Perspective; To Each Their Own

In a conversation...

Akira conveys, "You know what the problem with my life is? I never have anything I want. I've been dreaming to become the richest villager so I can finally afford to buy cattle and maybe a bullock cart and–"

"Dear Akira, look at this tiny snail gliding away on his path. Do you know the purpose of his life? He travels all day in the search of juicy leaves, and reverts back into his shell at the sight of predators. That is all he needs to survive. So Akira, do you have everything you need to survive?", the sage questions leaving Akira speechless. 

_ _ _ _

Perspective. When I think about this word, I remember a beautiful scene from the movie Ratatouille. If you've seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, well, see below. 

Perspective is the most individualistic and personal something. Everyone we know is half a glass of water, and the remaining glass is their perspective. It's your perspective that determines whether you see yourself as half a glass full of water, or half a glass short of water, whether you focus on what you have or what you're missing. Either way, it plays a very important role in our lives. 

More often than not, we outlook the role of this important aspect. We forget that it exists and we forget that it varies for every different person. For instance, an hour long workout may be a blessing to someone, and yet dreadful to someone else. Let's think of the caring husband who always remembers to bring red roses every Valentine's. If ever, he misses out on conducting the ritual, the wife is sure to conclude that with the forgone roses, the husband's love too is forgone. However, does this wife stop to think about the husband's day and probable stresses that may have been a factor behind his slip of mind? Maybe, maybe not. If she does, she's engaging herself in widening her own perspective to reach out to and see through that of her husband's, in which case she weaves a happy home. Contrariwise, if she doesn't, she's allowed dominance for her own perspective in disregarding his, leading to nothing but negativity and resentment, gradually weaving a discontent home. But, what's the point?

   

Is there really much point in feeling the need to change everyone's perspective to match your own? Where one can never have control or dominance over other people's thoughts and perspective, such feelings will only cause pain and suffering in the long run. In that case, isn't it much better to rather work on widening our own horizons, and so, our own perspective? 

Ask yourself, do you go about your life like Akira, counting only your misfortunes and losses? Or do you step away from that every now and again, and grasp the snail's attitude of counting your blessings and achieving a sense of fulfilment in your bare necessities? 

#LaughingAnanas

The snake and the peacock

"O knower of all things born, I come to you with great despair in search of answers. I feel... I feel like I might die soon!", says the panting Akira.

"Akira dear, I haven't seen you in a while", says the wise, old sage as he greets Akira while peeling his apple. "Would you like an apple?"

"Apple?!", exclaims Akira. "I'm telling you I feel like I'm going to die and you're offering me an apple? How does that help?"

"Akira, my beloved, come sit next to me and have some of this apple. It's juicy, you know?", the sage emanates a comforting smile. 

Akira manages to calm down a little, grabs a piece of the apple and questions the sage, "How are people able to live so long? I feel like I might die soon. With each new emotional trauma, I feel that the poison of my negative emotions continues to spread through my body, slowly squeezing the soul out of it. I feel so weak, and I am certain I will not be able to take another blow of poison disguised in my negative emotions. And there's nothing I can do because one's emotions are obviously out of one's control, just like the weather, and obviously even if I try I-"

"Dear Akira, look at that beautiful peacock flaunting his feathers", the sage interrupts Akira. 

Akira looks at the peacock and remarks, "I'm surprised to see him so calm despite the deadly, venomous snake slithering his way towards him."

As the two indulge themselves in seeing the exchange between the snake and the peacock, they notice that the snake rises up to infiltrate his venom into the peacock's body and steal his life methodically. But just before the snake can fulfil his destiny, the peacock promptly grabs the reptile by his beak and gobbles him down like he never existed. In devouring the snake's venom, the peacock shudders and quivers, but then miraculously exudes colours all the more vibrant and plumage all the more beautiful.

"Whoa!", exclaims Akira. "I've never seen something like that!"

"Yes, quite fascinating indeed.", the sage agrees. "Poisonous snakes are the truth of life. But to die with poisonous bites is certainly not our destiny. The choice is ultimately ours, to be bitten by poison or to bite the poison."

_____

We are swarmed by, what we perceive as negative emotions, in our daily lives. And to be honest, these feelings of anger, anxiety and pain will never cease to exist as they're a part of our existence. They only get stronger with each blow as we allow them to feed on us. So, do we have a choice?

The peacock in this story sets a great example. Instead of being bitten by venom, he chooses to accept the venom. He recognizes the venom, ingests it, digests it and transforms it into beautiful colours. Just like the peacock, our challenge is to recognize our negative emotions, gulp them down and accept them, and use them to empower our minds rather than being empowered by them. 

