If God doesn’t change the situation, He changes us for the situation.
6:54 AM Posted by Unknown
We have fire in our hands, dreams in our hearts, and no concept of
limitation in our heads. And so we live.
We don’t have to wait to until we get burned. We can confess our limitations and the limitations of the things we have, the money we’ve earned, the stuff we’ve acquired. We can be honest and admit that a car will not make us invincible in bad weather, that a security system will not prevent a break-in, that a good investment strategy can’t guarantee retiring as a millionaire. All these things are good, and they increase the probability of your desired outcomes. But they make no absolute promises. The simple act of acknowledging that can free you from a reliance on the wrong thingsTo confess our limits, to surrender our dreams and embrace the ordinary, to hold power loosely and even turn down the chance to gain more—these are unlikely, uncommon spiritual disciplines that can help us remain God-dependent even in the midst of plenty. ~Glenn Packiam
Of late God has been dealing with me intimately and giving
me lessons that I wouldn’t learn otherwise. He was showing me, my own limitations
to myself. (Though at times I tend to believe in “All is possible”, “Unlimited
Potential” Bla bla bla) Its illusion.
Now I want to tell my blog readers few things..
- The things I was passing through in life revealed things about-me to me which is already known to GOD. The more I know my limitations; my dependency on Him grew. Often times the areas I think I’m good at got tested through circumstances and I realize i might be good at it but not that good. And that is why I need God. I found the trial of my faith as precious.
- If you think you won’t go through what other people go through. It might even make you arrogant. But when a time comes and stuffs hit you flat on your face, and bring you down on your knees. Now I understand God made me limited so that I couldn’t praise myself. Sometimes when I pray I say “God, Why did I go thought that? How come this part of my life doesn’t line up with that part of my life? Why didn’t you fix this?” The lesson for me is when I’m limited I lean on Him. When I am limited i depend on him. Because when I come out of this season He doesn’t have to be worried about me being arrogant/prideful because i know that if it has not been for the Lord I wouldn’t make it. That is why I wouldn’t look down on anybody.
- We all have to learn about dealing to delayed gratification. Slowly but surely God blesses us in His time.
Sachin’s 100th Century.
10:46 PM Posted by Unknown
If you don’t have few minuites, please don’t feel obligated
to read this long post
Sachin’s 100th Century.
Me
and my dear-friend (& Co-founder at FlyingCocoon) Joshua Chris were having
coffee at regular venue (Beyond Coffee) We get a coffee time pretty much most
of the weekdays when he isn’t in Bangalore. He loves Cricket. So i knew today’s
discussion point was somewhat important and relevant to what we’ve been going
through as partners for quite sometime. He shared an article with me that was
written few days back on yourstory.in about Sachin’s 100th century miss
and Nation’s anticipation. (Josh usually says, we don’t always get what we
want. We get only what God gives directly proportional to what we are capable
of) i’ll probably write about this another day. In general I love Joshua’s
insight on things, i don’t remember a single day i wasn’t inspired by him over
three years+ of our friendship. (though i’ve many good friends I can count on
for advice) He’s ONE person i know who connects with me in different level, may
be its because He understands technology, business and has balanced spiritual
life too. I learn a lot from him.(I hope he’ll learn few things from me too)
Coming
back to the article i mentioned he shared with me, the author talks about three
main focus points
1. You never know what’s going to happen next minute – Sachin has reached 100′s so easily till last year and since last 8 months it’s been such a struggle repeating the same thing. There are phases in your startup journey when all is going great and then the landslide starts but that doesn’t mean the commitment is low or you are doing something wrong. It’s just that you need to continue and stay put and pass the phase. I am sure Sachin will get his 100th century soon if not today some other day, and I think that’s the level of confidence and self belief that needs to be there.
2. New Day is always a new day – In last so many occasions we have seen Sachin play well and cross 50 but when he comes the next day the landmark seems to elude him. In a startup a new day is a new day. You got to start afresh, forget the good and bad of the last day and focus on what’s on hand.
3. Focus – We have seen so many startups starting wonderfully well but losing focus mid way especially when the BIG THING is nearing. Much like Sachin going just 6 runs away from what could have been a great great innings, slight loss of focus can lead to a sudden downfall in the fortunes of a startup.
For a young entrepreneur
like me who is trying to make it work
with unrealized ambition and probably with lots
of bills to pay. Josh had a bit of his
own commentary on top of the article I shared above. He said Just like sachin No matter how successful we become,
life always shows up with a surprise and mystery. Its in a times like this our faith will be
tested. Emmy when you find you self in this spot remember your faith is on
trial, but you've got a good lawyer. A person who pleads your case in heaven. He continued talking but I stopped listening
and went in to my own thoughts. Suddenly all my
previous small and big achievements & failures started to mean nothing in
the face of whats ahead of me and whats possible, its just like Sachin’s
failure at his 100th century. Previously I’ve tried and tried more to
get things back to the perfect track but i found it an uphill to get my way,
the way I want it.
