, perhaps it was
resilience, perhaps it was sheer obstinacy, but no one was willing to send him home. And
Arcaro was certainly not going to quit.
There were long years when he was broke, homesick, and almost without friends. There
were also many brushes with death and several broken bones. Every time his delicate 63
inch body was trammeled by hoofs he would get patched up and return to the saddle.
Then it happened. Arcaro began to win...and win...and win...Now, instead of leaving a
path of destruction, he was leaving a path of devastated opponents. In thirty years of
riding, he won 4,779 races, becoming the only jockey in history to win the Kentucky
Derby five times. By the time he retired in 1962 he was a millionaire and a legend in his
own lifetime.
From the moment he walked out of school and onto a track, Eddie Arcaro had his mind
on a finish line. And although the race took thirty years, he never quit until that line was
crossed.
GREAT STORY
One day the cheetah hunting deer in the forest. the cheetah runs fast to catch the deer. but
the deer also fast than cheetah. after some time the cheetah got tired and stop run. after
promising to deer that i am not hunting u,the cheetah asked the deer how can u run fast
than me. the deer said i inspired by u because u can run such a way even for food, why i
can't run fast than u to save my life.
