The people we meet on our way up are the same people we meet on our way down. True. But then, everybody knows that. So why is arrogance so common?

Because some people really are luckier than others. And people do get away with a lot. Maybe God has discount seasons too. And maybe we'll be in at the right spot sometime soon enough...

Unchain my heart!

Freedom is something that as much as given does come back. Well, unless it destroys you before you come back.

Little children have the tendency to do things that we ask them not to, out of curiosity. If you ask a child to not to go towards the stairs because he might fall, he would enjoy going in that direction. But once he falls and gets hurt, he would then be careful all by himself.

I guess its a case not with children only, but grown ups too. Only in grown ups its not that obvious. If you ask your husband to look at that pretty lady, he would not stop. But once one of these pretty girls takes advantage of him, he would hold his desires by himself, with no need for prompting.

It's just the way freedom works. Just that most of the times, it works against us. The husband might have an affair long enough to destroy your relationship. The child might get seriously injured falling off the stairs. The trick is to have freedom well balanced in life to enjoy the benefits and exploring the stairs, without falling off and hitting your head.

Comes Naturally

Either we notice something, or we don't. Either we care, or we don't. Either we love or we don't. If we love, either we accept we love and say that we love or we resist our attraction and say we hate. Its all the same thing. Life is always absolute. We are alive or dead. We are happy or we're not. And to be happy is really all anybody ever desires, of course. Some people are made happy by acquiring and some by providing. But the aim is the same - happiness.

What is happiness? Chemical phenomenon? Reflex? It isn't necessary to know the functioning of the process. But we know. Somehow we know when to cry and when to smile. It comes naturally.Mean people are naturally mean. And nice ones are naturally nice too. Nobody can really fake their desires or their reactions. Its just how they are. Everybody being strange in their own ways, the best we can do is choose our friends without judgement, keeping the ones that match our levels of strangeness. There is really no good or bad. We are as we are, and it comes naturally.

Running out of conversation

Some people are naturally talkative. They can go on and on and on and never run out of things to talk about. While some just fall short of words. It isn't particularly good or bad - being talkative or not. Its just how we are. Some people like to discuss, asking for opinions, consulting before making decisions. And others just live on their own.

Sharing of ideas and opinions does bring two people close as they begin to know each other better. It doesn't necessarily mean that to be close one has to share every personal detail. Space is an important component of any human relationship.  Some spaces just better left un-invaded. Some words are simply better unsaid. And not because they are meant to remain unknown. But because they are meant to be known automatically.

I am trying hard to write a post. Honestly, I am. But I am hungry and I am also trying to be on a diet. I don't know why we take such pains giving up food to stay in "shape" while it does make us suffer and sometimes even shapeless.

Women go through the pressure of pleasing. Overweight is unattractive. Sometimes it affects our confidence. Diet has a problem of suffering both when following and when not following. If I eat too much sweet, i feel guilty. If i don't, I feel longing. And that's exactly the reason why I'm never actually dieting. I'm always trying to be on a diet. So I never eat too much junk food and never feel too guilty.

Exercise is good. I love to walk. It doesn't require fancy equipment and it can be done any time of day. I guess its for people like me who don't really have a schedule. Laziness is another excuse that keeps me from the gym. Maybe things will change some day...

Ideas - Events - People

The lines on our palm say a lot about our person and life. Handwritings speak a lot about our personalities. Sleeping postures too are said to express significant details of our states of mind. Similar is the case with the things we talk about.

We can broadly talk about only ideas, events or people. It is an old saying that:

Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.

I think is makes sense. But the good news is that, by changing what we talk about, we can change the kind of person we are. Same as karma can change the lines of our palms.

Start thinking, and think before you talk.

Emotional Needs

Most people blindly expect the other person to guess what they want to be told or given. That's because few people even themselves know what is wrong with them or what is their need of the moment. It's great to have someone who can understand without even being told. Those are sure treasures. But mostly, we just have to state clearly what we want from the other person which we call communication. It can be easier or more difficult for the people who do know what they want. Sometimes it is just difficult for express the need. But what if you take your time to understand what you what. You put it as clearly as possible so that the other person understands it completely. And then the most important part of the puzzle goes missing - you're refused? What then?

Noise Meditation

Concentration is difficult. But its a skill that can be developed. Or a state that can be achieved. Meditation and its various forms work pretty well for it. Sometimes noise can be a great way to help concentration. Use the ipod. When I have to really force myself to study when I'm running away too fast away from it, I put on some great music on the ipod loud enough and start studying. Works well. Singing along, I end up getting involved in whatever I was trying to study.

