Bridging the Gap: General Colin Luther Powell

The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve. Any time you tolerate mediocrity in others, it increases your mediocrity. An important attribute in successful people is their impatience with negative thinking and negative acting people. As you grow, your associates will change. Some of your friends will not want you to go on. They will want you to stay where they are. Friends that don't help you climb will want you to crawl. Your friends will stretch your vision or choke your dream. Those that don't increase you will eventually decrease you.

Consider this:
Never receive counsel from unproductive people. Never discuss your problems with someone incapable of contributing to the solution, because those who never succeed themselves are always first to tell you how. Not everyone has a right to speak into your life. You are certain to get the worst of the bargain when you exchange ideas with the wrong person. Don't follow anyone who's not going anywhere.

With some people you spend an evening: with others you invest it. Be careful where you stop to inquire for directions along the road of life. Wise is the person who fortifies his life with the right friendships. If you run with wolves, you will learn how to howl. But, if you associate with eagles, you will learn how to soar to great heights.
"A mirror reflects a man's face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses."

The simple but true fact of life is that you become like those with whom you closely associate - for the good and the bad.

Note: Be not mistaken. This is applicable to family as well as friends. Yes...do love, appreciate and be thankful for your family, for they will always be your family no matter what. Just know that they are human first and though they are family to you, they may be a friend to someone else and will fit somewhere in the criteria above.

"In Prosperity Our Friends Know Us. In Adversity We Know Our friends."

"Never make someone a priority when you are only an option for them."
"If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude..."
Colin Powell

We thank Brig PT Gangadharan for sending us the link
Bridging the Gap

Strengthening Ethics and Values

Measure of success
Our lives are filled with everyday questions of fact and factors contributing to our career success. Success can be attributed to our measure of comfort zone we wish to live in. Therefore, success depends on our upbringing, education, acquiring skills , hard work, determination or just our good luck. Well truly it is our overdrive to maintain the steam of life under full pressure. Success in life is integration of many factors, which is generally gauged in one's financial ability or his overall material assets.

Human values
However, the fundamental questions of our lives is neither question of fact nor career graph nor financial strength. The fundamental issues of life are those questions which affect every aspect of our life. What is that gives genuine meaning to human values? What things are really worth striving for? What is that makes life worth living for? Are there values that transcend cultural differences or nationalities? Can we have ethical values that can imbibe a more humane society defraught of hate and violence? Can we accommodate and integrate values which are time honoured, rational and behoving our traditions?

Do we have a choice?
Where does one find strength? Can we take comfort and follow our heroes and leaders? If humans operate in terms of deterministic laws, does one have a real choice or we just move with the general flow?

National security
To defend the nation, the Jawans of our Armed Forces embellish and cherish the values of Honour, Patriotism and Supreme Sacrifice. This value system comes automatically and no one instills these values. The soldiers look to the leader- Commanding Officers, and the Leaders in turn lead men to battle field victories. One shudders to think of the results when the Jawans value system gets eroded or ripped. The Jawans welfare is of paramount importance. His career and financial strength will be the measure which will consolidate his inherent value system. Anyone tampering with the time honoured and fine tuned value systems of the Armed Forces will be causing an irreversible damage to the well balanced and cohesive force. Welfare of our Jawans, therefore, must be the prime concern and priority of the Nation at large. In the same manner welfare of Ex Servicemen is as important, if his instilled value system is to be preserved and services utilised for the Nation Building.

Perception
Questions of Value is of course for everyone, who has felt the urge to address it in real terms or who wants to fine tune one's ability to perceive how deeper questions of ethics and values apply to the choices that make up one's life.