“I
wanted the gold, and I sought it;
I scrabbled and mucked like a slave.
Was it famine or scurvy—I fought it;
I hurled my youth into a grave…”
I scrabbled and mucked like a slave.
Was it famine or scurvy—I fought it;
I hurled my youth into a grave…”
“Yet
it isn’t the gold that I’m wanting
So much as just finding the gold.” -Robert Service,
So much as just finding the gold.” -Robert Service,
Before my graduation i had to
work for internship for three months. At the office i worked in people loved
me, i was the youngest and nerdy and geekiest chap around so they wanted me to
say longer (i too wanted to stay because I was learning a lot in that environment)
And i ended up working there for a year. Last week I was immersed in deep five
years old nostalgia while i stumbled at the recommendation letter i received
from the CEO when i resigned. In those days I had all the energy, regularly
over-night i used to crush in the office on my desk. I ate on computers, breath
computers dust, slept on keyboard. I massaged(scratched) myself with mouse. While working in that office, though i enjoyed
every moment of it I knew from my
college days that my brains are wired differently( to work for myself). That is
why back in good old days 2004-5 I
launched a website and optimized it to earn from Adsense Ads, While my
classmates wanted to work for so and so multi-national companies. I knew that i
knew i’m never gonna work for anyone. (Though in college days i used to say i
wanna work ONLY for Google, later i outgrow that and wanted to build company
and sell it to google. I still secretly lust on that front.) Between then and now sooooo many things
happen, i saw myself evolved through tough situations. So FlyingCocoon is one
of those things that a happened in between then and now (started early 2008 and
much didn’t happen in between Josh left to Bangalore and i was busy trying out
there things). I’m lucky! I have many people
i love and value like Josh beside me. For many
entrepreneurs finding a co-founder has been likened to getting married and like
a marriage it can be the best or the worst thing to happen to you. Now am runing
a (Lean)scrappy startup I’m pushing myself, despite all the limitations,
swearing i have to make this work, no matter what. I don’t know how many people
understand the intensity but Running a startup
without any funding is definitely a hard life. Even with funding, it is a lot
of work. I remember Conan O'Brien's quoted what Nietzsche
famously said ‘Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’ But what he
failed to stress is that IT ALMOST KILLS YOU. You know, The stresses of running a
poorly performing company or the frustrations of not closing enough deal almost
kills you. I was absorbed so much, I stopped
caring about myself and things around me much. Few trusted friends came and told
me Emmy pls take care of yourself you
are underweight & you look like a shit. I still didn’t care much. Sometimes
dreams make us insane. And those who are around us who don’t know what’s going
on inside of us looks at as commenselseless-lunatic. That part has never bothered
me ever, because to some degree i’m iconoclast. What the society think doesn’t
bother me zilch while my dream is at stake.
I sipped my coffee, Josh also
sipped his coffee and continued talking i didn’t concentrate on what all he
said new he moved on to the second point what the guy wrote about sachin’s NEW
DAY, its is pretty much similar to what paul says But one thing
I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on
toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me. Emmy In God’s
kingdom Faith is your currency, Have faith in a new day. Its By faith gentile became a Jew. I hope you remember
Abraham’s story how he birthed a new nation. Because he believed God it was
counted unto him as righteousness. He was not right but he believed God is so
good. And guess what? God said if you believe me like that I'll go ahead and
i'll credit your account. And it was counted as righteous. Its like God saying I
know you are not perfect, but i'll take your faith as a currency. I'll bless
you. give you land and everything.
I know his
FAITH also told him he'll give him a son, funnily the case got on hold till his
wife passed child bearing age, now she was barren on top of that his body aged
too. When it was completely impossible in human terms, God gave them a son.
Emmy as
long as you can see you way clear God will do absolutely nothing. Its when absolutely
there is no way for you to get it, when all of you plans & plots are failed
and the budget is blown, the checks are over drawn. When you can see no way how
you can make it. No way to run your dream startup, no way to hire the kind of
talent you want. Its then God moves on your behalf and say I'm gonna bless you.
Like Abraham. When you reach to this stage you know whom to be thankful for. Credits
only goes to God not to anyone. Not even for yourself. Because you couldn't do
it.
While
we just have to trust God, often times we try to trace him. Trust is form of
worship. If you don’t want to worship him question your purpose why here on
earth you are here for.
Am
still listening while looking at the one of the paintings on the wall at
BeyondCoffee. I looked at my green tea cup I’ve realized i finished it without
realizing it. Both of us have finished our drinks the only thing left on the
table is French fries.
