The Hindi word for Balance is Santulan, something that is very challenging right now for many of us. Nobody can say I’m exaggerating when I say the world went upside down thanks to COVID-19.

If the first wave wasn’t bad, the second one wreaked havoc and especially in India in recent weeks.

Life became even more bizarre for many of us in Delhi but one soldiered on. My connections turned friends on LinkedIn shared equally upsetting stories about their countries.

We’re all sailing in the same ship, hoping the wind will change and take us in a better direction.

My 2 cents?

Stay positive and strive to find balance – even if it a new balance.

Normal societal and cultural traditions were swept aside during this second wave.

Many of us found ourselves in bereavement without the social support of friends and relatives who would normally be there during the funeral or cremation, condolence visits and the fortnight of rituals that are done to help the departed soul while bringing solace and comfort to the grief-stricken family.

Around that time, I had a chat with a professional who was looking to explore a greater meaning to his life and career.

The great ‘life happens’ had hit him, and all his plans have gone haywire. His Dad had a pain in the side and when they reached hospital, apart from discovering an inoperable problem in the torso area, he’d been diagnosed as having COVID-19 which means no biopsy was possible.

His priorities changed.

While the long-term vision and goal was still there, the focus was on the immediate now and how to find balance between work commitments and family responsibilities.

His story is not unique. Many of us were holding down jobs while looking after family members especially the vulnerable like children and elderly parents. We wondered what would happen next and if we had the resilience to deal with it.

The vaccine arrived but that wasn’t the shield to prevent catching COVID-19. It simply helped to lessen the impact from being a disease to an infection. Even then one couldn’t guarantee one wouldn’t die due to complications.

Like I said, many of us in that situation utilized the Payoff Method to prioritize our tasks and maximize the return on our efforts (read more about it here).

Balance – is it a myth?

If you think about life being balanced, you might envision a seesaw in the position of being directly balanced in the middle with no ups, no downs, and simply managing to stay in the middle ground.

Of course, life doesn’t work like that.

There are ups and there are most certainly downs. Sometimes you might feel as though you just want to jump off the seesaw and lay on the ground for a little while just to gain your equilibrium back.

What does it mean to be in balance, if life has its difficulties?

When you are in balance, you maintain your equilibrium while life’s ups and downs come to visit.

Of course, you go through the various emotions as circumstances both good and not so good work their way through your life.

However, being in balance means you get to choose how long you stay in the down position.

Of course, realistically, you can’t always stay up on the seesaw of life, but you can choose how you feel and what your action steps are going to be while you’re down.

Being in balance means intentionally, no matter how hard it is, choosing how you will show up under any given circumstance.

How do you really achieve balance?

You can achieve balance in several ways:

• Feel your emotions and move quickly through them – it’s perfectly fine to become emotional when the roller coaster of life gets too fast and too furious. Feel what you need to feel but move quickly on to the next step. The next step after feeling is action.

• Choose an action step to recreate the scene. If you’ve lost a job, fire up your resume. If your home needs a repair, start asking family and friends for referrals on contractors. Don’t just sit and stew about what happened but take the appropriate time to recreate what happens next.

• Don’t regurgitate facts and stories repeatedly – the more you talk about what happened, how unfair it was, and what a nuisance it was, the more energy you expend. This energy could be used for better purposes.

• If you find yourself faced with a problem, take the energy needed to create some sort of answer rather than dwell only on the issue at hand. Click the image below to download this worksheet – it will help.

Make a choice and make some change. If you really want to achieve your goals and enjoy life to the fullest, you must choose where your energy will go.

Make a choice that seems best in the moment and follow through with it.

Make a choice with the information you have in front of you and take action steps toward that choice.

And if you feel overwhelmed, use the Payoff method here to reduce the stress and get results.

5 Tips to give you enough energy to get through your day

Finding balance at any time, whether normal, during a pandemic or a world turned upside down requires not only energy but also making sure you have the required energy and don’t end up in burnout.

In other words, store the energy for the time when you need it most.

This energy needs to include all forms in order to help us stay balanced – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

What about you?

Is your typical workday more like a marathon than a short sprint? Has Work from Home and Remote working blurred the lines between work and personal life?

If you have a job with long work shifts—longer than the usual 9 to 5 workday—you’re not alone.

A wide range of jobs, from banking to auditing to IT services and many more, require workers to put in longer than average workdays. That’s a long time to have to be alert and at the top of your game and more so during lockdown.

