Changing By The Minute

It would seem that a person's thoughts, views, opinions etc. are constant. At least this is what I thought.

Turns out, I myself am an exception to this.

Other than a few big things like love for humanity, patriotism, respect for my parents etc., all other things change to almost diametrically opposite stands for me. The funny part is, there is no way I can prove my love for humanity, patriotism, respect for parents to myself. So these might just be speculations in my mind.

I have noticed that whenever I expose myself to some new idea, I either pursue it to death, or I hate it. Then, in some time, a week, a couple of months, or until a friend makes me do the opposite ... yes, you guessed it right.

Seeing such inconsistencies in myself is amusing and confusing at the same time. Amusing because it does not matter a lot in the grand scheme of things. My attitude towards certain kinds of food, exercise, work related stuff etc. does not really matter. I (now) know it will definitely change. But it is very confusing because sometimes you have to invest yourself in terms of time or effort or both to one side. Additionally, I always try to be consistent, and this aspect of myself makes me feel like an idiot.

There is always the looming fear of losing some great opportunity just because my silly mind is turned to some other thing at a certain moment in time. But there is also the fear of pouncing too soon on something not worth pouncing at all.

There was a time I wrote really long blog posts. Then I got to really short posts, and now I just write whatever I want. I have used a lot of commas and et-ceteras in this post, and there was a time I hated both. I knew I would not be able to write a lot, and that is why I named the blog "More Not Than Often". But the only reason I am writing this post is because a friend prompted me to. Love you Arpit, but don't know for how long :-)

How often do you feel that you were an idiot some time back?

Newbie Forever

With being an adult comes maturity and responsibility. Or so the world would have us believe. Whatever. This maturity, responsibility, etc. means we cannot enjoy life as much as we used to as children.

I have noticed that always learning something new keeps my mind fresh. At least at a state-of-mind level. 

It keeps on the childhood independence to make mistakes without worrying about the consequences. More importantly, this state of mind goes on to other, mature aspects of my life. Or so I believe.

Seeing others do things better than myself keeps me grounded. These include music by Rob-C, comics by Rahul, poetry by Geo and Patt, and insightful stories by Kanthu. I can only dream of doing these things that well.

New hobbies, learning new skills, meeting new people, the more we manage to stay newbies, the more we stay young in our minds.

A little motivation

A little motivation goes a long way.

There was this thing that my brother wanted me to do on the computer. I was stalling of course, finding excuses every time he asked me about it. Then I told him I could not do it. Somehow I started believing that as well.

We were meeting with a friend, and my brother brought up the topic. This friend is great with computers. He simply told my brother that I was fully capable of doing that thing, and that I was just a bit lazy.

Reaching home, I switched on the computer and tried doing that thing. And  I did it.

If it was not for this friend's belief in my ability, I could not have done it. In other words, if it was not for this friend's surety of my laziness, I would not have done it.

This motivation thing is a bit confusing. Many times people seem to be motivating us, but actually have hidden motives. A little judgement is required as well :-)

The question now is, how do I motivate my brother to get along with computers?

Starting with the present

I have always worried about the future or over-analysed the past.

As a child, I used to wonder when I would be a year older. Or about what I would do once I grew up. While playing video games, often the main motivation to play a level was NOT to enjoy it, but to see what the next level had to offer.

As I grow up, I am finding that life is not simple. At least not simple enough to comprehend.

So from now on, the priority is to enjoy the present moment. That, and a little focus on improving myself and my situation for the not-too-far future.

Let us see what happens :-)

The Universal Rule

There is only one universal rule: there is no universal rule.

Or, for that matter, there is no universal law, fact, or whatever you might think of.

Everything has some kind of exception. Whatever seems fine right now will end up to be a bias in retrospect. Historically, the Earth was flat, and the universe revolved around it. Then, everything was supposed to fall on to earth. Newton must have had a hard time convincing people that the earth moved towards a falling apple as well. Then of course, mass could never be converted to energy. Even today, some people are pessimistic about the chances of poverty being erased from the face of the earth.

Whenever we do something, there are certain things that increase chances of success. Like studying more increases your chances of getting better grades, exercising more increases your chances of having better health and looks, and spending more time on the internet reduces your chances of spending time with family and friends.

But what if the people grading your tests focus more on originality than cramming, exercise leads to health issues like blood pressure or arthritis, and you are away from family and friends so you end up skyping them all the time?

It does not take long to realize that the tables have turned, and that there indeed is no universal rule. 

I once considered that I could eat as much as I liked, and not exercise at all, and I would be fine. Now that the hidden phenomenon called ageing has started to kick in, I realize that I was wrong. Now that I have written it here, I am realizing that I am a bit embarrassed. Partly because I am not old at all.

Have you ever realized something you considered as a given was not actually true?

Some time back, in another post, I wrote "attack is the best form of defense." Some time later, someone pointed out that this is not really the case. More importantly, they were able to convince me of their point. It is funny how it relates to almost everything in an almost universal manner :-)