Imagine that you have to speak in front of people, buy something important, decide a matter related to life or business, in such situations sometimes we worry too much or think too much and too far then we should. It will be better if we do our best and do not over expect about the outcomes. Thinking and wondering about the results and future puts us in an uncomfortable state if the thoughts are not based on the facts and figures. We should evaluate and consider the tangible facts and calculate the outcomes however we must keep a check on the baseless doubts and speculations.
Things happen – we can’t control every thing how hard we may try but life gets easier if we accept uncertainty as a “constant” in every equation of life. Even though I know and admit that it is easier said than done – if you start trying you can get better at managing your life.
Ah and for those who are lucky to not meddle with the affairs of physics and chemistry as a student, although I strongly believe that everyone should study a little bit about these subjects to get a better understanding of things around us, a “constant” is an entity which everyone has to accept to balance an equation or in other words, without accepting a “constant” like “Pi” the famous 22/7, and “G” the gravitational constant, and “K” the spring constant some very important matters cannot be concluded. Likewise in the matters of life, accepting “uncertainty” as a constant simplifies it multifold.
I recently realized that we should not limit the popular saying “nothing lasts forever” to a cup of ice-cream or a rainbow as it also applies very precisely to various aspects of our life. Our childhood, the time that we spend with our friends and family, beauty and so many other things end somewhere – change is inevitable and if we are prepared for these changes, we can deal with the ups and downs in a better way.
By seeing our life divided into various phases and parts we can prepare ourselves in advance about the possible changes related to particular parts in the future to minimize the surprise factor or to prepare ourselves to deal with the upcoming situations. If I do sports for 4 to 5 hours in a day, I should know that maybe after some years I will only be able to play for 2 hours or even less than that someday. If I work, it is possible that after some years I won’t be able to continue working. These harsh realities and many more riddles of life that can be more distressing and uncomfortable to talk about should be brought into consideration before they surprise us.
This approach of accepting reality in advance can make the transitions through different phases of life less painful and lead us to a peaceful end. Although many of us these days live like they are gonna live forever. Isn’t that so?
There is some sort of balance in the apparently disturbed and chaotic world around us. The more one starts to understand it, life becomes easier and peaceful. I won’t go in to the details of the creation of humans as this topic is subjective to one’s beliefs however observing the way mankind has lived in this world reveals that we are programmed in a certain way. We get bored – we yearn for change. We want more – even if we have enough. We get jealous, we want to be known and respected by others and interestingly most of our natural inclinations are negatives. When we try to find a balance between these desires and the options and ways that are beneficial for us as well as others – we are considered as a good human being and others don’t feel threatened by our actions. When we become stronger than our inner self and overcome all the negativeness to an extent where we are happy to cull our desires and choose those options and ways that are more beneficial to others – we become a saint and people truly respect us for what we have achieved.
Note: The tussle between a person and the desires that keep bubbling in its heart keeps going on until the last breath. On any given day you can be the best of the bests or worst of the worsts. Watch out for it:)
I’ll go down the memory lane and share two memories with you. While writing this post I’ll relive those moments and you will probably reconsider the fact that we live in an eventful world and one life is too short to experience everything. That’s why we tell stories and that’s why we read 🙂
In a small village an elderly man lives in a small house. Every afternoon he makes around 20 Kilograms of “Shakarparay” (It’s name of a sweet) and opens a door of a room in his house that opens into the street. There isn’t any board, nameplate or wall-chalking to attract people. When he opens the door, smell of the fresh sweet fills the streets of the village and everyone knows what to do. Like roses and jasmines attract honey bees, this smell attracts people towards this opened door. I passed through that village one afternoon and was lucky to stop and buy warm and fresh “Shakarparay”. Unfortunately I don’t remember the face of the person who makes the sweet as it was a bit dark inside that small room from where I bought the sweet however the smell, taste and that small street is still fresh in my mind.
It was a cold morning – I was traveling on an old bus that was cruising through small localities. It stopped every now and then because either someone wanted to get off or board it. It was an annoyance but I was also observing the people as well as enjoying the fields and houses on the sides of the road that were flying past my eyes so I wasn’t that annoyed 🙂 Eventually it crossed a long bridge on a river and the driver parked it in an open area beside the road. People started getting off the bus, I had no idea what’s going on as I wasn’t expecting this stop at all. Probably it was well understood by the people who traveled through that bus that it stops after crossing the bridge for a while. Anyways I came down to be welcomed by the cold winter morning – my hands quickly went in the pockets of my jeans and my chin started exploring the possibilities of hiding itself in my sweater but to no avail. The river was covered by a thick sheet of mist and far in the east the sun was about to rise. The warmth of the first rays of the sun that rose there after a few minutes, are a source of warmth and joy for my heart till this day.
Time flies – it certainly does. Our environment, our lives as well as the lives of people around us keep reminding us that the wheels are rolling. As it is on the move – it is being spent – It signifies the importance of every single moment – specially the present moment. Although there is so much to see and do in this world – our life spans can never be enough to taste all that has been served on the table therefore we should learn to be thankful for all that is being presented to us and appreciate what is on our plate.
To be able to enjoy what we are capable of enjoying, we need to show some courage against the odds. Think of a child who wakes up on a winter morning and clumsily drags himself out of his bed to go out in the sunlight – after hours of sleep in the long winter night his eyes will not be ready to face the sun at first – however, as few seconds will pass he won’t squint anymore as now he’ll be able to keep his eyes wide open and see what’s happening around him. Just like that when we face a sudden transition or a challenge in our life we become a squinting kid – at that time we must persevere, and if we do so – we’ll become eligible for the “present”.
