Tough Love - Azara Feroz Sayed

Came across these interesting tips from Kelly Harman, CEO of The Harman Group, when managing others whether it's staff, vendors, subcontractors, boss or peers. Act like you own the company, is the one single thing, which I always thought would make so much of a difference. The last one is the best....it is never late to start on your dream career while in your current position!!

Disagree with me - I come up with ideas all the time; some are better than others and some are perfectly awful. When I run one by you, and you don't think it will work, tell me why. I may not have looked at the idea from all angles, and I value your input. I may not agree with you, but I'll respect your opinion.

Question my decisions - If I make a decision that you don't agree with or don't understand, then ask me why I made it. I'll take the time to explain my logic. You might still disagree with me, but at least you'll understand why I made the decision.

Don't come to me with problems - Don't run to me with a problem and expect me to fix it for you. Come to me with a problem and then tell me how you want to fix it. If it makes sense, we'll implement it. If I don't agree, I'll tell you why and then we'll work together to figure out a better solution.

Tell me you want my job - It's great to be ambitious. I want you to covet my job. There is nothing wrong with clearly stating your goals. How else will anyone know how to help you? I'll give you more responsibility if I know what you want – and if that means you want my job (or a position similar to mine someday) then my job is to help you get there.

Tell me you don't want your job - You won't have fun unless you do something you're passionate about. Who wants to spend their working hours in a state of resignation or boredom? If you want to go to night school and study for a completely different career, I'll support you. I'll still expect 110% from you when you are here, but when I make my long-term plans; I'll take into consideration the fact that you may not be here to help me execute them. But I'll respect your dreams and your goals and I will do everything I can to help you achieve them.

Tell me when you don't know something - Don't try and fake your way through something you don't know. It will only make me angry. If you're honest with me, I'll make the investment to educate you. After all, I hired you because I thought you could learn, not because I thought you knew everything already.

Make bad decisions - Congratulations! At least you made one. I'd rather see you make decisions that turn out wrong and learn from them than have you expect me to make every decision for you. I don't have time. A mistake isn't stupid unless you do it twice.

Act like you own the company - Before making a decision, spending a dime, talking to a customer - you get the idea – pretend you own the company. As the owner, how would you behave? What would you spend? Knowing it would impact your own bottom line or the success of your company, would you act the same way or make the same decision? If the answer is yes, then you are on the right track.

Don't expect me to pay for everything - I will pay for certain classes, but you need to have some skin in the game too. Read books, take classes, listen to tapes, what ever it takes. And don't just learn what you need to know to do your job today – learn for the future. Just because you aren't a manager now doesn't mean you shouldn't take management classes. Don't assume that you don't need accounting courses because you're not in the accounting department. Believe me, accounting and budgets are a big part of any manager's job. If you want advice, come to me and I'll help you. I'll suggest classes, magazines to subscribe to, and books to buy. And - I'll remember.

Confess - When you make a mistake, tell me immediately. The sooner I know, the sooner we can deal with it. I've gone to my boss with my heart pounding, my palms sweating, and my voice shaky to confess a mistake I made. It's natural to be scared. What will save you is the fact that I immediately heard about it from you instead of someone else.

Take responsibility when it isn't your fault - If you are in charge of a project then ultimate responsibility belongs to you. I don't want to hear a long litany of excuses and explanations of how someone that reports to you failed to do something. I expect you to take full responsibility for the project. I know a lot more about what's going on than you think. And believe me, it works all the way up the management chain. If a project I'm in charge of fails because you didn't do your job, do you think my client cares? The bottom line is that I am in charge, so I'm the one who has to take responsibility, and you should too.

Quit your job - If you think of what you're doing here as just a job, then quit. Come in on Monday and start your career

The Process of Proactiveness - Azara Feroz Sayed

I am not sure if you are already part of the Covey Community http://www.coveycommunity.com/. If you are one of Steven Covey's fans like me - you would enjoy being part of it. This blog is based on one of the "Learn, Think, Do, Share" Sessions from the community that I participated in. Offcourse you can hear Dr Covey talk and also catch on the quotes from his books while you are on this site.

Words of Steven Covey, "we are proactive people potentially. And that we can literally become the creative force of our own life and then become a powerful change catalyst in effecting and blessing the lives of many other people, institutions, organizations, even societies. "

We all know from 7 Habits that 'being proactive', is the first step in the process of creating our own personal victories. One of the outcome of the proactive process is identifying our goals so that we are able to celebrate our personal victories - feel the creative force within us.

