Encouragement

It is so amazing to see how I thrive when I receive the proper encouragement and how disinterested I feel about things when I don't get the recognition.

I don't know if most people are like me, but I am sure many are. I need to be reassured that I am heading the right way. I need to know that people do think I am capable. This appreciation and recognition does a lot for my confidence.

However kiddish it may sound, people like me need it. It means a lot to us. Not sure if this is how I want it to be i.e. being driven by how others think of me, but I guess this is how I am right now.

Emotional Vocabulary

I think that it is important for us to be able to understand our emotions and express them effectively. Our relationships suffer if we are not able to communicate clearly to others what we exactly feel. We hide our emotions, we pretend it is not there, sometimes we really don't know it is there, sometimes we exaggerate it to others, we indirectly express it - we do all kinds of weird things that distances us from really understanding and becoming aware of what we feel.


Emotional literacy and emotional vocabulary is something that has started to get my attention lately. I want to find out how to pay attention to my feelings better, and be able to express them in a confident and clear way.

I just searched on Google and this was the first interesting link I hit. If you guys are aware of any other good reading on this topic, do drop me a note.

Responsibility

Last Thursday, I was having a conversation with a good friend about responsibility. I thought I should summarize my thoughts on this topic on my blog.

1. Responsibility is something that people have to choose to accept. It should not be forced upon them. It should come from within.

2. A person should assume responsibility only for what he believes he can control. There are things that happen beyond one's grasp and by assuming responsibility of those results, he is not helping himself. It is best recognize that results are beyond our capacity and make peace with the situation as it turns out to be. The act of accepting however, does not imply that the person does not care about the results.

3. Only the person assuming responsibility can make the true judgment of what he has control over and what he is capable of.

4. Neglecting responsibility when one really has the ability to make a difference is an opportunity lost. However, opportunities present themselves again for us to learn from them.

Rebirth

Teachers guide us to walk towards self-realization, so we will be relieved of these continued rebirths, and delusion of elation and dejection.

Here is another perspective. One birth doesn't seem enough for me to experience the magnificence of life. I don't seem to be able to consistently live those moments when I am able to "listen" to the music, "see" the beauty, "taste" the food, "smell" every breath, and "touch" feeling the life within. God, give me time and the energy to understand the abundance of your creation, even if it means dying to be born anew.

Giving together

It is not possible for a group to give together before they give to each other.

Changing Others

Is it possible to love a person without the slightest desire that he/she change?

Evolution of thought

I think our way of thinking evolves.

1. Ah! This is cool thing (s)he is doing.
2. I want to learn that.
3. I want to become an expert.
4. So I have gained reasonable expertise. Now what? Why did I do this in the first place?
5. How can I use what I have learned to solve a problem?
6. Ah! This is a problem worthwhile to solve because the solution will have a good impact.
7. Go to Step 2.

I am in the first iteration of this loop at step 4. I smell step 5.

What is life about?

I saw this quote in the signature of one of my friend's emails.

"The sign of life is enthusiasm. The sign of success is smile and joy."
- Sri Sri Ravishankar

Makes a lot of sense. Couldn't be anything else.

Writing good essays

Over the last few years, I have come to realize that I need to significantly improve my writing skills. Many times, my essays intend to drive home a main point. But during the course of writing the essay, I present different ideas without really connecting them together and strengthening my point. During these times, it is likely that I will lose my reader.

An essay is not a bunch of random thoughts. If it is, then it does not serve its purpose - to convey to its readers a message. Writing an essay that is structured well requires that you understand the deeper meanings of cause and effect, fact and evidence, and open doors to thinking critically.

A good essay is a sequence of related thoughts that lead to something more substantial than the individual thoughts themselves. Each thought in that sequence must contribute to the main point of that essay. If it doesn't, the author should seriously consider removing it. In addition, these thoughts must be interconnected well so that they lead to the main objective message which should stand up crystal clear to the reader. If they are not connected well enough, the reader is not likely to understand the intention the isolated thoughts, hence resulting in a loss of communication. If you are intentionally going to digress from the main point of the essay, then it is better to convey to the reader how the digression is related to the main point, or at least, promise them that it will all make sense at the end. And of course, you need to keep it up. The bottom line is that the author should ensure that the readers do not forget the main point of the essay.

Action, Results and Happiness

The most famous message of the Gita often quoted as:

"Do your duty, do not expect the results of your actions."

...gives an impression that we are expected to be more or less robots on this earth just bothered about our duty and stay detached from the outcome. Let me rephrase it, and then its power becomes a little more clear:

"Do not rely on the results of what you do to be happy. Happiness is your birthright! Enjoy it whenever you want it by making your action as the reason for your happiness rather than its result!"

What I truly can be

I like it if people can respect me for what I truly can be more than what I am because of my actions.

Self Confidence

Self Confidence is the willingness and boldness to take action and accept all of the consequences.

The Purpose of a Business

The purpose of a business should be to solve a common problem at hand. It should not create new desires and new problems.

This is not my philosophy speaking, but basic economics. For example, consider the automobile industry. The Toyotas and the Nissans and the Hondas solve the problem of a reliable, economic way of transportation to a very good extent. But I would not say the same with the Ferraris, Mercedes, or the Porsches. Do they solve any common problem? I don't think they do.

In fact, they add on to, or magnify the big pile of problems we already have to deal with - envy, discontentment, insecurity. The power of the human mind should be used to solve and eliminate existing problems that make life more meaningful. It is too valuable to be wasted in creating new problems for ourselves.

Accepting Others

I should not ignore and be indifferent to habits of people that irritate me. At the same time, I should not get sucked in, and let their negativity affect me.

Instead, I should be aware of the negativity, work around it, and get my task done.

I should do this because:

- the task at hand is more important to me than fixing people.
- I love to solve the problem at hand more than solving the person.
- I don't associate people's actions with their identity.

The secret of life

....is to love at least one thing beyond your own self.