That was my challenge not only during my Article days in London but throughout my corporate career when an 80+ work week was part of the requirement to climb up the corporate ladder.

I got into Transcendental Meditation which led to my interest in Chakra Balancing other metaphysical techniques. This was way back in 1988 – long before the internet exploded with gurus teaching all types of techniques.

I’ve detailed my techniques which I still use in my book Stress Management with Chakra Balancing Exercises.

But my game plan wasn’t all ‘woo woo’.

I had 5 more areas covered and I recommend you follow these tips.

Tip 1 – Make your sleep non-negotiable.

I’d say get a minimum of 8 hours of sleep but not everyone needs that much sleep. Determine your optimal sleeping time and stick to it. You’ll know what that is if you wake up refreshed in the morning.

Tip 2 – Get some exercise on a daily basis.

Many people have the wrong idea about exercise—they think it’s an energy drainer, and that working out will only make you tired when you’re through. However, the opposite is true!

A fit and active lifestyle that includes plenty of exercise on a regular basis will help kick your metabolism into overdrive and boost your energy levels—perfect for getting through those long work shifts.

Start small—try taking regular long walks and building upon your exercise routine a little at a time. Make sure you have your mask on!

Tip 3 – Eat properly!

Maintaining a regular balanced diet is also a powerful way to keep your energy levels high and consistent—this includes what you eat when you’re off duty as well as on the job.

Make sure that your diet includes plenty of high-quality protein and vegetables, and try to keep processed foods, refined carbs, and sugar to a minimum.

The former helps your body maintain a consistent and reliable level of energy throughout the day while a diet high in sugar and refined carbs (like candy and cola) causes your blood sugar and energy levels to peak and plummet as the day drags on—like a roller coaster.

Tip 4 – Learn to take breaks when you start to feel tired.

Strategic work breaks, even if it’s just for a few minutes to take a deep breath, stretch, and clear your head, can make a world of difference when you’re facing a long work shift.

I make sure that I get up for 5 minutes every hour and walk to the kitchen to get water or do something that gets me away from the computer.

Tip 5 – Store the extra energy you’ve created using meditation for use when you’re hitting a slump using the simple technique called Tan T’ien.

It works for spiritual energy created by prayers too. This post explains the technique.

It can be a real struggle to get through a long work shift and stay alert and at the top of your game—add in all the other things going on in your life that eat away at your time and energy and you may be facing an uphill battle.

It’s even more of a challenge during pandemic times when the world feels it’s turned upside down like the cruise ship in the movie The Poseidon Adventure.

But you can do it! Start with the tip which is easiest for you and build on it.

The bottom line is, you can find balance in a world gone topsy turvy. It means finding your unique equilibrium.

That requires commitment to yourself. Are you ready?

Additional Resource to help with time management and making your life a priority

Do your activities support your major goals? Or do they add to a list of actions that are worthwhile in themselves but don’t provide a respectable Return on Investment (ROI) for the time, money and effort that you apply?

Perhaps it’s time to simplify your Life?

On Sunday evening, I hit the publish button on Amazon. An hour later, Cure Shiny Object Syndrome: The Quickest & Easiest Way to Reduce Spending became a reality.

I finally achieved one of many goals that I had set for myself last year and then Life happened. It forced me to step back and think about what I really wanted. Not only from Karmic Ally Coaching as a business, but also what was important for me as an individual.

It has been a Wakeup Call in many ways and honestly, the Adventure continues at many levels. But writing my 6^th Kindle book was a cherished goal.

That too on a topic that I know many of us suffer from that leads to clutter, wastage of time, effort and money.

80% of the content for this book had been ready way back in June 2017 when it was put on the back burner. I revisited it last week and found I had new insights to offer and took up the project again.

The final version has now seen the light of day and has done well on publication without any great launch or Kindle Promo.

If I’ve learned anything from this particular Wakeup Call, it’s the need to simplify one’s life and stop running after every shiny new deal or object that comes our way.

It’s about priorities and accepting that this too is a moving variable.

You don’t need another Productivity Hack – you need this

The truth is you probably don’t need another productivity hack.

In fact, I’m willing to go out on a limb and say your problem is not productivity related.

If you’re like many of the high achievers that I know, you’re probably incredibly productive.

But you’ve got so many ideas to share and tasks on your plate that you quickly run out of breathing room.

See, the key isn’t to find a way to squeeze more in, or to find “more hours in the day.”

Instead, what you need to do is focus on building a strategy that will allow you to maximize the effectiveness of the things you’re already doing. It means revisiting your tasks and checking if they are really helping you reach your end goal.

