Passion, Commitment, and the Journey to Success - Shambhavi Nautiyal

"Fuel your journey with passion, but anchor it with commitment. Success awaits those who walk the path with dedication."

Passion is a barely controllable emotion, and that’s wholly true if you ask me: Anyone can strongly hate or love a subject or job inexplicably, but this is where ‘commitments’ enter the chat. Whether we like something or not, if we want to enhance our skills and achieve a specific goal, we have to work towards our goal consistently. 

If we aim to succeed, we have to set aside all our distractions and “passions,” other than the passion for working hard and becoming successful. To remind ourselves of the spark and determination we had while setting our goals, we should remind ourselves of our purpose through vision-boarding and reading the transcript written at the time of goal-setting. 

Because our results seem unknown, we feel demotivated to work (which is pleasant in a way as it indicates our self-awareness), which is why we should romanticize the process of working and make that our goal. Consistency and discipline make up our commitments and should be our only goal.

Leave the rest to God.

Shambhavi Nautiyal
APS

Accomplishing the goals is not a success- Vaibhav Jaiswal

"It's amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credits."

Accomplishing the goals is not a success. Success means, you know the hard work you have done and the behaviour you show to the people, the respect which you give to the society. You're never overconfident in yourself. 

I have researched what is success; Success is not when you accomplish your dreams, success is when people respect you and you and your perspective in society. Only then, you become a successful person this is what I think after seeing the world.

Vaibhav Jaiswal 
Grade 9
Sunbeam School, Lahartara

Great things never come from comfort zones - Animesh Kashyap

To achieve great things, you must go beyond your comfort zone. You won’t get anywhere by doing what you are used to. You need to go beyond what you think you can do to reach your full potential. Nobody ever did something extraordinary by wishing for it or staying in their comfort zone. Nobody is coming to work for you; you have to do it on your own. Success lies beyond what we are comfortable with. We achieve our goals by stretching our capabilities and skills in ways we have never imagined. You will never see progress when you choose to remain in your comfort zone. You need to go beyond what you know to achieve success and improve. Progress only happens when we try something different.

• Animesh Kashyap
  
  Class-VIII-B
  Sunbeam Hostel Lahartara, Varanasi.

Reflections Sunbeam School & Hostel Lahartara

Sunday School 10th December 2023

"The purpose of life is to live it, to take the experience to the end."

Without a purpose, our lives feel meaningless. Finding our purpose takes time and requires a lot of wondering. Everything that might seem like mindless investing until you find your passion.

Ananya Singh IX D 

Sunbeam hostel lahartara

"Retirement," ending all work for a certain period, is a relatively new concept. We may retire from a career or a job, but we should never retire from meaningful contributions. Life means more when we respond to work that is meaningful to us and to others. The older we become, the more we have shaped the environment for our usage. Looking back, you will discover that many great men and women in history never cut back simply because of their age. Success would be a natural outcome when we pursue excellence and feel far more fulfilled in every endeavour.

 

-Anmol Kashyap VIII B 

"Professional learning is not a function of age; it's a function of attitude". 
My perspective from the Sunday School is that people who adopt the attitude that they can learn to show heightened levels of brain activity compared to those who believe their mental acuity is fixed. A room without a book is like a book without a soul.

Pranvi Chandra IX D

Passion & Longevity

The fire of the soul should always stay strong to maintain longevity. It is essential for us. A famous person once said, "Retirement is a curse for humankind." Retirement lowers your critical thinking skills if a person can do something he must. Every person has something special inside them. Even if the person is retired, he should start doing something different. For something, we just have to resurrect it. As Oscar Wild quotes, "Be yourself, everyone else. Is already taken.".          

Shaurya Chaturvedi  VIII B

To sustain longevity, we have to evolve into something constructive. We should enrich our souls with the music of life by reaching and touching people on a human level. Age is only a number; we can go on and on beyond 80 years.                                                          

Lalita Agarwal (VIII-B)

1. "To me, retirement is death! I have no idea why people retire." The beautiful meaning of this quote is that when people retire, they think that their work of this life is done. Still, they need to know that if they retire from a particular post or any job, they need to engage themselves in some new work; otherwise, if they stay at home, it may be hazardous for them and cause various diseases.

