Embroidery of Our Life

Embroidery of Our Life

There was a little boy, whose mother used to embroider a great deal. He would sit at her knee and look up from the floor and ask what she was doing. She informed him that she was embroidering. As from the underside he watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop that she held in her hand, he complained to her that it sure looked messy from where he sat.

She would smile at him, look down and gently say, "Son, you go about your playing for a while, and when I am finished with my embroidering, I will put you on my knee and let you see it from my side."
He would wonder why she was using some dark threads along with the bright ones and why they seemed so jumbled from his view. A few minutes would pass and then he would hear mother's voice say, "Son, come and sit on my knee." This he did, only to be surprised and thrilled to see a beautiful flower or a sunset. He could not believe it, because from underneath it looked so messy.

Then mother would say to him, "My son, from underneath it did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a pre-drawn plan on the top. It was a design. I was only following it. Now look at it from my side and you will see what I was doing."

Many times through the years whenever he looked up to his Heavenly Father and said, "Father, what are You doing?" it seemed that the Lord answered, "I am embroidering your life." He would think, "It looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem so dark. Why can't they all be bright?" The Lord seemed to reply , "My child, you go about your business of doing My business, and one day I will bring you back to me and put you on My knee and you will see the plan from My side."

Finding a New Spring

Finding a New Spring

Once upon a time a certain tradesman was leading a caravan to another country to sell his goods. Along the way they came to the edge of a severe hot-sand desert. They asked about, and found that during the daytime the sun heats up the fine sand until it's as hot as charcoal, so no one can walk on it - not even bullocks or camels! So the caravan leader hired a desert guide, one who could follow the stars, so they could travel only at night when the sand cools down. They began the dangerous night-time journey across the desert.

A couple nights later, after eating their evening meal, and waiting for the sand to cool, they started out again. Later that night the desert guide, who was driving the first cart, saw from the stars that they were getting close to the other side of the desert. He had also overeaten, so he dozed off to sleep. Then the bullocks who, of course, couldn't tell directions by reading the stars, gradually turned to the side and went in a big wide circle until they ended up at the same place they had started from!

By then it was morning, and the people realized they were back at the same spot they'd camped at the day before. They lost heart and began to cry about their condition. Since the desert crossing was supposed to be over by now, they had no more water and were afraid they would die of thirst. They even began to blame the caravan leader and the desert guide - "We can do nothing without water!", they complained.

Then the tradesman thought to himself, "If I lose courage now, in the middle of this disastrous situation, my leadership has no meaning. If I fall to weeping and regretting this misfortune, and do nothing, all these goods and bullocks and even the lives of the people, including myself, may be lost. I must be energetic and face the situation!" So he began walking back and forth, trying to think out a plan to save them all.

Remaining alert, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a small clump of grass. He thought, "Without water, no plant could live in this desert." So he called over the most energetic of his fellow travelers and asked them to dig up the ground on that very spot. They dug and dug, and after a while they got down to a large stone. Seeing it they stopped, and began to blame the leader again, saying "This effort is useless. We're just wasting our time!" But the tradesman replied, "No no, my friends, if we give up the effort we will all be ruined and our poor animals it will die - let us be encouraged!"

As he said this, he got down into the hole, put his ear to the stone, and heard the sound of flowing water. Immediately, he called over a boy who had been digging and said, "If you give up, we will all perish - so take this heavy hammer and strike the rock."

The boy lifted the hammer over his head and hit the rock as hard as he could - and he himself was the most surprised when the rock spilt in two and a mighty flow of water gushed out from under it! Suddenly, all the people were overjoyed. They drank and bathed and washed the animals and cooked their food and ate. Before they left, they raised a high banner so that other travelers could see it from afar and come to the new spring in the middle of the hot-sand desert. Then they continued on safely to the end of their journey.

“Don’t give up too easily - keep on trying until you reach the goal."

Every obstacle presents an opportunity

Every obstacle presents an opportunity

In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it.

Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the big stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded.

As the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many others never understand.

Lesson: Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one's condition.

The Champion's Edge

The Champion's Edge

The champion’s edge is not in a gifted birth; a high Intelligent Quotient (IQ) or in talent. The champion’s edge is all in the ATTITUDE (how you do what you do); not aptitude.

How you do what you do determines the quality of the results you get in your life.

It is what you do after you’ve done what you are expected to do, that will make you a CHAMPION.

It is what you learn after you’ve learnt what you are expected to learn that will make you a GENIUS.

