Wanna Replay It

The curious case of Benjamin Button


Absolutely amazing! I feel this concept was within me for several years but I didn’t know how to interpret it. What seems to be one single incident is actually an amalgamated combination of events and interactions. What if only one thing had happened differently?  

“….But life’s been what it is A series of lives and interactions…out of anyone’s control…”

Finding Nemo

I believe this movie minus Dory= insipid effort. Just love her vivacious presence, her funky ideas and most of all the poor memory. Besides there’s noteworthy message in this scene; sometimes in life we really need to swim without any purpose, set yourself loose and let the waves of time drift you away (Just sometimes!) 

Self Regulation-- Not so difficult

Self regulation and Self control seem to be stark jargons that are not only unpleasant to hear but also difficult to implement.  With these two awry terms I always expect a list of alien suggestions and it requires a great deal of nerve to map those nitpicky advices to my real life. To stoke the matter was the cliché ‘Resolutions are made to be broken’.  Yet when you enter professional world you gradually become aware of your deficiencies and inadequacy that somehow bung up your performance. As we all fancy true leaders and successful entrepreneurs but all their thriving accomplishments are reminiscent of planning, control and expansion of inner self. I tried a few things like schedules and strong intentions (in fact oaths) to act more responsibly but the result only suggested that ‘I’ am more difficult to manage than administering a subgroup in office.  

Your personal resolutions can be myriad of aims ranging from a simple, desire to stay organized, to complex goals like starting your own business venture. But I’ve realized that the underlying technique remains the same. Obviously your sincerity and firm intention are still the most crucial cogs of the plan but the execution and tracking are more simplified here.

Firstly you have to acknowledge both the ‘Reliable You’ and the ‘lethargic You’. We all know both kind of conflicting ‘YOUs’ remain at one place (entire Me) and instead of suppressing one in order to bolster other will only worsen the issue. So you have to respect the preferences of each facet. Now the next step is to set the goal: Single, concrete and measurable and by that I don’t mean an overwhelming aim rather it can be a simple one; to have a balanced diet. 

The next move would be (unlike any other self improvement guide) to observe your routine avidly. You must be able to point out the hitches and anomalies. Just quietly observe yourself for a couple of days without interrupting anything. Once you’ve diagnosed the problem in greater detail, You would then be in a better position to sift pitfalls that can be corrected. (Jot them down).  Then calculate the average amount of work you need every day to reach your goal. Just like the project management course of action, set tasks and give them titles (more like a checklist) Set a starting and ending date. Make a Spreadsheet and check each task that has been performed. Alternatively you can draw a flowchart on paper but the key is to glance at your plan at least twice a day. So let the file rest on either your desktop or in your music folder (fav one) where you can often stumble upon it. 

 

So here comes the fun part (Yeah its fun!) for every milestone achieved in this project you have to coddle your lethargic ‘You’, the more advanced the milestone, the more bigger the treat. It can be like having your favorite meal or sleep for an extra hour or maintain a status quo on inertia; whatever gives you pleasure. But beware of stumbling on the limbo between both YOUs; the reward for each milestone must be directly correlated to the vitality of it.  Conversely when you fail to achieve your milestone, set a punishment for the lethargic You and scold or excoriate it as much as it deserves. Do not be kind in fact be a little harsher with it. Criticize yourself for every slack that occurs during the project and on successful completion pat yourself on the back and admire your self control.

 I have come to know that transformation is about Me; when I’ll become strong enough to control myself only then can I manage other human beings effectively.    

Life and Meaning

Alarm goes off, I rush to washroom, get ready, gulp tea and sprint to reach office on time. After a chaotic day I get back home have a few glimpses of every channel on TV, check facebook a bit texting and then to bed.

This depicts the daily routine of majority of our youth with a little variation of profession (University or college in place of office) and number of activities. But the basic structure remains roughly the same. Hanging out with friends on weekends or seeking new adventures that too are numbered. But have you ever wondered for a split second is this it? Have you ever asked yourself who am I and what my life is? Only a series of repetitive tasks that apparently enable you to keep up your pace with the modern world??  But then compare yourself to a primordial counterpart: they too used to get up every morning go hunting or cultivation, participate in community reunions and end day just to regurgitate the same activities the next day. So what’s the difference? Don’t be a fool by the charade technological advancement, look beyond the surface and think what’s the difference? 

            In fact a more meaningful and critical act would be to question the quality you have added to your life with your conscious efforts. Contrary to struggle we make every day for a better life style, we contribute a little to develop our own self; just because we often fail to recognize the difference between Life and life style. Life is Me, my thoughts, emotions, profundity and perception, fears and revival strategies, my silence, inertia and action. But unfortunately no one has the time to ponder about our own real life in this depth because we’re all too busy in struggling for a better life style. Our never ending wish list consists of so many material items (and milestones) that keep on emerging, keeping us always busy in a new contest. But steal a few moments from this relentless chase to think about YOU before this farce is over or it’s too late.

                 Now if you’re thinking you have a great life so you need not to worry about the Quality; after all you have iphone, ipad, new car, thriving career, you’re more informed and connected then any of your ancestor, well mannered and optimistic what else one needs to spend a great life? But I am afraid most of us are trapped in, what I would call, contagious “Synthetic Coup d'état” that creates an illusion of success coupled with the fanaticized happiness. Now it isn’t awful at all, obviously if a person spends their whole life striving for a better life style and achieves happiness (no matter how delusional)… Fair and Square!  Only if the death meant to be the end of our life; But here starts the most intriguing part …Death, of which the youth is only aware of but we don’t believe in death as if it only seizes Pariahs and won’t touch us, not at least any time soon. Yet again this most imperative element of our life is beyond our control and we’re not to decide when the time to depart is. At that critical moment what actually matters is your Life not the life style..

 So all I can do is to care about ME and My real life and how my every next day adds value to my cumulative life. Stop clinging to the better life-style-obsession and find the Meaning in your everyday life, every move and action. Life without meaning is no more than a clerical job (that we all detest)