From Knowledge towards Awareness

The soles of your shoes shall tell you the quality of balance in your walk. Important is to notice it consciously.

I have a friend who is into health and fitness. Another one is all about Robotics and Automation. Everyone has an area of interest. If you notice someone for a while, if you look closely, you can define a person pretty much in a word or two. Interestingly, if that word matches with yours, you can have an extraordinary bonding.

Now, how to know a person?

To know someone in a scientific way, Dan McAdams, a professor at Northwestern University, states that, "there are "three levels of knowing" someone. Level 1 is a description of a person's broad, general traits, such as shy, outgoing, intelligent, or warm someone is. Level 2 provides a description of an individual's personal concerns - descriptions of personal striving, life tasks, strategies of defense and coping, and similar matters that involve the specific times, places, and endeavors of the person's life. Level 3 is the identity. As one moves from Level 1 (general traits) to Level 2 (Personal Concerns), one moves from the psychology of a stranger to a more detailed and nuanced description of a flesh-and-blood, in-the-world person, striving to do things over time, situated in place and role, expressing herself or himself in and through strategies, tactics, plans, goals, and so on...Then what is missing? The answer stems from the..mindset of...individuals [who] are expected to create selves that develop over time and that define who they are...what is missing is identity."

Pretty scientific, han?!!

Do I have to be a psychologist or a psychoanalyst to know someone - And because I always talk about focusing on self - to know and become aware of myself?

We can do this - finding individual's word. For example, I think India's word for so long have been RELIGION and CAST, America's word have been POWER, Japan's word have been IMPROVEMENT. Likewise, you can find a word which fits your character (please mind that I have not said personality).

How to find this word? How to become cognizant?

It's very simple - Put a reminder for every hour to bring you back to the present moment. Once you are in here-and-now, ask yourself these questions -

1. What was I just thinking (about)?

2. Can those thoughts enhance my life and my standards?

3. Can those thoughts increase peace and add balance to my life?

4. If answer to questions 2 & 3 is no, Can I replace these thoughts and thought patterns with better ones which are, necessarily, assertive?

This can definitely help you become mindful of your unconscious and sub-conscious habits which you can improve for your betterment. Out of on an average 60,000 thoughts a day, even if we become conscious about 1//10th of those, imagine the quality of difference we can make in our lives within one year. Thoughts are food of our mind. And you are constantly feeding it whether you want it or not, whether you are watchful or not. People are becoming more and more health conscious. It's equally important to become thought conscious, mind conscious.

Habit of self-awareness takes you to the habit of self-improvement. The first step towards change/ improvement is knowledge. The second step is awareness.

What do you want to feed your mind? And what are you feeding? I hope only positive and creative thoughts. Are you a fearless dreamer? Tell me - which thinking is better - a) I'm all right as long as I'm not sad, Or b) I'm very happy and I contribute same to the world ?

Get up and smile. Still there is hope of better future because this world has got you.

Here are some quotes on awareness, just to emphasize its importance:

Without self awareness we are as babies in the cradles.

- Virginia Wolf

What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.

- Abraham Maslow

What I am looking for is not out there, it is in me.

- Helen Keller

Self-awareness involves deep personal honesty. It comes from asking and answering hard questions.

- Stephen Covey

Find out who you are and do it on purpose.

- Unknown (to me)

And That Made All The Difference

Exceptions tell us where rules stand.

Let us don't waste time with the examples of situations where making decisions have made us feel that it's better to die over handling such situations. We all go through those at one point or another. Truly, you make but don't wait for the choices to appear. Important is, was it made in an autopilot mode or consciously? You cannot do a runner but are bound to face the ramifications of the choices you make. So, how to make a choice without being (looked*) selfish?

Well, I think primarily two factors should be considered. First consideration should be your progress as a person - Shall I learn something from this? Or shall I be able to contribute for the greater good? Another important consideration should be other's progress - Will this decision help someone? Will it enhance his/ her understanding or maturity or lifestyle or anything else which can benefit him/ her/ them? Either way, you end up feeling better. That is why these criteria sound to me worthwhile. These help us weigh the options and arrive to a rational** decision.

However, once the choice is made, human tendency is to rethink or rather doubt over the decision made. Thoughts like - "Did I do the "right***" thing?" and "Was that alternative better?" cross our minds. Easiest way to deal with this situation is to go with the flow. Be assertive about your actions. Grass always looks greener on the other side. Given the choice of trading your life with someone else, you wouldn't do it for the world. So appreciate what you have selected. Learn to arrive at peace with what you have chosen. You are who/ where/ what/ how you are because of the choices you have made so far. No one is to blame. You are not known by life or death but by the choices you make. Life is lived by preference. What is life? It's what you choose.

How do you want your life to be? Choose. Think about what defines you. Search for a single word, a verb, which defines your core characteristic. [ Shall elaborate this further in next blog]. Good health, remarkable relationships, job satisfaction, peace of mind, everything will be derived out of the choices you make. I am sure you don't want to compromise on any part. Rather you want them to be exceptionally great!

