A Widow Rebirth from her Ashes: Mridu

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0CFY1TTGK?th=1&psc=1&geniuslink=true
 

Lessons for life you can learn from this inspiring true tale of dear Mridu, word flow like a poetry, keeping us ponder and inspiring us as we read on, with a pinch of pain in our hearts. 

1. We had dream of settling outside the city on the outskirts and living simple life after our 50s who knew that it was a futile plan. We should have only lived our present.  - We only have now, this moment is ours, make the best of it?
2. "Don't think y are alone. We are all with you. " But the harsh reality is "You would know who is with you when you are at the lowest point in your life."
3. Challenge you to ask your loved ones, those who claim they can't live without you, this question: "Would you still love and care for me the same if I ceased to be of use to you today?"
4. Prepare yourself to uncover the truth beyond spoken words. The reality may be harsh, but if someone genuinely values your presence without requiring you to prove your worth every single day, my friend, you have triumphed in the intricate game called Life. 
5. Highlighting the divide between the 'responsible' and the 'unconventional'.
6. Rituals are created with a purpose and not to belittle or hurt anyone. 
7. In stages of being a widow/griefing it was thought provoking to read:
1. When as a teenager we were imagining our marriage to the prince charming we never thought that the man of your life would leave us all alone to face the cruel enemy of his kingdom. As the queen we had to rule and protect his lands and people. 
2. Spectrum of emotions that we go through during this stage are: Disbelief and deniel, bargaining, anger, depression and acceptance. 
3. Reality check, Doctor recommended reading a series of five books by Brian Weiss including 'Many Lives, Many Masters', 'Only Love is Real', 'Messages from the Masters', 'Same soul, many bodies' and 'Through time into healing'.
4. Financial Challenges: Impulsive investments fueled by fear, lack of insurance, absence of coverage for home loan, leading to losses in misguided investments. 
5. Battle with envy: Psychiatrist said feeling jealousy and sadness when witnessing couples together is a natural response. Emotions can be overpowering leading to self doubt. These are part of grieving process and not indicative of becoming a psychopath. 
6. Life took a desolate hue, the very essence of celebration, enjoyment and happiness seemed to evaporate. Gradually learned to honor the memories embracing the present. 
7. Navigating the labyrinth of bureaucratic procedures took a toll on emotions
8. Retreat: Traversing through the realms of grief. Self-discovery, self-care, pondering about afterlife/soul/mortality. connecting with school, old colleagues, past life. 
9. Unearthing identity: Young girl chasng delicate butterfly, undeterred, untainted by fear. Now needing solace. In angel. "My time too shall come." Until then, I must live. Journey towards shillong stopping at Bounihat. Manas national park on the cusp of Assam and Bhutan. Embark on you journey of self-discovery, peel back the layers of illusion and uncover the radiant truth that resides within your heart. 
10. Be the Phoenix who rise from the ashes, the butterfly who emerges from the cocoon, recognise self. 
11. Writing is more than mere words on paper, its emobieng liberation. It grants the mind a canvas to unleash its musings, allowing it to tame the chaos that often resides within. 
12. Moral of trips: React on your impulse , trust your instinct and make all the other back up plans. 
13. Spiritual voyage trip to Kedarnath - earlier desire for privacy, perspective shifted after grief. Empathy became compass, driving to connect with the pain of others. Supoort noble causes
14. Scraped the bottom of her reslience, to rise like phoenix from the ashes, a blazing emblem of rebirth. 
15. I am in love with the woman I am becoming. I have been seeing the inner person grow into a beautiful soul. This lady seems to know her purpose in life. She thinks differently, she speaks differently, she feels differently. She doesn't judge anyone. She let them be. She knows they have their own story. She doesn't question them because she knows they have their own story plot and we don't share the same journey. Even though we might have been born off the same parents may be twins we differ in thoughts even if we look alike. She knows today her thoughts are magical. She loves the universe and receives its gratitude with open hands. She wakes up each morning with a new hope.Routine doesn't upset her anymore. She no longer longs to prove things to others. She had in her past proved quite a bit to the world. She now rests and admires herself; she at times says love quotes to the soul itself. She is magical and she feels it. She is a breeze a ray of sunshine may be someone she dont know but for herself she is the most important person.
16. When life pushes you to the deepest point in the ocean just be there don't fight the ocean waves you won't win. Instead enjoy the beauty of the deepest darkness. Love the secret of the depth and leave it all. Magically you may survive and come floating on the surface. 
17. Born alone. There is a purpose for each human on this earth. The earth is a learning ground for the souls where the lucky ones get a body to live in. Each one of our lives is time boxed and we need to utilize the limited time we have here with utmost care. If you get entangled in the shallow drama of hatred, jealousy, revenge, show off etc. time may just end and the sould would have to conitnue its journey in another life depending on it karma. 
18. Equip yourself, engage in crafts, business, studies - stay occupied and distance yourself from the persistent negative chatter of the mind.
19. Progress takes time and avoiding the rat race is a virtue.
20. Class 3:" What do you want to be when you grow up?" Have you achieved that aspiration? Delve deeper and nurture the essence of your soul. The professional labels we acquire are merely for our physical beings; the true quest lies in understanding and fulfilling the desires of our inner self. 