Proactiveness is a process - i.e. a ongoing one - the process of goal definition is an ongoing one too i.e. we need to have ability to change our goals to help us achieve more - goals needn't be cast in stone. There is a difference in thought that we have been trained till now that goals are cast in stone. The definition of SMART goals doesn't includes this too isn't it?. We should be able to change them to achieve more not vice versa.

When we set our goals, we need to define them in a healthy balanced way - need to set goals that will affect all for areas of our life. Body, Mind, Heart, Spirit are the four dimensions of life which are all connected. We need to think in a connected way. The only reason we don't accomplish our goals is because we don't do it in a balanced way. We do accomplish little goal in a short period of time e.g. losing weight by adopting a crash diet is a goal set considering the body in mind but what about the heart(relationships) - Do people get upset being in our proximity? What about our mind, spirit - have set them at ease - are troubled while on the crash diet? Such goals aren't sustained unless they are connected to all areas of life.

Goals defined keeping our whole nature in mind help us acheive sustainable goals i.e achieve even more latter - acheive more and even more later. These connected goals help us in achieving our personal victories - help us experience our creative force - stregthening our belief that we are the creative force of our own life and not a product of the past. These goals impact totality of our life - impact how we think - how we give and receive love - increase sense of your own worth - our value as human being

Consider these categories during goal setting - defne small goals - considering the largest challenges in the area.
General - The general category allows us to set goals that may not fit into Body, Mind, Heart, Spirit. This area may include things like projects around the house or yard, financial goals, or getting our material matters in order. While these goals may be important, it is critical to never neglect the balance of the four dimensions of human need

Body - The physical dimension involves caring effectively for our physical body - eating the right kinds of foods, getting sufficient rest and relaxation, and exercising on a regular basis. An example of a goal for body would be to get healthy thru exercise, diet.

Heart - Our heart is our relationships. The people that matter to us. Our loved ones, friends, business associates or fellow students. Working on our heart means emotionally investing in these relationships and strengthening them. An example of goal for Heart would be to nurture relationships with key people in life.

Mind - It is important to keep our mind sharp by reading, writing, organizing and planning. Read broadly and expose yourself to great minds. Regardless of our formal education we must engage in lifelong learning that informs and expands
our mind. An example of goal for Mind would be - to be a constant learner.

Spirit - The spiritual dimension is our core, our center, our commitment to our value system. This is our sense of purpose - why we do what we do. This is the area of our life to consider the service and contribution we will make and the legacy we will leave. An example of our our goal for Spirit would be to serve and contribute and to leave with integrity. The world integrity itself says - integrated - everything is connected with everything else.

If we reach our goal of running three times a week, it will affect all our aspects of our life
Body - Helps us improve my health
Mind - Allows us to think about and plan my week
Heart - Relieves stress
Spirit - Allows us to reconnect myself with my emotions

The site provides for a very good tool to set goals, define rewards, track goals, setup a team (this could be your spouse, children or your could be guide for your children) to help you provide the necessary guidance and encouragement. Hope you find it useful too.

Are you NICE or do you CARE - Azara Feroz Sayed

Came accross this article by David Meyer at http://knowledge-story.blogspot.com/2008/02/are-you-nice-or-do-you-care.html

This is a topic very close to my heart. I rate myself as being closer to CARE manager but was always given a feedback for missing on the NICE manager while working with my team. Most importantly, I feel good today doing what I did and that beats everything else!!

Most people and most managers want to be nice. After all, it's easier to be nice than to not be nice.

How do you spot a NICE Manager?
- When someone brings them a problem, a NICE manager provides them with a solution.
- When a report is late because the employee in question and their spouse went to a movie instead of completing the assignment, a NICE manager understands. After all, it's important to balance work and home.
- When the presentation lacks clarity, or the conclusions aren't supported by the facts, a NICE manager thanks them for their efforts and doesn't dig any deeper.
- And when the production numbers for the month are down for the 3rd consecutive month, a NICE manager clearly understands the reasons that are causing the problems and knows that they are not the fault of the employees.

A NICE manager avoids the controversy and confrontation that goes along with employees who are not quite performing up to par. A NICE manager defends their employees regardless of the situation, because there are always extenuating circumstances.

