A Winner; Are you?

Life is a long and exciting trip. It takes us to many different places. We watch successful people who were once strugglers as well as people who have the intelligence to succeed but never do. Like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated, 

 "Hard work never brings Fatigue, it only brings Satisfaction."

Certainly, luck has a role, but, we usually create our own bad luck by regularly getting trapped in self defeating attitudes and behaviour.

Here are some of the worst traps or rather the 6 habits of unsuccessful people:

1. Delusional thinking: Unsuccessful people constantly lie to themselves about their own life and why they are there in life instead of achieving their goals and making life better.

2. Punishing friends: Unsuccessful people often have a habit of being friendly and grateful to those who are unhelpful to them and ungrateful to those who are kind to them. The inability to make and keep friends is involved in every failure.

3. Bad manners: Losers are routinely rude. They fail to show up on time, to thank and to apologise when one must. Thus, bad manners guarantee our failure.

4. Bad attitudes: The losers often have a sour pessimistic outlook. They dislike their work. They have a lack of self confidence and a deep rooted belief that they cant do better than what they are doing. They don't understand that this way they are advertising themselves as losers.

5. Needless arguing: Some people like to argue for the sake of argument. People who quarrel like that think that by doing so they can impress others which is wrong thinking.
 

6. Putting first things last: Unsuccessful people CANT set priorities. They never seem to learn that its not a sacrifice to give up things of lesser importance for the things of greater importance. In fact, its a bargain.

Maybe, you and I have some of these habits, But remember, Winners know they can change and they do, always, with time. 

After all, the only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.

 

Darshini Prajapati is a Third Year Bachelor of Arts (TYBA) student in Mumbai's Mithibai College. She has selected Sociology as her major graduation subject. Darshini likes reading, trekking and enjoys going on hikes. Darshini is still searching her dreams for her future life ahead. 

Pursuit of Happiness

I was introduced to VYF through The NSS Unit of my college. Despite being actively involved in various activities with NSS; I was still in search of a platform where I could reach out to the unprivileged section of society and do my bit for uplifting and developing society. Vivekananda Youth Forum, proved to be the perfect platform for me.

It wouldn't be wrong to say that I've learned more than all I've taught.

Since the first day of volunteering at VYF, I've been attached to all  children as well as fellow volunteers. VYF is a place where I learn't how to adjust to various situations. It has also helped me overcome certain hurdles.

For instance, being a non-Maharashtrian, I wasn't comfortable  teaching students from Marathi medium schools but I soon realised this wasn't really a hindrance. One day a student  came up to me and asked me to teach him Maths. Maths being my favourite subject I couldn't say no to him and I tried my best to teach him and give him whatever knowledge I could with the help of diagrams and tables.

The next week the same student  came up to me and asked me to teach him Maths again. I was so happy that I was successful in transferring the little knowledge to him in spite of the language barrier. Although I think it was also because the child's willingness to learn and his determination. The kids at VYF have curiosity to learn and that is what keeps me going. I like teaching them  in new and innovative ways. 

We celebrate all festivals together and kids learn the importance of  festivals through beautifully illustrated power point presentations. We even visit Chembur Children's Home (An orphanage in Mankhurd) every Diwali and Christmas and decorate their premises, play games with them and distribute food.

VYF taught me a very valuable lesson in life that when we indulge ourselves in positive activities, our environment and life eventually becomes positive.

VYF is family now. All the Didi's, Bhaiya's and kids are in a constant process of development and growth.

Rishabh Khaneja is a first year student of Mumbai's Mithibai College Of Arts. He is pursuing Bachelor of Arts with the subjects: Economics, Psychology and Sociology. He loves all the three subjects and wants to major in either Economics or Sociology. After his graduation, Rishabh wants to apply for Teach for India's 2 year fellowship and prepare for  MBA as well. He is fond of reading, travelling and music. Rishabh wishes to travel to all the states of India on a bike and then write about his experiences in a travel blog of his own. He is learning how to play the guitar and he loves to listen to rock and classical rock music. He is optimistic in life and always deals problem with a positive mindset. Rishabh believes that a happy life is a successful life.

Hopelessly Hopeful

Hope is faith in a theory that things can happen if they are expected and believed in.
Remember in ancient Greece? Hope was the only spirit that was left after Pandora opened the “Box”. According to the myth, all misfortunes and grievances would escape the box and become a part of human life. Hope was the only thing present in the box which guaranteed that in all cases, circumstances humans have hope regardless of difficulty or situation. Hope is what keeps people going under harsh conditions and crucibles.
Inspirational stories of Nick Vujicic, Oprah Winfrey, Jessica Cox, Sean Swarner and hundreds more have proved to the world time and again that one should never lose hope.