2. "If I had two loaves of bread, I would sell one and buy hyacinths to feed my soul to contribute to our well-being & happiness." This beautiful quote was written by our Former Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. By this quote, she was trying to make us feel the value of hyacinths. She was trying to tell us that if she had two pieces of anything to eat, she would eat one, sell one, and buy hyacinths as she felt that its beautiful smell and incredible beauty would be enough to feed our souls.

3. Well-being can control being well. 

4. "Be true to yourself and make each day your masterpiece! Help others. Build a shatter against a rainy day. Pray for guidance, and thank you for being blessed every day.                                                                

How to find happiness in everything I do- TENZIN JAMBEY

Many of my friends say that hard work is the key to success, but I believe that hard work without happiness, peace of mind, love, and knowledge doesn't bring you success.

 

Happiness is the state of mind when we feel relief and are free from all the worries, and at that moment we feel satisfied. Human activities are never-ending, and they have no end point. Under this human desire is something that is unlimited and endless. The more you have, the more you want. Some people don't achieve what they want. How sad it is that in this short life we won't get what we want so desperately. Life becomes a burden if we do things we don't like; therefore, it is very important to find where our heart lies. Many people on this earth want to achieve everything, but we must understand that we can never achieve everything; we can only achieve the things where our hearts lie.

We will be able to achieve only those things that have a connection with your life and that you love. Therefore, we need to find a way, a medium, a sphere, or an environment where all the activities are to your liking. We would never find happiness in all the things we do.

Just an example of myself I never loved doing math, nor did I get happiness after solving any questions. In this case, how can one find happiness in things in which he has no interest? When I took environmental studies as my subject, I loved it, and I got both happiness and interest from learning it. Now, when I connect my life with this subject, I get happiness, as my life revolves only around the things that make me feel happy, not sad.

 

As our lives are so short, we should not waste our time doing things we dislike. We should always work hard, keeping in mind that we are putting hard work into things that give us happiness and satisfaction.

TENZIN JAMBEY

Pestalozzi Children's Village Society

Image Courtesy- Canva

What would you do if your perfectly planned life fell apart ? - Nishan Karki

"The secret of life is to fall seven times and to get up eight times." — Paulo Coelho.

What would you do if your perfectly planned life fell apart? We all try to plan our lives correctly. This is necessary to lead a good life. But our perfectly designed life may fall apart. Well, what should we do in that case?

My answer to this question is to plan it again, no matter how often we fail. Failures are just temporary. We encounter many shortcomings in our lives. These failures force us to give up. They hamper the plans of our lives. They act as a barrier in our life. Due to this, people give up and fail to lead a good life.

However, intelligent people will take these failures as an incomplete part of their lives and try to fill them up. They do not treat these failures as permanent but as temporary. They take these failures as opportunities. They do not treat failures as barriers to success but as a part of it. The main aim of these people is to never leave their planned path and to never give up, no matter how many difficulties and failures they face. That is why these people succeed in life.

We may fall and fail several times, but we should always get up. Giving up is not a solution. We should take failures as opportunities to reach our success. Our perfectly planned life may fall apart several times, but we should again try to plan it again.

Image Courtesy- Psychology Today

Nishan Karki
Pestalozzi Children's Village India

Success is Good but Significance is Better - Tenzin Norsang

Picture Courtesy: https://sunshine-parenting.com/halftime-moving-from-success-to-significance/

An unknown author said it so well, “Success is good, but significance is better.” 

People of today’s world have come to think that money is everything to gain happiness in one’s life. 

Well, there is no doubt that you need it to lead a beautiful life, but it provides us bliss only to some extent. It can buy us the most luxurious and fancy things in this world. But still, it cannot buy us internal peace, true love and happiness. 

We seek all these only when we give ourselves to others that we find true merriness. 

