The day before Valentine's Day.

Oh her eyes, her eyes make the stars look like they're not shining
Her hair, her hair falls perfectly without her trying
She's so beautiful
And I tell her every day
Yeah I know, I know
When I compliment her
She wont believe me
And its so, its so sad.. to think she don't see what I see
~ Bruno Mars 'Just the way you are'

This song reached the top of every billboard, US, UK, Danish..
If Steven D.Levitt and Stephen J.Dubner were to write Freakonomics all over again may be they will have a chapter 'Bruno Mars & the case of vanishing Self-Love'?

The case of vanishing Self-Love
Symptoms:
Loss in appetite for creativity leading to Paralysis of Dreams, Inability to say 'No', Hyper active grudge..
Causes: Dysfunctional Families?
anyone who is older than Justin Bieber should stop blaming dysfunctional families for every issue we have in this millennium - as Anthony Robbins in his book Awaken the Giant Within asks 'Who has a functional family?'

Lets liberate our self, accept our short comings and learn to live with the fact 'I wasn't meant to be perfect. never will I be and no one is'.
Ah.. remember the word is 'Live with the fact' not 'Laze with the fact' :-)

The Day before Valentines Day
We have Mother's day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day, a Day even for Pan cakes.. how about a Me Day? (I actually googled 'Me Day' to ensure that there isn't one.)
Urban Dictionary had a definition though: A day thats all about you... relax, eat, watch TV, and be lazy. Doing the fun things you want to do.

um..but what about people like me who can't enjoy the art of doing nothing?
Lets create a custom ritual to celebrate ourself, a Self-Love ceremony.. may be the day before Valentines Day, a ValentMine's day?

How about something like leaving ourself a voice mail like Mama Gina says "I am fabulous & deserve every pleasure life has to offer"? or Buy that Ray Ban aviators we have always wanted? or sign up for a 5K Run? or may be a Swedish deep tissue massage?
lets do something that says 'Thank you, I Love you' to ourself.

Lets teach ourself to be our own very best friend. Self-Love is the greatest legacy we can pass on!

PS: 'Suddenly I See' from
I am constantly amazed by Tina Fey. And I am Tina Fey. ~ Tina Fey

Feel worthy of all the good things you have in life. If not, you will give them all away and wonder what was I thinking? Take yourself out of that sale rack! ~ Suze Orman

I have been set free. I am free to love, to worship, to trust with no fear of rejection or of being hurt. I do not hate or walk in un forgiveness.I do not fear. I am not guilty ~ Joyce Meyer

I am not on a fight against LeBron!

2 in 1 kid dreams to be LeBron when he grows up! (No, that wasn't a typo - I didn't mean to say 1 in every 2.. the total desire to become James #6 is just much more than sum of its parts!!) .

As parents we need to gently remind them that the minimum number of players in a NBA team is 10, the maximum is 15, there are 12 active players at any time and only 5 in the court playing..Also, there is a great probability that #6 will be retired with Lebron!

I am not on a war against Mr. James. I confess, I was also one of them who shamelessly speculated if he was going to be with the Cavs..Or may be come to Big Apple..Or will he join his friend Wade in Miami Heat? I was holding my breath and gasped when he said 'I am taking my talent to South Beach Miami'.

But, let’s not burden him with any more responsibility of shaping our next generation, and mentoring our children! , he already has a big responsibility of bringing another ring to the Miami Heat franchise.

Our children need be exposed to 'Education and Innovation' as Mr.President said. Exposed to the greatness of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Indra Noyi. Now, what would that take, a Jersey that will say Apple #1 Steve Jobs? If so, let’s manufacture them.


This is the inspirational collage frame we made this afternoon.. Mark Zuckerberg - Founder and CEO of Facebook, Ed Rosenfeld – Chairman and CEO of Steve Madden, Andrew Mason - Founder and CEO of Groupon, Charles Best – Founder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org, Esther Duflo – MIT Economics Professor, Boaz Weinstein – Founder SABA Capital, Kevin Plank – Founder and CEO of Under Armour and few others from Fortune Magazine’s 40 under 40.

My son looked at it and asked ‘Where is LeBron? He was #20 in this list!’
Irony!! but I was pleasantly surprised and glad that he had taken time to review the list this year’s class of Movers and Shakers.

