We meet a wide range of people with different personalities, different goals, aspirations in life. Often, we pick and choose some as our companions, friends, mentors, gurus, etc etc. The others, the so-called wannabe friends, whom for some reason our mind writes-off, or blocks them as a no-good, a worthless person, or a 'not-so-good to have around' kind of people, also exhibit certain qualities which is very important and really helps us subconsciously to gravitate towards our 'preferred' group. They might be aggressive, passive, obstinate, arrogant, humble, soft, loud, vulgar, bold, shy, timid, passionate, crude, selfish or just plain stupid (according to our judgment). Looking beyond the obvious is such as easy thing to say, but very very difficult (impossible for many) thing to do in real life. Why? One answer could be because these are people we 'choose'... meaning: they are not our siblings, or parents - and even there, we can always exercise the 'exit' option.... (divorce, disown parents, kids or siblings, etc etc).
The emotions, the qualities that people exhibit are so incredibly varied. Again, why? I believe that overall personality of a person is nothing but the sum total of different qualities which they have imbibed... understanding them better will help draw the boundary as to which areas are best left uncrossed and which areas are worth opening up. To know about yourself, it'll be great to know what defines your judgment as good and bad, and what better way to test it than being with varied people and knowing them. Maybe you'll realize some qualities in them that'll help give you a different dimension about yourself and others. Not to mention the candid 'criticisms' that these people can give - will also help you (oh yeah, I've experienced it too!). As one of my mentor said to me once, to be a successful person, you must draw from the strengths of any given group. If you let the negatives /weaknesses in a group affect you or flow into you, it'll weigh you down and anything that you do.
Note: Abstract thoughts....not supposed to make sense!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
A life less exciting
Often the verdict is out to comment on people's lives if according to the viewer (often a friend) the other person's life is less exciting compared to their's or compared to an average Joe..... 'You need to get a life!', 'this is your life, make it count' are the kind of jibes & swipes people take at them, of course in an obvious attempt to spruce up the activity and overall appearance of the chap in discussion. Agreed, its all well meaning and only the real concerned parties go to the extent of bailing out the 'soul in distress'.
The other side of the coin, the chap with the 'life less exciting' tag. You can practically write his life story in a page, no wait, in a paragraph (why not?). What goes into the person's mind for him to resign and sign-off to a life that always seems to be 'stuck in second gear'?
Thoughts, opinions, comments welcome.
The other side of the coin, the chap with the 'life less exciting' tag. You can practically write his life story in a page, no wait, in a paragraph (why not?). What goes into the person's mind for him to resign and sign-off to a life that always seems to be 'stuck in second gear'?
Thoughts, opinions, comments welcome.
What's all this worth?
Everybody's out to achieve something! Or atleast trying to! and ofcourse, it needs to be big!
Hard runners want to prove to world that they are worth something! while long runners want to prove to their near and dear that they can be relied upon.... but wait, stop.... what about those in-between'ers?? those who want to run either hard or long, but not for these reasons... those who want to run, want to compete in life, but for the sake of just proving it to themselves. Ask them, what's all this worth.
Again, 2 kinds of responses... some are determined to fulfill their dreams, their goals.... they'd say, its worth everything. For them, all of this is a need to have! Others, who are doing it for the heck of it, not really pushing hard (who feel these are good to have, not need to have), they back out, side step, avoid confrontation or slow down when their goals appear to bulldoze people and their feelings out of the way. We never realize when we move from one stage to another, yet we move on...
When do we stop to think, wait a minute, what's all this worth? Answer: only when our heads are swimming with confusion, when more than one answer seems to be correct, when procrastination or 'do nothing' seems to be the ideal answer to our thoughts rather than actions. Often, we end up only breathing but not living....
Here are little something that I cling to...
“We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act.”
&
“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced.”
Question: Until we reach the "how to act" stage, or until you feel that the one idea that you have is "THE IDEA", the question remains...."what's all this worth". I believe when we reach the stage, then and only then will we be truly able to answer this question with true conviction.
(Both of above quotes are of Swami Vivekananda's)
Hard runners want to prove to world that they are worth something! while long runners want to prove to their near and dear that they can be relied upon.... but wait, stop.... what about those in-between'ers?? those who want to run either hard or long, but not for these reasons... those who want to run, want to compete in life, but for the sake of just proving it to themselves. Ask them, what's all this worth.
Again, 2 kinds of responses... some are determined to fulfill their dreams, their goals.... they'd say, its worth everything. For them, all of this is a need to have! Others, who are doing it for the heck of it, not really pushing hard (who feel these are good to have, not need to have), they back out, side step, avoid confrontation or slow down when their goals appear to bulldoze people and their feelings out of the way. We never realize when we move from one stage to another, yet we move on...
When do we stop to think, wait a minute, what's all this worth? Answer: only when our heads are swimming with confusion, when more than one answer seems to be correct, when procrastination or 'do nothing' seems to be the ideal answer to our thoughts rather than actions. Often, we end up only breathing but not living....
Here are little something that I cling to...
“We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act.”
&
“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced.”
Question: Until we reach the "how to act" stage, or until you feel that the one idea that you have is "THE IDEA", the question remains...."what's all this worth". I believe when we reach the stage, then and only then will we be truly able to answer this question with true conviction.
(Both of above quotes are of Swami Vivekananda's)
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