Random Thought I Think You’d Like #1

Broken escalators are still stairs

Isn’t it ironic??

Life can be ironic sometimes. Here’s something I thought about when I heard people move about in the room above me.

I hear them above me, like restless birds in a nest. The shifting of beds and screeching of chairs on tiles, seep through the walls and reach me. I’m lying there awake. My body shifts in my bed as I try to find a cozy spot to fall asleep.

I hear them again. The shuffling of their feet echoes in my room. Their faint voices seem to fade into the corners of my room. Still I don’t see them.

If I could go through walls, I would have stood up on my bed and reached out into their world. But I can’t. So I will have to wait and maybe, live with not knowing them at all.

It’s a strange world out there. Where I walk past people I know nothing about. Where I brush past strangers and forget their faces forever.

It’s an irony and could very well be a tragedy. But its how humans are. We categorise and prioritise. We go deeper into detail and embrace precision to empower development.We prioritise knowledge and seek what we need to find. Without that, what we see around would never exist.

This is our ossified version of life.

But isn’t it all ironic???

Whole lotta love!

‘All the world’s a stage’

Shakespeare?

Yep!

Life is a play, and we all have our exits and entrances.

A few days ago, I came across this absolutely beautiful story about a rattrap peddler by Selma Lagerlof. The message that easily came out from the story was how love and kindness can change hearts.

Can it?

We live in a world that is constantly questioning the power of the abstract forces that drive us. This inspired me to think about them in a new way.

So today, I decided to write about how we are all lovable in a very strange way.

Have you ever found yourself falling in love with the star character in a movie?

We can’t help it. All throughout the movie, we are there in front of that rectangular screen( I don’t know why all electronic screens come in rectangles these days. Aesthetics? Definitely something to think about but let’s get back to the topic), we sit there with our popcorn, rooting for them, justifying their mistakes and encouraging them on with your silent and undivided attention.

You see, one of the funniest facts about life is that there are more than 7 billion people on this planet right now and still we believe that our life is the most important of them all.

Why?

Every book and every movie has a main character and the whole world moves around him or her, just like in real life. We move on in this world everyday, creating another part of this really long movie, where we remain the main character and the whole world flips, jumps and rides around us. This is one of the greatest reasons why we love movies. A few minutes into a movie, you become the person on the screen, you recognise that element and you get lost in a new world, where anything could happen. You get to be somebody else for a while. No consequences. Just like a dream.

You see and travel with the person throughout the movie. You see the private and public side of the person’s life. You see the silent tears and the loud laughter. You see their secret life. You see how they think and so you know why he/she made that particular decision. This is why a movie can be influential. Even if you don’t like the character at the start , you are stuck with them till the end, that is, if you still choose to give the movie a chance. And most of the time, in the end, you end up just loving the character.

This made me wonder about the people in our life.

Are we one of those guys who pause movies midway and walk away because the character is not interesting?

Or are we the guys who choose to give it a chance anyway?

The point is, when we make quick conclusions, when we shut people out of our lives because we believe they are ‘unlovable’, we are actually pausing the movie and walking away.

There are no ‘unlovable’ people in this world. There’s a piece of us in the people around us. It helps us to bond, trust and understand each other.

But unless we show the patience to try and find that missing piece, this world will remain the same. We need a whole lotta love in this world. Our jail cells are filling up so fast, it’s hard to even imagine the rate. We need to start fighting with our hearts.

Look around you. There are lots of people who show absolutely unconditional love to people who don’t even deserve it. There is only one thing that can bring back that touch of emotion a man has lost. Love, unconditional, undeserving, pure love. The kind of love that God shows us everyday. We call him names, we put all the things that go wrong in this world on him when he made us creatures with free will. But still he chooses to love.

Won’t you try to love someone today. He/she may not deserve it. But don’t pause the movie yet, the DVD still has miles to run. In time you’ll understand why.

Won’t you love?

 

 

 

A Productive System

I just pulled off an all nighter!  I am a bit dizzy but I think I can do this. I am a night time kinda guy. I don’t know if there is any particular word to describe people who like to work at night.

Nocturnal, maybe?

Nah…that’s not it.

Anyway, with my strange humor sense out of the bag, let’s get into this post.

Today, I am going to tell you something important. I know that’s a cliché line but I really mean it. Not that it’s going to change the world or anything, but it will help you when you do a team project or, if you want to think extremes, when you start a new company.

People taking business advice from 17 year olds!!!???

What has the world come to!?

I know. But let’s move on.