And that's the problem with a NICE manager. They always understand and always relieve the employee of the responsibility as N - Nothing, I - Inside, C - Cares, E - Enough

Nothing inside cares enough
- to hold the employee accountable for their own actions.
- to tell the employee when they are falling behind or failing.
- to be willing to upset the employee even if it is for their own good.
- to help the employee achieve everything that they are capable of achieving.

Frankly, being a NICE manager doesn't really help the employee, because it leaves them without any accountability, and it does no good for the manager either, as they now have more work to do. Being a NICE manager is a "lose - lose" scenario.

As a Manager, it is your responsibility to the company and to your employees to see that peak performance is achieved. You also have a responsibility to your employees to maximize their talents and growth, to see that they are ready for the promotions that may come their way, and to ensure that they learn the skills to achieve and succeed at higher and higher levels. You owe it to your employees to give them honest feedback on their performance so that they can develop their own skills and prepare for their future. And you can do it all in a positive, reinforcing manner.
That's the difference between being a nice Manager versus a NICE Manager.

Instead of being NICE, I suggest that you CARE. A Manager who CAREs
- will coach an employee on a problem, not assume the work for him.
- will communicate with an employee when their work does not meet expectations and coach them until it does.
- will identify the talents in their people and help cultivate those talents to even greater levels and coach them in areas where they can still develop.

What does it mean to CARE?
C - Coaching
A - Allows
R - Real
E - Excellence

So you have two clear choices. You can be NICE to your employees, or you can CARE.
Which will you choose?

Creative Romanticism - Azara Feroz Sayed

Do we count these chores as romanticism in our lives - is what I was thinking as I read the article available at http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/02/20/0.real.romance/index.html - excerpt below

But he did teach me how to fly a kite last summer, and sometimes early in the morning I overhear him playing "tea party" with our daughter, and sometimes late at night I overhear him playing "Blackbird" with his guitar. He has genuine integrity, he has serious style, and he's pulled me through more than one bout of the stomach flu. Anybody can sprinkle rose petals across a big brass bed, but only a real man will hold your hair while you're throwing up.

Now, there are those who will say that references to intense nausea don't belong in a column about romance, but I'm thinking maybe it's time we broaden our definition of what constitutes romance. Ask yourself this: When the man you love realizes that half the screws are missing from the Ikea bookcase he's attempting to assemble for you, does he:
(a) Complain bitterly about herring and Volvos -- vowing to forsake all things Swedish for the rest of his natural days?
(b) Leave the shelving in a heap on the living room floor and question your need to read in the first place?
(c) Complete construction using a combination of rubber bands and Krazy Glue while suggesting you fill the thing with pamphlets rather than actual books?

If you answered (c), then, my friend, life is good -- because it means somebody out there loves you enough to try to get your bookcase together. That creative effort is the kind of everyday gesture on which great romances are built.

The article made me think about the stuff that we don't tag as romanticism. I can only thank God for blessing me with Feroz - for his patience with me, while I go thru the process of 'change management' by complaining - adjusting to a smaller kitchen, adjusting to a life without car etc - Thanks to Feroz, our house is a Museum of Creativity - with wall hangings being sticked to curtains instead of walls, lamp shades made of table matt, Flower Vase in a fish tank etc. Feroz's Director brought his kids home to show them creativity at work. Feroz loves to spend time on doing stuff for the house and me watching him go thru the process of creation. That is a $o cost romanticsm with a life long memory value!!

As always, I can never be pleasesd, I wish he would have been interested in tidying/cleaning too - like a software engineer - he likes to work only on development projects :)

Most of our shopping life together has been spent in buying stuff for our house - trying to make it the most wonderful and comfortable place as we can. I am just putting down stuff that we consider as chores and don't count them as romanticism and as the article mentions, 'each day is a valentine's day'

Like the artice mentions about 'learning to fly a kite', In my life with Feroz, I have surparssed the number of 'Firsts' in the few years of my life with him than to those I did till I met him. I was a very timid, non-adventurous person and Feroz worked with me patiently in driving my fears out, stretching my self-imposed ideas of what I cannot do. I owe my physical, mental fitness to his continous gyan on staying fit. His patience in making me understand basic science principles, nature, music, religion, psychology...His biggest gift is, making me be aware of change, taking me thru it and showing me the benefits when crossed over!! Thank You Feroz!!

Strong v/s Strength - Azara Feroz Sayed

I came accross the lines below at http://www.peaceinspiration.com/2006/12/04/strong-vs-strength/

The poem alludes to Strength of Mind, Body over Sprit. I would say for the sake of poetry, a woman is referred here.

