Category: Environment

A New Year or a New Day?

On By Ranjan De SilvaIn Ecology, Environment, family, happiness, hope, Life, Personal Excellence, Pictures that Speaks, Releasing, Sri LankaLeave a comment
A photo captured by me on the 18th of December at Yala National Park – Sri Lanka

My new year’s message last year was ‘I wish you serenity this new year’. I hope you find the serenity to accept the new reality as you went through the second year of the pandemic, with all the confusion surroundings vaccines, booters, masks, lockdowns and travel restrictions. Perhaps the best approach would have been to find serenity and love it all as a way of releasing the tension and finding meaning.

I enjoyed taking one day at a time as it was pointless trying to predict or control the future. Whiles short-term plans were made with a long-term aspiration, I was willing to change them based on the reality of every new day. This helped me to be in the present (now) and enjoy the present (gift) of ‘peace of mind’ I received in the process. Interestingly when I released the want for the control of outcomes and made peace with not having them, almost all such aspirations manifested. 

One such situation was visiting the Yala national park in Southern Sri Lanka earlier this month with my brother and sister and their families who were visiting for Christmas Holidays from the UK and Canada. Sighting a Leopard at Yala is the aspiration of all visitors, but it is said that only a very small percentage of visitors are treated to this beautiful sight. Our trekker was trying his best to get us to see the Leopard, communicating with his fellow trekkers, speeding to various locations when information of Leopard sightings was reported. After about one hour we realised that in the pursuit of Leopard Sighting, we were missing the elephants, dear, peacocks, birds, crocodiles and the beautiful scenery. We released the want to sight the Leopard and was enjoying the rest of the wildlife. Suddenly we realised that our trekker was speeding in a direction. He had got information of a Leopard sighting. We saw the Leopard on a tree about half a mile away. The picture taken by me of the leopard, shared in this post is something I will cherish.

My reflection on the above and many experiences has helped me find serenity, taking one day at a time, letting go of wants and experience life. This is my wish for the new year.

With this aspiration I wish you an amazing New Day – Every Day of the New Year.

Saying ‘Yes’ to Beingness

On By Ranjan De SilvaIn belief, Compassion, Ecology, Environment, happiness, Health Care, hope, Life, Love, purpose, Releasing, Spiritual, Struggles, Values1 Comment

An original poem by Ranjan De Silva

Image credits: goodmorninggratitude.com





Beingness invites us to ‘be’





But we attempt to ‘become’





Are we human beings or human becoming’s?





What would it mean to just be?










Beingness begins when we understand beingness





When we listen to the signals of beingness





Try to understand the grand plan of beingness





And say ‘yes’ to beingness










Being is participating in the process of life





It begins with the understanding of the process of life





It requires us to understand our role in the process of life 





And contributing to the process of life










When beingness provided us a pandemic,





With a grand plan to wake us from a bigger pandemic





To save us from the materialistic pandemic 





To save us from the power pandemic















The pandemic of destroying nature





The pandemic of destroying humanity





The pandemic of destroying economies





The pandemic of destroying livelihoods










Some are trying to stop the virus





Some are trying to nurture the virus 





Some are trying to prevent the virus





Some are trying to cure the virus










Driven by their own knowledge





Driven by their own aspirations





Driven by their own agendas





Driven by their own purpose















Can we please stop?





Can we listen to beingness?





Can we talk with each other?





Can we agree how best to say ‘yes’ to beingness? 


			
					

	




			
				


			

		

			
Herd Immunity of a Different Kind

						

				On  By Ranjan De SilvaIn belief, Environment, happiness, Health Care, hope, Knowing, Life, Personal Excellence, psychology, purpose, Spiritual, World affairsLeave a comment			

					


		

			

Image Credits: Elegentthemes.com 





While trying to avoid any infections of the vulnerable is our responsibility, it is important that we do it in the most holistic and helpful manner.





Taking precautions to prevent being a conduit in spreading the virus based on social distancing and hygiene guidelines is important. This can be augmented by strengthening our immune system. Good quality and timely sleep, exercises, fresh air, nutrition and being stress free is important to keep a strong immune system.