It is how many people you help to become successful after you become successful that will make you live a life of SIGNIFICANCE.

It is the EXTRA that you do after doing the ordinary, that will make you to become EXTRA-ORDINARY.

Make a conscious effort to do less of complaining

Make a conscious effort to do less of complaining

Many of us want to either impress others with our busyness or difficult life, or we are seeking sympathy. Rarely will you hear either spouse say to each other after a long day at work,” I had a terrific day. Lots of things went right.” The fear is that to do so (even if it were true) might be seen as a weakness – as if your life were too easy.

I know for a fact that some men complain to their wives about how difficult their workday is, in part, because they don’t want to be expected to do too much once they get home!

In addition, most of us want to be appreciated and respected for how hard we work. By sharing all that went right during the day, the fear is that we might lose some of that appreciation or respect, and be taken for granted.

But more than all of that, focusing on the negative is just a bad habit – plain and simple. Complaining is contagious, and everyone seems to do it. So, unless you make a conscious effort to do less of it, you’re probably going to continue for as long as you are working.

If you began focusing more on the best parts of your day, you will become increasingly aware that there are all sorts of interesting and enjoyable aspects to your day that were virtually invisible to you prior to this shift in focus. You no longer take for granted those stimulating conversations, interesting challenges, personal contact with friends and others. Perhaps most of all, you find that your appreciation has been heightened. Because of this, you find yourself less bothered and annoyed by the hassles that you must deal with on a daily basis.

The Cockroach Theory for self-development: Response Vs Reaction

The Cockroach Theory for self-development: Response Vs Reaction

At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and sat on a lady. She started screaming out of fear. With a panic stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach - Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group also got panicky. 

The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away but ...it landed on another lady in the group. Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama. The waiter rushed forward to their rescue. 

In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter. The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt. When he was confident enough, he grabbed it with his fingers and threw it out of the restaurant. 

Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, the antenna of my mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, 

Was the cockroach responsible for their histrionic behavior? If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed? He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos. 

It is not the cockroach, but the inability of those ladies to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach that disturbed the ladies. 

I realized that, it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or any other that disturbs me, 
but its my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me. 
Its not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that disturbs me. More than the problem, its my reaction to the problem that creates chaos in my life. 

Lessons learnt from the story : 

I understood, I should not react in life, I should always respond. The women reacted, whereas the waiter responded. Reactions are always instinctive whereas responses are always well thought of, just and right to save a situation from going out of hands, to avoid cracks in relationship, to avoid taking decisions in anger, anxiety, stress or hurry. 

* How practical would the relevance of this be in a corporate setting? 
* How often do we react rather than respond to a problem at work? 
* Would you prefer to react before responding or respond before reacting? 

Think about it.

Remembering to appreciate

Remembering to appreciate
One of the most consistent complaints of working people in virtually all industries is that either feel completely unappreciated, or at the very least under-appreciated. There seems to be unspoken assumption that workers are lucky to have jobs – and the fact that they have jobs is appreciation enough.

The problem is, people need and deserve to feel appreciated. People who feel appreciated are happier, less-stressed, and more loyal than those who feel taken for granted. Overall, they are harder workers and are excellent team players. They quit less often, show up on time, get along with others, exhibit abundant creativity, and strive for excellence.

Conversely, people who are (or even feel) unappreciated often feel resentful and lose their enthusiasm for their work. They can become apathetic and lazy. They are easily bothered, and certainly are no fun to be around or work with.

The more committed I have become to remembering to appreciate those I work with, the better I have felt about myself. And as an added bonus, those I work with seem to appreciate me much more than ever. In this insistence, it really does seem that what goes around comes around.

By remembering appreciate the people you work with, your relationships will be enhanced and, as importantly, you’ll be actively making everyone’s day a little brighter – including your own. 

Criticism is something all of us must face

Criticism is something all of us must face

The truth is, critics are a fact of life, and criticism is something all of us must face. In fact, the only way to avoid criticism is to live an isolated life where people aren’t exposed to your work, personality, or behavior. Sometimes the criticism we receive is valuable, even helpful.

If you think about it, a landslide political victory would be one where the winner received 60 percent of the vote. That means that even in a convincing win, 40 percent of the people will be wishing the winner had lost!

Realizing this somewhat startling statistics has helped me to keep the criticism directed at me in its proper perspective. No one is important enough, good enough to escape their share of criticism.