I guess, that is called managing to get work done. Even from myself.

Catalyst

I was listening to this old favorite of mine called the "Sometimes you can't make it on our own" by U2. But what do we do when we want to do something we can't do it alone? We find someone to bridge the gap. Find someone to compliment your drive with work. That guy is the catalyst.

Now the catalyst is not just somebody who is passing the idea from one end to the next, this person is actually improvising. Because that is what is making him vital. He is that bridge. Value the catalyst. Value being the catalyst. It's a very important part of accomplishing valuable tasks. After all, completing something is more important than doing it alone.

Fun Test

There may never be a wrong time to join something, there's always a right time to quit. There is this simple test to know when something is not working out and its time to quit. There are even books written about it. But there's really just one single test.

When something stops being fun, its time to let go.

It applies to all situations, jobs, projects, relationships, even children. When children have developed their own personalities, and you lose influence over it. Its time to let go of the resentment and accept it as a part of their personality.

After all that, I'll just have to...

Most people don't promise anything to you.
Some people make promises and break them.

Some people make promises and keep them.

Some, very few, make promises and deliver much more!

And if someone loves you. If that person is the one who is always by your side through ups and downs. If that person worries about you. If that person makes you get the better of yourself. If that person helps you be successful. Then chases you down to become as successfull himself. And asks you to marry him. Is there a possibility that you will still have to reject that person?

Some people actually do that, you know.

My Crib!

You know what is so special about home? Its home! Thats what! Its the place which makes us feel like no other does. Its ours'. No matter how small or large, our houses make us feel safe. Its the place where we run to. And if we're lucky, we have people there who make the home even more a place to run to.
The people we love, make a house a home. That includes ourselves. A house is the place that gives us the sense of belonging. Even in an unknown land, our hotel room is our place. Because even if only for a few days, it belongs to us.
That is the reason we miss home when we're away. For the sense of belonging. The sense of being at rest. And comfortable.

Duck is a duck!

I believe that true happiness is when your words and your actions are in perfect agreement. But for most people it isn't so. People tend to fail their words. Their actions don't agree with their words or promises. It is a kind of deception even if we are all so used to it by now that we dont notice it. It still is, a deception.

Don't promise what you can't deliver. Mostly because delivering what you promise is such pleasure. Don't way what you dont mean. Or you'll always be misunderstood.

Knowingly or unknowingly, people notice. People notice the kind of person someone is. And everybody is constantly judged. And nobody cares to point out or help change or improvement. People judge you for what you act like and make their own set of choices. You do it too. Its just the rule of the game.

If it acts like a duck (all the time), it's a duck. Doesn't matter if the
duck thinks it's a dog, it's still a duck as far as the rest of us are
concerned.

Associative Memory

Whenever we see something or someone, interact with someone, read something or do something, we relate that experience to the things we have already known and experienced. This is associative memory. Even when old, we'll think of our childhood when we think of our childhood friends. We might even think of things that might have been. Possibilities. Expectations. Unfulfilled desires. It might pain too. But that is all as much part of life as everything else.

Things happen only when they are supposed to happen. They way they are meant to happen. It isn't even a matter of waiting. We can only but enjoy each moment as it comes to look into our eyes, leaving just sense in us that it has been, and brush past as if it had never been and yet always remain.

It Takes a Leader

Every child is troubled by the bullies. Everybody hates a bad boss. Everybody understands the faults of a bad dictator. But it takes courage of a leader to harness that feeling into a movement and make it into a revolution. There are always enough people who feel like you do. All you need to do it seek them out and make the crowd work for you. The people who feel like you do. People who want to make the changes you want to make. It takes a leader to lead.

Leadership is scarce because few people are willing to go through the discomfort required to lead. This scarcity makes leadership valuable. At the same time, its the followers that make the leader a leader. Not just ones who are willing to follow, but those who are eager to follow.

If you want to start something, be ready to take the responsiblity of being the leader.

Think in terms of what you want

What you want is what you get in life. If you focus on the things you don't want, you would not get the things you want. In order to get what you want, you have to focus on the things you want. And because there are just so many things you can focus on, single mindedly, focussing on the things you DON'T want only leads you astray.

Think in terms of what you want.

I want health.

I want wealth.

I want to be loved.

I want to be happy.

You have to be clear about what you want, in order to get what you want. And of the things you don't want, there's less sense in highlighting.