Josh
took hand full of French fries and continued about the article he was talking
about. He said the third point deals with really crucial issue. (Especially for
us) I believe there
is dime a dozen opportunities now than any previous generations ever lived on
this planet had. For the little guys to create wealth and be who they want to
be barriers to entry have been mostly removed especially for Tech companies;
the playing field has been quite levelled same way for a guy in Hyderabad and
for the guy in Silicon valley. This is something "very
liberating". As you are yet to be discovered, you haven't gotten your recognition. But at
the same time, you don't have expectations. You just have to Focus, and take Action while the
opportunities are still here. He looked me in the eye and said people
like you suffer because they think they can be everything(not one thing) they
want to be and when reality bitch slaps them. They’ll go out on full spree to
prove a point.
Truly speaking I’ve done all of that, trying to prove a point and all, knowing what i
know now,
"odds are highly stacked against start-ups” i’v nothing i
want to prove. I just let God, what He lets me to do. I’ve reconciled with the
fact that i can’t fight with that, even if i fight that. That is a losing
battle already from the beginning.
As
I mentioned earlier Me and Josh understand technology & business (local
business) that is what clicked between us and helped us to build this incredible
friendship over the years. We’ve been advising our friends on how to use the
social web to generate leads for their small business in a very casual way for
the last two year (very casually not for revenue). And For the past few months I’ve
been working on SocialCRM called “OppTube” and i never knew FlyingCocoon which
we started in 2008 will become serious and we’ll help more business to adopt
social Media to expand their reach.
The
plan is very simple for now. We do Social Media Consultation for local business
for free or for extremely nominal cost. Help them with execution. We nurture a
long term working relationship with them. At later stage when my SocialCRM gets
ready for beta testing they’ll be signed up. After their initial trial &
feedback period It will be priced rightly based on the value it provide. I’ll
talk about on that development on another post
As conclusion he said: It’s really scary to forsake everything and focus
on one thing. It’s ok, accept the fear: It is natural to be
frightened by unknown. Naturally you want to diversify. You might being a
situation making less money and working more because company you are working in decides suddenly
freeze salaries and increase working hours This has happened for several
friends in Indian IT companies. But
still focus is the only way-in only way-out
In a serious voice he
asked me: Em what’s the worst it could
happen to you? Quickly i said I’ll be completely bankrupt and start sleeping in
my car till I bounce back. He said think for a second Are you really afraid of
that. I mean really? After thinking for a second I replied: Actually not that
much. If you look at any successful Startup, many encountered situations where
most would throw in the towel, but they didn’t, they pushed through and
achieved their dreams.
Tweet
PS. I know my writing style is as terrible as it gets. Something tells me with practice i can write better in the future. This is written as a practice. When i become a better writer i’ll look back and laugh at this post the awful grammar and punctuation..
PS. I know my writing style is as terrible as it gets. Something tells me with practice i can write better in the future. This is written as a practice. When i become a better writer i’ll look back and laugh at this post the awful grammar and punctuation..
P.S.S On the flip
side i feel really happy, coz this is a testament of overcoming my two fears,
Fear of long post and showing off my insecurities as man. Sometimes opening up
ourselves to vulnerability helps us to reclaim our humanness and remind us we are not God.
Labels:
Breakthrough,
Butterfly Effect,
Change,
Development,
Dream,
God,
Hyderabad,
Prayer,
Social Media,
Startup
10:36 AM Posted by Unknown
Please watch this conversation between John Battelle and Brian Solis on SOCIAL MEDIA.
Don't Tell That To...
2:35 AM Posted by Unknown
Eighty-year-old shepherds don’t usually play chicken with Pharaohs... but don’t tell that to Moses.
Teenage shepherds don’t normally have showdowns with giants... but don’t tell that to David... And for sure don’t tell that to God.
“If you have faith, it will happen.” Matthew 21:21
*Courtesy of Alisha's FB Status.
Change by Tracy Chapman
10:36 PM Posted by Unknown
If you knew that you would die today
Saw the face of god and love
Would you change?
Would you change?
If you knew that love can break your heart
When you're down so low that you cannot fall
Would you change?
Would you change?
How bad, how good, does it need to get?
How many losses? how much regret?
What chain reaction would cause an effect?
Makes you turn around
Makes you try to explain
Makes you forgive and forget,
Makes you change
Makes you change
If you knew that you would be alone
Knowing right, being wrong,
Would you change?
Would you change?
If you knew that you would find a truth
That would bring a pain that can't be soothed
Would you change?
Would you change?
How bad, how good, does it need to get?
How many losses? how much regret?