A wise man once said, “Selfless service is the rent that one should pay to live on this planet.” Through selfless service, we make others jubilant and content. It also soothes our hearts with pleasure. It fills our minds with positivity and everlasting memories. 

Helping others leads you to the path of finding your purpose in life. It also assists you in discovering inner peace.  Wealth can only define a person's financial status. It cannot express their humility. 

If someone wants to be successful, earning money should be one of his priorities. However, it shouldn't become their highest priority. The highest priority in one’s life should be helping others achieve success. 

As a wise man once said, and I quote, “The one who holds the purse, holds the power”, which is a universal truth. An affluent person is bestowed with two powers and must choose between them. They can either lend a helping hand to the weaker sections of society, alleviating their suffering, or they can exploit them to the fullest, misuse their power, and instil fear in their hearts. 

It is rightly said that a wealthy person’s humility is defined by how they spend their money. Leaving a positive impact on society is achievable by extending a helping hand to those in need.

In summary, money is something that provides temporary satisfaction and happiness. Accumulating wealth can grant power and high status in life, but it will not grant happiness. One can achieve the greatest happiness by giving oneself to others and adding value to their lives. What matters most in life is not just personal success, but also significance.

Tenzin Norsang

Pestalozzi Children's Village. India.

Small things are big things - Tenzin Jambey

The tallest building in the world is made up of small pieces of bricks. Who said that small things don't make a difference? Yes, it does for me. It does make a difference. 

People become greedy and avaricious when it comes to achieving something; because of greed, we try to gain it at one grab; we think of something big and put all our efforts and hard work at once, but, at last, we are unable to get it. We fail to achieve it because we think a miracle will happen when we put all our energy at once, but it still needs to happen. 

Many students have a habit of studying at the last moment; they think that they would really work hard at the last moment and achieve to get good marks, but only those students who study from the very first day succeed in getting good marks. I genuinely agree that "little progress each day adds up to a big result," as I have experienced it. 

Even little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Tenzin Jambey
Pestalozzi Children's Village India

What success means to me - Tenzin Jambey

Reflecting on the Art Of Focus session on Sunday, the 5th of March 2023

The term success means achieving your dreams and your goal. To achieve success one must follow the path of happiness which means that we should do the things which makes us happy. One can only achieve success when you do work that makes you happy.

For me being successful at something means achieving happiness. I always try to do the things which make me feel happy and I enjoy doing what I have an interest in. Then we never get bored doing it therefore to gainthe success we must follow the path of happiness.

Tenzin Jambey

Pestalozzi India Children's Village 

Dear Life - Rishona Chopra

 
Dear Life,

Is your path too difficult to drive?

Does it hold happiness?

Or sadness?

Is it full of bundles of joy?

Is it fun, like a playing toy?

Does it hold success for me?

Or will it be full of glee?

I ask these questions to dear Life,

I hope it helps me decide.

It answers,

You could suffer from Cancer.

You could be successful,

You could be distressful.

You may find a lot of joy,

The path may be destroyed.

Neither do I, Neither do you,

Know if you might fall through.

It is in your hands, she says,

It depends on the way I sway.

Rishona Chopra

Grade VI

Gyanshree School

Happiness - Anushri Palnitkar

We all are happy in our lives, with my point of view

But there are my friends who feel that they are not happy,

But only a few.

Once my friend was in the garden,

And was thinking alone in her freedom

We asked here the reason

And she said," I love mangoes but this is not the season."

The second day she was at the same place,

Looking at us with a weird face

We asked her the reason

And she answered," I love social studies but because of studying social studies

I don't get time to play with my buddies.

The third day at the same place

She was sitting with an awful face

We asked her the reason

She replied," I love chocolates madly

But because of that, I am getting fat very badly

After this, I went to her house

And told her that being always sad will not work

And reminded her of the quote that will help her to be successful

And that was

Happiness is the key to success.

Name: Anushri Palnitkar

Grade: 5A

Billabong High International School, Thane

Goals - Anvesha Rana

                                                            

"If the plan doesn't work, change the plan, not the goal."

