koolhead17
As we age, our life journey crosses various paths. We make connections and shed some. Some help us in shaping better of ourselves while others not so much.
Getting sad, angry or worried over someone making fun of:
In the end, we were born alone and so will happen when we die. The only thing which will stay with us is our urge to acquiring self-knowledge.
We have conquered many diseases as we progressed. The discovery in science and medicine is nothing less than a miracle. These scientist and researchers are true gods.
Modern life made everything better for us and gave rise to many new problems. We are more prone to dying of heart attack and diabetes than plague or chicken pox now.
Stress, food habit, and less physical movements as the reason for modern-day disease. We are living a life long on blood thinners and diabetes tablets.
I was lucky to be born in the ’80s. The mad rush I am seeing is shocking. Everyone expects them to be some superhero: great in everything. We are feeding pressure to excel, competition at every level.
As an optimist, I hope for much better unknown.
Hiring seems to be like a big pain for an organization. Twitter and other platforms have many postings by various founders.
Hiring is not an art or a science. It is more to do with treating humans as they are. Most of these companies treat engineers as resources with salary being key incentives. This incentive works until your competitor pays them 2X-5X because he has raised a lot of money.
To hire and keep your team motivated you to have to be honest with them and treat them like a stakeholder. They should feel like part of the big operating system. Some founders tend to get good early employees by following this principle. As they grow and demand from investors changes, they forget the principle. That is the time when many old veterans leave and yes the incentives of ESOP does no good.
Typing Product on Google gives enough results. Heck, same goes for many available books on Amazon. We are in the era of building and product leaders are key stakeholders.
There are so many methodologies and development practices which are used by these gurus.
What I have understood with my limited consciousness is:
A product has come out of necessity or solving a pain.
A product should empower its user to progress in their journey.
It is very easy to get lost in glory and forget our roots.
We, humans, are no different than a raging bull. We crave for approval and appreciation. We like recognition.
Our actions and affiliation changes as we progress. We get into the ego train which directs towards the vice.
It helps to remember our roots and the journey to who we are now. It helps us in staying grounded and reminds us of the process.
Expectation is the cause of all our sorrows.
— Bhagwad Gita
Is it possible to live a life without expecting anything from externals? An ailing fathers expectation that his son will visit him this Christmas. Mothers hope to see her daughter’s wedding soon.
Why do we let our happiness in hands of another? Why can’t we let things guide on its nature? Why do we have to live a life with expectation and when things fail to go our way, we end up in pain?
Man is a rational Animal.
— Aristotle
I am not sure if humans are rational. Aristotle meant philosophers are rational animals.
I like monkeys, I am fascinated by their grit and perseverance. Their focus on what they want.
The other quality which has kept them going is a reproduction. I don’t know if they believe in Love and all, but they are truly aware of seeding their species.
Sigmund Freud said there is no such thing as love, it is all about our quest to reproduce our offspring’s.
I don’t understand what will happen to the marketers if humanity starts agreeing to Freud.
Man is a social animal.
— Aristotle
What we become has a lot to do with the environment around us, people we are connected to. This close-knit of connection is what differentiates us from other animals. Wherever we go, live and make a colony we try to build a community.
Most religions followed the same approach for its spread.
How will your parents feel if you make them visit and live with you? Anyone will say a great idea.
Thinking deep inside and asking the same will make you feel it’s like a cage and they have made to fit in it.
The life we are living in metros and the ever growing need for more leaves little time to spend with them. Even when we are with them in the same house, we are hooked to our own parallel world or mobile phone, laptop, and other gadgets.
Will you feel happy if your kids will make you visit them and spend the least time with you?
Epictetus was a Stoic philosopher. He was born into slavery and endured a permanent physical disability. Like Socrates, he too had not written anything. Some of his students collected his sayings and converted it into an Enchiridion (a book containing essential information on a subject.)I remember Chetan telling me about this book while I was in my journey of finding myself. We visited Blossom Book House where it was unavailable and hence I ordered an e-copy.
The original book was written in Greek centuries ago. Over the period, it has been translated into many languages. I liked the translation by William Abbott Oldfather.
I have shared this link with many of you and many of my tweets has Epictetus discourses.
After J. Krishnamurti, Epictetus has been the closest one whose teaching I could closely relate to. I have shared my kindle note of the book earlier, but I don’t think it is sufficient. We all have our own journey.
Time stops for no one. It is constantly passing, we are getting on with it. We are getting old and dying every minute with it.
Why do we have to be so scared of death? Is it not part and parcel or our creation?
Why do we have to question about the allocated time of ours? Why are we letting our fear of death hampering our present? Does it even make sense to worry about the future while living miserably now?
The virtuous ones are aware of this truth. They are aware of the passing time. They are the ones living now and making a dent in this universe with their karma.
Living an ordinary life in this flyby time and worrying about death: do insects care about it? Some live as less as a day, but they make the best of it.