Read a book, feed a dog, go for a walk. There are countless means of harmonizing selves with universe again, despite the blow of negative emotions. Take the initiative and transform, just like the peacock.

#LaughingAnanas

Mind your own business Akira!

One afternoon, a wealthy rancher decided to hold a competition amongst the the village's young cowherds to find the most hardworking and able cowherd for his ranch. "The winner of this competition has to be the one to graze the largest group of cattle within the shortest amount of time", said the rancher. The young boys of the village were extremely excited to enter this competition and work as the rancher's cowboys for a living. Akira was also extremely excited to partake in the competition. 

As the competition began, Akira looked at his fellow competitor Kabira from a distance and yelled, "Hey Kabira! You are not allowed to graze the cattle that side of the hill! It's against the rules!"

Just then, he glanced at another competitor Akiko and remarked, "Yo-ho Akiko! The rancher specifically said we are not allowed to take on more animals till the one at hand is completely full. Looks like the calf you are feeding is still hungry. Maybe you should feed him properly before you move on to the next one!"

Before long, he noticed another competitor Habiki and screamed, "Hey there Habiki! You are not allowed to feed them fruits to cease their hunger. That's unfair! According to the rules, we can only feed them fresh grass. Stop cheating!"

Shortly afterwards, as the competition came to an end, the rancher set off to search for his winner. 

"Kabira, how many animals have you grazed today?", the rancher enquired.

"I have grazed 8 animals today master", said the calm Kabira.

"Interesting. Akiko, how many animals have you grazed today?", the rancher questioned.

"I have grazed 10 animals today master", said the excited Akiko.

"Well done! Habiki, how many animals have you grazed today?", the rancher queried.

"I have grazed 15 animals today master", said the overjoyed Habiki.

"That's brilliant! Akira, how many animals have you grazed today?", the rancher interrogated. 

"Master, I have still to graze the only animal I took out to graze", said the disappointed Akira. 

On hearing this, the rancher walked towards Akira and said, "Next time my boy, mind your own business".

_ _ _ _

How often do we engulf ourselves in what other people are thinking or doing? "Are people judging me?", "Does he care about me?", "Do people think I'm ugly?", "Are they lying to me?", "Does she like me?" are only a few questions of the many that we have probably asked ourselves a number of times in our lifetime. Do these thoughts make you happy? Does finding the answers to these questions give you peace? Probably not. Satisfaction is a tough thing to achieve, especially if one's mind is involved in someone else. Even if you find satisfaction in the answers of these questions, it might be a fleeting feeling. Answers to these questions will only develop more questions, and in turn, restlessness. And so, mistaking this satisfaction for permanent solace is a faulty ideology created by our unawareness.

Human mind is a constant battlefield, and always feeling the need to know everything does not cease the battle, but rather instigates war. The war of emotions, that fuels and empowers our ego in controlling our minds. Jealousy, envy, insecurity and anger are nothing but the offsprings of not minding our own business. 

So let the world turn upside down, but continue focussing your energy internally within yourself. Remain calm, and you will remain content. Bring yourself out of constantly thinking and remind yourself that you can't change anyone or anything, but yourself. So help yourself towards peace of mind, and don't forget, mind your own business!

#LaughingAnanas

Turning 25...

25.

Such a strange number, such a strange age. It's the age of certainty, the quarter of stability. The age you're either this side or that. There's no in between. By the time you're 25, you're most likely to and expected to have a perfect job, a dream relationship, deep core values and a hell load of wisdom. In other words, your status is 'settled', or 'soon-to-settle' at worst. You're living the life you dreamed of on your graduation. You're serving as an idol to many. And you're probably exercising, eating green, healthy food and flossing everyday. But does turning 25, by default, grant you with the life so conventional, life so perfect? 

The answer is no. Turning 25 you might still find yourself juggling with your values, swimming in confusion, and not always reaching the shore. Your job might not be as perfect as you imagined, and you may not have a clue of what you'd like to do to get closer to your perfect. You probably find yourself contemplating on a startup idea a day, and not settling with any for a life long business. You might not be married, possibly not even engaged. 

Well, let's come to terms with this in saying IT'S OKAY. Living in the hope of being magically hit with that breakthrough start up idea has its own charm. And to be honest, it is not having something that makes you want to have it and work towards having it. So the contemplation is probably worth it. At the end of the day, Facebook is the child of Zuckerberg's contemplation. And then there are relationships. Let's just say, knights in shining armours are seen riding on their white horses at every corner these days. The idea of one and only true love is long forgotten. And living in a world with 7 billion others, surely you'll find your knight. 

