It Is Better To Give Than Receive- Narayanan Krishnan One Of CNNs Top Ten Heroes Of 2010

In the Bible (Acts 20:35) it is said that "It is more blessed to give than to receive", but most any one with a spiritual nature knows this to be true. Most every religion encourages the act of giving, and although it's lovely to be on the receiving end of gifts, in whatever form those gifts might take, it's an even greater high to be able to give to others. The act of "giving" can take many different forms- from monetary donations and gifts of kind, to the gift of time. Some people practice this on an occasional basis, whereas others make it their life's work.

Take award-winning Indian chef Narayanan Krishnan who chucked his bright future after a short visit to his home town before returning to Europe:

"I saw a very old man eating his own human waste for food," Krishnan said. "It really hurt me so much. I was literally shocked for a second. After that, I started feeding that man and decided this is what I should do the rest of my lifetime."

Krishnan was visiting a temple in the south Indian city of Madurai in 2002 when he saw the man under a bridge. Haunted by the image, Krishnan quit his job within the week and returned home for good, convinced of his new destiny.

"That spark and that inspiration is a driving force still inside me as a flame -- to serve all the mentally ill destitutes and people who cannot take care of themselves," Krishnan said.

Shortly thereafter, he founded his Akshaya Trust foundation, and since 2003 has dedicated his life to feeding the predominately elderly and mentally ill poor within 125 miles of his home town. Truly selfless, Krishnan and his foundation survive on donations and a pittance of rent he gets from a home he was given by his grandfather. He does not pay himself, sleeps in the kitchen with a few other co-workers, and survives with help from his parents, who initially balked at his new career choice.

"They had a lot of pain because they had spent a lot on my education," he said. "I asked my mother, 'Please come with me, see what I am doing.' After coming back home, my mother said, 'You feed all those people, the rest of the lifetime I am there, I will feed you.' I'm living for Akshaya. My parents are taking care of me."

Krishan was nominated for- and won -one of CNN's Top Ten Heroes of 2010. And well deserved. If you feel like donating to his foundation you can donate via Paypal , or perhaps this will inspire you to donate to some organization that helps the poor in your home town.

What I admire most about Krishnan, however, is the fact that he is not only feeding the poor with food to sustain them, he is also providing them with love. Feeding Souls is as important as feeding mouths. I also love the fact that all donations go directly to helping the poor and not to administrative costs, including the huge salaries that some CEOs at charitable organizations often get. Bravo Krishan, may your organization grow and prosper.



Source: CNN

Giving Thanks On Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving isn't just a time to gorge on Turkey or Tofurkey along with all the various fixings that are part and parcel of the autumnal harvest celebration. Yes, it's wonderful to spend time with family and friends munching on all the yummy dishes we come to expect- the yams, the cranberry sauce and stuffing, the mashed potatoes, the pumpkin and apple pies. But we should also take stock of the blessings in our lives, be they few or abundant. There is always something to be grateful and thankful for, whether it's having a roof over our heads and food on the table, or a job, or good health, or the fact that we are alive.

I wish you all a bountiful and blessed Thanksgiving in the company and warmth of good friends and family.

Recipe For A Disastrous Life- What you cook up in your mind you create

RECIPE FOR A DISASTROUS LIFE

1 cup of Negativity

1 cup of Lack of Faith

3/4 cup of Fear

1/2 cup of Doubt

1/4 cup of Resentment

4 heaping teaspoons of Jealousy

A dash of Regret

In the Bible's 'Book Of Proverbs', Chapter 23, Verse 7, it was written "As A Man Thinketh In His Heart, So Is He". James Allen, back in 1902, wrote a short essay entitled "As A Man Thinketh" which was inspired by that biblical verse. Many other spiritually enlightened individuals have also spoken about how our thoughts create our reality. In other words, if we continuously allow all the negative emotions and thoughts that inevitably arise within our minds on a daily basis to sit there and fester, we will only attract negativity into our lives. There is no way we can prosper, on any level, with negativity clouding our hearts and minds; and there is absolutely no way GOD can work through our lives with that darkness hanging over us.

With our day to day challenges, and particularly in these hard economic times, it can be very difficult to maintain a positive attitude. When we lose our jobs and can't pay our bills, or we have health issues that seem insurmountable, it's of tantamount importance to ramp up the faith factor even more. As hard as it might be to think positively while struggling through the storm of life, we must force ourselves to change the negative thoughts that slam into our minds like a hurricane, into positive ones. But it won't help if we just simply pay lip service by changing a negative to a positive, we must truly believe what we are affirming. Affirmations, of course, are a start, but we must change our whole mindset from one of lack and limitation to one of prosperity. Of course, prosperity means different things to different people; for me, the most important things one can have are shelter, food on the table, the love of friends and family, and good health to enjoy life. The rest is icing on the cake.

We need to remove all negativity in our lives, which means eliminating- fear, doubt, lack of faith, resentment, jealousy, regret, judgement, worry, anger. These things act as major impediments to a fruitful, joyous life.

Thought in the mind hath made us. What we are
By thought we wrought and built. If a man's mind
Hath evil thoughts, pain comes on him as comes
The wheel the ox behind . . . If one endure in purity
of thought joy follows him as his own shadow - sure.

To download Allen's e-booklet for free, click here. Or to read it on-line, click here.

Lala The Penguin Pet

This is one to make you smile.

On Unconditional Love- GoD and DoG by Wendy J. Francisco

Unconditional love. Not many of us know what that truly means. We often 'love' others with conditions. We expect them to love us in return and often punish them when they don't. Unconditional love is loving someone without conditions, pre-conditions or obligations, and is not something that comes easily to us humans. Two great examples of unconditional love are GOD and dogs, and Wendy J Francisco has penned a lovely little song about just that. She explains here how she came up with the idea for the song. Someone apparently claimed it was blasphemy to compare God with a dog, but that's really not her point, as she explains and as I understood it.

I think it's just a wonderful example of how important it is to be forgiving and unconditional.

The Best Way Out is Through | The Best Way Out is Always Through Movie

This is a great video about the power of perseverance. It's not about perfection it's about persistence. Enjoy!

The Best Way Out is Through The Best Way Out is Always Through Movie

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers day to all you mamas out there, whether you're a mama of a human or pet, hope you had a wonderful one.

Love this video. Perfect for Mothers Day. Sometimes animals have more nurturing instincts than some humans.



Crossposted on Confessions Of A Closet Republican

Inspirational Animals: Ricochet The Surf Dog

Humans aren't the only ones with the power to inspire. Animals can be just as inspirational, helping us to see things we might not ordinarily see.

The following video demonstrates how one dog, Ricochet, who had been trained as a 'service' dog from birth to help people with disabilities had to be released from the programme because the trainer was unable to control her bird-chasing instincts. Initially a disappointment to the trainer, she decided to focus on what Ricochet was good at- which just happened to be surfing. So Ricochet uses those talents for fundraising events and has even surfed with quadriplegic surfer, Patrick Ivison. Ricochet has raised a lot of money for various causes.

Her success just proves that if given the right direction and encouraged enough, even if it's not what we planned or others planned for us, we can excel at anything.

Grab your tissues.