Are there any hidden Shiny Objects that need to be banished?

For example, when my recent Wakeup Call happened, I had a hard look at my activities, asking for each one of them if they were helping me reach my goals, whether business or personal or were they simply ‘nice to have’.

Did I really need to sign up for another Marketing or Visibility Challenge? Or any Challenge come to think of it.

Was I chasing the right metrics to determine the ROI on my activities? Or was I caught up in vanity metrics because somewhere I had adopted a herd mentality?

My website ranking dropped from 6,308,085 to 8,304,010. It didn’t bother me because I hadn’t been blogging and have changed my blogging strategy to be 1 or 2 epic well researched post a month.

I know I went MIA on the internet and wasn’t promoting my content. There were changes in search algorithms too which I needed to study.

I realized this was a vanity metric because during the same time, I had professionals join my mailing list and also take up some of my paid offers.

In other words, I was still reaching the right audience and building my tribe which is a better metric to measure.

It also means going back a step and doing some reverse planning and strategizing to figure out your end goal and results.

To quote Stephen Covey, Begin with the end in mind.

My end goal for my website and social outposts is to connect with the right audience where I can be of service and take the conversation to a more private setting like email or conversations.

This will help me identify their Bleeding Neck (better known as the 2 am butterflies in the stomach problem) and show them how to get rid of the painful problem and make progress towards their goals.

That’s exactly what’s happening now and I have lots of new ideas on how I can be of service by zeroing in on specific pain points.

I stopped hanging out so much on Facebook and spending time in Groups because the silent assassin FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) was on the scene.

In fact, I consider the new Facebook Algorithm change a blessing. I’m seeing more of what my friends who are scattered all over the world are doing. They are seeing my updates, especially those that feature the antics of my Furry Muse Miss Coco.

My Facebook Page reach has improved and guess what, so has engagement!

I mentioned priorities earlier and there is 1 more lesson that I learned.

It’s about simplifying life and focusing on what really works for you. Dodge the Guru bullets and give yourself some credit for knowing what’s best for you. Dump the rest of the stuff that clutters your schedule.

Take focused Action now for a simple stress-free Life

This week, I invite you to reassess where you are in term of simplifying your life. Take action with this 3-step approach.

You can watch my short video or if you prefer, read on for the steps.

List your top 4 priorities in your life right now. Are your activities in alignment with these priorities? Drop the ones that aren’t and replace them with ones that are.

List 10 things that are draining your energy in your life. Address one a week for the next 10 weeks. Notice the powerful shift in your energy just by doing this.

Ask yourself with each Activity “How can I make this easier and simpler?”  This in turn can lead to a new question – “Can this activity be eliminated completely?”

I’ve been doing this exercise since the beginning of the year and I’m seeing the results.

Are you game to try it? Remember to share your results with me.

PS. If Shiny Objects are playing havoc with your time and budget, get your copy of Cure Shiny Object Syndrome: The Quickest & Easiest Way to Reduce Unnecessary Spending with additional resources and start taking focused action today!

Sometime back I read an article in the newspaper that said that youngsters spent too much time in the virtual world and especially on social media sites which made it difficult to interact with others in the real world.

I even read about a young girl who took her own life because her parents banned her from spending time on Facebook. It got me thinking about how much social media has become a part of our lives and possibly control of us.

Way back in 2008 when 3 of my closest friends invited me to join them on Facebook, I discovered a tool that helped me to keep in touch with friends despite my hectic work schedule. I also found old school friends right from my primary school days and it was great. I felt reconnected.

Then one of my friend’s posted that she was going into Facebook hibernation. Another said she was closing her account, which she ultimately didn’t because we all raised a hue and cry. Their reason was that they were spending too much time on Facebook and it was affecting their productivity and life balance.

Some of my friends had become so obsessed with Facebook that they were updating it by the minute and expecting comments. I wasn’t seeing them anymore in person but seemed to know everything about them, the minutest detail about their mood swings and in one case even when they were entering the building or leaving it thanks to mobile application.

Of course I was online. I commented, I viewed and sometimes didn’t comment. But I was online. After all, I didn’t want to miss anything. If there was a group called Facebook Anonymous, quite a few of us most probably could have been sponsored!

Was it Fear of Missing Out or Facebook Addiction? 

It was not just Facebook. If I got a message that I had a new follower, I felt the compulsion to log in and say thank you. Was I being tweeted or retweeted? One message and I was running to Twitter to engage. Ditto for LinkedIn.

