Jet Lag - 07/31/07

I haven't had any journal entries for six days.  My last entry was Wednesday night.  I got on the plane to leave India Thursday night for an early Friday morning flight.  Since then, I have had serious jet lag.

I got home at 11 am on Friday morning and I took a nap.  I was then up all night.  I guess my body was still on India time.  I finally fell asleep at 4 in the morning.  On Saturday, I tried to stay awake, but I did take a short nap.  I was able to sleep, but I woke up at 4.

On Sunday, I fell asleep about 6 and then woke up at 3.  I had to go into the office on Monday.  We also had to go out for dinner Monday, so I didn't get to bed until 11 that night.  I figured that I would be able to sleep a full night, but once again I woke up a 4 o'clock.

Everyone keeps telling me that it will take me about a week to recover.  It is making it difficult to get back into a normal routine.  I haven't been reading every night.  I hope to get back to reading a little bit every night and making sure that I write a journal entry every day.

Akshar Dham - 07/25/07

Yesterday was a very long day.  I got back late last night.  I wasn’t feeling well, so I didn’t write a journal entry.  I wish I could have written about my experiences yesterday because although it was a long day and tiring by the end, it was a very uplifting and spiritual day for me.

 

After work, we went to visit the Akshar Dham temple in Dehli.  The Akshar Dham is a spiritual temple that was built by the BAPS (Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha).  BAPS is an organization within the Swaminarayan faith.  The Swaminarayan faith was started when Bhagwan Swaminarayan began his life in 1781.  The Hindus believed him to be the manifestation of God.

 

At the temple, we visited an exhibit that went through the life and teachings of Bhagwan Swaminarayan.  Although I don’t agree with everything that was said, I believe that the many parts of the message that he was delivering is very relevant to everyone of us today regardless of our faith.  Swaninarayan preached of love, peace, purity and non-violence.

 

Tomorrow is my last day in India.  I came here for one main purpose which was for business.  I hope to that the money that my company spent for me to come here will add some value for them.  However, the value that it has added to my personal life cannot be measured in dollars or rupees. 

 

It will be an experience I will never forget.  I met some new friends and strengthen the friendships of those who were just otherwise aquaintances beforehand.  I experienced a new culture.  I eat new food.  I will cherish these two weeks for the rest of my life.

 

I am now ready to go home.  I miss my wife and kids, and I look forward to seeing them and holding them in my arms again.  Good bye to India.  It’s been fun.

Rules of the Road - 07/23/07

Because of the large population in India, there are a lot of people on the roads.  Jaipur and Agra are also the two most popular tourist destinations close to Dehli.  However, it does not appear that they were ready for the influx of cars on the road.  On our trip to from Jaipur to Agra on Saturday, most of the roads were two lane roads.

The distance from Jaipur to Agra is about 240 kilometers.  If you don't pass stay behind the cars behind you and don't pass them, it would take you about 8 hours to get there.  We had a video player in the van.  The movie that we were watching was Cliffhanger.  I don't remember much about the movie because frankly the drive was much more thrillling than the movie.

Our driver never passed up the opportunity to pass another vehicle.  There were many close calls.  If it looked liked there was an opening in the other lane, he was going to take it.  Because of the high traffic on the road, the government is trying to build divided highways.  However, they haven't done a very good job of directing the traffic to let them know that a divided highway is coming up.  The scariest moment came when we were actually on a divided highway.  We were passing another car and a bus was coming from the other way.  Since we were on a divided highway, the bus should not have been on our side.  It was at that moment when I just looked up and said a prayer for God to just watch over me.

In India, there are two main rules of the road.  The first one is "The right of way goes to the one who gets there first."  The second one is "If someone honks, get out of the way."  These two rules are pretty much followed by everyone.  There are some stoplights, but when there are not, everyone follows the above rules.  Even the trucks say the following on the back of them "Please Honk. Wait for Side."

Taj Mahal - 07/22/07

Much of Agra, India is dirty.  The buildings are old and many are falling apart or have not been kept up.  Many of the shops have dirt floors.  For most of us that live in the United States, this world would be a hard world to imagine.  There was nothing in the area that could even resemble one of the seven wonders of the world. 

We had to park about a kilometer away.  They don’t let any vehicles with gasoline within a kilometer of the Taj Mahal.  When we got out of the van, immediately there were people trying to sell us merchandise.  They see any tourist (especially an foreigner), and they are relentless and do not stop asking you if you would like to buy their product until you are out of their sight.

We boarded the bus to go to the Taj Mahal and when we got off of the bus, the crowd of vendors was even worse.  The only way to get them to stop was to tell them to that you would buy something later when you came out because they would definitely ask you again on your way out. 

That all changed when I walked through the gate.  The Taj Mahal is such a beautifual majestic structure.  It is a stark contrast to the world outside of it.  Many of you have probably seen pictures of the Taj Mahal.  It has a large dome in the middle with four domes, two in the front and two in the back.  On each corner are forts.  The Taj is known for its symmetry.  No matter where you are, it looks the same from each side.