I am here, just like every other time, to remind you about your extraordinary goals and about your sheer grandeur and about your paramount power to lead yourself. When you believe in miracles, they happen. Take the control of your life in your hands.

Choose to expand yourself !

"I exist now more than I did four months ago. I'll leave "this world"# noticeably bigger than when I arrived here. And I'll leave with the hope that the expansion of one person - the magnification of one life - is indeed an act of worth in this world. Even if that life, just this one time, happens to be nobody's but my own."

 - From "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert

*Looked - A smirk in context to today's reality of exhibitionism

**Rational - From whose perspective?

***Right - What's right?

#This world - Actual word in book is "Italy"

Ko Aham? Quis Sum?

Who am I?

"The simplest questions are the most profound.

Where were you born?

Where is your home?

Where are you going?

What are you doing?

Think about these once in a while and watch your answers change."

                                                            - Richard Bach (Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah)

I have observed that most of the time goals can be pretty indistinct. However, our actions, if we become aware, can show where our priorities lie. One may conveniently know how much disciplined I am with my diet plan just by looking at my physique, what kind of mindset I possess just by listening to the words I choose to speak. My lifestyle exposes me as a person whether I want it or not. That is why I believe there is no point in showing off. If my audio and video doesn't sync, which sense would one believe over more - eyes or ears? Simplest way to live life, I think, is being simple and straightforward.

To become aware about who you are, you should know where do you stand before moving forward. For that, first thing you want to do is to check the current progress status.

Where was I one year back from now?

Where do I stand today?

Where am I going?

Setting a closed-loop goal tracking system is one of the best ways to stay focused and improve continuously. Questions are the answers, the key, to make you aware about your priorities. Out of 168 hours, where did I spent most of my time this week? Are you a social/ family fellow or a money oriented individual or a health focused human or a spiritual soul? Which out of these four pillars weigh most? If you don't fall in either of these categories, better you set at least one goal in these four directions. Know thyself. If you can't, make yourself!

"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be."

                                                                                                - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Define your definition of who you want to be (and mind this - be nothing less than the God) and start assiduously working on it. Keep persevering. One more time and you'll have it.

I would love to see you prosper like that.

Look forward to your daily success stories.

How to Handle Depression

Biggest question in front of today's young generation I believe, following massive environmental changes and who's better out of Messi and Ronaldo, is depression. Close to 800,000 people die out of suicide every year, which is the second leading cause of death in 15-29 year olds.

My biggest purpose of writing blogs is to reach to all young people and tell them how this situation can be taken care of. I have gone through this and I believe I have come out of it victoriously. And I agree, hands down, that your situation is far more trickier than all of mine combined. No doubts about that. Yet, when it comes to facing them, I believe you have more strength than I have. I think that makes us equal.

People suggest various reasons for increasing number of cases of depression. For example, lack of hope/ vision, higher education costs, higher cost of living, rise in unemployment, comparison with others - be it with parents or peers. Few even blame global warming! In my opinion these are all external factors. There could be number of our friends out there who don't get affected from either of these factors and yet facing depression. Then what causes it? What is the solution?

As a young generation, we want liberty. What we don't realize is we possess something better than that - Freedom! Liberty comes from outside whereas freedom comes from our mind. No two people respond to the same situation in the exact same manner. Why? Because we have the option to choose our response. Everyone chooses his/her response, consciously or unconsciously. What do YOU want to choose?

Viktor Frankl says in his book "Man's Search For Meaning" -

" We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in numbers, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

And there were always choices to make. Every day, every hour, every moment, offered the opportunity to make a decision. A decision which determined whether you would or would not submit to those powers which threatened to rob you of your very self, your inner freedom; which determined whether or not you would become the plaything of circumstance, renouncing freedom and dignity to become molded into the form of the typical inmate."

In my previous blog "Antibuddha", I suggested to create health instead of removing weakness. We do not have to bother about the cause. We just have to create a habit of becoming stronger by adapting what makes us better and better continuously.

Now the question is, how to choose our response? People always suggest us what to do but fail to explain how it's done. I have, through blogs, so far tried to share with you how to keep ourselves driven. For example, very first topic "Mind Your Own Business" asks for the clarity of what do YOU want and then focusing solely on it. "Purpose Drives Passion" argues that we need to find the purpose for our every action. Rather now I suggest to have a purpose for every thought. Further way is the habit of improvement on continual basis. I believe, this can be made possible by using 'Cycle of Improvement'. Mentioned articles are the preliminary steps which can guide toward the healthy habits, self-satisfaction, clear conscience and consistent growth. I think these ways are good enough to begin with.

I am only trying to show the path as I cannot walk it on someone's behalf. I hope you find your destiny. I hope you find yourself. I am no expert with degrees but I have figured the ways for myself and have suggested methods which have worked for me to stay upbeat. So, do ask me if you have any questions and I'll try to respond them directly or indirectly, to the best of my capacity.

You, in this whole world, deserve your love, as much as anyone else.