What chain reaction would cause an effect?
Makes you turn around
Makes you try to explain
Makes you forgive and forget,
Makes you change
Makes you change
Are you so up right
You can't be bent
If it comes to blows
Are you so sure you won't be crawling
If not for the good why why risk falling
Why risk falling?
If everything you think you know
Makes your life unbearable
Would you change?
Would you change?
If you'd broken every rule and vow
And hard times come to bring you down
Would you change?
Would you change?
If you knew that you would die today,
If you saw the face of God and loved
Would you change?
Would you change?
If you saw the face of God and loved
If you saw the face of God and loved
Would you change?
Would you change?
The Old Violin
12:00 PM Posted by Unknown
To waste such time on the old violin, but he held it up with a smile.
"What am I bid, good people," he cried "who'll start the bidding for me?
A dollar? A dollar. Who'll make it two? Two dollars who'll make it three?
Three dollars once, three dollars twice going for three," but no!
From the room, far back, a gray-bearded man came forward and picked up the bow.
Then wiping the dust from the old violin, and tightening up the strings,
he played a melody, pure and sweet, as sweet as the angel sings.
The music ceased, and the auctioneer with a voice that was quiet and low said,
"What now am I bid for this old violin?" as he held it up with the bow.
"One thousand? One thousand, do I hear two? Two thousand. Who'll make it three?
Three thousand once, three thousand twice, going and gone!" said he.
The audience cheered, but some of them cried, "We just don't understand.
What changed it's worth?" Swift came the reply, "The touch of the masters hand."
And many a man, with life out of tune, all battered with bourbon and gin,
Is auctioned cheap, to a thoughtless crowd, much like that old violin.
A mess of pottage, a glass of wine, a game, and he travels on.
He's going once, he's going twice, he's going and almost gone.
But the Master comes and the foolish crowd never can quite understand,
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought, by the Touch of the Masters Hand.
~Myra 'Brooks' Welch
I'm gonna share this with my Life Group, yey.
Renew me - Avalon
8:42 PM Posted by Unknown
Why am I such a dusty window
For your light to shine through?
Why am I just a tiny star
In a sky already blue?
Why do I offer everything
With my heart closed like a fist?
I want to love You better than this
Why do I live like I'm in chains
When You have set me free?
And why do I have to break Your heart
Before I fall to my knees?
I know it's time to pray for change
Give all I have to give
I want to love You better than this
So renew me
Remake me
Undo me
Unbreak me
Come into the empty spaces
Of my broken places
And consume me
Complete me
Pursue me
Redeem me
Let Your Holy Spirit living through me
Renew me
I need Your power to renew me, Lord, yeah
I need to know You're moving through me, Lord
I need You as my refuge
My first and last resort
Be the river always running
Through my deepest thoughts
Keep me in Your arms
'Cause even when I drift
I want to love You better than this
So renew me
Remake me
Undo me
Unbreak me
Come into the empty spaces
Of my broken places
And consume me
Complete me
Pursue me
Redeem me
Let Your Holy Spirit living through me
Renew me
My life bending to Your will
Seeking You until I'm more and more like You
The prayer of jabez for teens
3:31 AM Posted by Unknown
The prayer of jabez for teens
He'll open up possiblities you've never thought of before. He'll ask you to do things you've never done before (and that you're pretty sure you can't do). it will feel like He takes you to the edge of a cliff and says, "let's go for a walk."
He'll open up possiblities you've never thought of before. He'll ask you to do things you've never done before (and that you're pretty sure you can't do). it will feel like He takes you to the edge of a cliff and says, "let's go for a walk."
*I'm looking forward for the camp... I wish this will be a time where God will say to me Let's go for a walk..... I really need to take that walk with him.... :)
Grace upon Grace
2:12 AM Posted by Unknown
Through it all
5:06 AM Posted by Unknown
If the Lord wills
2:29 AM Posted by Unknown
“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
Shattered Dreams - Lesson six
6:01 AM Posted by Unknown
Shattered Dreams - Lesson five
6:00 AM Posted by Unknown
Shattered Dreams - Lesson four
5:58 AM Posted by Unknown
Shattered Dreams - Lesson three
5:57 AM Posted by Unknown
Shattered Dreams - Lesson two
5:55 AM Posted by Unknown
Shattered Dreams - Lesson one
5:52 AM Posted by Unknown
Shattered Dreams by Larry Crabb - Part two
1:36 AM Posted by Unknown
God is always working to make His children aware of a dream that remains alive beneath the rubble of every shattered dream, a new dream that when realized will release a new song, sung with tears, till God wipes them away and we sing with nothing but joy in our hearts."
Shattered Dreams by Larry Crabb - Part one
1:22 AM Posted by Unknown
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