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I went to the Taj Mahal with three of my friends from India.  We took many pictures and had lots of fun.  It was a great experience that I will never forget.  I not only got to see one of the seven wonders of the world, I also made three new friendships that I will cherish for a lifetime.

 

I arrived back at my home away from home tonight feeling great.  I miss my family very badly, but my week here in India has been a wonderful experience from both personal and a professional level.

Packed and Ready to Go - 07/19/07

I just finished going through my clothes.  First, I had to go through my dirty clothes and pick out which ones I need to send off to be washed so I will have clothes to wear next week.  I also had to pick out which clothes I am going to wear this weekend for our trip to Jaipur and Agra.

This is my full weekend in India.  When I planned the trip in India, I did not realize that I would actually be taking another trip over the weekend.  I thought that we would just get up on Saturday and go sightseeing and then come back to the hotel I am staying in and do the same on Sunday.  Much to my surprise, I was informed that we are leaving tomorrow (Friday) to go to Jaipur and we will stay the evening in Jaipur.  After activities in Jaipur Friday evening and Saturday, we will then leave to go to Agra. 

We will stay in Agra Saturday evening.  Agra's most famous landmark is the Taj Mahal.  We will visit the Taj Mahal on Sunday before returning to Gurgaon on Sunday evening.  At first, I was nervous again.  I was finally getting comfortable being here in India and being in my hotel.  Now, I had to pack up some of my stuff and get ready for another trip.  However, my nervousness has turned to excitement.

I will be traveling with two companions who are natives of India.  Both of them work for me.  One of them just joined my team several months ago, but the other one has worked for me longer than any other employee.  With them being so far away, I really have only been able to get to know them on a professional level.  I am excited to get to know them more on a personal basis.

Lack of Discipline - 07/18/07

I mentioned last week that I plan to try the Seven-Day Mental Diet that is suggested in the Discipline chapter of PIVOT.  So far I have only accomplished two of the seven days.  They are "Try Something New" and "Feed Your Mind". Parts of those days have been filled with negative thoughts like fear and nervouseness.  Other days have been filled with excitement.  Other days have been filled with jet lag.  I have had a general lack of discipline however when it comes to doing the Seven-Day Mental Diet. 

I have an excuse as to why I haven't been as disciplined.  I am in India on business.  My Saturday and Sunday were basically just travel days and the rest of the time I have been working.  When I haven't been working, I have been pretty tired due to jet lag. 

However, having discipline is about not having excuses.  If I truly am going to be disciplined enough to go through the mental diet, I have to be disciplined no matter what the situation.  Even if I wasn't traveling, I could probably find another "excuse" as to why I didn't do one of the excercises that it suggests in the book.

However, as I look through the mental diet, I do notice that I have been more positive since I have begun my journey.  I have a better attitude.  I have been giving more gratitude to others.  I have been thinking more positively.  I will do the Seven-Day Mental Diet.  I just need to pray to God to help grant me the discipline to do it every day.

No More Negative Thinking - Is That Redundant? - 07/17/07

In The Winning Attitude by John C Maxwell, he goes into detail as to why negative thoughts lead to negative results and why we should think positive thoughts.  He give six basic reasons why negative thinking and living can do so many detrimental things to our lives.  They are outlined as follows:

1. Negative thinking creates clouds at critical decision times.

When we have negative thoughts, we become tense instead of relaxing.  We don't think clearly during these times.  Instead our thought processes are clouded and we tend to make bad judgements in our decision making.

2. Negative talking is contagious.

When we are negative, we affect others around us.  What we say and what we do can adversely affect others.  Sometimes we don't realize the effect that we have on other people.  We should watch how we act around others and try to be a positive influence in their lives.

3. Negative thinking blows everything out of proportion.

When we think negatively, we think everything is worse than it really is.  This is when we try to make mountains out of molehills.  We look at a situations and imagine that the worst case scenario is going to happen.

4. Negative thinking limits God and our potential.

When we think negatively, we don't let the full power of God work in our lives.  We exclude him because we are letting our own selfishness get in the way.  We have to clear our minds of the negativity to have a true relationship with God.

5. Negative thinking keeps us from enjoying life.

If we think negatively, we will never enjoy the good moments in life.  We will always be wondering when those positive moments will last.  We will never be able to just stop and enjoy the life that we are living in because of the worry of what will happen next.

6. Negative thinking hinders others from making a positive response.

If we think negatively, many times people will just accept that it can't be done.  It won't give others an incentive to explore new ideas.  We need positive thinkers to believe that the impossible is possible. 

I have tried to be a positive person in my life, but I always let negativity creep in without putting up any resistance.  Before I started my journey, I never really understood how damaging my negative thoughts could be.  My prayer is to have more awareness of my negativity, and my goal is to have the discipline to control it.