Emedinews:Inspiration:The 6 enemies of greatness (and happiness)

The following six factors can erode the grandest of plans and the noblest of intentions. They can turn visionaries into paper-pushers and wide-eyed dreamers into shivering, weeping balls of regret. Beware!

1. Availability: We often settle for what’s available, and what’s available isn’t always great. “Because it was there,” is an okay reason to climb a mountain, but not a very good reason to take a job or a free sample at the supermarket.

2. Ignorance: If we don’t know how to make something great, we simply won’t. If we don’t know that greatness is possible, we won’t bother attempting it. All too often, we literally do not know any better than good enough. 

3. Committees: Nothing destroys a good idea faster than a mandatory consensus. The lowest common denominator is never a high standard.

4. Comfort: Why pursue greatness when you’ve already got 324 channels and a recliner? Pass the dip and forget about your grand designs.

5. Momentum: If you’ve been doing what you’re doing for years and its not-so-great, you are in a rut. Many people refer to these ruts as careers.

6. Passivity: There’s a difference between being agreeable and agreeing to everything. Trust the little internal voice that tells you, “This is a bad idea.”

Emedinews Inspiration:Happiness

The King asked an old wise monk to write down something that could encourage the prosperity of his family for years to come. It would be something that the family could cherish for generations. On a large piece of paper, the old monk wrote. "Your majesty dies, the queen dies, and the prince dies, the prince’s son dies."

The King man became angry when he saw the monk’s work. "I asked you to write something down that could bring happiness and prosperity to my family," the King yelled. “Why do you give me something depressing like this?"

"If your son should die before you," the monk answered, "this would bring unbearable grief to your family.

If your grandson should die before your son, this also would bring great sorrow. If your family, generation after generation, disappears in the order I have described, it will be the natural course of life. This is true happiness and prosperity."

(Contributed by Ms Ritu Sinha)