Every human being has desires. It’s the way we’re built. We want things. It’s easy for other animals that know what they want and just go for it. It gets much more complicated when humans are concerned. We constantly want new things and we tend to remember things. See, we were given the ability to think; we were given a brain.

As we grow up we go after certain things we want. Sometimes things don’t go so well. We either fail or are made fun of or we get scared or embarrassed. If we didn’t have a brain that remembered, then we would have simply picked ourselves and tried once more. Unfortunately, we do remember and so we don’t just try again. We try to come up with a different way to get what we want or we find a substitute for our desires or we convince ourselves that we don’t want that particular thing.

Another drawback of having a brain is that we attach ideas to people. Sometimes these are good ideas, but most of the time they are just ridiculous. We believe that a person is cool because he acts in a certain way. We think someone is better than us because she already has the things we want. We think that the people we look up to are infallible.

It gets worse. Once we get these ridiculous ideas into our heads, we try to emulate them. We try to act in certain ways and we try to be infallible. We deny ourselves the things we desire because they don’t fit in with an image in our head; an image that we created for ourselves.

In the end most of us are walking around in disguise, wearing masks. Pretending to be someone we are not. We are tied down by our fears and insecurities. I think it is time to unmask ourselves and take a good look at who we really are.

Weltanschauung: world view. It refers to the framework of ideas and beliefs through which an individual interprets the world and interacts with it. If it were possible to draw a map of the world on the basis of Weltanschauung, it would probably be seen to cross political borders.

The world view of a person doesn’t take into account the imaginary line drawn by politicos. A person’s world view is not something that can be built in a day. Our outlook of the world, as a whole is created over millennia. It is influenced by the experiences, beliefs and ideas of the generations that came before us.

We have a lot in common with people who share the same world view as us. This does not mean someone with a different world view is wrong, it simply means that we relate better with people who think like us.London and Ireland are vastly different. Yet, a person from London would never describe Ireland as exotic. Breath taking and beautiful but not exotic.

The two places share a common world view. Subconsciously, we do not feel a huge difference. If that same Londoner was to come to Mumbai, he would say that he was in an exotic land. Both Mumbai and London are densely populated urban sprawls, not very clean and very fast paced. The difference is not in the obvious. The difference is in the way a Londoner and a Mumbaikar looks at the world.

With the world becoming a global economy, it is important to understand different world views. It is important to know one’s own world outlook. If we can understand the ancient influences on people’s thinking, we can relate to them better. Understanding our own thinking helps us grow. So, do you know your Weltanschauung?

A 26-foot-long dying shark washed ashore Tuesday on a Long Island beach. I’m sure the first reaction to this news will be fear and worry. After all 26 feet packs a lot of bite; but there is no need to fear, the basking shark is not a threat to humans as it feeds on plankton. There is cause for worry though. The cause of death of this mighty beast is still unknown; but the lack of any obvious outer injuries to the fish, raises some very troubling questions. We cause so much destruction to the planet, even by simply carrying out day to day tasks, that we can no longer tell if something is our fault. It is very possible that authorities will discover, some kind of human interference is the cause of the shark’s death.

There was a time when we would pray to God for rain. After all a drought was an effect of the environment, we had no hand in it. Today we blame our governments for water shortage. We cause the droughts. We have even started cloud seeding and cloud farming. Though these are environmental issues they have a very profound effect on our society and hence on our businesses. We leave such large footprints on the environment these days that it would be disastrous for any business to not be environmentally conscious.

For all the harm we do to our environment there is a price to pay, If not by us then by our children. Every time there is no rainfall in India, the price of cotton worldwide goes up and clothes get more expensive. Today our environment affects our economy and our actions affect the environment. It is time each person thought of the consequences of his actions. Ask yourself ‘What have you done?’

Have you ever done something without having any persuasive reason for doing it? Talked to a stranger not because they were good looking or smelt fantastic, but for no reason at all? Stayed away from a place not because it looked dangerous or had a bad reputation but because you had a feeling? Have you ever used the phrase ‘I just had this vibe.’? I’m sure the majority of us would answer that question with a ‘yes’. The reason for this is, whether we are conscious of it or not, most of us are aware of the fabric of the universe that connects all the things in it to one another. We are all part of the same field of energy and we communicate with everything through this energy with the help of vibrations. Even if we are not conscious of this communication it is continuous and carried out with or without our approval. Having a feeling or a vibe about something is nothing more than our conscious mind picking up on a message being sent to us by an energy field in our surrounding. Some people refer to this as intuition others a lucky guess. But a rose with any other name would still smell as sweet. The accuracy of these feelings can be disconcertingly correct.

More often than anything we pick up ‘vibes’ from people. This is because people are always sending out vibrations into the universe. They may be good or bad. It is important that we train ourselves to pick up on these and be careful about the vibrations we send out into our surroundings, because what you attract depends on how you vibrate. If you are able to understand the vibrations coming from people you will be able to understand their motives as well. Remember the next time you say, ‘I just got this vibe’ your not talking about some abstract emotion but an actual ‘vibration’.

Control your destiny by using the Law of Attraction, and stop feeling like a puppet controlled by outside forces. The Law of Attraction is an ancient and cross cultural law that works whether we want it to or not. Chances are, if life is living you (i.e., you don’t feel in control), you are misusing the Law of Attraction. As it says in the Bible, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is.” How do you spend your thinking moments? Thinking positively? Or thinking negatively? Thinking about the opportunities the new day will bring? Or worrying about what may happen today?

What you want or don’t want will cling to you. Why will what you don’t want cling to you? Because when you worry, which is, in its barest form, concentrating on negativity, you will attract even more negativity. This brings the very situations you don’t want. By believing in the Law of Attraction, you will learn to control your own destiny. While we can’t undo what has occurred in our pasts, we can change what we attract into our lives right now and in the future by following three steps: ask, believe, and receive.

When you ask your higher power what you want, you need to be very specific. Visualize it as happening. Then, believe and behave in such a way that what you want manifested is happening. Your confidence and behavior are interdependent and will reinforce one another.

Finally, be ready to receive. Make sure you are open to seeing what you desire in its various guises. Something that may seem like a mere coincidence may be just the thing that’ll lead to the opportunities you seek. Also, pay attention to your intuition. You just never know how and when what you want to manifest will show up. Be open to receive.

Stop being a puppet and take control of your destiny with the Law of Attraction.