10 things to learn from Japan

1. THE CALM
Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow itself has been elevated.

2. THE DIGNITY
Disciplined queues for water and groceries. Not a rough word or a crude gesture. Their patience is admirable and praiseworthy.

3. THE ABILITY
The incredible architects, for instance. Buildings swayed but didnt fall.

4. THE GRACE (Selflessness)
People bought only what they needed for the present, so everybody could get something.

5. THE ORDER
No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the roads. Just understanding.

6. THE SACRIFICE
Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. How will they ever be repaid?

7. THE TENDERNESS
Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The strong cared for the weak.

8. THE TRAINING
The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do. And they did just that.

9. THE MEDIA
They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No silly reporters. Only calm reportage. Most of all NO POLITICIANS TRYING TO GET CHEAP MILEAGE.

10. THE CONSCIENCE
When the power went off in a store, people put things back on the shelves and left quietly.

With their country in the midst of a colossal disaster – The Japanese citizens can teach plenty of lessons to the world.

Patience

“Patience is a bitter plant that produces sweet fruit.”
– Charles Swindoll

Heights of excellence and achievement are an embroidery work. Next time you see someone doing embroidery, sit and watch the quality of patience he displays. The same applies to artists engaged in producing a master piece. They need a lot of patience. They have an excellent piece of art in their mind. They meticulously work for it, slowly and steadily. They are fully focused and they forget that there is a world around them. They may be restless inside, but very steady inside them.

Life is like that. You need a lot of patience. Getting irritated will not help you to produce the result. Getting angry with others will prove to be counterproductive. In fact hard presupposes that you have the patience to persevere when others give up. I recall a powerful quotation by Muhammad Ali: `Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them – a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.’

It is the absence of a dream, desire and vision which depletes your patience. As long as you are obsessed on your dream, you will have patience.

Like you develop your muscles, you should also develop patience. Do something which will require patience. Try spinning a thread from a spindle. Remember doing it in your school days! Try intricate embroidery. Clean your car once a week. Write one to ten thousand without losing legibility and focus. Observe silence for a complete day once every month. Do this exercise for a period of six months and see if the plat of ‘patience’ grows!