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.

Denial

The key to survival is denial. We deny that we're tired. We deny we're scared. We deny badly we want to succeed. And most importantly, we deny that we're in denial.

Denial is this crazy idea, this crazy practice we indulge in so many times and all so often. We deny, only because we're scared. We deny we're possessive, because we're scared to be exposed of loving too much. We deny we're scared to lose only when we are scared to lose.

Admitting our weaknesses if difficult. But unless you do, you won't be overcoming any of them. And overcoming them, is very very important. Because unless we do, we don't move ahead and more often than that, we get run down. Denial keeps you from improvement. Denial keeps you in a loop. Denail keeps you scared. Denial makes you weak. Whatever you feel, is there for a reason. Find that reason. Take care of it.

Face it. Whatever it is. Don't be scared. Know exactly whats hurting you. Fight your fears before facing your enemies. And don't deny when you're scared. Because if you make a habbit of being scared of sadness, maybe someday you'll just be too scared to admit happiness...

Building momentum, then keeping it.

Everybody wants to do well in life. Many people work very hard. Some people dont realize how hard they are working. We start working. Then get into the mode. Keep working. Keep going. Then things seem settled. We begin to slow down. We start to take success for granted. At such a point, its easy to lose the momentum we built over the time, with so much pain. And so it gets easier to get run-down. So what do we do about it? To keep that precious momentum. To keep that fire alive. To keep fighting. To keep on going. Just how do we do it?
I'll tell you what, its difficult. No, its VERY difficult. To RE-build momentum. To get there where you've been before. Mostly it is because we move forward by nature. To be staying in another moment and going back and bringing something from it. The idea itself brings for us - future shock. Which is nothing but the inability to move with time. Forward or backward.
Happens. To everybody. Sooner or later. Some people find it very hard to deal with. To get back to what they've left behind. To repeat. To redo.
But we just have to do it. Like everybody else has to in that situation. Because there is really no other way out. Literally!

Struggling for ourselves

Creativity, as natural as it may seem at first, is a science. People can be born with talent, but expertise is developed over time. Writers and painters who are sometimes percieved as being gifted with certain talents have to still develop that talent into expertise before they begin to harness any benefits from it.

If someone decides at 20 decides today that he wants to be a full time writer, he is looking at first the development of the language skills and the effectiveness of his narration. He is looking at a life where he has to look for stories and make them. He has to devote time and attention to improve which is a slow process. And he may not be able to make another profession because of this one. That is not easy.

A contemporary artist in today's world of technology and tools has to not only know the methods of the past but should also understand and be adept at the possibilities of the tools of today. The choices that he has to make are not made in one night that he wants to be a painter. But the contemplation of a long time that he can't be nothing else.

We are who we are and even the obstructions in the path that is our's are our own. We love them like we love the path like we love our destiny. Admitting our love for the things we love and believing in it is a major foundation of individuality. I am.

Are you all GIVE or just TAKE?

Here is a fantastic piece from The Sunday Times that i suggest you read:
A healthy give and take attitude is the basis for a steady relationship. It’s when you realise you are getting nothing in return that a partnership is in jeopardy. Every relationship charts out its own gives and takes. That’s what relationships are all about — from a tie as pure as a mother and child to one forged for business alone, give and take is an innate part of every relationship. You cannot hope to just keep taking and expect the tie to last. Even the most philanthropic amongst us wouldn’t want to spend a lifetime giving; at some point there is bound to be the concern, “What did I get out of this?” After all, even charity is doled out in the hope of raking in some returns for ourselves, be they material, physical or spiritual. Give and take isn’t necessarily a bad word. Nor is it limited to business deals. However it is certainly something that can either be elevated to a lofty status or be relegated to something demeaning and lowly, depending on people involved and intentions. Quite often we wonder what makes certain relationships tick. As an outsider you may not be able to fathom how two seemingly mismatched people are pulling along in a relationship, but rest assured, there is almost always a reason. There is equal compensation both ways. Sometimes a very strong person who has everything going for him may hook up with an ordinary partner and the world may keep wondering what he gets from her. Difficult to say, but rest assured there will always be some vulnerability in the strong person that is complemented through the partner’s personality. And, the other person accrues the obvious benefits. So the give and take works both ways. And till it keeps working, the balance keeps the relationship steady and going. It is when one partner starts feeling that he or she has nothing more to gain from the other that the relationship is in jeopardy. Once you start feeling that there are only debits in a partnership, instinctively you try and get out of the situation. It may all sound very greedy and selfcentred, but it isn’t really so. Because the give and take is not really a monetary transaction; more a compensation for what the other person needs or misses in his or her life — physical, spiritual or emotional, And yes, even if one person gives just materially, it could make for a workable relationship so long as there is mutual respect. A partner who draws spiritual solace from someone, may be giving material comforts in return. That’s fine, so long as both benefit and the relationship is symbiotic. The point is caring enough to give the other what he or she needs.Some people are very selfish and stingy when it comes to giving anything of themselves to a partner. In their shortsightedness, they attack the very foundation of a relationship. A relationship with such a person would be self-destructive. However, if not being a giver is a problem, being just a giver without ever taking anything from anyone also disturbs the balance of nature. A story in psychotherapist Brian Weiss’s book, Through Time into Healing, comes to mind. A daughter, distraught at her mother's being rendered totally inactive after a paralytic attack, questions God why he has struck helpless a woman who did nothing but give throughout her life. The answer she receives is that by giving her mother two years of dependence on the daughter, God has saved her a lifetime of begging and accepting in another birth. Because it is critical for the mother to understand it’s as important to receive as it is to give. “It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding; And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving And is there aught you would withhold? All you have shall someday be given … See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.” — Kahlil Gibran

Swallowing Frogs...

There's just so much to do. This and this and that and that and what not. So how do we go about anything too many. Simple. Always start with the most difficult problem at hand. When you have too many frogs to swallow, swallow the biggest one first.