Hundred and sixty

From childhood, I drank milk coffee. But most of the purists drink coffee without milk. I was surprised to know that. I thought those are stupid and don't know the taste of the coffee. Now I am trying to shift over to "coffee".  But it is so difficult to drink coffee without milk; Every day morning I decide that today onwards I will shift to without milk coffee but end up drinking regular coffee (with milk!).  There are so many things easy to think but difficult to implement. 

Hundred fifty nine

Few mutations that altered the brain lead to Homo sapiens. Our brain is unique in the animal kingdom. One thing fascinated me is a never-ending "desire.". There are many books on how to live simple, zen-like, etc. In reality, we as a species always want new things, new comforts. This greed has led to wars and crimes. Is it good or bad? This desire has pushed us out of the forest and brought us to the present state of living condition. Do I want to go back to the forest? probably no. I love philosophy like many others but living the philosophy is a tough task, since it is against the fundamental nature of the brain, pushing the boundaries of desire. 

Hundred and fifty eight

Looking around the room and looking around the brain, is there something to write. What to write is not the issue but have to write is the contention. Once you force yourself to sit and write anything under the sun, you end up in writing something. After 10 months of writing, I realized that being an author is a tough job. 

Hundred fifty seven

Today is Deepavali. The festival entire country celebrates and you get tons of wishes. I just want to celebrate this festival as best as I could. Living purposefully for one full day! 

Hundred fifty six

State elections are over. The government has a tough task ahead. If I am in power, this is my road map.

1. water problem- excess and deficit 

2. farmer support system

3. De-Urbanization - or smaller cities.

4. Education - skill based 

5. Roads

6. Bring in a new industry to less developed parts

7. Implement a good state-level health scheme for all - middle class and upper-middle class with a reasonable premium basis

8. Spend less on government machinery 

9. Each constituency should have its own website / whatsup number for people to contact and get their problem solved.

10. Visit the constituency once a month. 

Hundred fifty five

I and my daughter both missed our routine yesterday. Today also almost missed. I hope I should come up with something to write. I should be able to write nothing about shortcomings I see around me. I should be able to see some good things around me. Or I should find out some solutions to shortcomings, can I find out? Long back I had read, you can only complain if you have the capacity to change the situation if you have capacity change instead of complaining. There are so many things which are easy to say and difficult to follow. 

Hundred fifty four

Today was Saturday. Most of the day well spent, and the rest was a holiday. Diet plans did not work. Weight is struck in the upper circuit. The dieting and losing weight become more tough as I am getting old. Will power is in limited supply and body has slowed down but desire to sugar remains. I do want to achieve great things, but my mind is lazy. It is fun to fight with myself and not accepting the fact that I am meant to do mediocre stuff in life and not to become great. I keep reading personality development books, productivity books and motivation books, and at 45 I am still searching for that magic formula which would change me forever. Hmm, I know that will not happen but I am addicted to these books and trying new formulas for success in life. 

Hundred fifty three

I love observing monkeys. They jump around and kind of pest in the urban area. In the forest, they have to forage from morning to evening to get enough calories. In the city getting the calories is very easy. The rest of the time is free for having sex and gang wars. Because of the high reproduction cycle, the group size expands rapidly. The alpha male fails to control a big group and soon young males try to form new groups. 
Do they have a purpose? Do we have a purpose? Or for things we do and create we call it purpose? As a social animal, we moved to a different level in the life. But do our brain got enough time to evolve and adapt to our newly created world which is so different from forests and grasslands. 

Hundred fifty two

Concentration is a scary word for me. I can't concentrate. I can concentrate only when I am reading fiction. People say we need to practice that. I think we are evolved to pay attention to surroundings and keep scouting for a predator. Question is, how do I practice concentration? I have to do meditation? or sit in a remote place devoid of distractions. Or stay in a most distracting place and achieve concentration?

Hundred fifty one

Today I used backspace more than any other key! Writing about random things is tough. I was reading about the use of " articles" in the English language. It is tricky for a non- English speaking people to use the right articles at the right place in a sentence. My English learning is still in progress. 

Hundred and fifty

At last, I reached some landmark. I wrote crap, but I wrote. I need to write more. I know that purposeful practice would take to the next level. That means I should read more about writing before writing. My attempt to improve my English grammar has reached to some level. So I need to read more about grammar. Any way I look at this nothing to replace reading. Even to improve reading I have to read. I also observe that now I lack concentration and can't concentrate as I was young. That may be a myth as smartphone and internet may have taken away my concentration. I need to work on my concentration. 

Hundred forty nine

Time is like holding the sand. The more effort you put to save, you will lose more of it. Checklists do help. They are like a railway track, allow you to go on singletrack without getting lost. The car can go in so many ways on the road and that way you lose the way. Time being I will stick with checklists as a productive tool and try to save some time. 

Hundred and forty eight

Some say checklists are useless and others say they save the world. For me making a checklist is a boring thing and often I avoid looking at one! But checklists save the time and reduces the stress for sure. I can make a long checklist and sure that I won't complete it, but I will do 50% of them and feel good about that. For time being let me stick with checklists. I am using Google Tasks and that I can carry everywhere and it is simple and intuitive. 

Hundred forty seven

Here I am. Dragged me from YouTube. Morning is so nice and fresh. Still, I did not use that; I was feeling sleepy, and I found that a perfect excuse to waste time on the net. All of us know time is limited and still waste it. How do I convince my brain about the limited availability of time? All my life I have been reading self- improvement books and biographies hoping for a miracle that makes me successful. However, the definition of success keeps changing in each decade of life. Already a lot of time has been wasted and little has been done. I need to hurry. I am so afraid to keep a diary for food and time. 

Hundred forty six

Theory and practice are so distant. I know all the recipes for the most successful person in my life. But I can't implement that. Our brain is hard-wired for instant gratification. I know that if I write this blog every day and write more and write on a specific subject and research and write on a specific topic, my writing skill would improve. However, I am not doing that. Because it is not a pleasurable experience as reading twitter. Being a successful writer and that happiness may happen after 5 years of writing and till then the brain is starved of pleasure. According to the timetable, I have to write for another five minutes. Already I am running out of the subject. As a species, we have evolved to live in the present moment. No animals plan for a long-term future. Some animals store food but definitely don't have 3 years or 5 years road map!  

Hundred forty five

Do I love my country?
My country lacks many things but I don't feel left out or I need not live like a fugitive. I don't know the feeling of people who are staying abroad. But whenever I travel there, I feel like I am being observed by an invisible eye. It is like staying in a relative's house, though hosts are great, you never feel "at home" feeling. It is just my opinion.
I love my country? yes I love my country for many reasons I can list here since they are abstract. It is like I love some places in my house or I prefer to sit in a particular place on a sofa - it is like that, I just love this country.

On similar lines, Tagore's poem:

BLESSED AM I that I am born to this land and that I had the luck to love her.

What care I if queenly treasure is not in her store but precious

enough is for me the living wealth of her love.

The best gift of fragrance to my heart is from her own flowers

and I know not where else shines the moon that can flood my

being with such loveliness.

The first light revealed to my eyes was from her own sky and let

the same light kiss them before they are closed for ever.

Hundred forty four

I am trying to teach my daughter maths by implementing "atomic habits". However, I am supposed to practice that by writing the blog every day to improve my writing skill. Unfortunately, I preached a lot and practising very little. Hence I am back here.