I may not have achieved the most conventional life so far, but if there's one thing that I've learnt in these 25 years, and attempt to practice everyday is to live in the present. Presence of mind is so underrated. You may have your baggage of past and your bundle of future dreams, but it'll always be the present that you are living at any given point. And yet, it's this present that we miss out living at large. So turn 25, 30 or even 100 if you like, as it's not about how many years of life you've lived, but about how much of that life you lived in the moment. So have big dreams and wishes even bigger, but stay away from indulging into stresses of not living the society-approved life at a given age; because seriously, IT'S OKAY. You'll figure it out, even if it's in the midst of the ifs and buts of life.

#LaughingAnanas

DIY Leaf Art Frame

Here a leaf, there a leaf

Everywhere a leaf leaf

Old MacDonald had a leaf

E-I-E-I-O

Painting is like meditating. Do you find it difficult to meditate? Then paint. It gets you living in the moment. When you're painting, you are only painting. You're not constantly looking at your phone, or your dog, or your XYZ. You're only painting. You're not multi-tasking, you're only painting and settling down. Your monkey mind stops to think and starts to create. Try it and experience a deep state of peace and stillness. And hey, you can always get a great DIY frame out of it.

Fall is here and with it the leaves are too. You see these leaves everywhere and in every colour. They have some wonderful shades; shades of green, shades of red, shades of brown and many more. I went out leaf picking one day and collected some of these beautiful leaves. If you, like Old MacDonald, have a leaf or two and feel like meditating on some leaf art, then here's what you can do...

Wash and dry the leaves

Stick on the leaves and paint

Frame it

_ _ _ _

#LaughingAnanas

Akira and the Sun

"Akira, my beloved, why do you look so restless?", asked the wise old sage. 

"I feel all over the place... unsure, unsatisfied.", said the worried Akira.

"Is that so? And what is it that you feel unsure about?", prompted the sage gently. 

"It's just... I've been searching for the purpose of my life for the longest time. Sometimes I feel like I'm almost there, but then I realize I'm far off. I pray to God day and night to give me the answers of my questions. I almost feel obsessed looking so deeply into things to find the smallest of signs that can possibly explain my existence. But I fail, I fail every time. It makes me sad, you know?", confessed Akira. 

"I know. Tell me Akira, what else do you do in your day? How do you feed yourself?", interrogated the sage further.

"I don't. I don't do anything else. I spend my whole day thinking and wondering when I will find the meaning of my life.", said Akira.

"Very well," said the sage, "let me help you. Look at the Sun for a minute."

Akira complied.

As the minute was up, the sage asked Akira to look away from the Sun and point to where he was standing.

"I don't know where to point," Akira exclaimed, "I can't see you! The Sun's brightness seems to have blinded me!"

To this, the sage finally revealed: 

"My dear Akira, the man who looks at the Sun all day long, will only end up being blind. Looking at the Sun all day will not gift you its light. To earn its light, you must fulfill your daily responsibilities. Living every moment fully is the only way you can get closer to your goal each day!"

_ _ _ _

The sage is so right. In looking at the Sun all day, we blind ourselves and lose our own light. Thinking all day about our endless desires, be they love, money or fame, we end up losing ourselves only to realize that we are going further and further away from our goals each day. As they say, "a watched phone never rings".

So what should we do? Stop dreaming, stop desiring? Not at all. We are bound to dream and desire, but it's the losing of self that we should learn to keep away from in dreaming and desiring. We can only reach our destination if our journey is well planned and fully lived. Else we'd be stuck in our journey, losing our way at every crossroad and possibly running behind mirages that never existed...

Akira And His Best Friend

Akira: I have a new friend. He knows everything.

Kabira: Everything?

Akira: Yes. He knows how the world was created and he knows how it will end. He knows the future and he is aware of the past. He knows who my best friend is and my worst enemy. And most importantly, he says he knows what decisions will be best for me!

Kabira: That's great! I hope you find your happiness...

A few days later...

Kabira: Hi Akira. I haven't seen you in a while. How are you? 

Akira: Confused, and maybe a bit upset.

Kabira: Why? What's wrong?

Akira: I'm not sure.

Kabira: What about your new best friend? Does he know?

Akira: I talk to him all day and night. He told me that everyone else in the world is conspiring against me. He's my only friend and he's always by my side. But, for some reason, I still feel very lonely. I feel sad and hostile.

Kabira: He said the whole world is conspiring against you?

Akira: Yes. In fact, he told me I shouldn't be speaking to you either because you secretly wish for my unhappiness. I'm speaking to you only because he's fast asleep right now. If he wakes up to learn that we interacted, he will be very disappointed in me. I better go...

Kabira: Wait a minute Akira... This best friend of yours, what's his name? And where does he live?

Akira: His name is Ego, and he lives in my mind. 

#LaughingAnanas