We have all gone to a get-together programme at some point in our lives. If it’s a family get-together, there is a good chance that there will be some games in the end. How many times have you ended up in a get-together were you didn’t know jack squat about any of the games. Remember that feeling when you got so embarrassed you just wanted the thing to be over. You don’t ? Am I the only one? No of course not! That would be weird. We have all felt that feeling at some point in our lives. That feeling when you felt like you didn’t fit into the group.

If I ask you why you felt like you didn’t fit in, one obvious answer would be:

‘It’s not my thing, bro’

Did I guess that right? Okay, good!

You see the reason why you didn’t have a good time at that party was because the games asked you to be somebody you’re not.

This is where the title of this post comes into play

‘Productive Systems’

Technical term. I know.

Take that situation at that get-together as a system of which you were a part. Now lets give you a quality. Let’s say you are an introvert. Which simply means high exposure stuff like say, jumping rope in front of your family in the living room as part of the ‘game’ will never be your thing. Bingo is our lifesaver.

An introvert is shy and might not be able to make many friends but they make great public speakers.

What!!!??

I know that makes no sense at all. The thing is public speaking, in my opinion, creates a secure space where an introvert feels like it is okay to be outgoing and strong. I believe one of the questions that introverts always ask themselves is : is this vibe right for this situation? The touch of formality to such cases, therefore has a huge impact. Whereas in the informal day to day life, an introvert is shy. This is my theory on it and it could be ridiculously wrong. So, I apologize in advance to all the psychologists reading this post.

What we just saw was the same quality producing contrasting results in two different situations. Introverts are often misjudged to be not that productive. They can be productive, when they are in an environment they feel comfortable in. But the problem is our workplaces, our educational systems all are shaped very similar to the family get-together games environment. This is based on the belief that extroversion is better or maybe because of the larger number of extroverts. But the truth is no quality is greater than another in this case. Productivity here is very much based on the environment.

Introversion and extroversion is just one pair of qualities I used to explain this effect. There are a lot of quality pairs you can think up yourself that can affect the outcome of a group in terms of productivity. There is nothing wrong in having to work with people who have absolutely different ways of functioning as long as you recognize and take the appropriate measures.

Your group or your team can attain the maximum productivity if you give importance to how everyone in the group is wired. Let us take a point, X and another point, Y. Let Y symbolize maximum productivity and let X be anything below the maximum productivity. Everyday we travel from X to Y( work hard to attain maximum productivity). Now all I am saying is instead of everybody taking the same path, leave the option open for the use of another path given that it also ends in Y. In other words, our systems have to be modified in a way that a group can work as a group even when the approach of the members within the group shows difference.

So, next time you’re having  Friday night games with your family, bring a chessboard for the introvert or try bingo for a change. What’s the harm? If you have an extrovert too in the house, try that jump rope thing I made up. Who knows it could turn into a trend or something.

Anyway, thanks for dropping in. Write a comment. Be a part. I would love to hear from you. God bless and see you guys in a few days.

 

 

Limited Influence

We all love blank spaces. The white blank walls, the white blank paper, the clear blue sky are all examples of blank spaces. We just love blank spaces. Why? Somehow it incites creativity and toys with possibility, attracts a lot of resources and makes what I call the ‘creativity cocktail’ for the bored human being. As a kid you are drawn to the blank walls and when you run out of paper, the walls seem to be a perfect substitute.

What I’d like to tell you guys today is that life in itself is a blank space and it incites creativity and toys with possibility in ways that man cannot even begin to describe. It is perhaps the uncertainty of what ends up filling this space that make us push ourselves to the limit.

When we start our journey on this earth as mere infants, we are the most joyful and excited. For us then, that paper of life not yet lived is blank and full of possibility and at its peak level of ‘blankness’. But as time passes on we realise that what we had imagined is a lot harder to transfer to the paper than we thought. When we realise that, we become discouraged. I love to paint and though I never went for classes it has been one of my hobbies for a very long time. Before I paint I imagine a picture in my mind and everytime I do that I  get so thrilled. But my paintings are never like the ones I imagine.

A long time back in the 19th century, painters would line the streets of Paris with trolleys filled with giant canvases to get approval from the jury for the Salon, the greatest art show in the world, so that they could display their work. The work had to be without blemish in every sense. The paintings accepted then were nothing like the modern art we have today. The lines were perfect and you couldn’t spot one mistake in those precious pieces of 19th century art. They would be hung for a day or two at the Salon. Many were rejected. The rejected left  discouraged, vowing never to look at a canvas again. In many ways I feel that’s what life’s like for many of us. A chance to showcase ourselves in front of the world. Though we may hang in there, in the spotlight only for a very short time, we are ready to make the effort. But when we get rejected, we stop trying.