When we are young, we tend to be passionate about everything, but our elders constantly ask us what we want to be as we grow. The honest answer is that most of us don't know because deciding one profession out of so many choices can be exhausting. As we grow, our options also keep on changing. For instance, when I was young, I wanted to be a dancer, but later I decided that being a teacher was better, and after a few years, it struck me that being an architect is even more fun. I am not particular about what I want to be, but I will ensure that whatever I become is my own liking and choice. 

Goals needn't always be about a career at a personal level; they may even aim for a social or national cause. Paul Kagame, Lee Kuan Yew and John F. Kennedy are three different people who had the same patriotism for their nations and the same urge to work hard for their countries. Their efforts did not go in vain, and because of them, their motherlands are now at the status they had once wished for. Big Goals need Big Efforts; they did not achieve their goals alone; millions of people helped them accomplish their target. 

Goals can be long term or short term. If we want a particular job, we will work for it till we get it, that's our goal whereas, if we wish for a good grade we will work harder to attain it. You can start today by planning your goal and setting a deadline for it since a goal without a deadline is only a dream. We all have a purpose in life, and it is our responsibility to discover and fulfil it. A life without a purpose is like a boat without a rudder. Consequently, each of us must have the flame of passion and dreams always ignited, for it is the fire that keeps us going. Always rise up to your goals. 

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 9-B, 

Gyanshree School. 

Determination - Anvesha Rana

         
"Victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting."

Life is about success, failure and more success. The key to facing all of it is the determination to rise after one falls and start right from square one. We may receive awards or we may not, but definitely at some point in life we will receive failure and when we do, we all should remember to embrace it. Failure is not the opposite of success, it is a part of success. Only after you fail, you succeed and only after you succeed, you fail but what matters most is that you continue your quest of accomplishing your dreams. 50 years down the lane you will be more disappointed about the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do and when you start fulfilling your ambitions, you may even realize that life is too short for everything. 

An ordinary person who demonstrated extraordinary determination was Steve Jobs. He dropped out of college and started Apple Computer, Inc. with Steve Wozniak in his parent's garage. At twenty-five, Steve was worth USD 100 million. Seven years after this John Sculley became the CEO of Apple, due to the difference in the work styles of Jobs and Sculley, Jobs was fired from his own company. This was one of the most creative periods in the life of Apple's creator, during this time he started a company NeXT and also bought a computer animation studio named Pixar, he played a hand in the success of Toy Story, Ratatouille, The Incredibles and Cars. Jobs was then approached to rejoin Apple, he made radical changes at the company and hired Tim Cook. This was very different from a younger Jobs. The employees were now excited and they felt a sense of pride in their daily work. The results were a host of innovative products and Apple not just being a company, but a legacy.

We all respond to failure negatively but in reality it is an awful tasting medicine that the patient needs. Rather than regretting failure, we should assess what went wrong and improve our chances the next time. No matter how many times we lose, we should not let loss undermine our strength or our determination in fact, failure should only make our will stronger.

Anvesha Rana,

9-B,

Gyanshree School.

Appreciation for my school - Advik Aggrawal

Appreciation for school

Advik Aggrawal

Grade 3B

Billabong High International School, Thane

Hardwork - Mohita Solanki

Hard work is vital in a human's life. 

The person who is working hard can achieve success and happiness in his life. When a person works hard and gets success in life, the happiness he gets cannot be compared to anything. 

Hard work determines our value in life. Diligence is the weapon of human life on the strength in which he can overcome even the most severe crisis. There is a well-known proverb that says if there is no pain, then there is no gain. 

Hard work never goes wasted. Man can solve all problems in his life by working hard. No work in the world can be successful or accomplished without hard work. Nothing is easy to achieve in life without doing any work. Therefore, it has been said that hard work is the key to success.

