Raw. Real. Unfiltered. Daily blogs. Often, less than 100 words
If you feel you have less work to do today
And it’s okay if you put off the most important task to later
Just to waste a few minutes here and there
The Law of Productivity (that no one uses the nomenclature of, however, it exists), says that you will still be unproductive till the end of the day.
When riches come, they come in so much abundance that you would keep wondering where they had been hiding for so long – Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich.
However, richness is a state of mind. When you know you are rich, nothing can stop you. When you have accepted you are poor, no one can stop you either.
That said, why do we believe we are poor?
Because that is what we have been inculated since childhood.
Because we have been taught that money is evil.
Because we think money makes you bad.
PS: I am talking about all forms of wealth, not just cash.
Here is the thing: When we have more of anything, it just makes us a magnified version of who we are.
And who we are, is a choice we make every single day.
So, what is the choice we’re making today?
Do you sometimes feel that your hard work isn’t validated?
Let me tell you a story of the cool kid.
It is easy to be the cool kid.
The cool kid does nothing significant.
The cool kid is just hanging around trying to look cool.
Does things that get attention of everyone.
Anything that escapes hard work and still brings in validation is what the cool kid lives by.
Except, that they themselves know they are hollow.
And that’s sad.
Because every effort of theirs is an attempt to look cooler by covering up that hollowness.
And in a sheer suddenness of move, the cool kid does something that they were supposed to do. When they do this, all of a sudden they become cooler. Because no one had expected them to do this!
Isn’t that a “virtuous” cycle?
Friends, we all come across “the cool kids” in every setup, in every work structure that we are a part of.
But you know what?
I have never seen a cool kid being trusted.
Or being entrusted with responsibilities.
Or even being looked forward to as a professional.
We can play around with colleagues. Because their validation was the first thing the cool kid was after.
However, rising higher is always preceded by hard work. Always.
The world is filled with wonderful people. And I mean it!
However, it is heartbreaking to see those really capable not hold themselves accountable for everything in their lives.
For example, some of the excuses that are given that shouldn’t exist:
We are a product of either of two things: the imaginations we create without a limit or the non-existent limits we place on ourselves daily.
You’re just one video / one book away from a better mood.
You’re just one chat away from a worse mood.
And you’re just one pause of silence away from discovering the plethora of joy within you.
Which one will you start with today?
Self-control to not check WhatsApp because it is just a time-pass.
Self-control to block the negative people because you love yourself.
Self-control to sleep at a fixed time every night because early morning meditation and workout is superimportant to you.
Self-control to distance yourself from “friends” that drain your energy because you can’t love anyone unless you love yourself.
Self-control to have the self-control to not talk about this self-control in public and rather live by it, because doers rule the world.
There are good friends. We all have them.
Those who understand us, are there for us, but show their true colours some time or the other.
Then there are best friends.
You don’t talk to them often. Hardly chat on the phone.
But they are true to you – with you or without you.
Having such friends is priceless. And if you don’t have one, are you that “one” friend for yourself?
Hustling. Grinding. Slogging in the hours.
All of this is pop culture’s definition of hard work.
Except that it’s false.
True hard work is when someone’s good or bad deeds do not invoke a reaction from you.
If the above line seemed difficult, it may be possible that you’re just wasting your time instead of doing the real hard work.
5 things only rich people do because poor people cannot afford to do them:
Don’t you think so?
If out of four people you liked three people and didn’t like one, it is like having one drop of poison instead of four.
It will still affect you.
The question is, are we giving up our venoms every single day?
Last weekend, as I went with my team to Goa, we stayed in the Taj.
In the past, I have stayed in several 3 and 4 star hotels of small and medium brands, however, staying in the Taj showed what luxury looks like. Here is what were the differences between the Taj and other hotels:
These were the differences I noticed, other than the usual ones, such as – bigger rooms, nice toiletries, outdoor decorations, super clean and classic washrooms, lotsss of bottles of water being given in housekeeping, glass door on the bathroom but nothing was visible, no need to ask for bathroom slippers or toothbrushes like other hotels – they were by default present, clean roads of the resort, etc.
Overall, a wonderful experience! The Taj rocks 🙂
Okay, some pics here.
PS: If you look on the outside, there was no difference between a 4 star and the Taj. However, when you look closely, you see all the differences.
When parents force their grown up kids to do something, kids feel pressured.
When kids finally take their plunge, they feel guilty.
And I want you to know – in either situations, do what is right. It never goes out of style. When you do that, you don’t need to feel guilty. Do your best. And then trust yourself.
This morning I had slept again after meditating.
In that sleep, I witnessed two dreams in one. The weird part is, for the first time I remember such a weird dream.
