Kanan Jaswal's Thoughts for the Days of June 2020

01 June:     We should never let those for whom our best is not good enough disparage our performance and discourage us.

02 June:     I may not like your face but if I reject your considered opinion only because of that, I have just denied myself an opportunity to learn and grow.

04 June:     You are living your life well if you are able to find a new best in you everyday.

05 June;     Kanan Jaswal's Thought for the Coming Twenty years:

Unless democracies unitedly fight, burying differences on trade and ultra civil rights, and defeat communist China and crusading Islam, they will become, one by one, China's colonies or Islamic Republics or both, like Pakistan.

06 June:     Knowledge is power, it is said. But it is power only for those who readily share it with as many as possible.

07 Jun:     Kanan Jaswal's Thought for Now and for Ever:

India's soul always was, is, and will always remain saffron. It is time we Indians stopped being diffident about this immutable truth, and proclaimed it to the entire world, and, more so, to ourselves.

08 Jun: No nation, no society, not even an individual, has achieved greatness without discipline. Also, it is beyond debate that self-discipline is the best and most dignified form of discipline. Presuming we want greatness, the choice is very clear.

09 Jun:     Kanan Jaswal's Four Steps to Excellence: 1. Decide what is the most appropriate thing to do at this time. 2. Create the best possible conditions for doing that. 3. Do that mindfully in the best possible way. 4. Repeat the above three steps until it becomes a habit.

10 Jun:     Kanan Jaswal's Thought for the Present Times:

Both formal and informal leaders should create an environment in which society and the entire system of governance, including police, would have greater empathy and all citizens would feel more responsible for themselves and their families, and would truly and rightly believe that they have a very high stake in the nation's well-being.

11 Jun:     Not even your worst enemies can stop you from making friendsj with them in the privacy of your thoughts.

12 Jun:     To uphold our values and for the good of those we care for, we should not shy away from taking absolutely necessary but hard and unpleasant decisions. After all, life is not just a party on the beach.

13 Jun:     In these novel corona virus times, it should be our constant effort that social distancing does not become mental or emotional distancing. In fact, we should use this crisis to progress to a much closer-knit society.

14 Jun:     We should not worry about how to enlarge the circle of our influence. We only have to enlarge the circle of our concern and empathy, a bigger than before circle of influence will follow almost as a corollary. 

15 Jun:     Happiness is doing the best under our circumstances, and great happiness is striving to change the circumstances for the better. 

16 Jun:     In pitch dark, we can just close our eyes and reopen after half a minute or so, and voilà, we are able to see better! Can we not do something logically similar to find our way out of deep depression? 

17 Jun:     Our actions in accordance or not with our words define us, not only to others but also to ourselves. We are our external and internal credibility, no more, no less! 

18 Jun:     Life has no certainties in it but we can develop one certainty in ourselves that whatever situation we are faced with, we shall deal with it mindfully, unflinchingly, and energetically.

19 Jun:     Integrity is the highest virtue, and the best part of this is that anyone and everyone can climb this Everest. 

20 Jun:     Having done your best, do not worry if you could not better yesterday's best; occasional plateaus, even dips, do not matter if the long time graph is going up.

21 Jun: Not owning our mistakes and not apologising for them as soon as we come to now of them means we are intellectually dishonest and we are not interested in our own growth as a human being.

22 Jun: Only doing the right things and doing them the right way can get us where we want to reach.

23 Jun: The international space station is a castle in the air, a castle, in fact, in the space's unforgiving vacuum. What impossible, then, we, ourselves, are going to make possible?

24 June: Ride the wind, the Arabs say, but to be able to do that, you have to keep your sails always in good repair.

25 Jun: About 2600 years ago, Lord Mahavira, 24th and last Tirthankara of Jainism, had given 'Live and let live' to the world. Now, we should make this great precept more caring and inclusive, and practice and propagate 'Live, let live and help live!' 

26 June:     If you were not born with a sense of humour, develop one! Because it will win you friends and will even help you escape from a difficult situation with that shirt still on your back.

27 Jun: The world is waiting to appreciate and applaud the best products of your talent and diligence. Remember, though, it is not going to wait endlessly.

28 Jun: We can not ever become all-knowing or all-powerful but each one of us can become all-honest. Come on, then, what are we waiting for? 

29 Jun:     If you must, celebrate someone's integrity, not their intelligence. Because, if born intelligent and generally well-fed, one can't ever stop being intelligent, but integrity has to be cultivated by practising it every waking moment. 

30 Jun:     Our life is a gift from our parents, and making it worthwhile is the only way we can ever make a return gift to them.