‘SHAKEN', not STIRRED! 

If this catchphrase rouses a reader’s mind, then this blog would be worth your time!

Who are we? A rhetoric to begin with, as we take the plunge to think about our lives, about what we want to do with it till we have it & most importantly, what would be our eulogy!

Now, it was just y’day that I got this opportune moment to go beyond this rhetoric not alone but with few like-minded learners, and to anchor this learning process we got a ‘MIRROR’, figuratively though in our Coach Sameer Dua. 

Now as established that Ian Fleming's fictional British Secret Service agent James Bond’s preference for his martini cocktail was ‘Shaken & not Stirred’, Sameer’s preference was just the same! A full house auditorium was shaken, not just stirred! This figurative Mirror made us look deep into it and we saw ourselves, we did indeed! You like yourself - good, you don’t like yourself - good. You want to look better - good, you don’t want to look better, good! Because it’s YOU, I am just a mirror! The thought resonated strong with each passing moment & then dawned the Epiphany!

What we thought a cliché to begin with became a catalyst for a shaken revelation, ‘Who are we’, ‘what’s our story’, ‘what’s our language’. This defines what we ‘live with’, ‘live for’ &’live to’.

Our language is generative and creative, when an event happens we, make up a story, we hold the story to be the sacrosanct truth and then we forget that we made up the story! We live in what Sameer called an ‘Assertion’ a claim of fact and ‘Assessments’ - a perception, a judgement and our interpretation of this very own story.

So let’s come back to that question I called a ‘catalyst’ earlier, ‘what our story’? This story, is an input for our throughput ‘our actions’ creating an output ‘the results’. So all in control so far right? It’s my story, My action and my result. So why am I struggling here, why am not getting the desired results, why am I not a peaceful soul in my own story? The reason is, we often forget that what we perceive as a fact is just our story, its not a fact, it never was. I wouldn’t have a choice on a fact but I have the strongest locus standi over my story, I create it – I can choose it – I can change it!

This choice to choose is what defines ‘POWER’. However, Power to choose comes in, only and only if we are aware. Phew! So much so put onto this equation, yet we don’t get this right! Now, here comes the most important definitive constants in the equation, ‘ENERGY’ & ‘ATTENTION’. We need to put our energy to be aware, and given energy loves attention and follows it like its love smitten by it. So, all we need to do it to put our attention, given we control this fully? We can control our attention to focus on our energy and this is the stepping stone toward becoming ‘AWARE’.

So, here we are, confused a little bit yet we are coachable learners and we pledged that we’d learn, and given we focused on our attention towards learning we became aware of what this magical equation unfolds! Eureka!! STORY > ACTION > RESULT! So if you are a perseverant soul and still you don’t get the desired results from your action, go back two steps and review your story, and like wise men say ‘WAKE UP & SMELL THE COFFEE’! Am I a victim of my own story, is my coffee not doing well for me, Do I need to brew a fresh pot!  

Each day a reminder to ourselves, what do we care about, are we caring enough of our cares? If we aren’t taking care of what we care about then what the hell am I doing with my life! Isn’t this the story making me a victim & we often let this belittle our own self. But, all we needed here is the mirror to tell us that we need to reflect. Is my life’s story, creating the desired results or this is just a concoction of multiple meaningless activities we do each day and declare ourselves as the busiest in the rat race. A thought to ponder; the mirror showed me how do I look. I choose to look better its my choice, a choice made while I am aware of this choice I made for myself and the choice that would give me the desired results.

I want to look beautiful in the mirror each day, I will generate this result because it matters to me!

Now, our James Bond can relish his Martini, his story martini is successful and mine needed it shaken too not just stirred! I am enjoying my ‘story martini’ cos’ if it wasn’t for this shaken martini I would have never realized how it tasted and I am loving this taste and shaking more of my martinis to get the best out of my 30+ years so story cocktails!

If you have reached this far in the blog, I am sure you’d not just shake your story martinis but also start making more to action the results, you weren’t able to get for so long! 

Cheers!!