Bad sale

We are living in the era of round the clock sale. Most things are advertised to be sold at a discounted price. Even in these situations, many things could go wrong.

Some common warning sign of a bad deal:

  1. The deal is only good for “today”
  2. The seller offers “free gifts” in return for “minimum “ effort
  3. A sale item is suddenly unavailable but a “much better “ item happens to be available for “slightly more money”
  4. The seller emphasizes the amount of each payment rather the total amount of sale.
  5. A “repair person “ discovers a “dangerous “ defect in something you own that must be repaired immediately.
  6. You are given little or no time to read the contract.
  7. The seller makes you feel guilty for asking questions or asks, “don’t you trust me?”

Excerpt from “Age of Propaganda.”

Journey

We all have our own life journey. We all face our own set of challenges throughout our life.

Obsessing and cloning someone else’s journey will only do harm upon us. Our journey is like self-learning and self-healing.

I am writing about it after interaction with dozen-odd friends of mine. Some have taken early retirement while others are still figuring it out. Some are married and raising kids others want to stay alone and travel across the world.

There is no one fit for all, our journeys go beyond our social media photo shares.

On democracy

Hallmarks of democracy include the following:

  1. Communication is decentralized, with multiple sources of information.
  2. Authority and power are constrained by a system of checks and balances.
  3. Agendas and goals are established through discussion, not by leader Fiat.
  4. There is a reciprocity of influence between leaders and citizens, as opposed to unidirectional influence from elites.
  5. Group boundaries and roles are flexible, as opposed to there being a rigid social structure.
  6. The minority opinion is encouraged as a means of obtaining a better decision, and the rights of those in the minority are protected.

Excerpt from “Age of Propaganda.”


Self-acceptance

How difficult it is to accept who we are. Why do we have to feel pity because of our height, skin color or eyes?

This is something we inherited via the DNA. Is this something we have to be sorrowful or sad about? Is this something we can change?

We should strive to channel all our energy on things which can make us better:

  • as a student, aspiring to be the best with academics.
  • As a job seeker inculcating all the virtues and skill set to land in best job.

Why is self-acceptance so difficult for us humans?

Harmony of life

In the teachings of Judaism, one finds the following anecdote: If there are ten people and one will be someone who criticizes you no matter what you do.

This person will come to dislike you, and you will not learn to like him either.

Then, there will be two others who accept everything about you and whom you accept too, and you will become close friends with them.

The remaining seven people will be neither of these types.

Now, do you focus on the one person who dislikes you or the two who love you? Or would you focus on the crowd, other seven?

A person who is lacking harmony of life will see only the one person he dislikes and will make a judgment of the world from that.

Excerpt from “courage to be disliked.”

Sleep

Since the early days of my life, I felt sleep is overrated. My last few jobs required me to be awake on the clock. I did not realize much of its flip side then.

After thinking about those days, a lot of my mood swings, sugar cravings and anxiety had to do with my sleep.

Most of you know I have been a big-time coffee evangelist but from last few weeks I have limited caffeine intake, a glass before 7 am. I see an instant effect of it: more relaxed, more energy, less anxiety, and sound sleep. I am getting dreams as well. 🙂

My new meeting places are picked on a strict condition: It should also have caffeine-free, milk-free and sugar-free drinks in their menu.

This simple habit change has done magic on me.

Imagine

We are a working class. We have no time for leisure. We have left an era behind, where idealness fostered philosophy, arts, and innovation.

More and more we are living a matchbox kind of life. Our 24/7 we are running like a machine: Wake up, eat, work, work and more work, eat, sleep.

Getting a leave is kind of real luxury which includes replying to phone calls or emails. We are always rushing but never reaching. Then society dictates us on the need of getting married, buying a house, raising children and what not.

I bet most of us die without imagining. Our life is not to live like cattle, grazing. Our faculty of imagination and consciousness ends up getting unutilized.

Respect

Why do we have to crave for respect? Why do we need respect?
Who are we to decide or ask for respect?

You get respect with your virtue, your contribution to this universe for the greater good.

Why does one has to treat his employees like a dog or his maid like a slave and on top expect them to give back respect?

Significance

It is amazing how we humans think about ourselves and crave for our significance. It can be any social structure: job, family or religion.

We don’t realize that our significance in this compared vast universe is meaningless. We accumulate wealth or crave for respect, love Et all.

To be significant one requires more than wealth power or superiority: Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. Et All showed it to us.

Anxiety

I have been under anxiety for the past few weeks. Most of it was fueled because of overthinking. I was not able to sleep, felt very tired and sad.

The self-introspection helped me realize about my irrationality. I was trying to control things which I should not have.

It takes time to be virtuous, in my case it will take a few more decades.