Stress happens when we are blessed with responsibility and when we look at such responsibility in a negative way. This negative approach to our responsibilities causes anxiety and anxiety is a result of not knowing. When we don’t know we tend to speculate, we tend to listen to gossip, we tend to believe unverified information coming our way. We make matters worse when we spread such information without knowing its accuracy and authenticity. The receiver believes such information if they trust us, and they spread it on. 





Therefore, it is important to know the real facts. For starters compare the mortality rate of Covid with other diseases such as Ebola, SARS, Dengue etc. Compare it with the deaths by road accidents and other accidents created by man-made conditions such a poisoning of water, cutting of trees, modern day slavery etc. Compare the 99% rate of cure of Covid against the other causes of death. Consider the suicides, domestic violence and abuse caused by economic conditions resulting from loss in business due to mass scale lock downs. Studying all this information will help us realise that our anxiety and stress is blown out of proportion. Augment with this some meditation, mindful activity, time with nature, positive thinking and physical Wellness activities and find immunity. 





Those who took this approach has had financial success, peace of mind, happiness and has been in a position to help those who were infected and families who lost loved ones. In the worst cases situation if such people reach mortality, they could transcend happily and peacefully given the state of mind at that point. If more people develop this mindset and approach to life, I believe we can develop herd immunity of a different kind to defeat the virus.





Wish you strong, successful, happy and purposeful living. 


			
					

	




			
				


			

		

			
Decluttering My Life this Pandemic

						

				On  By Ranjan De SilvaIn energy, Environment, family, happiness, Life, Love, psychology, purpose, ReleasingLeave a comment			

					


		

			

My Decluttered Home Work Space





Many things have been written about the impact of the pandemic, positive and negative. I have reflected on the pandemic from various view points in my blog posts over the past 10 months. I choose to share one aspect of the pandemic, decluttering my life.  





I had developed the habit of filling all documents such as bank statements, a habit I learnt from my father. This was way before personal computers entered our life. Once computers arrived I was used to storing all files I created and received as well as emails that I thought would be required I the future. This habit started when I started working in 1982 and has been going on for the past 38 years.




 Continue reading “Decluttering My Life this Pandemic” →
			
					

	




			
				


			

		

			
Rays of Enlightenment

						

				On  By Ranjan De SilvaIn belief, Ecology, energy, Environment, happiness, hope, learning, Life, Personal Excellence, Pictures that Speaks, psychology, purpose, success, Team ExcellenceLeave a comment			

					


		

			

A photo taken at a rain forest in Kandy, the hill capital of Sri Lanka.










This is a photo taken during a nature walk with my team. I remember sitting down on this bench to take in the energy of the beautiful rain forest. As I reflected I felt the paradox of the place; the sounds of nature and the voices of people, the trees and the cement bench, the forest and the road, the cool wind and the warm sun rays. One of my colleagues had taken this photo at that time and I was fascinated with the rays of sunlight coming towards me, as if the universe was sending me rays of enlightenment. 















 


			
					

	




			
				


			

		

			
Let the Daffodils Heal You

						

				On  By Ranjan De SilvaIn belief, Communications, Environment, happiness, Health Care, hope, Life, Love, Personal Excellence, psychology, purpose, Releasing, Soul Nourishing Poems, SpiritualLeave a comment			

					


		

			

Daffodils – William Wordsworth





As you listen to this poem, reflect on the wonders of nature and let it heal your pensive mood or broken heart.













I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.





Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.





The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:





For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.





About the poet — William Wordsworth (1770 — 1850) was a major English Romantic poet who helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature. He was born in Cockermouth, England. His poetry was mainly focused on the nature, children, the poor, common people. Wordsworth was Britain’s Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death in 1850.












			
					

	




			
				


			

		

			
A Common View Made Rare by the Pandemic

						

				On  By Ranjan De SilvaIn Environment, Knowing, Life, Pictures the Speak, psychology, Sri Lanka, World affairsLeave a comment			

					


		

			






This was such a common view, having been on a flight at least twice a month, over the past 15 year until the pandemic arrived. I was on a flight only once in the last 6 months and that too a special flight that repatriated standard Sri Lankan’s home. I feel relived that I don’t have to pack my bags every fortnight and this is likely to continue for many more months. Stumbling upon this picture that I had taken on one of my flights, evoked mixed feelings. I am not sure if I am actually relieved or if I am going to miss my travel. Well I suppose this is food for thought dished out by the pandemic.  







