The other day, I brought myself a rubber ball. I threw it at a straight wall and it bounced right back. Then I threw it onto the ceiling; again I had it back in my hands. In my fourth or fifth attempt (who counted), it just disappeared into the false ceiling. My shock and annoyance at not getting my toy back, my new source of fun can’t be explained.
We all throw the ball expecting it to bounce right back at us. But what if, our ignorance misjudge where it is thrown. Ignorance has a price. Whoever said, “ignorance is bliss” is so wrong.
I had taken my rubber ball for granted. I will get that rubber ball back from my ceiling. But what gets lost thrown at the wall called ‘life’, is lost forever.
But the REAL lesson is in the ball. Not the wall.
Monday, October 15, 2007
The Level-Thinking
There will always be people who are superior or inferior to us.
While it is easier to accept the person who’s superior to us, we tend to adopt the ‘outcast-mentality’ to those inferior. We have an in-built sense of which association will benefit us and raise our own standards.
In theory, we all know that no man can be superior in all sense. But then why do we still slot on the basis of knowledge, background and value. This is an acknowledgement of how inferior we truly can be.
In my personal quest to be a well-rounded person, I have adopted the "Level-Thinking" into my life. “Level-Thinking” helps me to be conscious of who am dealing with and shed whatever shades of pre-conceived notions I may have in a given situation.
Say you meet Mr. A, who in a situation is more knowledgeable, more valuable and in your eyes – superior. He is above us in that mental scale of ours. We shift gears and try to match to his level. This is called “Going UP”. Once this state is achieved, we see them on the same level as us. And in this whole process, we learn those aspiring values.
Now we meet Mr. B, who hasn’t reached our level of thinking. And in our eyes, he’s inferior. We slow down and let him reason with our level of thinking. Slowly he rises to match our level. This is called “Catching UP”. What we actually did was to go DOWN to his level and then bring him UP to ours. This is tougher of the two, but in this process you re-learn.
And chances are, you will learn something new too and scaled even higher.
While it is easier to accept the person who’s superior to us, we tend to adopt the ‘outcast-mentality’ to those inferior. We have an in-built sense of which association will benefit us and raise our own standards.
In theory, we all know that no man can be superior in all sense. But then why do we still slot on the basis of knowledge, background and value. This is an acknowledgement of how inferior we truly can be.
In my personal quest to be a well-rounded person, I have adopted the "Level-Thinking" into my life. “Level-Thinking” helps me to be conscious of who am dealing with and shed whatever shades of pre-conceived notions I may have in a given situation.
Say you meet Mr. A, who in a situation is more knowledgeable, more valuable and in your eyes – superior. He is above us in that mental scale of ours. We shift gears and try to match to his level. This is called “Going UP”. Once this state is achieved, we see them on the same level as us. And in this whole process, we learn those aspiring values.
Now we meet Mr. B, who hasn’t reached our level of thinking. And in our eyes, he’s inferior. We slow down and let him reason with our level of thinking. Slowly he rises to match our level. This is called “Catching UP”. What we actually did was to go DOWN to his level and then bring him UP to ours. This is tougher of the two, but in this process you re-learn.
And chances are, you will learn something new too and scaled even higher.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Sandcastle
I remember, as kids, no weekend went by without the trip to the beach. Two overzealous kids, with just a year to separate them, were obviously too much for a fulltime housewife - our mom. Our wise dad made sure we went back home tired and silent.
Our play activities usually involved fighting the sharks and giant squids. And had an occasional pirate to capture. Once we have enough of the water, we discarded our fins and evolved to the land.
A favourite land activity was to see who build a better sandcastle. I always took pride in my creations. Bridges, high walls, detailed structures were easier to make with each attempt.
On one particular trip, I wanted to challenge myself by making a real big sandcastle. Realising that I need ready access to more wet mud, I chose a particular area closer to the water. I had higher walls. Bigger bridges. Larger towers. I was very happy.
And just as I was giving it final touches, a rouge wave made mockery of my skills.
I stood shocked not knowing what to do. I wanted to blame the wave. I wanted to blame something. My little heart refused to understand the cruelty of it all.
I turned away then and headed home. The memory of that castle forever in my mind.
We all build sandcastles with the best of our intention. Sometimes they just don’t take shape.
I leave you with the thought that I didn’t stop making sandcastles. I was back at the beach, the next weekend.
Our play activities usually involved fighting the sharks and giant squids. And had an occasional pirate to capture. Once we have enough of the water, we discarded our fins and evolved to the land.
A favourite land activity was to see who build a better sandcastle. I always took pride in my creations. Bridges, high walls, detailed structures were easier to make with each attempt.
On one particular trip, I wanted to challenge myself by making a real big sandcastle. Realising that I need ready access to more wet mud, I chose a particular area closer to the water. I had higher walls. Bigger bridges. Larger towers. I was very happy.
And just as I was giving it final touches, a rouge wave made mockery of my skills.
I stood shocked not knowing what to do. I wanted to blame the wave. I wanted to blame something. My little heart refused to understand the cruelty of it all.
I turned away then and headed home. The memory of that castle forever in my mind.
We all build sandcastles with the best of our intention. Sometimes they just don’t take shape.
I leave you with the thought that I didn’t stop making sandcastles. I was back at the beach, the next weekend.
I
The ‘I’ in us always influence our decision. Be it the simplest of choices, our inherent qualities make us judgemental of people and situations. Overall, impacting the way life finally pans out.
We are programmed in a way to absorb qualities of people around us. This ‘I’ is nothing but an amalgamation of individuals we aspire to be. Consciously or sub-consciously.
So the person you are; is not really ALL you.
The real victories in life are when the ‘I’ is forsaken. There won’t be that many but those moments will always be cherished.
We are programmed in a way to absorb qualities of people around us. This ‘I’ is nothing but an amalgamation of individuals we aspire to be. Consciously or sub-consciously.
So the person you are; is not really ALL you.
The real victories in life are when the ‘I’ is forsaken. There won’t be that many but those moments will always be cherished.
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