The number of times I felt the need to check on Facebook, LinkedIn discussions and Twitter for that matter was unbelievable; such was the lure of social media. My moment of clarity was the turning point for me.

I realized that if I didn’t do something fast, Social Media would take control of my life.

In all fairness, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Zoom and Skype have made it possible for us to have discussions and online interactions with dozens or even more people every day.

Used wisely, social media can be a tool which helps us to connect on both professional network sites like LinkedIn and social sites like Facebook. If you are blogging, it facilitates reaching out to a wider audience.

How to fit Social Media into your real-world Life

The dark side is that social media can also take up a lot of your time. In time management lingo, I would classify it as busy time or wasted time depending upon how one uses social media.

From a time management and balance perspective to ensure focus and time for high priority matters, I suggest allocating specific time to social media on a daily or weekly basis. It goes without saying that the time allocation should be when you are actually relaxing or non-productive.

If the self-discipline is a problem, then consider going cold turkey. You will experience withdrawal symptoms depending upon the level of your addiction but you will live.  In either case, it would be good to disable features in your social sites so that notices and messages do not land up in your email inbox prompting a mad scramble to log in and checkout news or post comments.

If you are managing a Facebook or LinkedIn Page or Group, then perhaps timing may be a challenge. Work out a system that will ensure that you are present to engage but not an excuse to loiter around.

A few timely actions and you might find yourself having more phone chats, writing emails and letters or even meeting up with friends a lot more. In any case, real-life relationships are always better than real time ones.

What about you? Have you ever felt that the internet and social media in particular had taken control over your time and life? How did you get out of it? Please do share!

Habits can be hard to change. Are you geared to win this challenge? Find out with Karmic Ally Coaching’s Change Quiz by clicking here or on the image below. You’ll also receive some of my best tips and yes, your email is safe with me!

Written By: Vatsala Shukla

During the Aura session of one of my Creative Visualization Programs, we had a discussion on negative vibrations that some people emit which can bring down our vibration level and affect our ability to attract good abundance into our lives.

One participant spoke about a dear friend whose phone calls meant discussing issues that left the listener drained and low while the friend felt much better- a clear case of low and negative energy being transferred.

Avoiding the friend was not an option although the participant had started to limit the calls. The Group worked on solutions which were effective and today I am going to share one that had consensus and does not require a belief in Law of Attraction or Creative Visualization.

It is a simple way to find and exude happiness around you – The Power of Appreciation.

Focusing on the small things that make Life beautiful

In simple words, practice appreciating all that is good in your life and all that is going well. Appreciate your family, your friends, your job and anything that you know makes your life better because there are many that do not have what you do.

For example, when you receive your pay-slip and notice that there is a higher deduction for tax; appreciate the fact that you have the job and are earning an amount that has moved you to a higher tax bracket. It will put a spring in your step whether you believe that it will attract more money and more tax!

Now think about making your environment more conducive to happiness. When was the last time you said something nice to a family member, a friend or a colleague and really meant it? If you cannot remember, then it is time to do some sincere, genuine appreciation. If you cannot think of anything to say; how about a Thank You? It works too, you know.

The other person feels appreciated and may reciprocate with appreciation or may not. So what? You will feel good for doing well without expecting anything back in return.

If the thought of vocalizing appreciation makes you uncomfortable, then use the Gratitude List to assist in reframing your thoughts.

Some of us, including myself do it last thing at night while reviewing the day. It is interesting how an otherwise bad day could have had something good in it. Positivity reigns supreme and a good night’s rest is assured.

Alternatively, start your day by thinking of 3 things that you are grateful for or which you appreciate.

How about appreciating the fact that you will be driving to work in your car rather than using public transport or appreciating that you got up early enough to read the newspaper or sip the morning tea in peace?

Starting your day with appreciation shifts your mindset into positivity and abundance mode which means you are a happier person and attract more happiness through the course of the day.

Besides, whatever may happen during the day, you can handle it since you got off to a good start.

Better still, take the late Wayne Dyer’s advice:

“Give yourself a gift of five minutes of contemplation in awe of everything you see around you. Go outside and turn your attention to the many miracles around you. This five-minute-a-day regimen of appreciation and gratitude will help you to focus your life in awe.”

Try it for size and remember to come back to this post and share your experience!

Changing a habit or attitude can be daunting at times. How good are you with change management?

Start your journey with The Karmic Ally Coaching Experience  Change Management Quiz by  clicking here or on the image below. It’s on the house!

