I cant believe it ! It's been 13 years since I started this blog.. A warning to the readers - The blog is now entering the difficult teenage phase ...;)
I was reading through some of my earliest posts, and chuckling to myself.. the naive, idealistic young man who wrote those posts.. I like him .. I am especially proud that he defined and stuck to his 'normal' regardless of all the cynicism, skepticism and the numerous incredulous expressions.. The naive, idealistic young man has grown into a less-naive, less-idealistic, but still-young, young man ;)
The one thing that's been constant for the last 13 years,( and even earlier) is that I have always been a struggler. I struggle at everything I do and like doing, be it circuit design, music, language, people skills and everything else.. I remember this moment years ago, when I was really frustrated with myself, for not having gotten better, despite doing that thing for so many years... and then I had this light bulb moment - ' It wasn't that I hadn't improved.. What really was happening was that my horizon had shifted. I had subconsciously raised the bar as regards what I expected myself to be able to do '. This has been a recurring theme in my life, and is eloquently captured in the book 'The practicing mind' - the one book that parallels my life the most...
I had attended a technical talk several years ago. I remember nothing from that talk, except this one line the speaker said in the middle of his talk - ' A good working definition of stress is the gap between expectations and reality', and when I thought about it, it seemed SO true, and hit the point home. Let go of expectations, and learn to revel and take joy in each moment, as I learn and grow. I have come to believe that mental-tension is the biggest enemy of learning.
There are 2 major lessons I learnt in the last 2 decades. Both pertain to the precious
1) Waste no time. Time is precious. Make each day count.
2) Do everything in your power to surround yourself with people who are like-minded. Like-minded spirits who share the same values. People you can truly have a deep conversation with, and who help bring out the best in you, and who you can support and encourage to excel and live in their incredible true self. An hour of meaningful conversation with even one such person is worth more than 10000 hours of superficial conversations with the crowd. These people are truly the panacea for the soul. This area has been a challenge for me, since most of the handful of people with whom I share a great connection are all in different time zones! I have decided that I will not let that be a constraint.
Moving on, there are some who spend their entire lives mastering one craft. The one thing their life is all about. I have enormous respect for such people. But I have never been such a person. To me, The Renaissance Man has always been the ultimate inspiration. To grow and expand in many directions.. To get a sense for the numerous flavours of beauty that this world has to offer. Yes, I seek beauty in everything in life...
I was reading through some of my earliest posts, and chuckling to myself.. the naive, idealistic young man who wrote those posts.. I like him .. I am especially proud that he defined and stuck to his 'normal' regardless of all the cynicism, skepticism and the numerous incredulous expressions.. The naive, idealistic young man has grown into a less-naive, less-idealistic, but still-young, young man ;)
The one thing that's been constant for the last 13 years,( and even earlier) is that I have always been a struggler. I struggle at everything I do and like doing, be it circuit design, music, language, people skills and everything else.. I remember this moment years ago, when I was really frustrated with myself, for not having gotten better, despite doing that thing for so many years... and then I had this light bulb moment - ' It wasn't that I hadn't improved.. What really was happening was that my horizon had shifted. I had subconsciously raised the bar as regards what I expected myself to be able to do '. This has been a recurring theme in my life, and is eloquently captured in the book 'The practicing mind' - the one book that parallels my life the most...
I had attended a technical talk several years ago. I remember nothing from that talk, except this one line the speaker said in the middle of his talk - ' A good working definition of stress is the gap between expectations and reality', and when I thought about it, it seemed SO true, and hit the point home. Let go of expectations, and learn to revel and take joy in each moment, as I learn and grow. I have come to believe that mental-tension is the biggest enemy of learning.
There are 2 major lessons I learnt in the last 2 decades. Both pertain to the precious
1) Waste no time. Time is precious. Make each day count.
2) Do everything in your power to surround yourself with people who are like-minded. Like-minded spirits who share the same values. People you can truly have a deep conversation with, and who help bring out the best in you, and who you can support and encourage to excel and live in their incredible true self. An hour of meaningful conversation with even one such person is worth more than 10000 hours of superficial conversations with the crowd. These people are truly the panacea for the soul. This area has been a challenge for me, since most of the handful of people with whom I share a great connection are all in different time zones! I have decided that I will not let that be a constraint.
Moving on, there are some who spend their entire lives mastering one craft. The one thing their life is all about. I have enormous respect for such people. But I have never been such a person. To me, The Renaissance Man has always been the ultimate inspiration. To grow and expand in many directions.. To get a sense for the numerous flavours of beauty that this world has to offer. Yes, I seek beauty in everything in life...
2 comments:
Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder... and thus you are able to see beauty in everything Karthik....
Thanks for the kind comment Meenakshi ! ...
Post a Comment