I know there are lot of my blog readers for whom India is not their motherland. Though this specific post has a reference of India in many parts, but the same learning would apply to any country.
Before we analyze our relationship with our country, let us come down a few levels and try and establish what relationship exists between our own self and our house where we stay and spend most part of our lives. We all love our house. Isn't it? We do all that is possible to keep it neat, clean, tidy and in fact as decorative as feasible. Any slightest untidiness is not what we can tolerate so easily. I asked a very simple question to some of my friends on this topic. I simply asked them why do you love your home so much and why do you keep it so neat and clean? As expected, the answers very varying in nature.
- Some of them said that we love our house because we stay there with our family, and we love our family. We keep it neat and clean because we want to stay in a neat and clean environment, which is less prone to diseases. I agree. Who wants to get sick? Correct.
- Some said that our house reflects our own personality and therefore i want to keep it as neat and clean as i keep myself. Some even reminded me that "Neatness is Godliness". Completely agreed.
- Some even said that there are visitors coming to our house and we do not want them to come and stay in a place which is not healthy enough.
- A selected few even said that the state of our own mind is driven by the state of our surroundings... whether the surroundings are our office or our home. So, if one want to stay in a positive and a clear state of mind, make sure that the surroundings are neat and tidy. Well, quite a good point.
I agree to all of the points above. There were many more answers but the above represents the main summary. Many of you would agree to some or the other point listed above or you may have some of your unique point as well. Whatever be the case, the whole point of discussion is that we consider our house as "our" house and we will do anything and everything to make sure it is in the best of condition.
Let me quickly define a house before moving further.
The most common definition of a house available on the internet is "A place for human habitation, esp. one that is lived in by a small group of people.".
Now if the regular house is for a small family, don't you think that a country serves the same purpose to many families put together. And our planet serves the same purpose for all the countries put together. Then why the hell we cannot take care of our surroundings as we do for our house. Forget about decorating the surroundings, do we even care about not throwing litter on the roads, or if we see litter on the road, do we care to pick it up and throw it in the dustbin? Not always. Why not? Wont we do that in our house? Always.
What stops us from doing the same in our society and country at large as we do in our house as a daily routine. Simple reason - "Whose country is it anyways". Do i really consider my country as "my own" country. May be not in the true sense of it. Well, we do recognize ourselves as citizens of India, but what are our duties beyond that? We keep fighting for our rights, but what happened to our duties? Duties seem to have gone on the back-burner. Before we ask for an explanation from our government on corruption (I know it is our right to ask), did we perform our duty that we ourselves will not support corruption by any means - whether it is giving traffic chalans / tickets, black money for school admissions or whatever area. How many of us would take the tough (but correct) path of not giving black money during our kids admission to school and fighting for his / her admission on merit? Hardly any. Why? Because we feel that is very tough, and if i can afford it, why should i bother? Or may be because we felt that this act is not corruption, or because we were plainly helpless. Or because we feel that we can be corrupt but others should not be. Whatever be your excuse, come out of it !!
Agreed, that our country is faced with multiple challenges today because of which we fail to become the best in the world. But who is responsible for those challenges? Just those few thousand politicians? If that is our thinking, we are grossly mistaken. If a change has to come, it has to come in each one of us. Everyone wants to change the country and the world, but no one wants to change themselves. How will then this change come?
It has to and it will start from each one of us. It will start from me and from you. I will make sure that i treat my surroundings and my society as my own house. Remember that a good intent is very contageous. Change will come if we all agree to the fact that we all need to change, change will come when we take personal responsibility of changing ourselves and through it the entire nation would change. Will it happen overn ight? No. But will it be worth it? Definitely.
Whose country is this anyways? Mine, and i am going to take care of it.
Why am i telling you all this, and what does all this have to do with Financial Freedom. I do not know about any of you because each one of us have different dreams in life. But this has definitely to do something about me. I am going to start this change.. and as i bring this change in my society, i will keep sharing my experiences with all of you. Do i have to change the entire country? No. I have to just change myself and expect that few more people around me (people like you who are reading this blog) will catch the good intent and take this forward. If this starts, it is not difficult to bring the change in the entire nation.
Where does Financial Freedom come into picture in this story? Financial Freedom has now given me the time to fulfill two of my biggest dreams in life... 1. To plant 1 million trees and 2. To educate 1 million under- privileged children. Am i aiming too high? I don't know. But i am going to try it. and if some of you remember from my yesterdays post [Your Dream is Your First Step]...
If the dream is big enough, facts don't count !!
Cheers !!