Written by: Vatsala Shukla

Nice Flower by George Hodan

It’s Friday and the weekend is just a few hours away for most of us. Many of us would already have started preparing a mental To Do List of chores to be done in order to maintain our Work Life Balance.

Some might be thinking that if they go into work on Saturday, then they can tackle the home front on Sunday. Others might be thinking a few hours working from home would do the trick. Sorry buddy, but once that laptop is open, you won’t be logging off soon enough!

Often we want to make our lives more balanced but don’t know where to start. Even realizing that changes are required is a big step but the thought of effort & stepping out of our comfort zone can get in the way. A few changes can make a world of difference.

For those of us who struggle with the perennial problem of Work Life Balance, here are my Top 3 tips to take a step in the right direction. Jump start your efforts to lead a balanced life this weekend!

Protect your “non-work” time

Your free or private time is a valuable asset that you should protect at all costs. This is the time that you utilize in the other areas of your life to find balance & which enables you to function at optimum efficiency at work. When we think about work we usually have certain hours that we have to spend working. We do not even think about other activities at that time. For some reason when it comes to free time we forget how important it is.

Life Balance Tip 1: Turn off your cell phone during the weekends or put it on voice mail.  Consider telling your colleagues that you are not to be contacted unless it is an emergency.  If you work from home then it is vital to designate office area that you should not enter during your “off” hours. When talking to your family members & friends focus on pleasurable topics. If contacting you for a work-related issue is really that important or urgent, people will know how to find you.

Be an example of the changes that you want to see in the ones you love. Lead by example.

You do it as a corporate manager—do it at home! If you want your spouse to start to de-clutter his/her possessions then start by cleaning out your own stuff. Want your kids to spend less time on the internet? Do it yourself first. Follow Gandhi by being the change you want to see. Stop forcing your family members to change but rather show them what a balanced lifestyle is truly about. They will accept the transformation painlessly.

Life Balance Tip 2: Stop complaining but rather appreciate your time with the family. If there is something that you want to change about your loved ones then first consider, what habit can you change that will inspire your loved ones to follow your lead?  Put it down in writing; create the most detailed plan of action that you will stick to. Take time and don’t expect them to go at your speed. 

Create talking time with your family members every day.

Sharing your emotions, daily events, goals, plans or simply discussing the movie that you watched last night is an essential part of any healthy relationship.

Even if you are tired after a long day make some time for your loved ones. And if something is bothering you then tell your loves ones what is going on. Even though your family members know & understand you better than anyone else they still can’t read your mind. If you use dialogue for conflict resolution & problem solving in the office, would it not work on the home front?

Life Balance Tip 3: Don’t wait for Saturday; start talking to your family members. This is a no brainer and doesn’t get simpler. That’s it.

One small step at a time can make a big difference. Start today and I can guarantee that it will make your Life more balanced, happy & accomplished. Use one or use all three tips. Just begin the journey!

Bon Voyage!

PS. Not sure if you have a work life balance issue? How about trying out my Work Life Balance Quiz?  Click the image below. A new window will open and you can take the quiz with no sign up.

PPS. Know you need more balance?

The Conductor Type by Frits Ahlefeldt

For those of us coming from the generation where Madonna sang about getting into the groove to prove your love to someone or even our parents who grew up in the Flower Power Hippy times (and I don’t mean wide hips time) who thought it was uber-cool to be groovy; well folks, they knew how to be in the groove.

Read the papers, attend a few tele-summits or read the About Me page of popular websites –bloggers, coaches, consultants, spiritual healers. You’ll find lots of amazing stories of reinvention.

Wakeup Calls that led to Reinvention

The one factor that’ll comes across is that they have all stated that they suddenly woke up one morning (or less dramatically) to find that they wanted to have a higher purpose.

They questioned the meaning of their life and then went ahead and chucked up their day jobs, stepped out of their comfort zone and went into a completely different line.

They get a lot of media coverage because they have chosen to flee the pack and step out on their own. Some say it is a mid-life crisis, others say the individual has gone nuts. I say, they’ve connected with their inner selves and chosen to live.

They have gotten their groove back.

It’s easy to get caught up in living that life eludes you. And even easier to mortgage your present for a future which never seems to appear.

The decision of the person to make a complete makeover or reinvent themselves doesn’t mean that they do it that very morning when they woke up.

The stepping out into the sunlight is usually well thought out and planned months in advance. We only hear of it when the deed is done.

