Expectations

How can we live a life without expectations? Are we not living in a society whose fabric is cemented by expectations. Be it parents, friends, or siblings: each has their wishlists or the way they want us to be for them.

Bhagwad Gita says expectations are the root cause of our misery.

And stoic philosopher Epictetus talks about things in control and not in control.

The trench of expectations is too deep, and one becomes acetic or a misfit, depending on whose side you gauge.

Living in a society like a herd, we fall into the trench of never-ending expectations. We also call it responsibility or karma.

What can we do? If we are part of this society, we should give our best and help in whatever ways our loved ones. But, it should not come at price of our happiness and life principles.

I was going through Yash’s tweet and the random thought came.

Be here now

Be here now is Ram Dass’s journey of life. The book starts with his origin and love for psychedelics and ends with him landing in India and meeting his Guru, Neem Karoli Baba.

A good amount of pages in a book are his scribbles under psychedelic state.

I liked reading the book and knowing how one can transform his life into many different worlds. The book covers various aspects of healthy living via yoga, meditations, and other ancient wisdom are also shared.

If you are in a zone of seeking something for your life and are open-minded, you should read this book. Personally, the biggest takeaway has been getting back to yoga after 25 years and in a short duration seeing its benefits apart from doing regular pranayam.

Lastly, as the title says: live your life moment to moment now. Past is gone. The future will come. Now is what we should live.

being idle

We are living in the hustle culture. We have to be always online, always doing something. We measure our blood glucose, sleep, water intake, and whatnot.

In the modern era of watching, Netflix has become the definition of being idle. Sitting silently, doing nothing, or getting disconnected from the world is unimaginable.

Our history suggests a lot of magic got created in an idle state. Archimedes found buoyancy while bathing, and Newton found gravity sitting in an apple orchid.

100 other similar inventions came at leisure not being on the go. Our brain needs to be lost time and again on its own.

narrative

Propaganda, marketing, or public sentiments has one thing in common: “narrative.” People agree, buy, relate or join a movement over narrative.

Take an example of crypto-mania: the movement started with the narrative of changing the banking system and making a better financial world. It has ended up with jobless youth getting into multi-level marketing.

Edward Barney took the cause of women’s freedom and liberty and got them addicted to smoking. The cigarette brands had access to a new customer base.

Gorge Bush lied to its public and rode on the nationalism wave by attacking Iraq, killing millions and wasting tonnes of taxpayers’ money and innocent civilians and American soldiers. He wanted revenge and put closer to 9/11 at all cost; building a narrative on nationalism was easy. And yes, he got away with it.

Indian media has forgotten about the rising prices but is building a narrative over religious hatred. It gets them viewership and money from the right-wing parties. In return, politicians win the election over religious hatred, not countries’ development. Changing the narrative and winning the election.

culture

I am not sure whom to blame, the media for celebrating funding announcements or the investors and how they are backing a seasoned founder.

The tides of fundraising are changing, and the private market darlings like Paytm or Freshworks have surrendered.

In the private market, revenue has become the buzzword replacing growth. We are witnessing firings across in huge numbers.

The time will test every organisation’s culture and the principle. The best and worst founders will be in front of us soon. A founder is responsible for setting organisational culture, be it toxic, vulnerable, or friendly.

problem

We all are going through our never-ending challenges in life. Some of us call it a quit, get into sulking. A very few take it head-on and live through it.

Why do we crave others’ sympathy or attention for our misery? Is it not our life and requires fixed by self?

We take up everything in public, be it our happiness or sadness, and broadcast it on social media. How much does it matter to others? I would say; absolute ZERO.

If our life has problems, it gives us more reason and opportunity to live and fix them. Otherwise, the human mind and our idleness will make us miserable.

equality

We are sermonized about equality across. Be at work, family, or friend circle. But the reality is far away from it.

We read how a Rikshaw puller’s daughter cracked IIT, and everyone can do anything. But the sad reality is media masks these stories and feeds sermons on equity. These are like black swan events, one in a million.

The sooner we realize we are not living in an equal world, our life will become less painful. The opportunities provided to us come right from the mother’s womb.

Consider yourself lucky where you landed, considering half of the world is in the mayhem. Over 70% of the world’s population can’t read this post.

forgiveness

The virtue of forgiveness is not prevalent in most of us. We are too traumatized by the spat with our partners or associates. We burn and feel angry, sad, or lost every time that person walks into our life.

I have realized forgiveness is a medicine for our mind and a key to good health. We have to let go of our Ego for our well-being.

We cannot live our life with what happened in the past or sulk in it. We have to give life a fresh new beginning. Without forgiveness, it’s not possible.

world

We are so focused on everything other than what’s inside us. As we age, our body starts throwing signs at various fronts. We have to spend more time on ourselves and knowing about our likes and dislikes to avoid getting sick.

Apart from our bodies, we have a limited set of people around us with whom we spend a good amount of our life. It becomes equally important to find the right group.

We are what we think, and our thoughts are greatly affected by the environment and people around us.

In short, our world is very small, and we have to nurture it with healthy food and company.