23rd June: Embracing Widowhood. author.mridu@gmail.com

Hook: ". Who would not want to Embark on a journey of self-discovery, peel back the layers of illusion and uncover the radiant truth that resides within our heart. " –

Intro : Hi my dear lovely, gorgeous listener, Meera here, author of the book, 'Are Marriages Made in Heaven', praying for Happiness Always! Every time, everywhere, every one. Happen to read this amazing book ; ‘A Widow Rebirth from her Ashes by Mridu’; In her beautiful words; “She is magical and she feels it. She is a breeze a ray of sunshine may be someone she don’t know’

Content a sweet heart and the light who having risen from ashes like a Phoenix, is out to inspire the world, with her true story. Having had to go through the only harsh reality of life, twice in quick succession - first her mother, and then husband, quite unexpectedly. Having married her prince charming never thought he would leave letting her  face his kingdom. She is the queen protecting his lands and people.

Spectrum of emotions during this stage were that of Disbelief and deniel, bargaining, anger, depression and acceptance.

There are, Financial Challenges,  need to Battle with  inner demons, navigate the bureaucratic procedures taking a toll on emotions

Life took a desolate hue. Gradually she learned to honor the memories embracing the present.

Traversing through the realms of grief Needed constant Reality checks, had to consult Doctor who recommended reading a series of five books by Brian Weiss

Thus Unearthing identity ike Young girl chasing delicate butterfly, undeterred, untainted by fear.

When life pushes you to the deepest point in the ocean what do you do? Read the book to know.

Progress takes time and avoiding the rat race is a virtue.

Delve deeper and nurture the essence of your soul. The professional labels we acquire are merely for our physical beings; the true quest lies in understanding and fulfilling the desires of our inner self.

 CTA -  Why wait, grab a copy of the book, now. Both the digital version and paper back is available on Amazon. Praying that may this book reach many readers as I believe all need this and May the novel act as a friend, mentor and guide to all ; as we do not know when we may have to go through tough times. It comes quite unexpected. Tough times do not last, but tough people do. Get A Widow Rebirth from her Ashes by Mridu from amazon now. Have a good day!

Don't Believe Everything You Think - Joseph Nguyen

 Thanks to Aarthi for this book recommendation in this month's read and immense gratitude to Rashmi for including me into Happy Souls Club.

What an amazing and thought provoking book covering:

Chapter 1: The Journey to Finding the Root Cause of Suffering

Chapter 2: The Root Cause of All Suffering

Chapter 3: Why Do We Even Think?

Chapter 4: Thoughts vs. Thinking

Chapter 5: If We Can Only Feel What We're Thinking, Don't We Need to Think

Positively to Feel That Way?

Chapter 6: How the Human Experience is Created - The Three Principles

Chapter 7: If Thinking Is the Root Cause of Our Suffering, How Do We Stop

Thinking?

Chapter 8: How Can We Possibly Thrive In the World Without Thinking?

Chapter 9: If We Stop Thinking, What Do We Do About Our Goals, Dreams &

Ambitions?

Chapter 10: Unconditional Love & Creation

Chapter 11: What Do You Do Next after Experiencing Peace, Joy, Love &

Fulfillment In the Present?

Chapter 12: Nothing Is Either Good or Bad

Chapter 13: How Do You Know What to Do without Thinking?

Chapter 14: How to Follow Your Intuition

Chapter 15: Creating Space for Miracles

Chapter 16: What Happens When You Begin Living in Non-Thinking (Potential

Obstacles)

Chapter 17: Now What?

Summary Of Non-Thinking

A Guide to Stop Thinking

How You Will Know If You’re In A State Of Non-Thinking

A Guide To Creating A Non-Thinking Environment

Is'nt it interesting?

Book is even more.

 "There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so." —

William Shakespeare

All you have to do is remember that thinking is the root cause of how we’re feeling. Once this is brought into your awareness, don’t fight the thinking. Just become aware that it is your thinking that’s causing the ill feelings, welcome it with love, and it will slowly dissipate before your eyes. Not too long after, you’ll return to your natural state of peace, love, and joy.

 On a piano, there are 88 keys. When we look at a piano, we don't point out specific keys for no reason and say that that key is "wrong". We only think a specific key is "wrong", if we think someone is playing a specific song and hits a key that isn't in the song. Inherently, the piano has no wrong keys though. There are only keys and notes that sound more or less pleasant when played consecutively.

Just like how there are no wrong keys on the piano, there are no "wrong". There’s only thinking that give us pleasant or not so pleasant feelings. When we put things into a bucket of right or wrong, good or bad, this creates duality and conditions in our lives, which determines how we feel.

For instance, if we believe that that opposing political parties are wrong or bad, this can cause animosity within us and make us feel a concoction of negative emotions.

If, on the other hand, we see different political parties in the same way as there are different keys on the piano and how there are no inherently "wrong" parties, then we open ourselves up to experience love, joy, and peace in the moment.