I long for the company of those who can sit at the bank of a river and look at the waves for hours. Those who would wonder how it feel to be a wave that travels miles and miles to kiss the shore. Those who can appreciate the journeys and efforts of other creatures. Those who can value devotion, dedication and diligence. I am sure there are some people out there who won’t get bored of flowing rivers, flying birds and colorful flowers even if they get the chance to patiently observe them everyday.
If I come across them, I’ll talk to them about the marvels of nature, the beauty in the simple things, the magnificence in the always busy honey bees, angry wasps and diligent ants.
I’ll tell them how i feel about all these little things that may seem useless to some eyes and will ask them to share their reflections with me.
I want to sit with those who can feel the magic in the leaves that dance in unison with the feeble puffs of the breeze. I want to know how others feel when they watch a train slowly leaving a station on a beautiful evening. I strongly believe that everyone carries a big treasure of unique feelings and stories in their heart. I already shared some of my feelings with you and I am ready to lend my ears to all those who want to share theirs.
Sweet and soft melodies emanate from rough, hard and coarse materials like wood, metals and hides. Their vibrations, flow of air in them and as of today the movement of electrons in the integrated electronic circuits of musical instruments produce pleasant sounds that soothe us. The transformation of these materials can teach something very useful to us.
If we are ready to put some effort to shape the metal into a guitar’s string, a horn or a clarinet or if we are determined to carve a wooden stick into a fine flute, the sweet tunes produced by these transformations will be our reward. Similarly we are also rough and coarse until we start working on ourselves and channelize our energies to become the best version of ourselves however we are not like an instrument which has a final shape. For us, sky is the limit.
As we grow, we face different kinds of situations, incidents and experiences that shape our personality. Our course of life develops us into an individual with a unique story and that’s why each and every one of us is a very special presence on the earth.
At any moment in your life, keep believing in yourself because your thoughts combined with actions mold your future. You have to be the best version of yourself and in this pursuit never let go of your true self for the sake of perfection. As mostly when we want to be perfect, we actually wish to be like someone who seems perfect to us. A better approach would be to see the achievements of others as the fruits of good self control and critical self analysis. They crafted their story, appreciate them for that and don’t forget that you have to create your own.
One day, you may shine brighter than the diamond that used to mesmerize you.
Our minds are always full of questions – some of them accompanied by vivid answers, some with a couple of possible answers and an unending chain of unanswered ones for those who think and observe a lot. In the quest of enlightenment and inner peace i also keep looking for the answers around me with a hope that one day i’ll either find all the answers or i’ll happily let go of the questions to get rid of my restlessness before my conscious flies out of the cage of my body.
During past few months i lived in a new environment, adjusted myself to a new culture and observed the ways of life in an unfamiliar place – interestingly i found out that human instincts are the same where ever you may go. The conditions and particular situations do change the moods and way of our dealings however inside the covers humans are very much similar. Sometimes they are kind, sometimes they are happy, sad, jealous or angry and at times they are not good to each other. Sometimes they expect a lot from others without understanding that they are also obliged to return the favors but we can’t ignore the fact that our environment and our upbringing plays a huge role in the way we act and react throughout our life. We can’t blame anyone – all we can do is to understand our good and bad sides and keep working on making ourselves a valuable member of society.
As recently I have traveled to new places so i got the chance to meet a lot of people – made new friends, got new inspirations and learned new things. I have also lived alone, learned life lessons and tasted the sweetness and bitterness of loneliness. Sadly the world is becoming more materialistic day by day – people are ignoring their loved ones and family members in the name of self love and trying to blindly follow the hypes created by social media without paying attention to the consequences.
I have seen couples eating together in silence and eyes glued to their phones – i have seen mothers ignoring their kids as their source of happiness is a bright screen which keeps setting new goals and desires for them which eventually result in depression when the mind gets loaded with heaps of wishes without any clue how one may change those dreams into reality.
Some of us just want to wear a celebrity’s life as if it is a piece of garment but we don’t check whether that famous person is truly happy in living that life or not – we buy what we see. I wish that all of us may realize the importance of our own life and our style and contribute towards the society in what ever way we can – the past is past, we must live in the present moment and use our energies to live it to the fullest. Another important thing is to understand that we don’t have to fly to multiple countries and take our pictures at five stars and popular tourist destinations to show that we are living an amazing life – we don’t have to make anyone jealous of our possessions – we must remember that our actions should not spread negative feelings – there are many positive ways of making ourselves happy and as soon as we may understand this the better. My observations can be wrong, my words can’t be final but my intention to educate people that life isn’t that difficult as we make it for ourselves is pure and i keep spreading it to the attentive ears around me. These days i mostly read verses of Persian poetry and few excerpts from “West with the night” along with occasional glance on a Reddit page on “Stoicism” and write for some of my clients who need either technical or travel articles however today when i came back to my room after playing badminton i sat down in front of my laptop after shower and wrote this blog post to spread the words of love, peace and humanity on the cyberspace which is rather bubbling with words written for search engines and probably my words will also be read by search engines more often than the real people – but still i have to play my part – i have to justify my present moment 🙂
vivid perceptions 