This is the next generation; they are extremely smart and full of surprises.

But still, our children have lot more challenges than we did 20 years ago
- College education is no more half way to opportunities, it is a prerequisite
- My friends, even my kid brother learnt French in high school (I wasn't allowed to, my mom made me continue learning Tamil as a true Dravidian) as it was considered to be fashionable.

Now Robert Davis, Chicago Schools Chinese Language Programs says 'Chinese isn't the new French, it is the new English!' and many Americans are learning Mandarin to have that one more edge!

The other day I was watching 'Price of Admission - Americas College Debt Crisis' on CNBC and here is some reality that I choked on
- 67% of American Students will graduate with a debt. The average debt is $25k.
- $880 Billion in Student Debt during 2010, Student loan crisis can be even bigger than Mortgage loan crisis
It is no more class of 2011 or class of 2012..we are moving towards creating a Class of borrowers!!!

But to create a class of borrowers without the necessary skill set to compete against the global competition will be a bigger sin! A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Our choice of education has to become relevant.

There is a sense of "Why do I have to adjust? This will come back. I'll be fine again’. But no, they won't be fine. They need to train - not for today's jobs but for tomorrow’s"
~ Allan Gilmour President, Wayne State University and retired Vice Chairman of Ford Motor Company.

Our children don't have to start attending SAT preparation classes from their freshman year, and take 50 practice exams. But can we create enough exposure and kindle their interests to make the right selections? No...I am not talking about making the right selections in the standardized tests multiple choice.
- Let’s create a passion for education, and learning.
- Give them ample opportunities to make decisions, and assure them it’s ok to make mistakes
- Let them know mild greed is good
- Teach them that it’s not Intellect over Material things, it’s not Mind over Heart. They need to work together.
Many of us including me are actually forced to learn these ourselves with the economic challenges we are facing for the very first time in our life, let’s learn along with our children and lead them on their way to becoming a class act when they leave our nest.

Now, why does the thought make me teary eyed?

[PS: Suddenly I See 'You don't have to be an extreme parent and micro manage the child as if he/she is an empty vessel but instead remember that your child is the explorer and you or his/her guide.' ~ Psychology professor Kathy Hrish-Pasek.]

Uncomplicated

You make me smile like the sun
Fall outta bed
Sing like a bird
Dizzy in my head
Spin like a record
Crazy on a Sunday night
You make me dance like a fool
Forget how to breathe
Just the thought of you can drive me wild
Oh, you make me smile
~ Uncle Krackers 'You make me smile', one of my favorite songs. Yet another love song, but what is it about this one that makes it so special?
The simplicity in choice of words!

Web, Chip, Facebook, Lady Gaga, iPhone, American Idol, Groupon..
Did you notice something in common between them? apart from the fact that everyone knows what a web or iPhone or Lady Gaga is?
there is nothing complicated about these buzz words. They are all simple!
That's what the world is evolving into ..making things simpler.

Lets even look at some corporate buzz words you have heard enough in the last 3 years or so..

Circa 2008: It was Silos. This is what the management had to say, 'Don't operate in Silos' . Silos..big word, may be some half a dozen people actually had to google it to understand what it meant.

in the year 2009 the word was Collaborate.
'Collaborate with your customers!' was the unanimous message from the top executives. Another pompous word in my humble opinion.

come 2010: it was Partner. 'Partner with your customers'. Phew!

See how 'Silos' evolved to 'Collaborate' and finally 'Partner'?
As years passed the message was the same, just the choice of words made the communication much more effective and direct . Partner is a simple and but still a very powerful word.

Sunshine, I am sure you are wondering where I am going with all these..
Our relationship with God, its simple..nothing complicated about it.
"God has great plans for everyone including you. Its upto you to partner with him to make them happen."

You are probably now thinking, 'so, if God is the provider, am I the customer in this relationship?' Great question!
Let me quote what I heard from a Enterprise Architect

'.. in the coming years people will become coproducers rather than just being consumers of products and services.'
From the age of customer service to customer self-service we are now moving to customer co-produce.. think of it as you adding the milk and sugar after the Star Bucks barista handsover the Grande cofee.

So, sunshine..with God you are not entirely the consumer or nor is he entirely the provider, you are a co-producer.
If God has you in his will, do you have the will power to go after it?

[PS: 'Suddenly I see' from all around me..]