Mohita Solanki

Class VIII 

The Fabindia School

Honesty - Khush Rajpurohit

Khush Rajpurohit

Being honest is essential in life due to the fact it solves many troubles and leads to peace and success. Honesty is the wealth that offers trustworthy people a lot of trust and appreciation in life. Honesty is the best policy as the reason is the foundation of a well-functioning relationship. Further, it nourishes many lives in several ways. Here, trust is the basis of any relationship that is received honestly.

People usually find it difficult, to be honest, because it is quite challenging to maintain honesty. Honesty means being truthful to a person in all aspects of life. It includes not lying to anyone, not hurting anyone through bad habits, activities, or behavior. An honest person never gets involved in morally wrong activities. Honesty does not break any rules and regulations, be discipline, behave well, speak the truth, be punctual, and honestly help others. Honesty helps a person to get around, lots of happiness, and blessings from the supreme power, and faith in many things. Being honest is very beneficial in real life. It is not something that one can buy or sell. This is a good habit that one can attain through practice.

2017 July, my dad felt worth sharing the importance of honesty. I was an average student in grade 8th, lazy and irresponsible. My father's words were like a kind of miracle which changed my life. He said, "Khush, we should also need to focus on our duty and uphold our responsibilities and should always need to be honest towards our work." Further, he added "Life should be great, not long and being honest towards our work is one of the most important things which have been in the list of values required being successful. You must acquire this quality. Laxman was honest with Lord Rama while Vibhishana wasn't. That’s why Lord Rama possesses the ability to defeat Ravana, more powerful and wealthier than Lord Rama. So we conclude that honesty must be part of your ethics." The spark lighted up me. I started working hard, studied well, and was able to secure the third position in academics.

Khush Rajpurohit

Class XII Science 

The Fabindia School

Hardwork - Vinita Sirvi

Vinita Sirvi

A dream doesn't become reality through magic, it takes sweat, determination, and hard work. Hard work is the most important key to success. You can never gain anything if you just sit and wait for a better opportunity to come. Poverty is not a curse but yes idealness is.

Since childhood and even now, I always remember what my parents used to tell me, "To be a better person and to get success, you need to work hard and the fruits of hard work are always sweet". I was a shy person till my 6th class, later I started preparing myself and started working hard and finally, I have reached the level where I can stand in front of the whole school and give a speech. My marks have also increased to a higher level. While studying, a student should engage in some skills development and should do some hard work. 

There is a well-known proverb, "Hard work never goes wasted". Impossible can be turned into possible only by hard work. Always remember 'The harder you fall, the heavier you lift, the stronger you climb, the higher your pedestal is'. To develop the value of hard work, parents and teachers should tell the children the stories of successful people. The children should choose a role model for their life. 

"A clay pot sitting in the sun will always be a clay pot. It has to go through the white heat of the furnace to become the porcelain".

Vinita Sirvi

The Fabindia School

Happiness - Yukti Kansara

To understand happiness, one must understand that happiness is not just about success, money, or fame. Real happiness lies in gratitude, doing what you adore, expressing yourself, doing good deeds, or more, but it cannot be described in one word or sentence. It consists much in the small term. It occurs every day in everyone's lives, but it depends on how you find it or what you find it.

I remember an activist, Muniba Mazari, from Pakistan. She is disabled by her legs, but she doesn't let her disability come between her happiness, so why we let our thinking and society come between our way of happiness.  Even writing about this is my happiness as our teacher trusted us and allowed us to express what we think about happiness. Taking an opportunity and doing it from the deep of your heart,  enjoying it, and putting effort into it without any pressure or force is happiness. Even I enjoy it from the deep of my heart and mind. 

At last, I'll say it is a choice where you have to decide that it should be in your life or not. We only become happy as much as we decide to be, and if you are happy, you can fill others' life with happiness. Last but not least, I'll put an end to my article by saying, "Happiness depends upon us. Be happy and make others happy." 

Yukti Kansara

Class IX A

The Fabindia School
Image source: https://thriveglobal.com/stories/the-happiness-trend-a-healthy-pursuit-or-an-obsessive-quest-part-2/