Manoj Arora
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/RatRaceToFinancialFreedom
Twitter : @manoj_216
Blog : http://ratrace2freedom.blogspot.in/
Before we analyze our relationship with our country, let us come down a few levels and try and establish what relationship exists between our own self and our house where we stay and spend most part of our lives. We all love our house. Isn't it? We do all that is possible to keep it neat, clean, tidy and in fact as decorative as feasible. Any slightest untidiness is not what we can tolerate so easily. I asked a very simple question to some of my friends on this topic. I simply asked them why do you love your home so much and why do you keep it so neat and clean? As expected, the answers very varying in nature.
- Some of them said that we love our house because we stay there with our family, and we love our family. We keep it neat and clean because we want to stay in a neat and clean environment, which is less prone to diseases. I agree. Who wants to get sick? Correct.
- Some said that our house reflects our own personality and therefore i want to keep it as neat and clean as i keep myself. Some even reminded me that "Neatness is Godliness". Completely agreed.
- Some even said that there are visitors coming to our house and we do not want them to come and stay in a place which is not healthy enough.
- A selected few even said that the state of our own mind is driven by the state of our surroundings... whether the surroundings are our office or our home. So, if one want to stay in a positive and a clear state of mind, make sure that the surroundings are neat and tidy. Well, quite a good point.
I agree to all of the points above. There were many more answers but the above represents the main summary. Many of you would agree to some or the other point listed above or you may have some of your unique point as well. Whatever be the case, the whole point of discussion is that we consider our house as "our" house and we will do anything and everything to make sure it is in the best of condition.
Let me quickly define a house before moving further.
The most common definition of a house available on the internet is "A place for human habitation, esp. one that is lived in by a small group of people.".
Now if the regular house is for a small family, don't you think that a country serves the same purpose to many families put together. And our planet serves the same purpose for all the countries put together. Then why the hell we cannot take care of our surroundings as we do for our house. Forget about decorating the surroundings, do we even care about not throwing litter on the roads, or if we see litter on the road, do we care to pick it up and throw it in the dustbin? Not always. Why not? Wont we do that in our house? Always.
What stops us from doing the same in our society and country at large as we do in our house as a daily routine. Simple reason - "Whose country is it anyways". Do i really consider my country as "my own" country. May be not in the true sense of it. Well, we do recognize ourselves as citizens of India, but what are our duties beyond that? We keep fighting for our rights, but what happened to our duties? Duties seem to have gone on the back-burner. Before we ask for an explanation from our government on corruption (I know it is our right to ask), did we perform our duty that we ourselves will not support corruption by any means - whether it is giving traffic chalans / tickets, black money for school admissions or whatever area. How many of us would take the tough (but correct) path of not giving black money during our kids admission to school and fighting for his / her admission on merit? Hardly any. Why? Because we feel that is very tough, and if i can afford it, why should i bother? Or may be because we felt that this act is not corruption, or because we were plainly helpless. Or because we feel that we can be corrupt but others should not be. Whatever be your excuse, come out of it !!
Agreed, that our country is faced with multiple challenges today because of which we fail to become the best in the world. But who is responsible for those challenges? Just those few thousand politicians? If that is our thinking, we are grossly mistaken. If a change has to come, it has to come in each one of us. Everyone wants to change the country and the world, but no one wants to change themselves. How will then this change come?
It has to and it will start from each one of us. It will start from me and from you. I will make sure that i treat my surroundings and my society as my own house. Remember that a good intent is very contageous. Change will come if we all agree to the fact that we all need to change, change will come when we take personal responsibility of changing ourselves and through it the entire nation would change. Will it happen overn ight? No. But will it be worth it? Definitely.
Whose country is this anyways? Mine, and i am going to take care of it.
Why am i telling you all this, and what does all this have to do with Financial Freedom. I do not know about any of you because each one of us have different dreams in life. But this has definitely to do something about me. I am going to start this change.. and as i bring this change in my society, i will keep sharing my experiences with all of you. Do i have to change the entire country? No. I have to just change myself and expect that few more people around me (people like you who are reading this blog) will catch the good intent and take this forward. If this starts, it is not difficult to bring the change in the entire nation.
Where does Financial Freedom come into picture in this story? Financial Freedom has now given me the time to fulfill two of my biggest dreams in life... 1. To plant 1 million trees and 2. To educate 1 million under- privileged children. Am i aiming too high? I don't know. But i am going to try it. and if some of you remember from my yesterdays post [Your Dream is Your First Step]...
If the dream is big enough, facts don't count !!
Cheers !!
Manoj Arora
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/RatRaceToFinancialFreedom
Twitter : @manoj_216
Blog : http://ratrace2freedom.blogspot.in/
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Feel free to ASK.... that is the first step towards Financial Freedom !!