Since I wrote this, at least two people have told me that its not fair. At two levels.
A. If I am friends with them, I ought to talk to them.
Point taken. While I try to spend more time offline than what I spend online, I need to connect deeper with people. I will do it from now on. If the two of you are reading this, you’ve earned the “right” to confront me.
PS: I will eventually get back to being the online attention hog (soon).
B. I cant be ranting.
Reminds me of a time of about 4-5 years ago when I would crib like there’s no end to my troubles. It was not the best phase of my life (similar to this one – patterns!) and it took time for me to get out of it.
Now that I know that I am repeating the mistakes I made last time around, its time to fix it.
One simple solution that came my way was to channelise all the creative energy into solving the issues (rather than mulling over them).
Point taken. Lets fucking do it. This blog. And the next book (lol – is there a next book, Mr. Garg?). And C4E. And all other things that tick me.
The other came from Ashima (my fitness Guru). She said that when you are unwell and unhappy, its body’s natural reaction to shut it down and preserve the energy (after all for the biological machine, survival is more important than the ego and happiness and all that). So, you would naturally get into the states that make you save energy – sleep (compared to staying awake). The body will get more hungry (compared to the feeling of satiation) and remain like that even if you eat like a pig. You’d want to get into the dark rooms because you are “safe.” And so on and so forth.
One thing is to give into the temptations, get lazy and let the body take its course. The other is to fight it out. Rather than going down the spiral, you stop it mid way and reverse it.
So, rather than sleep, you go out and run. Rather than eating shit, try to fast. Instead of dark thoughts, go spend time with people that make you happy. And so on and so forth.
So, I shall do this. Today on.
The third came from Robin Sharma (year, the Monk and Ferrari guy). This morning. While showering I saw this video and somehow it made sense. He talks about 5P’s that you can use to get over a bad day.
I already do one of those things (journaling – this blog is THE journal; the echoChamber is THE journal). Need to implement the other 4 things.
And the final, the 4th, came from Prof. Garg himself. I have this metric. I call this the life or the death question. If what you do can kill someone (or can bring a new life), think a million times before you act. But if what you do cant, then act first. And then wait for consequences. Apart from life and time, everything can be recreated, recycled, reproduced et al.
So, you have an idea but you need your boss’ approval? Fuck that. Do it. Show her the results. If she’s happy, you are cool. If she is not, say sorry and move on. What’s the worst that could happen? She would fire you. You can always get a new job. Even if it pays less. At least you’d have the satisfaction in your head that you tried.
You want to travel the world but parents dont agree? Leave. Send postcards. Call home. They would yell and all that. They would be sad. But time heals. They would come around and start supporting you. And if they dont, good riddance. Really.
You want to ask that girl out? Do it. Who cares if she says no. PS: If she does say no, please please accept the fact that she doesnt want you. Move on. Dont be a dick and chase her and make life miserable for her. There are many more great women out there.
And a million other examples.
So, the lesson? When you are down in the dumps, rather than feeling sad about it and all that, take it head on. If you’re staring at the bottom of a cliff, fucking jump. Either you’d grow wings and get stronger and you’d know you are anti-fragile. Or you’d crash and you’d know that you were in the wrong game. Its these adversities that shape (and reveal the true character).
I am going to take this head on. And will figure out if I soar. Or if I crash. Wish me luck.
***
So, this is it.
Oh, I am on the road the next three days. Three cheers to that. I am in Chennai. If anyone is around, please do let me know and the Filter Coffee is on me. Or the dosas.
PS: It would be a real challenge to write everyday while I am travelling. Lets see how I fare.