Are what we have on our once blank papers worth anything to others? Is it worth starting a youtube channel to publish our new songs? Is it worth it trying to write that book? Would we be rejected again?

Sometimes what we often don’t realise about our lives is the number of people influenced by it. There are people all around you who look up to you, even without you knowing it. Sometimes people are astonished when others come up to them and tell them that they are inspiring. This unknown admiration has in many ways now been taken to a new level by the digital connections we have.

We often believe we have to be famous and rich to influence. We often underestimate the influence of a person who may not be famous or rich. We live in a very socially connected world. As a result people could be living normal lives one day and become pop stars and famous youtubers the next. Though fame and wealth brings with it resources to polish your talents and better yourself at what you do best, the influential people we see today were a very significant part of who they are now when they were not famous or rich. They just chose not to underestimate their seemingly ordinary influence when they had it. They made the most of it. It is very possible that we have better singers and artists out there than the ones we see. What takes them to the next level is how they look at the influence they have in that moment in time, however insignificant it might be.

We sometimes evaluate our worth based on all these scales of popularity, wealth, success etc. In truth, that is not at all what gives you worth. The very fact that God gave you a life on this planet shows that you are worth something. It is ultimately what you think of yourself that will bring you to greater arenas. It is what you think of yourself that will radiate from you and on to the others around you, the limited influence you have.

As a Christian, I find my worth in how God looks at me. Though I am flawed, he looks at me with acceptance and love through His son. I choose to remind myself that everyday. You have to always have a stronghold in life, where you know that you are loved. That is why you have to be careful who you are around with. Are you around people who choose not to value the limited influence they have? Or are you around people who believe in you and in life. Your family, your friends, they can all be your stronghold in hard times.

You can bring people up or throw them down with your limited influence. A single word is enough to change the course of the world. It is up to you whether you are going to carry your fellow human beings in this journey of life or throw them down.

Look at Anne Frank. She never even knew that what she wrote in that precious little diary during the passing fearful days of the war would be one day, sitting on the shelves of millions of people around the world. Time pulled out her limited influence and showed it to the world.

You might be reading this today and you might be going through that phase in life where you are thinking: Am I worth something?  Are you that person whose new book did not get published?

I hope I can make you realise how much a human life is worth and how dramatic and powerful the limited influence is. It is explosive, powerful and the underestimated key to many of the doors that have been shut in your face.

The question is whether or not you are going to use what you have now. God is out there full of love for you, cheering you on and I am here cheering you on as well.

Take a step of faith and try again.

Good luck and Godspeed!!!

The Grand Canyon Perspective

Wow! It’s been a very very long time since I last got on this ‘write’ page. It’s like walking into your room after 4 years away in college( I am not there yet. Let’s slow down!)

Anyway, after about 20 reminders yelling at me to find the time to write a post about something in the sticky notes flying  on my bedroom wall and a 4 mile walk back to my house because I got on the wrong bus, I thought I should get back to this.

Today, I am going to talk to you guys about how we often appreciate beauty. Many of you who have been reading my blogs know how I like to talk about the ‘human perspective’. This is about how we look at life.

I learned earlier today that life is not a destination, it is a journey. The very theory that life is going to turn into this wonderful picture while you’re still alive and walking on this earth is what usually drives us. But the truth is that there is always something more in life. The reason why many people often feel depressed when they have everything is because they thought that once you ‘have everything’, you become that full picture that brings ultimate satisfaction. When the realisation strikes on how the picture needs a lot more strokes, you break down and with that breakdown, comes the increased attention to the missing and the lost.

Now, let me take you to your backyard garden or your city park. You are out there enjoying the wind on your face, that great big powerful force minimised to that luxurious breeze, you are breathing in the fresh air and you are enjoying the magnificent flowers. God was extremely gracious to us in making flowers. They are really something ‘extra’ like the great Sherlock Holmes said. He wants us to live life to the full and that is why he came down himself. The very beauty in the flower, I believe, lies in many things. But today, I would like to take you to the ‘smallness’ of a flower. When you look at a flower you get to see the entire thing. You can see everything from the stalk to the edges of the petals and it amazes you beyond words how this amazing picture that produces great satisfaction could be packed into something so small.

Our appreciation of beauty is in many situations, based on our visual reach. Imagine you are at the Grand Canyon. You are there in you taxi and your watching it from a kilometre distance. Now, I want you to turn into that 90s movie director who zooms the camera in like crazy. You are zooming in and  zooming in until you reach that small blurred patch of orange rock. Imagine all you could see was that small bit of rock, that bit you see when you press your face against the Grand Canyon. Not very interesting. Right? But now zoom back out. You are back to your spot and you get to see the entire thing and you just love it.