I asked an extremely calm person as to how he handles bad reviews and criticism. He told me, “I always try to see if there is grain of truth in what is being said. Quite honestly, there often is. In these instances, I try to learn what I can, and then let go of it. Very often my greatest growth comes directly after a dose of criticism. The worst thing to do is take it personally and become defensive.”

No matter how hard any of us try, no matter how positive our intentions, there will always be someone there to criticize us.

Welcome to the human race when you make the decision to stop fearing your critics. Then your ego and self-image won’t be hurt any more, and your life will seem a great deal less stressful.

The important things in Life

The important things in Life

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2 inches in diameter, He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "Yes.

"Now," said the professor, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things – your family, your partner, your health, and your children – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter – like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff. ""If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued "there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.

Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

Forgive yourself, you are a human

Forgive yourself, you are a human

“To err is human, to forgive divine.” You might as well insert the word “yourself” into this all-so-true observation about being human.

Let’s face it. We are human, and to be human means you’re going to make errors, at least some of the time. You’re going to make plenty of mistakes, mess up from time to time, lose your way, forget things, lose your temper, say things you shouldn’t have, and all the rest.

I’ve never understood why this simple fact of life – our tendency to make mistakes – is so surprising or disappointing to people.

To me, one of the saddest mistakes we make is a lack of forgiveness, especially to ourselves. We constantly remind ourselves of our flaws and previous mistakes. We anticipate future mistakes. We’re highly critical of ourselves, frequently disappointed, and ruthless in our self-judgment. We blame ourselves, and often we’re our own worst enemy.

It seems to me that to be unforgiving of yourself is foolish and ridiculous. Most of us are doing the best that we can – really. But we’re not perfect. The truth is, we’re a work-in-progress.

We should learn from our mistakes and from stumbling and keep moving ahead in life. 

Confidently walk into anything God brings our way

Confidently walk into anything God brings our way

Two men went fishing. One man was an experienced fisherman, the other wasn't.

Every time the experienced fisherman caught a big fish, he put it in his ice chest to keep it fresh. Whenever the inexperienced fisherman caught a big fish, he threw it back.

The experienced fisherman watched this go on all day and finally got tired of seeing this man waste good fish.

 "Why do you keep throwing back all the big fish you catch?" he asked.

The inexperienced fisherman replied, "I only have a small frying pan."

Sometimes, like that fisherman, we throw back the big plans, big dreams, big jobs, and big opportunities that God gives us.
Our faith is too small.

We laugh at that fisherman who didn't figure out that all he needed was a bigger frying pan; yet how ready are we to increase the size of our faith?

Whether it's a problem or a possibility, God will never give you anything bigger than you can handle. That means we can confidently walk into anything God brings our way.

Are we missing any in this busy life…?

In Washington DC, at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes.  During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through
the station, most of them on their way to work.  

After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried

on to meet his schedule.
About 4 minutes later:
 The violinist received his first dollar.  A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
At 10 minutes:
 This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent – without exception – forced their children to move on quickly.

At 6 minutes:

 A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

 A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time.

At 45 minutes:
 The musician played continuously.  Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while.  About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace.  The man collected a total of $32.
After 1 hour:
 He finished playing and silence took over.  No one noticed and no one applauded.  There was no recognition at all.

 No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world.  He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a Stradivarius violin worth $3.5 million
dollars.  Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

 This is a true story.  Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the DC Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social Experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

*In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

*If so, do we stop to appreciate it?

*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best Musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . .

How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

Perception of Life

Perception of Life

A very tired traveler came to the banks of a river.

There was no bridge by which he could cross. It was winter, and the surface of the river was covered with ice. It was getting dark, and he wanted to reach the other side while there was enough light to see. He debated about whether or not the ice would bear his weight.

Finally, after much hesitation and fear, he got down on his knees and began very cautiously to creep across the surface of the ice. He hoped that by disturbing the weight of his body, the ice would be less apt to break under the load.

After he made his slow and painful journey about halfway across the river, he suddenly heard the sound of singing behind him. Out of the dusk, there came a 4-horse load of coal driven by a man singing merrily as he went to his carefree way. Here was the traveler, fearfully inching his way on his hands and knees. And there, as if whisked along by the winter's wind, went the driver, his horses, his sled, and the heavy load of coal over the same river!

The above story illustrates how many of us go through life:

Some stand on the bank of decisions unable to make up their minds about the course to take. Others stand on the banks trying to muster enough courage to cross over to the other side of the task or problem encountered.