                                                                                                -Buddha

Antibuddha

We have Buddha poornima coming up next month.

Buddha says: When you keep removing sickness and what remains thereafter is health. When you keep removing darkness and what remains thereafter is light.

I say: Get busy creating good health and you won't have to bother about sickness. Get busy generating light and you won't have time to think about darkness.

One way is to keep removing negativity until the moment no negativity is left. Another way is to generate positivity and forget everything else.

One way to get the sense of achievement is the feeling that I have contributed some goodness or to the improvement. But how is that possible? Even if 1000 evil spirits are removed, millions are still waiting. Instead, why not add 1000 virtuous spirits in the universe, because millions are waiting for you in this case as well. Which scenario is more fascinating or convincing? Also, mathematically, removing evil is an arithmetic progression whereas creating virtue is an exponential progression, just like the division of cells or the nuclear fission. Think about this - If you look at the glass half full/ half empty, what would you say if you want to make its contents reach up to its rim? Remove emptiness of the glass or fill the glass? Isn't it obvious to contribute towards betterment?

What's the point of analyzing whether the glass is half full of half empty? Staring at it makes no sense. What do you say? Go for it! Do what you know you should do. Live! Bruce lee says in the movie 'Enter the Dragon', "Don't think, feel. It is like a finger pointing away to the moon. Don't concentrate on the finger or you'll miss all that heavenly glory." Better you either drink the glass completely or fill it full. Rather than spending days, better we live a life worth remembering. Rather than being worried about problems, better we create opportunities. Work till the point there is no energy left and you fall asleep as soon as you hit the bed. One of the best ways to live full is to empty ourselves before every night. Life begins with a thought.

With our thoughts we make our world.

                                                            -Buddha

You are Great !

Science is close to the conclusion that there are no such thing as races. I have always believed that way. After all, everyone has 23 pairs of chromosomes! Right? Then what is this fuss about superiority and what not? You must have observed that if father is a good painter, pretty much are the chances that child would be a good painter as well. Why so? Just because, the father's DNA has those enhanced properties which get transferred to the child. Similarly, what we focus on and do repeatedly, either we choose doing it consciously or not, affects the characteristics of our DNA.

Let me tell you what Japanese do. After Hiroshima, they have converted the site to a visiting place. There is a beautiful garden surrounding it. Parents often take their children there and explain them how not controlling our emotions can make our life like that site and doing otherwise, by expressing love and forgiveness, can make life like that beautiful garden. This exercise instills the positive values in child's mind from a very tender age. When I say this, my intention is, I want the attitude of helping others and spreading peace and kindness in everyone's DNA. I am suggesting you as your spiritual friend to speak only positive words and assertive statements. I am, if not this world is, yet to see a dictionary or a book, which has only the positive words, phrases or idioms. I believe this idea should be implemented across all languages.

I believe that you have greatness in you. Just scatter some around! Let us make a positive shift in our lives and more importantly, in others' lives. Let's do something extra-ordinary. Today.

Man maketh habits and habits maketh man. What you sow in your heart, so shall you reap in the coming generations. I am sure you want yourself and your generations to be affable, broad-minded, creative, debonair, enchanting, flourishing, gracious, harmonious, inventive, judicious, knowledgeable, loyal, magnanimous, nifty, orderly, productive, quick-witted, rational, self-confident, trustworthy, unassuming, virtuous, wise, xenial, yeasty and zenithal.

You can be, have, do whatever you want. You have the power. Power of chromosomes.

And you also have a choice. Make a conscious one.

Be extraordinary!

Be the God.

Equations of Life

For some reason, two Gods got into a situation where they had to compete by running a race. One God was the God of speed and could run really fast. Another God knew that he couldn't win the race. So he instructed his aid to fence the racing track with gold-bricks. Race begun. On the way, looking at the gold-bricks, first God thought there was no harm in picking up few bricks for himself. After all, he knew that he was going to win. He kept picking the gold-bricks up every now and then and finally lost the race. He had got too much burden to keep him ahead.

You take birth and you die. Simple equation. All the variables you add while living decide the equation of your journey called life. More you set the constants in life, simpler it becomes. Initial phase of life wants adventure and excitement but as the saying goes, "If elderly could, if youth would." Considering average age of humans 75 years, we get around 700,800 hours to live. If you are 25 by the time you are reading this blog, you have already spent 219,000 hours. What did you do all these years? Moreover, if you keep saying you don't have enough time, everyone has 700,800 hours. Use each moment out of choice, not in ignorance.

You take decisions today but the results are here to stay, longer than the time you took to decide. So, instead of wagging the dog, better concentrate on priorities. Just like the theory of special relativity, lesser the variables means more clarity. Do SWOT, use time management quadrants, observe successful personalities in your field, learn! Learn how to utilize time in the best interest of you, family and society. Learn the purpose of actions of successful people. It will enhance your understanding. Filter your thoughts and choose your actions. Challengeyourself while picking up the goals but choose them wisely. Make a balanced life and lifestyle.

First thing first. One task at a time.

Simplicity is the beauty.