The idea of how union of strong spirit along with a sound mind and body makes us love and cherish life and all it has to offer!!


A strong woman works out every day to keep her body in shape…
but a woman of strength kneels in prayer to keep her soul in shape…

A strong woman isn’t afraid of anything…
but a woman of strength shows courage in the midst of her fear…

A strong woman won’t let anyone get the best of her…
but a woman of strength gives the best of her to everyone…

A strong woman makes mistakes and avoids the same in the future…
but a woman of strength realises life’s mistakes can also be God’s blessings and capitalises on them…

A strong woman walks sure footedly…
but a woman of strength knows God will catch her when she falls…

A strong woman wears the look of confidence on her face…
but a woman of strength wears grace…

A strong woman has faith that she is strong enough for the journey…
but a woman of strength has faith that it is in the journey that she will become strong…

Presenting Ideas Creatively - Azara Feroz Sayed

This story drives the importance of presenting our ideas creatively, for others to accept them and help us be successful

There are two shops next to each other - one selling candy and the other selling vinegar. The vinegar shop was doing well while the candy shop was moving towards bankruptcy. People would buy gallons of vinegar but would walk empty handed out of the candy shop. Finally the candy shop had to file for bankruptcy.

The candy shop owner couldn't keep himself from asking the vinegar shop owner, the secret of his success, "how come your business of selling a product - that tastes so bitter and smells so bad - is doing good - while no one was buying my sweet product".

The vinegar shop owner replied "It is because you are selling a sweet product with a vinegar face"

The presenter of this story also mentioned about a research that was done in US asking "which is the living being other than human whom you hate" - the outcome of the research was 80% said mice - in that case why is that Mickey mouse is so much liked in the world - Is it because Disney packaged and marketed it so well that Mickey is everyones favourite. Isn't it interesting how the creative presentation of the mice, kick started the success story of Disney.

Such an important aspect on our path to success is good presentation of our ideas - ensuring others buy into our idea and act according to what we want them to do!!

I had come accross these ideas in a presentation by an Islamic Scholar, Siraj Khan, on PeactTV (http://islambox.tv/watch/PeaceTV.ashx). In an email forward that I received yesterday - It was mentioned that Walt Disney was afraid of Mice. That reminded me of this presentation.

This Islamic Scholar was talking on the need for understanding Quran and spreading the wonderful ideas in the book to all. He emphasized - we have the candy - the Quran - we have to sell it with a candy face - till now we have been selling candy with a vinegar face. He insisted on understanding the Quran well and spreading it to all its content - selling candy with a candy face!!

Can't v/s Won't - Should v/s Want - Azara Feroz Sayed

Came accross these wonderful insight in "Taming the Gremlin". This is a 20+ yr old book by Rick Carson which I belive is out of print now. Libraries should be of help. A new book is to be released next month.

This technique for managing the Gremlin, our inner critic, have been used by many over the years to help manage transitions, disbilities and disorders etc and yes can be used very effectively with kids - wouldn't it be awesome to grow as a child controlling thoughts that make you uncomfortable about yourself!!

This technic focuses on noticing or being aware of our thoughts and beliefs, especially the self limiting ones which are based on fear and out-dated information. Being aware of this inner critic, helps us to validate & correct the self limiting thoughts and beliefs. This ensures we are utilising all our natural resources to lead a happy - creative - life, by being in control of the inner critic, the Gremlin, rather than the Gremlin controlling us.

Please visit http://www.tamingyourgremlin.com/index.cfm for more info. I have included an overview of this technic at the tail end of this post.

When we say to ourselves, "I can't skate on ice", we are not accepting the responsibility. This may be an excuse that we have been using, for the fear of managing a change. These may be our inner fears, beliefs that we don't want to get out of. At times some situations might be valid like, "I can't grow tall at 80". When we say to ourselves, "I won't skate on ice", we take the responsibility for our limitation and is a very powerful statement. Ability to respond to life using our "true essence" - our natural resourcefullness - without interference of our self limiting beliefs - is Response Ability.

When we say to ourselves, "I should complete cleaning", "should" indicates that we are forced to complete the task - there is no motivation and you want to do it because the consequences of not doing it - are not desirable. When there is no motivation - the activity becomes stressful. But when we say to ourselves, "I want to complete cleaning", it indicates a task that we are committed to and will provide us pleasure - seeing it being completed.

