Thursday, April 19, 2007

Attitude - Key to Happiness

Tamil : வெள்ளத் தனைய மலர்நீட்டம் மாந்தர்தம் உள்ளத் தனையது உயர்வு (by Thiruvalluvar).

Transliteration : veLLath thanaiya malarn-iittam maanthartham uLLath thanaiyathu uyarvu.

Translation : Lotus flower stalk grows in accordance to the water level, and so does one grows in accordance to their attitude or to put it short, Your Attitude determines Your Altitude.

Among 1330 Thirukural couplets written by Thiruvalluvar, I like this one the most for various reasons. It eloquently describes the correlation of one's attitude with the potential level of growth they can realize in life. Following chart will give a fair idea about how far attitude can go in a person's life. Its worth to note that attitude contributes nearly 12 fold more than money for happiness!


It reminds me of a popular quote...

"watch your thoughts, for they become words
watch your words, for they become actions
watch your actions, for they become habits
watch your habits, for they become character
watch your character, for they become your destiny".

I would like to add one more line in between, to make it more effective!

"watch your thoughts, for they become attitude
watch your attitude, for they become your words
watch your words, for they become actions
watch your actions, for they become habits
watch your habits, for they become character
watch your character, for they become your destiny".

Your comments?!

4 comments:

Sree's Views said...

my comments ?
I completely agree with you.. :)
Its atitude and also 'people skills' that helps a person grow.
It has been repeatedly stressed that EQ is more important than IQ.
Nice post , Thiru :)
U brought out a very imp point :)

Sowmya said...

Wow ! very innovative phrase !!

Nice post with lots of links with the key of happiness :)

none said...

You have written about a very important concept! Good post!

வாழ்க்கைல கிடச்சது பாதின்னா, கிடச்சதை பத்தி நம்ம நெனப்பு தான் மீதி.... இல்லையா?

Thiru said...

to sree, thanks for the comments. Ya these days importance of EQ - emotional intelligence is realized more than ever before.

thanks sowmya...

thanks poornima, and what do you mean by "வாழ்க்கைல கிடச்சது பாதின்னா, கிடச்சதை பத்தி நம்ம நெனப்பு தான் மீதி.... இல்லையா?"