We want ‘complete’ to think about ‘perfect‘, That’s just how the human mind works.

Today, are we going after that final picture?

The Grand Canyon is amazing and will stay amazing, whether or not you look at it from your taxi or from a millimetre distance. The resources for the making of that final picture we look for has been given by God to us. They may not be materialising into a great picture today, but they are still amazing because they are what creates the final picture in the future. Is it not time yet for us to stop striving for the final picture and start thinking about what we want our life to look like today? Because that picture in the end will be great only if you start thinking about life as a journey, a mix of many todays filled with great potential, todays that are steps away from the small picture that lets us see more of what God has in store for us.

Now, I am going to talk about how we want our life to look like.

As a Christian, I want my life to look like what God wants it to look like, because I believe that none of my plans or standards of success will ever match His.

Be what God wants you to be today. Don’t worry about the final picture. The real beauty does not lie in the results but it lies in who you are, in the resources that God has given you. As long as you breath, you can believe in a tomorrow. And if today does not work out, tomorrow is still there for you. Today, may be like you pressing your face on the Grand Canyon. But with every today, considering you are true to yourself and to God, you will be seeing more of the Grand Canyon and finally somebody else is going to see it from a taxi on their journey and get inspired by it!

Kinda busy (all the time)

I’m busy!

Can I call you later?

Welcome to the 21st century, folks!

Here everyone is ‘kinda busy’!😁

You walk out your door. You get on the bus and you listen to the morning radio and read the newspaper at the same time. Our talent in multitasking has entered an entirely different level it’s scary.

Right now, I’m sitting in front of my laptop, typing into the 10 year old antique and listening to the latest music online at the same time.

My parents have not yet figured out how I can do trigonometry while listening to the morning news!😏

But seriously, think about it. Ten years before, that would have been an eligible act on a reality show. Take music for an example. A hundred years before, Mp3s would have been banned by the government. Beethoven and Mozart would be on the news, protesting. Back then, it was special and required undivided attention. Quality music was restricted to concerts. But then came the songs that you can ignore and still enjoy. Today, you listen to music, even in the bathroom.😂

From ceremony to habit, today it is lifestyle.

But the truth is unavoidable. There is an eruption of taste buds when you take a bite and chew slowly.  Remember the Disney movie- Ratatouille? That’s what I’m talking about. There is a greater strength, a greater flow of adrenaline when you just close your eyes and open your ears to live and pure music. That is why we love our family-get-together sing-alongs more than the pop hits that tops the charts. The bitter truth is staring at us in the face. We have stopped enjoying many things in life in our attempts to squeeze them in with the new things that keep on coming in. This goes for a lot more things than just music and food.

So, today, I’d like to ask you to do me a favour. Tune into a Christian radio. Close your eyes and see the miracle. At dinner today, keep away your iPhone. Put it on silent mode.

Then, when you’ve cut out all the noise, take a bite. 😵

God bless! Have a great week!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seriously serious people. . . .

Really? Are you serious?

You usually get that question when:

1. You go round for your eighth three scoop vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup, nuts and a final topping of chocolate chip cookies.(I don’t even know if you get that in the market!)
2. You play hoopla and lose twenty times and you still pay the bucks because you want that cute white soft teddy.( oh my, that’s over the top. . .)

Please ignore the stuff inside the brackets, it’s just old me keeping me company. . .

So, when do you not get asked that question?

I know, it’s an odd question, but let’s give it a try.

1. You walk into an interview, give the interviewer a sweaty handshake and say, “Good morning, sir”, with the best accent you can muster from your lifetime of watching old English movies, when all the while you’re screaming on the inside, “Help me, I’m freaking out!!!!!!!!!!”.

Well, that is a long and interesting answer.

And it is what I would like to talk to you guys today.

Words.

We talk a lot. We talk a lot more these days that we have to use Latin words like etcetera(which practically means-I don’t think I’ll be able to finish this!).

When we hear the word ‘talking’, what comes to our mind is a serious conversation, like a debate or a professional or personal exchange of information. But there’s much more in that circle. We say a lot of Good Mornings, pleased to meet yous and Good Days without even thinking about what we are saying. We don’t even care to look at each other’s faces these days.

I used to wonder when I was a kid why these small phrases were even ‘invented’. We use them in places where it applies to nothing we feel on the inside.

Talking of ‘inventions’, how did all this come about? Was there a public announcement that from that day on, ‘Good Morning’ was going to be the way we greet each other every morning? There had to be a time or a point in history when stuff like this mattered. Let’s think about all the possibilities. If this is something that is going to progress over the years, I don’t how many more words will end up in the garage.