The beginnings are always the hardest and once you are brave enough to step forward; there is nothing that can stop you from achieving what you begun. If someone is almost certain there is no way to succeed at something, and they manage to beat the odds, their hope bursts into a pleasant surprise. Hope helps people live. It's being able to see that there is light, despite of all the darkness. In times of darkness, you are trapped in your own fear and worries unless you have hope. It is a refuge from fear and terror. A shield that blocks your fear or thought of unlikely odds as a ray of light coming from never-ending darkness. The expectation for a better life or friendship despite unfortunate circumstances is hope. It's an expectation, maybe a desire for a family, love, to find the true meaning of life or maybe to prove that good always wins, but it all boils down to that one word: HOPE. It's this optimism, which propels you forward after falling and that something which gives promise for the future. Hope gives people a chance to live, enjoy and appreciate their lives despite struggles that are constant in reality.
Umberto Eco has aptly stated, “Often the object of a desire, when desire is transformed into hope, becomes more real than reality itself. “

Have Hope, Be Strong, Laugh Loud, Live and play hard in the moments, Smile often, Dream big and Be happy.

Hello from Anuj Tosniwal !

I have spent my childhood in Surat, a city in Gujarat, India; currently I’ve moved to Mumbai for higher education.  I have completed my SY BCom from Mithibai College, Mumbai and in a couple of months will step into my last year of Graduation. Alongside, graduation I am also pursuing a post graduation course. I wish to become either a social activist or start up my own Event Management firm. Being inclined towards social service I am a member of my college’s NSS Unit. It is also the reason of volunteering with Vivekananda Youth Forum (VYF). I love to play football and basketball (Played at State levels). I also like to participate in events so have volunteered at various college festivals and I am a member of the Mithibai Cultural Team. My Dad is my role model, my inspiration, my first Guru.

A WORD OF GRATITUDE

Hi everyone!

It’s extremely overwhelming as a volunteer to have a site where we can post our thoughts and our ideas. I am very grateful to the Vivekananda Youth Forum for considering and giving equal importance to the growth of their volunteers. Vivekananda Youth Forum has been a life changing experience.  It has not only helped me to widen my horizons but has helped me to serve my society in a better way. It has given me a lot of opportunities to interact with different kinds of people and has helped us to learn and evolve as a better person. While volunteering at Vivekananda Youth Forum I have learnt that each and every individual has the power and capacity to bring a change provided he or she has the will to do so. I’ve learnt that we must transform our obstacles into opportunities because there is nothing impossible or unachievable in life. It requires compassion and a vision along with the willpower and dedication for one to succeed in life. I would like to quote one of Swami Vivekananda Ji’s quotes “Arise! Awake! And stop not until the goal is achieved”.

I was introduced to Vivekananda Youth Forum through a couple of my friends who are a part of the NSS unit of Mithibai college. I was an ordinary student of Mithibai College who’s willing to pursue psychology, however, after coming in contact with Vivekananda Youth Forum I realised that none of us are ordinary. Each one of us is special and blessed; it’s just that we have been blessed in different ways and we must appreciate our uniqueness and our blessings.  I am grateful to my friends for introducing me to such an outstanding organisation where we not only educate children but also spread smiles on hundreds of faces through our work. I have always enjoyed interacting with kids as this interaction has given me immense amount of satisfaction. I always wanted to spread awareness and contribute to the progress of my country which is only possible through education. I believe that education has the power to not only eradicate poverty, corruption, unemployment, child labour and numerous evils but also inculcate humanity and compassion within people. I believe learning gives rises to creativity and creativity thus helps one to think in a better way and thus the ability to think appropriately helps on to be knowledgeable. 

Mitali Madhyani is a second year Arts student at Mumbai suburban’s Mithibai College. Mitali aspires to make a career as a Clinical Psychologist. She loves to cook, paint, dance and read. Her interests have lead to her strong belief that art besides being a stress buster is an excellent medium to express one’s ideas and emotions. Mrs Sudha Murty, Nick Vuijic, Mother Teresa are some persons whom Mitali has tremendous respect. She values all people who have contributed in the betterment of society and people all over the world. Mitali lives her values by Volunteering with various organisations. The above is her view on her Volunteering experience at VYF.