One was from the first guy I (perhaps) loved. I received WhatsApp messages from him dropping me three locations where I would have to “meet” him later during the day. Of course I ignored those messages.
Later when I reflected, it dawned to me that this was the essence of our so-called love: “Meeting” as per his convenience and then becoming absolute strangers.
Another one was from a school friend. In fact, we were never friends in school. Very late, almost 2-3 years ago we connected on Facebook and became sort-of friends. But then he vanished all of a sudden. I was never told why or how, nor was any conversation brought in. He tried bringing his “forwarded messages” into my inbox quite recently but now I was unsure.
It was just friendship from my end. And his as well. But somewhere I always felt he needed something from me. Can’t point out exactly. But there was something. In the dream as well, he took my iPhone from me for making a call and as I moved around a bit, he had already lent my phone to a careless friend of his, who was just playing around with it. It was in a moment of luck that I saw his friend and got my phone back.
That’s it! These were the two dreams. I don’t know what they mean. Except that I do. Here’s what they mean:
That was it! Weird dreams that I weirdly remembered. Perhaps so that I could finally forget them!
I am burning with fever. Something that disappears sharp at 9:30 pm daily and comes back at 11:30 am again. Wow!
Yes, I have tested negative.
However, here’s what I am doing:
Why, you ask?
Because what we spend time with is what encircles our thought process. Thus, it always helps to stay distracted.
That said, I am not jumping around and walking very fast as I do usually. However, I am still not married to the bed and moving around. And that’s precious.
Also, if you understand this part, it is priceless: The disease is in the body. “I” am always untouched.
These days you are learning a lot about my meditation retreat experiences. You’ll have them coming more, for the coming few days.
So while on that retreat, I happened to meet an influencer who stays there in the ashram. And when I went to meet him in his office (that was adjacent to the room he stayed in), I was stunned by what I saw!
While the ashram is big, I had thought his room as well to be one.
But that’s what his room was a reminder of: giving, sacrifice and living as who you are – not as what you want to show.
And meeting him was indeed a wonderful experience 🙂
The ones who have this question are the ones who do not control one thing that they can – habits!
If you are learning relentlessly, if you are meditating daily, if you are doing the hard work of letting go, you can never get to have this question.
Read the last line again.
I am someone who is very flexible with their team.
I am someone who never mistrusts my family.
I am someone who doesn’t judge others.
Whenever we are trying to prove ourselves, it is because that part is wrong.
Look at this wonderful line I read in a book: “The one who tries to prove, tries to win the battle, and that one could never ever win.”
Let your actions speak louder than any words could do justice to.
This afternoon, my sister was sitting sad and lost.
When I asked her multiple times, she still didn’t respond.
My 3 yo nephew or her son, who was in her lap, I turned to him.
Told him, “Tell you Mom to smile.”
Do you know what he responded?
“I want watermelon!”
Wow. So cute. That is the level I want to get to in my life.
Here’s something I learnt from him:
So, my question to you is: Do you want watermelon?
Love. Such a beautiful word.
We are born with it. We are not taught how to love. It is our real nature. We come along with it.
We smile at our family and strangers alike.
We talk to anyone and everyone irrespective of their colour or race.
We trust people for who they are.
We forgive quickly.
We are just real, with no judgements, no gossip, and definitely no need to control anyone.
This is who we are when we were born – real and untainted.
Then a terrible thing happened.
We realised the world does not function this way. The world is sadly living in a manufactured definition of love.
Where we will be loved when we recite a poetry in front of our relatives.
Where we will be loved when we get certain percentage in schools and colleges.
Where we will be loved when we pursue a life choice that isn’t ours but of people who “love” us.
Where we will be loved when we agree to making “love” with a partner otherwise they will question our character.
Where we will be loved by our “friends” if and only if we gossip with them about other friends.
And if we do none of these and walk our own talk, we will not be loved.
Be like him.
Talk like her.
Look at what he has accomplished.
Words and people that were meant to make us rise, end up diminishing our self confidence infinitely.
And then we wonder why don’t we feel the love we used to feel as a kid.
At this point, each one of us has two choices:
Most of us fall for the first one. Not because we cannot hear our inner voice. But because the external voices of manufactured love will stop coming to us if we love ourselves. And that’s scary.
Very few of us, very very few of us, who take the plunge to love ourselves, live a life of real luxury. There are roadblocks and hurdles at the start, but when you overcome them (and you always do), what comes out is You. Real You. Who is love. Not manufactured. Rather real love. And then solving all problems becomes a skill that gets compounded and works in your favour 🙂
Every single day, we have two choices – be the Real Love or fall for Manufactured Love. It is not a one-time choice. It is a daily choice.
The choices that we make daily, will determine how much real love we become.
And give to the people looking at us to show them how the world works.