But there’s another side to the story. There are times when we use words to elevate other people to a higher level of confidence. 

I had this experience a few days ago. Most of you who read my blog would know about my love for the guitar and music in general. Well, I was at this guitar competition for about a hundred schools in our region. I was sitting there, practising my stuff. I was looking around at all the other kids doing their last minute warmups. What I like about competitions is not the prize or the fame, but the experience and the relationships you build up in those places.

Every new person you meet puts down your chance of being alone somewhere in the world by a significant percentage.

So, I am sitting there and I meet this guy. He is an amazing guitarist. He was the one who bagged the prize last year. I’m sitting there looking at him play the guitar and I’m thinking, “Man, I don’t think he’ll even acknowledge my playing”. I am no good at notes. I don’t even know what a clef is! I ask him to play a few chords and I catch up with it with the one thing I know, making a lead for the background. I find the heart in what he’s playing and in no time we’re jamming. When I finish, he starts talking about how great my talent is and how I could take this to a higher level. He’s talking like I am the guy who bagged the prize last year. I know he’s just trying to make things easier for me but there was this tone of truth and friendship that made me believe him. That day, we walked out together. He came first and I came second. He is a part of my victory. The confidence and love he showed to me started a fire in me that I was able to take out on stage.

You can use words to elevate people though they may not actually be the ones worthy of it. But isn’t that like a white lie?

No it’s not. Think of it this way:

When you say to someone, “you are beautiful”, you are not saying that they are beautiful, but that you see them as beautiful. What we do is we give away compliments based on this universal scale. You pick out an average from what you think ‘beautiful’ is like for all the other people in the world and then you use it to give away a compliments and arrive at conclusions.

Try to ignore that and look beyond the global definition. This way, you can give any compliment realising that it is not an exaggerated comment, but an authentic standard set by you.

So what do we do about all this?

We say the Good Mornings with a greater insight and we give away the compliments with a broader heart.

I am going to ask you to join me in a chain reaction that I am going to set off right now with a compliment to you. ..

Dear reader,

Know that you are an amazing person, that you are a masterpiece in God’s eyes. A beautiful, talented and confident person who will definitely change this world for the better. . .

God bless you and have a great week!

The scientific stuff . . .

My math teacher cocked his head to the right and enjoyed the circle he had effortlessly brought out on the board. He turned round and smiled at us as if looking for an affirmative response.

Well, I was too tired for an affirmative response. I just nodded my head. It felt like I had little elephants on my eyelids. But the circle intrigued me and awakened my creativity. There was something about math that made it special and gave it the status of a genius among the subjects of learning in our modern day schools. Math was the signature of logic and reason in a shapeless world of paper and pencil.

Well, I guess so. . .

I got to thinking about what ‘logic’ and ‘reason’ truly are.

Is there something called pure logic or is there something worthy of the prestigious title of ‘universal’ logic?

I am in grade 12. So, my info is limited to integrals and all the other stuff they teach kids that age. So, please bear with me when I come to this conclusion( and oh, please don’t hesitate to correct me).

Math and many other things in life we call as logical and voices of reason are what I like to call ‘divided logic’.

That formula you use for odd numbers, unfortunately will not help you with the even numbers. There is no logic or equation, where the x and the  y can be anything. Here we are not limiting them to numbers. Let it be anything.

Yep! That’s right, brother. There’s that one problem. That one loop hole that always shows up in the end. I can almost imagine it, coming in at the end like Jerry does in the Tom and Jerry show, laughing his (mouse) head off.

😒

OK, that was a pretty weird joke. And I agree. But blogging does allow me to laugh at my own jokes. So, lets move on.😉

Some of us get down when we are on a 6 hour delay at an airport and Albert Einstein stops by to give us company. Let’s be honest here. We feel smaller.☹

But the truth is that it is a lie you are forcing down your throat. I believe that logic in it’s true form is not found in what you can see and touch, but what you can’t. In fact I believe that logic is embedded in it. I am talking about love, affection, kindness, forgiveness. That’s another reason why we love detective novels. They bring these things into the naturally logical equation. We are perplexed when these two( logic, reason and the abstract things like emotions) come together. Prediction becomes scientifically impossible.

So, what does all this have to do with our daily lives?🤔

Well, know that whatever our hobby is, maybe it’s reading( personally, I believe stories are filled with logic), maybe it’s football, or maybe it’s just sitting in a chair and just thinking. They are all filled with logic. It’s just like you were studying math or doing a hard trig problem. We just chose to put math as a universal logical language for communication purposes.😉