The moment they are referring to is when they have clarity. When their intuition finally gets their attention/

They connect with their inner wisdom which says,

‘Buddy, you go on this way and you will join the ranks of the living dead. Better write your obituary and leave it in a place where it will be found with a note that the advertising fee of the newspaper has been paid in advance’.

Vatsala’s quick question – How Would Your Obituary Read?

I never endorse draconian decisions without consulting those who will get affected like your family or even employers.

However, I do suggest that you should be aware of yourself and hence practice the art and science of being in the groove.

5 Tips for practicing the science of being in the groove

I have 5 tips that work for getting back on the wagon and into one’s groove. Try 1 or all 5. I promise you they work!

Make yourself Numero Uno

At the end of the day, you may have had an assisted birth, but you will die alone, even if family and doctors are present.

You are your best friend and if you aren’t then MAKE yourself your new best friend. Focus on your needs, eat well, sleep well, exercise well, go for routine checkups (diabetes, depression and heart diseases are not necessarily hereditary). Live a balanced life. Check if you are heading for a burnout with this quick self-assessment.

Make a daily ‘Me Time’ slot in your diary

In other words, maybe half an hour or so when you do only things for yourself.  You could decide not to do anything during me time, but the point is, it’s your time. (Tip: I’ve shared some more ideas for Me Time in my post Can burnout be prevented or treated)

Be realistic

You have 24 hours in a day and there is only so much you can achieve. While setting yourself tasks, ask yourself what tasks are of priority, what timelines are required to complete them, do you need assistance and can it be delegated?

More importantly, does it take you towards your long-term objectives or take you away? Are you doing something because its worthwhile but not that important?

How aligned is your work with your values?

When we do things which are not aligned with our values, it shows. The tasks are mechanical; the passion and inner drive is missing. We lack commitment which makes everything much more difficult.

Review and reassess your priorities and work towards them, not away from them.

Think outside the box

The phrase is well ingrained in corporate lingo and managers expect employees to do it. Parents who want their children to do things do it subconsciously. So why not do it for yourself?

You want to lose weight; you enroll in a gym membership and exercise wit h determination daily for a week and then 5 days, 4 days till you stop it altogether. Why not do different sets of exercises for each day of the week? The trainer would be delighted to work out a plan for you.  You would be exercising without going into a rut. The weighing scales will vouch for your progress.

Need help to get your creative juices rolling for out of the box thinking?

I recommend trying one of these 7 simple tips or downloading my guide on tapping into your imagination (click the image to get it).

Other areas include improving your communication skills, learn the skill of being a good listener, open up to new experiences, learn to say no, set up appropriate boundaries. Be comfortable in your own skin.

You’ll find the exercises in my book Self Confidence in 8 Steps useful for this.

Final Words on being in the Groove

As with all behavioral sciences, these are just the actions you could consider. The list is not exhaustive. The art is your will power, your inner knowledge of what works for you and what doesn’t.

It’s all about you. Know yourself, find ways to rediscover yourself and very soon you will be back in the groove, feeling groovy!

Your turn, how do you make sure that you stay in the groove and operate in your zone? I’d love to read your stories and personal tips in the comments box below!

Vatsala’s update: This blog post was originally written in August 2011 and in fact is the third blog post I wrote. It has been updated for relevance and to provide more value to the reader.

One of the best things about rainy Sundays and waterlogged Delhi is that it compels you to stay at home and look around to declutter your sanctuary. The Friday edition of my subscribed newspaper carried an article on Feng Shui and career progression and spoke of removing clutter to make space for positive Chi.

Not in the mood to declutter physically (where would I put the stuff? Its raining and the ragman must have run home to get away from the torrential rains), I decided to innovate and declutter my email Inbox which with over 5000 emails accumulated since 2005 required some serious positive Chi.

Glad I did because as I pressed the Delete button with glee for emails, jokes and chain letters thinking MORE POSITIVE CHI,  I came across one from November 2009 which got me thinking about how busy we tend to be just living to not take pleasure in what makes our lives meaningful and wonderful to live.

It says the story is true… not sure because I get a lot of true stories and I have a friend who is an expert at  using Google for research  who always finds out that it is a fabricated one. Nevertheless as a friend of almost 2 decades, she never puts me down and always admits that the stories are nice.

So here I share the story inside an email which will not be subjected to the Delete button and ask that you reflect for moment just the way I did.

4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. Several other children repeated this action. Every parent, without exception, forced his or her children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:

The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour: 

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theatre in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story.

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made….

Violinist by George Hodan