making sense out of everything

your fav team lost out on a game
you messed up on a very important task at work
you are now a stranger to your best friend
you have no idea why someone is giving you a hard time
.........

and the list could go on, depending on which side of the coin turned up against you...

so, what do you do? how important or how disappointing is the loss of your fav team in that game than you messing up at work or losing the best friend? Is that the question? I feel the question that we most of the time ask is - WHY?

no matter how a certain has incident has impacted us, we tend to find answers.More than figuring about what are the answers, I would like to think about why do we attempt to find answers?

I believe that the answers are there, right before our eyes where we dont want to look. Is reasoning out just a case of "discovery of these answers". I feel it should be, and not an exercise in the invention of answers. Its only Mathematics which can provide definite answers because they can be PROVED.

what are we gonna do about it? this is a much wider topic with varying conclusions...would like to stick to this one for now -

making sense out of it all. the act of reasoning out.

Quite often, its suffice to understand that certain things are beyond your control and accept them as they have happened. If you were honest, if your intentions were unquestionable and if you have tried to the best of your ability, thats all you need to know. Thats all you need to assure yourselves of.

If we really need to go beyond this and reason out, then lets be aware of these pitfalls while doing so -

Circular reasoning

Analysis paralysis

Lets not become self-indulgent while doing so and always remember that no matter how hard we try and what we do about it...we are finally drawing our own conclusions. And thats how it would stay...

Each one to his version...each one to his own reason...each one paddling to his own shore..

So, why have I posted this one? What running inside my head now? What has happened now that I havent told u gus about? you are trying to reason out?
Good....!!
;-)

Pursuing gratification

In the 1960s a group of four-year olds were tested by being given a marshmallow and promised another, only if they could wait 20 minutes before eating the first one. Some children could wait and others could not. The researchers then followed the progress of each child into adolescence, and demonstrated that those with the ability to wait were better adjusted and more dependable.

Had read this in the book by Daniel Goleman - years ago in which he spoke about deferred gratification, which is defined as "the ability to wait in order to obtain something that one wants".

It sounds pretty simple and straight forward, but would mankind warm up to this idea? Most of us have poor impulse control and dont have the required patience to grow with an experience.

Watched the movie - The Pursuit Of Happyness recently.

To me, it was just the title which provoked my thoughts more than anything else. No, am not talking about the "y" in happyness...!

Happiness is quite often compared to a butterfly and its a fascinating thought that someone would embark on a quest to catch that butterfly..

Happiness is also referred to as something which a person carries within himself and should one pursue it outside?

Leaving aside all these the cliche'd definitions of happiness, I would think its a quest for something to do, something to hope for.

Now think about the characters in the movie and the terms - instant gratification and deferred gratification. You would know what I am talking about...

Pursuing higher education, pursuing perfection, pursuing excellence...
Probably, we should consider "The Pursuit of Happiness" along the same lines...though it need not necessarily lead one to contentment, to happiness.

Or, am I wrong?

Poetry, Anyone?

Most of us dont read poetry.
Why?

Beyond school, we dont dig into poetry...wonder why??
Is poetry stuff for dreamers? For folks who arent practical?

Poetry isnt just decorative stuff, there is more substance to it and it can convey something more profound than hundreds of pages of a novel.

I have enjoyed poets and poetry all along and most of them have stayed on in my minds and influenced me in one way or the other...

There a few folks who dont dig into music, but there is a great majority of folks who enjoy music - no matter what the genre is...but then why dont we just enjoy poetry?

why are we hesitant to visit the poetry section of a bookstore? why dont we even think about it?

Whatever be your reason, make sure it rhymes!
:-)


See if you can make a start today and read a nice poetry and pass it onto others....

Just a few useful links, should you want to start today -

Hindi

Harivansh Rai Bachchan

Collection of hindi poems



Tamil

Subramaniya Bharathi


English

William Wordsworth - Lucy Gray

Rabindra Nath Tagore - Paper Boats

Rudyard Kipling - If

John Keats - A Thing Of Beauty


Pablo Neruda - Enigmas

Go on, find your song...and sing it out the way you want, to your tune and not to someone else's....