I don't mind keeping my mind so open that my brains fall out

Rocky comes with a left punch! A right punch! A solid right again! He's hitting on the body! Jabbin' it hard! The southpaw comes with the left, right on the face! ... .... ... ... and the winner is Rocky Balboa!

No, I am not typing the subtitles of Rocky movie series. But each and every dialog of this movie series "Rocky" is something worth listening to. I have seen the whole series thrice. Some people think it's about boxing, but I feel it's about life. Boxing is just a medium to show it.

No, I am not typing the review of "Rocky". But this series touched me. I developed an affinity towards boxing. I saw plenty of boxing movies after that, "Cinderella Man", "The fighter", "Raging Bull", "Million Dollar Baby" and many others. So, I thought, 'why not learn boxing? It's good for physique, for learning self defense and it might be fun learning it.'

I started searching for boxing teachers around my place but to no avail. So, I 'OPENED' my mind and started searching for kickboxing teachers. After all, I'll be adding something (kicks) to boxing, that won't be a loss. I got phone numbers of plenty of kickboxing teachers. So, I started calling them. But one teacher had a voice which was completely different from how a strong, arrogant, experienced and physically colossal guy should sound like. He was the only one who asked me, "Ankur, why do you wanna learn kickboxing?" I said, "Fitness and self defense." (I didn't wanna tell that I am actually interested in learning boxing, but because I couldn't find a teacher, I am opting for kickboxing.)

I fell ill and I couldn't go to meet my (future) master for a month. But my excitement to learn kickboxing started growing. At last, I met him. It was directly a training class and there wasn't a slight mention of the word 'kickboxing'. I shirked at the thought, 'Am I learning karate or something? No, I don't wanna learn it. It looks so boring when people perform karate.' But again, I kept my mind 'OPEN'. I soon learnt that I am gonna learn kickboxing, karate, kungfu and maybe some more stuff, all mixed! I was on cloud nine with excitement. Then I grounded my mind and decided to devote a little part of my day, everyday, to practice Martial Arts. I love it, I love it more than I even thought I'd love boxing. I don't wanna just punch. I wanna punch, kick, grab, poke fingers, lock bodies and most importantly, feel close to God by doing something I love doing and to which I can put my whole mind and body.

As they say, 'Never forget how it all started'. It all started with few movies about boxing. And what propelled me? My 'OPEN' mind.

A little prayer as I end this article:

Dear God, Thank You for introducing me to Martial Arts and my teacher. Dear God, give me strength and courage to follow it throughout my life. Dear God, always keep me grounded, as I wanna learn everyday.

The attitude of gratitude

As we walked, searching our way to the theatre, we asked a stranger, "Bhaiya, M2K cinema kahan padega?" He told us the way and she said with a smile to that stranger, "Thank you bhaiya". I walked briskly, she held my hand and said, "Aren't you supposed to say thanks to that person?" I didn't give a heed to her.
Neverthless, I tried thanking someone. I was sitting in a dhaba and the waiter served me. I said, "Thank you uncle". He smiled back. That moment I realised how important it is to be thankful. I didn't lose anything by being thankful but someone gained a smile for a moment.
I was sitting with her a beautiful bookshop with a coffee house attached. There were lots of diaries in the stationary shelf. Enticed by the beauty of the handmade, chinese silk diaries, we bought two diaries for ourselves. She asked me, "What are we going to do with it?" I thought for a moment and said, "Let's call it 'thank you diary'. We will write in it every night before we sleep. We will write about all the things we are grateful to." She loved the idea and we started writing it.
"Thank you God for giving me prosperity that I can eat everyday."
"Thank you God for sending a stranger to show me the way when I was lost in the market."
"Thank you God for the wonderful family I have."
"Thank you God for good health."
"Thank you God for making me meet my soulmate."
We filled pages over pages. Every night, when we wrote about being thankful, the attitude of gratitude got engraved in us. She was always grateful to evrything and everyone. It was I who lacked it. But I learnt from her how to be thankful.
There are millions of things and hundreds of people to whom we can be thankful. Expressing that 'thanks' makes their day. How many people would say "thanks" to the watchman of their locality? Just one 'thanks' to him can bring a smile on his face.
With time, I stopped writing in my 'thank you diary'. And I regret it. My arrogance again took over my gratefulness and I stopped being thankful. I pledge to start writing it again. You may also give it a try. The best time to write it is night time before you sleep. With this, you sleep with positive thoughts. It's good to write because when you write, you do it with intention. Mere thinking won't help much. It also forms a discipline activity when you write in a routine. Let's try it!