Pretentiously wiser

I am a big proponent of thinking- yet ironically all the thinking has made me realize the futility of thinking. Now, if you get the gist.... My defining moments in life have  come sporadically in hiccups.Painful and unstoppable. Every time, we feel life is  under control, we are reminded of our mortality and puniness. As a disclaimerI reserve every right to change my opinion, my attitude as I grow pretentiously wiser.  

1. Overthinking kills : Thinking is great - and I love to have discussions about life and politics and religions - but seriously all the serious talk is not good for you in the long run. A stimulating conversation is supposed to just do that - make you feel rejuvenated, yet when you are having those conversations with yourself - you get tired. Talking to yourself - playing out all the what if scenarios are exhausting, to say the least. 

2: Sensitivity is overrated : We are tiny beings - fragile and delicate.  Few hurtful words or a rude silence is all it takes for us to be broken. Our hearts, our egos are both alive and easily broken. Live like a butterfly - yes you will give joy, live like a roach and you will survive . Look around us, only creatures with thick skins have a higher survivability. A loving heart  is great, but it comes with a price.

3.Life gives a shit: Seriously, all the talk about universe and life listening to you is bullshit. Life is not receptive, it is a passive spectator. We are the active participants - dance to your own tune, because in the end - only you can feel the beats in the music. 

4. You are on your own : No matter who is with you on this journey, in the end, it is just you. There are no guarantees, no promises - people change, circumstances change, life happens. The sooner you learn to be happy with yourself, the better your life will be. 

5.Don't judge ; If there is one mantra that I have learnt is and has stayed with me, it is, don't judge. Every person has a story and believe me, I get to hear them quite often. Yes, there are many that leave me awestruck at human tenacity, and some that just make me say aloud at times " what were you thinking?".Live and let live - you don't judge me, I don't judge is the mantra that I might end up keeping forever - maybe.

6 Laugh it away: You can either cry your heart out and play the victim or just laugh your problems away. I find the second is more appealing to the people and also to your health. Everything is funny, I mean almost everything, you just need the eyes to see it . When life is spinning out of control, you just laugh - 

Saints and Sinners

There is a sinner and then there is a saint. While most of us are sinners to a certain extent, in fact all of us, why are we so judgemental and moralistic about other people's behaviors? Who decides what is right and what is wrong, especially when there is just a fine line - a wavering fine line that divides them? Why are we so obsessed with labeling people - good, bad, beautiful and ugly?

There is one thing that differentiates us from other species on this planet;We have insatiable desires. Our desire to be happy, secure, better than others, better than ourselves, seek to cause an unrest in our hearts. We are constantly looking for ways to improve in the future, often comparing our lives with what it was in the past. Without our quest for change, for movement, we would still be living in the cave. All that make us unhappy, all the struggles, all the upheavals are what makes us stronger and better.

We have evolved over the years  and it would be interesting to see how our moral compass evolves with time. Few voices of dissent, the tiny voices that most people want to shut down, are the winds of change. Look at our moral canvass, feel the strokes of change, every stroke a force that tried to overcome popular views of that era. There was a time when polygamy was legal, when homosexuality, abortion and euthanasia were illegal.  We are a better society not only because of all the innovators, all the people who are not satisfied with how things are, but also because of the thinkers, who question how the society works. Those courageous yet  feeble voices that look at the present structure of society with a different perspective. People who look beyond what was decided as right by society,  the rebels, the rule breakers.

The  punks, the misfits are as essential to the society as the scientists, if not more. They push the envelope, they stretch the boundaries and redefine the society we live in. They question all that seem unnecessary, all that seem unjust. We are creatures of habits, trained to follow the rules, after all we are policed to follow them. Rule breakers are punished, and although I fully consent that the laws of the land are meant to be followed, I am also of the opinion that they need to be questioned time and again.  Voices of dissent need to be heard, and a society that is deaf or tries to silence those voices will never evolve. I may not agree with what the dissenters say - it may be against my sensibilities, but freedom of free thought, free speech are always to be valued.  We are very rigid in our judgements - often forgetting that all the qualities that we admire as virtues,are treading on the fine line and the same qualities when they cross the line can become a menace.Kindness and non-judgemental attitude served with courage to follow them through are the only virtues. Rest all are man-made. After all the boundaries were created by humans and as we evolve, the society needs to change too.