“I have myself always been terrified of plagiarism—of being accused of it, that is. Every writer is a thief, though some of us are more clever than others at disguising our robberies. The reason writers are such slow readers is that we are ceaselessly searching for things we can steal and then pass off as our own: a natty bit of syntax, a seamless transition, a metaphor that jumps to its target like an arrow shot from an aluminum crossbow.”

-Joseph Epstein

Yes. I steal. Sometimes when I really like a phrase, I’ll tweet it. In the process of tweeting, I try to adjust it into 140 characters. There are a lot of times when I cannot adjust it into 140 characters, so I rephrase it so much that it is no longer the same idea and no longer the same words. Its not mine, its not theirs.

The more emotion you add to your thoughts, the stronger the signal. The universe likes speed. When you get an intuitive nudge- you must act upon it.

I have now introduced to you, the law of attraction otherwise known as ‘the secret’. This is how you act on it:

1.Take some time on a daily basis to ‘create’ desirable thoughts. Write down a list of things you wish to have. Now close your eyes and believe that you have it. Be cautious of how you think-this is not day dreaming, it is acting upon the law of attraction. Be so real in your thought that even you can’t differentiate it from reality.

2. Get out of the “thought-creating” process and express gratitude for whatever you are thankful for in your current life. Love yourself to the max.

3. Bring yourself in alignment with whatever you ask for. If you ask for happiness, make sure everything in your house reflects happiness-the color, the people etc. All the energies have to align.

4. Have fun with it. Choose your thoughts carefully.

Watch the full documentary of this phenomenon.

Then I woke up.

I’ve never in my life purchased a Vichy product and now I am eager to try on their ‘recommended’ product. Is this the first form of Telepathic marketing? Nice.

This was the first time I was meeting young individuals from so many different nationalities(I met oldies before) and you can only imagine that their range of ideas was simply a breath of fresh air-more like a tornado of fresh air. Egos were simmered down to just the right state- solid enough to hold on to the group identity, but fluid enough to blend with others. I was lost in the various personalities I met. Few observations that come to mind:

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One of the coolest thing was that most of the teams that represented a ‘country’ consisted of at least one or more member of a different nationality. You could find a German in a New Zealand Team or a Romanian in a Canadian team.

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“Haha, you’re smart” I said when I heard a German gentleman talk about how he is fond of the mustard seeds popping in preparation of ‘dal’. He said many interesting things like how he disliked the idea of a treadmill-(indoor workouts) and his various observations of other teams.

“You’re smart too” he responded, “that’s why we’re both on the 20th floor, in Fairmont Queen Elizabeth with walls that are covered with rose-petals, with drinks in our hands while we look out the beautifully lit skyline of Montreal.”

Smooth talker for sure, I thought and in that one moment, I suddenly realized that I was hanging out with a group of highly ambitious and highly accomplished people.

“How do you think your team did”? I asked in response to a competition between his team and my team to which he responded very genuinely. He was very laid back but had very interesting opinions of people and things. He really seemed to be living the “dolce far niente” attitude. His team was a group of four young gentlemen who were dressed up all the same during their presentations but when I had the privilege of talking to them individually, they all revealed a very personable personality. One of them specifically told me that when you are presenting in front of judges, it is no use to present without having fun-the whole idea is to ‘put on a show’-a show that you can laugh off later on. I couldn’t agree more. Moreover, I was simply amused that they competed in a foreign language and held such a strong presence in the competition. I’ve seen national pride before, but this German team took it to another level-there was not a drop of arrogance–it was just beautiful group pride. Someone once said “don’t walk like you rule the world, walk like you don’t care who rules the world” and that is exactly what they were doing. David Zitzlsperger- you inspired me.

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Typically when teams were competing, the participants watched their competitor’s presentation. This was not the case for the New Zealanders-they were going to present in their style, no matter what the other teams did. They epitomized confidence.

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“[Big company name]-what’s in working for those big companies? Its just helping a successful company make more money.” : One of the Portuguese Team Member said this to me when we were talking about where we aspired to work in the future. He wants to take money where it didn’t exist. Nice.

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Schools with top brand names tend to not compete in this competition because when they lose the competition, it damages their ‘reputation’ and the strength of their brand name. That is why I commend all the schools that participate because it offers such an incredible experience for the students.

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After meeting with so many MBAs from across the world, I feel the world is a smaller place. Not only do I realize the power I have to change the world, but I am more likely to take action due to a broader network. Values resonate so strongly between so many MBA students–it is such a strong army of students!

What inspires me and only inspires me is ‘connecting’ with people. After all, it is only another human’s support that can help you overcome a perceived obstacle.

There are so many similar instances that continue to be a part of our lives when they were actually never meant to be. Some people have the courage to question such practices. They just make some kind of social change happen–once people start questioning previous assumptions, they most likely won’t be reversed. Social change just needs a beginning. I am genuinely looking forward to 2012-looking forward to witness and maybe even become a strong part of a new and exciting social change that changes the way people live.  I want to see people questioning not only `why the cat was being tied up`, but why it was there to begin with.

Remember, the illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and re-learn (Alvin Toffler)

A young widower, who loved his five year old son very much, was away on business when bandits came who burned down the whole village and took his son away. When the man returned, he saw the ruins and panicked. He took the burnt corpse of an infant to be his son and cried uncontrollably. He organised a cremation ceremony, collected the ashes and put them in a beautiful little bag which he always kept with him.
Soon afterwards, his real son escaped from the bandits and found his way home. He arrived at his father’s new cottage at midnight and knocked at the door. The father, still grieving asked: “Who is it?” The child answered, it is me papa, open the door!” But in his agitated state of mind, convinced his son was dead, the father thought that some young boy was making fun of him. He shouted: “Go away” and continued to cry. After some time, the child left. Father and son never saw each other again.”

This is the reason why the “Bermuda Triangle Phenomenon” amused me so much-the rules of physics, that I took for granted, were bent.

Now if I think about it, if I had no past, I would have no ‘memories’-Memories are only generated as a result of time. If I had no future, I would have no ‘anxiety’ because I would not be anticipating anything. That takes care of majority of the emotions that we experience. Everything would be happening simultaneously. What really amused me the most was that the NDE people said that life on Earth occurs with the blink of an eye. You probably won’t miss anybody-because what you thought were ‘relationships’ were also formed as a result of time.

Do you know what this all means to you for life on Earth? It means that by getting rid of the illusion of time from our minds in this life, we embrace the power of expanding our consciousness. A lot more exists than what we are willing to see. You have to surpass the physical dimensions. Let go of the biggest illusion: Time.