Women role in today’s Economy

Women have moved into the workforce in an unmistakable wave. In modern societies today, many of them bear the dual burden of managing a home and career. The infrastructure necessary to help them: crèches, dependable childcare, help from husbands, gadgets to make housework easier, is not yet in place. This generation of transitional women is at high risk from heart disease, particularly during the menopausal years. Statistics show that women have fifty per cent chance of dying of heart disease, ten times higher than their risk of dying by breast cancer.

Dual responsibilities have reduced the woman’s capacity to perform her role of a primary caregiver. Her ability to absorb and reduce tensions has been greatly compromised. A common response is the super-mom syndrome. This is a woman who feels that she can be a super career woman and a super-mom. Maintaining this dazzling image can have a damaging impact on the overall health of women in this transitional era. Only joint efforts by the couple and the involvement of elders and the extended family, or community support can adequately fill this gap. To succeed today, women have to look like a woman, think like a man and work like a dog. It is a challenge all women have to meet and survive to enjoy success.

The Happiness Quotient Killer

Stress is destructive. Stress is ageing. Stress is a killer. Thirty-six chemicals pour into the blood—lethal chemicals like adrenaline and histamine. Blood rushes through the heart, blood pressure and pulse rates shoot up. The rate of breathing increases. The body gets ready to fight or flee. Digestion is switched off. All parts of the brain, except the primitive ‘lizard brain’, are switched off.

The force of blood-flow in an enraged person causes minute tears in the tender fabric of the arteries. Fatty deposits find a convenient place to park themselves to repair the tears, and cholesterol, the plaster of paris of the body, slowly builds up to occlude the artery. Soon the tender flexible artery becomes stiff and hard, preparing the stage for a heart attack.

The good news is that there is hope at the end of the tunnel as people are becoming aware of the stress epidemic and are making conscious choices to not to become just another statistic. A fundamental shift in leisure time and spending priorities has taken place in recent years. This includes higher budgets for movies, personal fitness, meditation, holidays, adventure sports and fine arts. You have a much better chance of doing what you love as an artist, sportsman, musician or film maker today than ever before. Meditation and pranayama provide a way of reducing the automatic and violent reactions to stress. You can actually control autonomous systems like heartbeat and pulse rate, which were thought to be outside the individual’s control.

Music – Stress Reliever

Music has the power to purify the emotional field like nothing else.  Pranayama helps you sing without losing your breath. The mindspace becomes sweetly harmonious and no harsh words can be spoken there. Here is a quote from Rabinranath Tagore’s Geetanjali:

“I touch with the edge of the far-reaching wings of my song, thy feet which I could never aspire to reach”.

Every day we should choose the sounds that allowed into our field. Perhaps we could set a song for the day in our mind. Those who met us would see the sparkle of that song in my eyes and feel the rhythm of its harmony in our limbs. Why should we allow foul language into our mind?

‘Shabdh or sound is Vani Saraswathi, the Goddess of Learning. Words are sacred to her. Choose to say beautiful words, to hear lovely words. Banish harsh, angry and foul language from the inner spaces of your heart. A sure happiness killer is stress, hence beware of it. 

Sustainable Environment

You can create a sustainable environment around you. This happens when you treat the Earth like a friend. Replace whatever you take from her with love. We need to stop doing many things to achieve a sustainable, clean environment. No Plastic bags, no empty shampoo sachets. Carry a cloth bag.

Each of us has a personal responsibility to fulfill. Each of us has a personal duty to do something to spread the message. Use all communications for life changing, life affirming activities, Stop complaining. Do…do Something.

The Carbon footprint is measured by the CO2 or other greenhouse gases created by an object, person or action. Each of us needs to aim at a lower carbon footprint. MCAfee estimates that 78 percent of all incoming e-mails are spam. 62 trillion spam messages are sent every year! The turning point is here. If we do not read the warnings, revolution is at our door. Let us not be caught unawares. We can still save planet Earth ourselves by being proactive.

Buying Happiness

You can buy happiness by spending your money using these seven principles:

 Spend on experiences instead of things: holidays instead of jewels, movies instead of curios

2.      Spend on small every day pleasures, instead of saving till you are blue in the face, to buy the one, huge, dream house. Do not ignore the roses and the chocolates. Drink that great cup of coffee and wear great clothes.

3.      Don’t spend a lot on long term warranties.

4.      Pay now and consume later. Anticipation helps you enjoy the pleasure twice. Waiting for a time share holiday, planning your monthly movie or weekend getaway, adds to the joy.

5.      Look into details before making big investments.

A house on the beach, sounds good on paper. But if the traffic jams are terrible, you have to drive there, pay for the security and the caretaker, then think again.

6.      Avoid comparison shopping and keeping up with the Joneses.

7.      Spend on others. It will make you happier.

Life –Ultimate Class Room

We have so much waiting for us. Each of us comes into the world with a need to learn many things. Life is the ultimate classroom. Each of us has different problems to solve, tests to pass. Events will swirl around us uncontrolled, regardless. Our response is something we can control. Choose to say beautiful words, to hear lovely words. Banish harsh, angry and foul language from the inner spaces of your heart. Perhaps you could set a song for the day in my mind. Those who met us would see the sparkle of that  song in our  eyes and feel the rhythm of its harmony in my limbs. Why should we allow foul language into our mind? 

Power of Potential

Like a lighthouse throwing its beam on unexplored secret terrains, think deeply about  yourself than ever before to explore real power of your potential.  Just find time for more “flow” activities. Activities that fill your with bliss, like dancing, painting, singing, gardening, cooking, etc. Rediscover the sports you once loved, which made you feel vitally alive. Everyone on the earth is given only twenty-four hours, use them wisely so that you have more life in your years.

Music has the power to purify the emotional field like nothing else.  The mindspace becomes pleasant and only positive words are spoken there. Choose to say beautiful words, to hear lovely words and think positively. Each of us comes into the world with a need to learn many things.  Life is the ultimate classroom.