PREAMBLE - INDIAN CONSTITUTION

The Preamble functions as a foreword to the Constitution. The Preamble performs three functions that grant the Constitution its credibility and importance.

1. The Preamble indicated the source and target of the Constitution. The words 'We the people of India do hereby adopt, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution' indicate that the Constitution is a valid one in the context of our Democracy, as it has been created by the people, for the people.

2. The Preamble indicated the date when the Constitution was adopted, by the words 'this twenty sixth day of November 1949).

3. The Preamble lays down the objectives and philosophy of the Constitution by the words 'to constitute India into a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic'.

The term 'Sovereign' implies the independent authority of the State. The Indian State is a power unto itself, and does not have to refer to any external authority when making policy decisions.

The term 'Socialist' implies that India shall be a welfare state.

The term 'Secular', along with the term 'socialist' was introduced in the Preamble by the Constitution (Forty second Amendment) Act, 1976. In the Indian context 'secular' has three implications:

a. The Indian state shall not have an official religion

b. Citizens of India enjoy the freedom to profess and practice any religion of their choice.

c. Citizens of India enjoy the freedom to choose to not belong to any religion at all, if they so desire.

The term 'Democratic' implies that the Head of Government is elected. e.g. Prime Minister is elected to Parliament.

The term 'Republic' implies that the Head of State is elected. e.g. President is elected by the elected members of Parliament and the State Legislatures.

The Constitution also guarantees Indians all conceivable forms of justice: social, economic and political. 

COURAGE

Courage is the ability to face danger and difficult tasks / jobs in a rational way and with self control. A courageous person is able to discuss problems with others, get involved with new challenges, and pursue the job or business even it there are obstacles or difficulties.

Courage is a key value which helps accept self-responsibility for one's life, enable one to be honest and admit to one's mistakes, enables one to face challenges and uncertainties of the future.

HONESTY

Honesty is the human quality of communicating and acting truthful and with fainess. It is related to truth as a value. It includes listening, reasoning as well as speaking

Honesty means simply stating facts and views as best one truly believes them to be. It includes both honesty to others and to oneself.

Honesty is an important element in interpersonal relationships, especially intimate relationships and dishonesty leads to distrust.

BENEFITS OF PRACTICING HONESTY

Honesty brings good health and happiness

Honesty helps establish peace of mind

Honesty enables you to gain love and respect

Honesty helps promote good will

FORGIVENESS

Forgiveness is the intentional and voluntary process by which a victim undergoes a change in feelings and attitude regarding an offence, lets go of negative emotions such as vengefulness, with an increased ability to wish the offender well.

Forgiveness is pardoning yourself or another from an offence. 

Key ingredients of forgiveness are:

- Character strength

- Its a slow unique individual journey

- It is a virtue

- It enables you to move from resentment to inner reconciliation

- It liberates you from anger, fear, resentment etc

- It is a proactive choice

COMPASSION

Compassion is the emotion that one feels in response to the suffering of others. It motivates a desire to help and gives rise to an active desire to alleviate another's suffering,

Compassion is feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate suffering. 

Compassion involves putting yourself in someone else's shoes, to take focus off yourself and to imagine what its like to be in someone else's predicament. 

• Look for commonalities: Seeing yourself as similar to others increases feelings of compassion. 
• Calm your inner worrier: When we let our mind run wild with fear in response to someone else’s pain (e.g., What if that happens to me?), we inhibit the biological systems that enable compassion. The practice of mindfulness can help us feel safer in these situations, facilitating compassion.
• Encourage cooperation, not competition, even through subtle cues
• See people as humans
• Don’t play the blame game: When we blame others for their misfortune, we feel less tenderness and concern toward them.
• Respect your inner hero
• Notice and savor how good it feels to be compassionate. 
• To cultivate compassion in kids, start by modeling kindness, lead by example.
• Curb inequality

EMPATHY

Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within the other being's frame of reference, i.e., the capacity to place oneself in another's position. 

Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another and feeling with the heart of another.

One must learn to be empathetic to empathize with the problems faced by family members, friends, acquaintances, as this will make our lives more meaningful and worth living. 

Empathy is not the same as sympathy. Empathy is about feelings, sympathy is about actions. Thus one can empathize with another and then act on it by feeling sorry for the person or happy for the person.

Empathy helps connect people
Empathy builds trust.
Empathy helps heal and can be therapeutic

SELF INITIATIVE

Self initiative is doing the right thing without being told to do so. It is taking the first step instead of waiting for someone else to do it.

One can develop self initiative by

• -          Developing  a plan (career plan)
• -          Build self confidence
• -          Check your ideas
• -          Look for and take up opportunities that come your way
• -          Be persistent
• -          Be consistent

Initiative has become increasingly important in today's competitive workplace and so one needs to develop self initiative. Self initiative is also very useful for individuals who are business oriented and intend to start up a new business or pursue family business.