Once we have practiced awareness, within ourselves, we can interpret statements made by others in our relationships, at work/family/friends, to understand them and help US - in a relationship it is always "US", as the fruit of it is going be shared by all those involved in the relationship. If one person changes - everyone touched by the person changes - the impact of these small changes are BIG!!

Some interesting thoughts on Gremlin Taming...
The theory of Gremlin-Taming says that each one of us has a Gremlin inside — a monster of the mind that keeps sending self-limiting messages and tries to squelch the natural resourceful person within. The Inner Critic voice is the persistent negative voice (or series of voices) that constantly and irrationally questions our ability, chastises us for our mistakes, downplays our accomplishments and wants us to stay firmly in our comfort zone at all times. This negative chatter in our mind, limits us from being happy and being the natural resourceful person that we are.

In the book, Inner Game of Tennis by Tim Gallwey, it is mentioned, Potential minus interference equals performance. Silencing the Gremlin's interference helps us to live life fully!! To arrive at solutions, our creativity and resourcefullness have more room to grow now - as we can now tap into more of our personal resourcefullness by not being limited - by our self limiting beliefs. The experience that we can be successful in resolving some of the life long issues increases our self confidence. This increased self confidence helps us in resolving all other life's challenges.

Refer http://www.tamingyourgremlin.com/media/Recording%2012-07.mp3 audio for learning how to be aware.

We all know our body changes every day. Our personality is a network of behaviours, that emerge from matrix of beliefs that we hold about ourselves. Our personality changes every day based on our responses to life - a.k.a.experiences. Our performance, preferences, body, personality, mind all change over time - with this ever changing aspects we are not defined by our thoughts, beliefs, bodies or personalities but by what is called by different names - our soul, spirit, and prana, re, chi, ki, God, true love, life

Our beliefs are opinions we are loyal to. We hold onto our beliefs which are based on our past experiences, past fears. These beliefs are not based on the natural, resourceful person that we are at this moment.

This is where the Gremlin comes in - the vile, viscious, bully in shadows of our own mind. The Gremlin uses our past experiences to hypnotize us into forming and living our life in accordance with self-limiting and sometimes frightening generalizations about us and what existence holds for us. Gremlin wants us to feel bad and convinces us to waste time reliving the past, worrying about the future and analyzing relationships between all sorts of people and things. I personally liked this thought and worked on it, if we think for more than 10 minutes - we are not thinking - we are ruminating - we are worrying!! When alone, I would spend hours in a trance, watching the beautiful moments of my life with my dear ones or worrying about the future. Being aware, helped me control my thoughts and guide them and use them for enriching my present. Using the time for praying for my dear ones. A personal testimony that it works!!

We get stressed up when we analyze things - simply noticing involves simply noticing - that is not predicting the future, undoing the past, analyzing or intellectually understanding anything - simply noticing needs effort but no stress - like watching a entertaining movie. We take the effort to notice - this effort helps us to develop ourselves while stress impedes our development. While working with the Gremlin simply notice - be aware of him - if we try to change the Gremlin - we build resistance and it will be deterrent to the process of controlling the Gremlin or Guiding our thoughts.

Trust in Self, is to have an optimistic and realistic belief in our inherent potential, both actualised and not yet actualised. The higher the trust in ourselves, the more likely that our performance, learning and fulfilment will reflect our true potential. As we become aware of the Gremlin - we will see that our Gremlin has no hold on us!!

Emotion Reverse Engineering - Azara Feroz Sayed

Emotional Intelligence, Empathy are being used increasingly to perceive, assess, and manage self emotions and emotions of others. For some reasons, I wasn't introduced to Emotional Intelligence, as an area of pyschological research, till Feroz took it up as his research.

I liked the idea of Emotion Reverse Engineering that the article (http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/02/13/o.have.a.heart/index.html - refer section Exercise Two) mentions.

To assess emotions of others, by imitating the other person's communication (body language, tone, words).

We know, Empathy is about being in other person's shoes - this technique is about using the other person's communication as a tool for being in the person's shoes.

Wouldn't it be good too - to try this in one of the sessions on Communication Skills or NLP or in our teams just for fun!! Can you see the traits of a wife of a corporate trainer here. Feroz does corporate training - Didn't I promise you will hear lot about Feroz!! To have a role play with two people using a pre-scripted talk on a topic. Each of the role player, gets their part of the script and emotional background for the role play. Having the audience replay the two people's communication and guess what their emotional backgroud was should be exciting and Fun!! Remember the Tigger!!. This would help us know the effectiveness of this technique and also a beautiful reminder - to keep Empathy alive in us!!