			
					

	




			
				


			

		

			
The Pandemic and Temporal Aspect of Purposefulness

						

				On  By Ranjan De SilvaIn Ecology, Environment, family, happiness, Health Care, hope, Life, Love, Personal Excellence, psychology, purpose, Purpose Quest, Relationships, societal, Spiritual, success, Values, World affairsLeave a comment			

					


		

			

Image Credit: Nationalpost.com





In the last 8 blog posts in the ‘purpose quest series’, we explored how the pandemic impacted eight important pillars for purposeful living; spiritual, mental, emotional, relational, physical (health), financial, environmental and societal. Let’s explore the ninth pillar, the ‘temporal’ aspect in this blog post. As in the past eight blog posts let me attempt to describe my personal experience during the pandemic. 





The word ‘Temporal’ has two broad applications; relating to worldly as opposed to spiritual affairs (secular) and relating to time. I use the word in relation to the use of time. The temporal aspect of purposeful relates to the use of limited time. The purposeful person attempts to utilise most of the time for purposeful activity, which requires letting go of non-purposeful activity. 





The last eight weekly blog posts in the ‘purposeful quest’ series illustrated how my time was allocated to purposeful activity in spiritual, mental, emotional, relational, physical (health), financial, ecological and temporal areas. These activities took most of my waking time and there was rarely any time remaining for non-purposeful activity during the approximately 16 hours of waking time. 





The sense I make from this reflection is that the pandemic gave me so much  opportunities to be purposeful, that it left me with almost no time for non-purposeful activities. This way of life has kept me occupied in meaningful and energising activity, giving me inner success, happiness and peace.  My purpose is to inspire others to live a purposeful life and I hope this series of blog posts will inspire you too to live a purposeful life and find Success happiness and peace.   







			
					

	




			
				


			

		

			
The Pandemic and the Environment

						

				On  By Ranjan De SilvaIn Ecology, Environment, Health Care, Knowing, learning, Life, Personal Excellence, purpose, Purpose Quest, Values, World affairsLeave a comment			

					


		

			

Image Credit: business west.co.uk





In the last 6 blog posts in the ‘purpose quest series’, we explored how the pandemic impacted six important pillars for purposeful living; spiritual, mental, emotional, relational, health and money. Let’s explore the seventh  pillar, the ecological aspect in this blog post. As in the past six blog posts let me attempt to describe my personal experience during the pandemic. 





With lockdowns being imposed, offices closed, and people starting to work from home vehicles movement reduced drastically. With airports restricting flights there were less flights in the sky. With demand for non-essential products reducing factories were operating at lower capacity reducing environmental damage. All this made the air cleaner, water cleaner, skies bluer and grass greener. 





Unlike in the earlier six aspects, there was not much for me to do, the earth was healing itself. I had to only participate by using the freshness for my well being and helping others to use this Knowladge to make sensei of the positive aspects of the pandemic. Therefore I used the webinars I was conducting and conversations I was having with people to show these benefits and to use this opportunity to adjust lifestyles, so that even after the pandemic, we live in a manner that is beneficial to the environment. 





With life coming back to normal in Sri Lanka, I am concerned to see that the amount vehicles on the road have gone back to pre-pandemic levels. Our airways are still clean as the flights are still restricted, but with the envisaged opening up of the skies end of this month, the air pollution levels are likely to start increasing again. Work from home is getting lesser, and in person activities are increasing. I am attempting to keep at least half of my learning experience delivered online even when things are back to normal. I need the other half to interact with people as we cant be totally devoid of human interactions to help them in their learning, growth and transformation. 





So lets continue to communicate and role model to help people at least adjust to a mid-way level between total lockdowns and total free movement with their free will so that we can bring this planet to liveable conditions. If not nature will hit back with a bigger pandemic and will keep doing it more regularly to save the planet.