Remember the famous commercial to prevent drug abuse? The one in which they show a fried egg representing your brain on drugs… It is your brain. But you don’t have to be on drugs alone to achieve the same state as the fried egg.

The mind is very powerful. It is our mind which produces the works of art, tomes of literary masterpieces, the design of the amazing machines which can make man fly, the ability to land on the moon. All human achievement has a singular source – the human mind. Without it we could not scale Everest and could not design chips which can process more information than we could hold in our heads.

At the same time the mind is fragile. It can at time be difficult to discern fact from fiction. It can play games on us. It can make us believe things so strongly that it inhibits our ability to question. Or even if we do question it can spin the most amazing tales and explanations for why things are the way they are.

Amazing…

I’ve mentioned this in a previous diatribe already, but I think it’s worth stressing. My highschool probably taught me some of the most invaluable lessons. And none could be more invaluable than the one embodied in the motto for my school: Naimatma Balheenien Labhya. I’ll quote the meaning directly from my highschool’s website:

The credo of Modern School “Naimatma Balheenien Labhya” from Sanskrit literally means – Perfection can only be acheived by the strong. The question is not survival of the fittest, or survival at the cost of others. It is the path of confidence, self-respect, and humility. It is not just survival, but the constant effort of self-improvement towards a goal of perfection.

It’s taken me a long time to understand the original Sanskrit saying above. For the longest time, I used to think of it as cocky and snobbish, since the literal transalation is: the weak cannot prosper But over the years, and in fact several years after I rgraduated from Modern I realized that it isn’t that the weak cannot prosper, but that in order to prosper you need to be strong. And not just strong physically, but mentally strong. The strenght of conviction, preseverance and self-reliance. The strength of courage, honor and logic. The abiity to realize that you yourself are the person who can help you the most!

So it’s not surprising that it infuriates me to see people who are not willing to help themselves. Who use lame excuses to justify their state of existence and survival instead of living and trying to create their own happiness. I can understand if there is a genuine problem that precludes any amount of effort from leading to success, but the lack of effort itself is unacceptable. You have to try. And yes, it may be difficult… there are some things for which I recognize my own fears and flaws and it’s definitely not easy to try and overcome them… but there still has to be an effort. If you try and then for reasons beyond your control you do not succeed, that is something to be sad over. But if you don’t try or if you are sad because of your own decisions… then those are things only you can control. … and remember… Perfection can only be achieved by the strong…

Whether we admit it or not, everyone hates change. I’m not talking about small changes like choosing a different restaurant to go eat at, but more so of the big changes, the 10X changes as Andy Grove said in his book Only the Paranoid Survive. Be it in business or in personal life. 10X changes are disruptive. They are difficult to deal with because they take everything we know and throw it out the window. They make you go back to school and learn new lessons. Change can be liberating. Change can force action or it can force inaction due to paralysis brought on by fear. You can be lost in it. Sometimes something as small as re-arranging the furniture at home can trigger change anxiety. Because it’s something that we’ve come to count on. We crave permanence, when there is none, and the only contant is change.

But when we are experiencing a 10X change it is up to us to determine where we stand on that line of feeling lost or liberated. But it’s always a mixture of both, because you’ve lost something you had.

Some decisions and choices that we get presented with are tough ones…. we all know that. But where does one draw the line between protecting yourself and your own sanity or helping someone else? Its always a balancing act. It’s not just walking a tight-rope; it’s more like waking a tight-hair. On one side there are things we know we can do to help ourselves. And then there are things we can do to be helpful to someone else, but they may be contrary to our effort to help ourselves. Like taking 2 steps forward and 1 step back. I guess as long as there is still some forward movement for yourself and it’s not net-negative, then I’d rather be helpful.

Moving sucks. Besides the change, the physical act of moving is just pain in the freaking rear! If there is anyone who enjoys the packing, loading, unloading and unpacking cycle, I’d be curious to meet such a person! 🙂 From the time that I had to move a couple of years ao, I adopted the approach of trying to minimize the number of things I have since then it just makes moving a whole lot easier! Actually i should qualify that… minimize the number of heavy and large things! (Can’t do without the gimmicks and gadgets!) As an aside though, however much I may try I still seem to keep accumulating books though… and man are they a pain to move! I love the idea that I could pretty much fit all the things I care about into the back of my car and be off! (I do have a big car though :))

When I described this to someone recently, they equated this to having no roots. I disagree, I equate it to having no strings. To being self-contained and in control without having to rely on movers! 😉 Ahh, who knows, one of these days I may give in a get a recliner!