I tried the technique suggested by the below article. I added one more step, relating with my emotions - the other persons emotions that I am imitating. Trying to relate in the past when I experienced similar emotions. What was going on with me when I felt the same emotions. In my case it was easier to know the answer.

I would let you all try this and share your experience. Wouldn't the earth be a better place to live - even by a small atom of it - if we did this exercise - if not always - sometimes while we are looking for a break from our routine - wouldn't this help us manage our relationships better - what say?

Quote from the article
Some mechanical engineers spend their time disassembling machines to see how they were originally put together. You can use a similar technique to develop empathy, by working backward from the observable effects of emotion to the emotion itself.

Think of someone you'd like to understand -- your enigmatic boss, your distant mother, the romantic interest who may or may not return your affections. Remember a recent interaction you had with this person -- especially one that left you baffled as to how they were really feeling.

Now imitate, as closely as you can, the physical posture, facial expression, exact words, and vocal inflection they used during that encounter. Notice what emotions arise within you. What you feel will probably be very close to whatever the other person was going through. For example, when I "reverse engineer" the behavior of people I experience as critical or aloof, I usually find myself flooded with feelings of shyness, shame, or fear. It's a lesson that has saved me no end of worry and defensiveness.

I train life coaches to use reverse engineering in real time by subtly matching clients' body language, vocal tone, even breathing rate. It's so effective that clients often think the coach must be psychic -- how else could anyone "get them" so quickly and completely? Elementary, my dear Watson. The body shapes itself in response to emotion, and shaping one's own body to match someone else's is a quick ticket to empathy.

My First Post!! - Azara Feroz Sayed

Like everything else writing the first post too - is an experience - feeling excited and nervous - hopefully Feroz will be proud of me - as I am finally taking his advice of writing.

Don't know if you have had this oppurtunity of walking down for 15 mts in single digit Fahreneit - with wind chill below zero - the thoughts that come to mind when we undergo the ordeal of the walk or similar miserable situation - don't we feel that the situation should end too soon - also doesn't the experience makes us ponder over our situation in life - contemplate on why are we in this situation - to stop and think with our full strength of mind - an oppurtunity for self judgement - an oppurtunity for self examination of our actions - the wrong we have done - and an oppurtunity to improve our situation before it is too late (in the grave) to mend our actions

I never thought of failures this way - till I heard about this thought in a presentation - that when the going is good - we all are busy in enjoying our lives without much thought to our actions - we are narrow minded - but when bumped into failure - we use our full strength of mind - it forces us to think about our actions and correct those - ignites spirituality.

Miserable times also take us closer to God - Praying to God with fervour, to get us out of our situation - we participate in charity ( doing good works - least charity that one can do) - we examine and acknowlege all the good things in life - we are blessed with and thank God for them - asking God for 'strength to be humble' - a paradox - strength to stay in his path and not go astray (by complaining about prayers not being answered) and accepting his supernatural powers (being humble as a servant) to define the outcome of our supplications.

Another beautiful thought I heard - explained in form of anecdote - One rich man asks a beggar can you give me one of your leg for 10,000 bucks - he says no - then he asks will you give me one of your hand for 10,000 bucks - he says no - then he repeats the same for each of his eyes, ears, brain, heart and the beggar continues to say no - the rich man then tells the beggar - you are a millionaire - what are you unhappy about ? I really feel blessed with the treasure I have been blessed with - my family - my friends - my one in a million husband - mashallah - I pray to God to take care of my treasure and bless it.

The 15 mts walk in below zero weather also takes us to our destination - to expereince the good things awaiting for us in our destination - so the ordeal of the walk in the cold is worth the trouble

Sometimes we take the walk and find the destination is closed i.e. our expectations after the ordeal were not met - these times are the much troubled ones for us and the most crucial ones to not lose heart - but take strength from those situations - look at the long term gains rather than short term - not to be like the infant who is suffering from fever and wants to eat candy (instant good feeling) but not the sour medicine (getting cured of the fever) - I always remember the words 'If God loves a person he tests him all the more - as God wants to raise him in the ranks in this world and hereafter' - These words give me strength and the least I can do - for my dear ones - going thru the trying periods is - pray for their peace and strength - Amen!!