On the other hand, some individuals crawl and creep through life for fear of thin ice.

Their faith is not strong enough to hold them up. Still there are those who whisked along whistling as they go. Their faith is UNSHAKABLE.

When we face the river of difficulties, we do not have to fear, nor do we creep through life. God has promised to help, and with God's help we can merrily make our way to the other side safely.

But there are still going to be errors

But there are still going to be errors

You can try and try – you can make allowances for contingencies and mix-ups, but there are still going to be errors. And when errors happen, forget a promise, meeting, or commitment; then someone is going to be hurt, upset, mad, or disappointed.

Rather than becoming upset, defensive, or guilty, maintain your bearings and remain compassionate. You should understand that there’s simply nothing you can do – other than your best. You didn’t intend for it to happen, you did everything you knew how to prevent it, yet it happened.

In fact, most of us will do everything within our power not to, yet it’s still going to happen. And it will happen again. It’s time to let it go and focus on doing the best you can.

Today before you complain about…

Today before you complain about…

Today before you think of saying an unkind word - Think of someone who can't speak.

Today before you complain about the taste of your food - Think of someone who has nothing to eat.

Today before you complain about life - Think of someone who went too early to heaven.

Today before you argue about your dirty house, someone didn't clean or sweep - Think of the people who are living in the streets.

Today before whining about the distance you drive - Think of someone who walks the same distance with their feet.

Today before you are tired and complain about your job - Think of the unemployed, the disabled and those who wished they had your job.

Today before you think of pointing the finger or condemning another - Remember that not one of us are without sin.

Mistakes are unavoidable part of life

Mistakes are unavoidable part of life

Some mistakes are big. An air-traffic controller’s mistake or one wrong move by a surgeon can be deadly.

A vast majority of the mistakes we make, however, are not life or death. It’s true that even small mistakes can cause inconvenience, conflict, or extra work – and, can be expensive.

While no one enjoys making mistakes, there is something very freeing about learning to accept them – really accept them – as an unavoidable part of life. When we do, we can forgive ourselves, thus erasing all the stress that usually results from cursing ourselves.

So the suggestion is simple. Forgive yourself; you’re human.

Delegate,Delete,Delay - (3D)

Delegate,Delete,Delay - (3D)

We all have only 24 hours in a day.
Finding a balance between work and family relations has always been a challenge for every corporate person. Let me share with you a simple technique that can help you find the time you need to enjoy both family and the demands at work.
Delegate. Never have an attitude that everything should be done by you. There are a lot of things that can be done if you simply learn the art of delegation. It can also be fun, because first you have to understand what needs to be done before you can successfully delegate. It requires proper planning, meeting and choosing the right person for the job. You need to plan ahead and decide what scope of the project can be delegated. This requires you to communicate better and take responsibility of the task to be done. You need to follow up consistently and make sure that the person you delegated the work to will be able to deliver on time. This can foster team building. People avoid delegating because they either have a communication problem or they do not want to share or teach others. They are not being a leader, nor a team player. Communication is what a leader does and it is the key to any successful endeavor.
As the famous excuse goes, “Oh, my plate is so full” but as my partner’ Vijay always says to me, “Get a bigger plate.”
Delete. Give time every morning to make a list of the things you think need to be done for that day. Prioritize and rewrite it again. Separate the urgent things from the important things.
The urgent things on your list today are the things that you failed to prepare and plan for in the past. It is now an emergency only because of your failure to plan.
The important things in your list are the items that are not an emergency, but you know damn well that they will benefit you in the future; things like saving money, spending time building a relationship, learning a language, developing a skill, getting healthy etc. Items that you will not need, you do not put in your list, such as, smoking, drinking, gambling, idle gossiping, going window shopping and other such senseless activities that will not add value to what you want to achieve nor will harness any of the skills you need to be successful. Be mindful of such useless activities and delete them.
Delay. You can delay projects or things that cannot be delegated or deleted. These things will probably need your personal attention, but not immediately, but make sure that you mark them on your calendar. Putting it on the calendar is a commitment that you make and the days leading to that day can be small preparation(s) that will not take up so much of your time in your already busy schedule. ‘Busy-ness’ is a state of mind and a disease of the heart. In reality, 24 hours a day is perfectly crafted and created by God and we should never think that there is a flaw with time or that somehow there is not enough time in the day to do things of relevance to create a happy life.
Please take a moment to ponder and learn how to delegate, delete and delay.
This will give you the balance that you need. Do not blame work or family. No one forced you to be where you are. It is your choice, so please learn to manage your life.

Principles of Decision Making

We cannot avoid making decisions. Right or wrong, decisions are made every minute of the day. They are unavoidable. And if we try to avoid making decisions, someone else will make them for us.
Do you really want to put your life and decisions about your life in the hands of someone else?
It is best to make our own decisions. Making decisions is a way of moving forward in life. Not making decisions is to stagnate and die.
We are faced with challenging decisions about our lives every day; from the simplest to the most complex tasks.
Let me share with you some points and principles on decision-making to make the task easier and more rewarding.

1. Do not make decisions when you are feeling angry or emotional.

1. If you make decisions during these times, you are likely to end up regretting the decision you make. Decisions made under the influence of these emotions are always subjective and destructive and will do neither you nor anyone else any good. All good decisions are made when a person is sober and clear-headed, as this is the state of mind in which we can think most objectively.

1. Do not make a decision until you have heard all sides of the story.

1. Do not assume you know everything needed to make a particular decision. Talk to people who are experienced about the subject. Not only will they present you with new options, but their insights could completely change the way you think about your decision. You must always be willing to hear an opposing view. Be as detached and objective as possible from the task and the decision-making process.

1. Consider all your possible options.

1. I have yet to meet a decision maker, good or bad, who had checked out all available options. You can invariably come up with options never considered, or hear options you would never have thought of yourself.

1. Do not make decisions when you are under pressure.

1. Remember the oldest technique in the book of selling; sales people will use pressure to try to make you decide in haste:

1. Do a reality check before making a decision.

1. Make a list of things that can go wrong and the things that probably will go wrong. Keep the number of things that must go right for the decision to succeed to a minimum. At the end of the day, there are no wrong or right decisions per se, but we do need to be prepared to correct some decisions to make them better. Expect the worst and work for the best. If you did not make the best decision the first time around, this is great if you can learn from it! But do not stop there. Be sure to continue to manage your decisions and your decision making processes.

1. 
   “It’s the last best deal in town… you cannot let this go! You will lose this deal, you have to decide NOW!”
   Do not fall for this old trick… if the deal is not there when you are ready, then it is not the deal for you. There will be plenty more deals waiting for you when you are ready to make a decision.
   

Good decision making comes from disciplined thinking. If you follow some of these basic principles before making decisions, the results of your decisions are most likely to work. If you think haphazardly when you make a decision, then little of what you plan will eventually work out.
Good decision making is habit forming. Each time you make the right decision, you gain more self-confidence to keep making good decisions.
Please take a moment to ponder… Follow some of these basic principles before making your next important decision(s); these principles are most crucial to remember and apply.

Changing the World

Changing the World

I once saw a picture of this old man who was deep in thought.

He had this story to tell… 

 “When I was young, I wanted to change the world. As I got older and wiser, I realized I couldn’t do it.

So I thought, let me try changing my community. I got even older and wiser, but I couldn’t do that either.

Then, I wanted to change my family – my wife and children. I failed at that too.

Now I’m so old and with all this wisdom I’ve gained, I finally understand that the only thing I can actually change is me.

Hopefully by this change, I can influence my family members. They can, then, influence the community who can eventually change the world.”

The only real change one can make is to oneself, and that should be the real focus.

The faults we see in others are actually a reflection of the faults in ourselves.

We should learn to forgive and forget minor incidents

We should learn to forgive and forget minor incidents

Yudhisthira Maharaja describing the glories of forgiveness cited the verse spoken in ancient times by the Rsi Kasyapa:

‘Forgiveness is virtue, forgiveness is sacrifice and forgiveness is the Vedas. Forgiveness is purity and penance; it is truth, piety, religion, and the holy Narayana. Through forgiveness the universe is sustained, and by practicing forgiveness a man can attain to everlasting regions of bliss.’

“How then can I renounce forgiveness, O Draupadi, in which is established spirituality, truth, wisdom and the three worlds? Both this world and the next belong to the forgiving person. Therefore forgiveness is considered the highest virtue.”

Srila Prabhupada mentions in Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.4.5
A sadhu, a devotee, is never angry. Actually the real feature of devotees who undergo tapasya, austerity, is forgiveness.

In another letter Srila Prabhupada writes:
We should learn to forget and forgive minor incidents because whenever there are two men in a place, there is always some misunderstanding.