 Instead of looking for right or wrong, good or bad in the world, look for truth. Instead of trying to prove we are right and they are wrong, or how they're better and we're worse, look for the truth in what's in front of you. I would only caution this by saying that many people believe what they think is the truth. For the most part, without this deeper understanding of life, most of what we think is not truth, even though it may seem like it.

True truth is not subjective. If it is "true" for one person, but not for another, then it is not universal truth. Look for what is universally true for every single conscious human being on the planet, no matter who they are, where they're from, and what their background is. That is the true truth and that is where you'll find everything you've been searching for. Remember that the only place you can find this is deep within your being, so don't try to go looking for it outside of you.

 The truth is most of us know what to do, but we are just afraid to do it.

Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think that you can or can’t, you’re right.” If we walk around our lives thinking we can’t, then we immediately block ourselves from the limitless possibilities of what we can do in any given moment in time. But when we release the brake in our mind and realize that it’s just our thinking holding us back, we automatically return to our natural state of abundance and unlimited possibilities and in that moment, we can receive any answer we need on what to do.

In short, know that you already know and if you don’t know, know that you can know what you need to know.

If you know that you can always know, then what you need to know will always come to you. Trust in your own intuition and inner wisdom. It has always and will always be there for you when you need it as long as you trust that it will.

 This state of non-thinking also means a directconnection to Infinite Intelligence. The state of flow, that we need to be in.

Many will attribute the state of non-thinking or flow with a particular activity that we love to do and that’s the only time we can be in flow. This is far from the truth. We can be in a state of nonthinking at any point in time. The only time we can really be in a state of non-thinking is in the present moment. We can only see reality in the present moment and when we are actively thinking, it means we are either in the past or future (which don’t exist). Only in the present moment can the truth be found. This is why all of the spiritual masters and leaders always teach to meditate, pray, and to be in the present moment. In the Bible, when Moses asks God her name, She replies with “I am.” God didn’t say that She was or will be

When you’re following your intuition, you’re completely tapped into something greater than your personal self. You’re in a state of nonthinking (flow) and direct connection with God. In this state, you always know what you need to do without thinking and are guided by

Infinite Intelligence. It almost seems like we’re not doing anything when we’re in this zone because we lose our sense of personal self and become one with life. When we’re in this state, miracles occur.

SUMMARY OF NON-THINKING

Thinking is the root cause of all suffering.

There is no other answer to why we feel negative emotions other than that it is from our own thinking. 

Everything can be traced back to our thinking, which makes problem solving very simple. Once we realize that our thinking is causing how we feel, we can let go of it and we return to our natural state of peace, love, and joy. When we let go of our thinking, it creates space for us to be able to allow all positive emotions we want to feel to surface from within us.

We don’t live in reality, we live in a PERCEPTION of reality, which is created by our own thinking.

Thinking is NOT an effect of our experiences, but the CAUSE of it.

The thoughts in our minds are not facts.

Our thinking only has control over us if we believe it. 

Let go of the belief in the thought to let go of the suffering.

Our feelings are direct feedback and an innate internal guidance system to let us know whether we are lacking understanding or have absolute clarity of truth. Feelings are an invitation to deepen our understanding of the truth.

We are in flow when we are not thinking.

There is no separation between us and the Universe and all of life when we are not thinking. It is only when we think that we cut ourselves from Source and feel separate from all things (the birth of the ego).

Thinking and thoughts are two different things. Thinking is a verb and requires our manual effort, which causes suffering. Thoughts are nouns, which do not come from us and are divine downloads from the Universe.

We think because it is a biological response to survive.

Our minds think only because it is trying to keep us alive, but it does not help us thrive. It is only concerned with our safety and survival, but not our fulfillment. Thinking holds us back from our Highest Selves by causing negative feelings within us that prevent us from following our true callings.

Our minds are limited to our personal experiences. If you want to receive insights, creativity, and knowledge beyond the capabilities of your current self, simply choose to listen to Infinite Intelligence rather than your finite mind. This infinite source of truth is available to all people at all times if we allow it to be.

Universal Intelligence/Mind is the energy that is everything in this universe. It is the source of where everything comes from that is before form and we are made up of it. This energy has a feeling, which is the feeling is love, peace, joy, connection, and well-being. This is what we fall back into when we let go of our thinking and it is our natural state.

Since we are all always connected to the same source of Infinite Intelligence, once we let go of our thinking, we access new thoughts, ideas, and insights, even if we have never experienced them before. The more we trust our intuition and this Infinite Intelligence, the more we will receive these insights that are always available to us.

Peace, love, joy, and all positive emotions are our default states as humans. It is only when we begin thinking, then we get taken out of that natural state. Once we let go of our thinking, we fall back into our natural state of being and experience all positive feelings effortlessly.

We are ever only one thought or one insight away from expanding our consciousness and experiencing a deeper feeling of love at all times, which comes from a state of non-thinking.

Clarity is the nature of our minds and our default state. It is only when we get caught up in our thinking that things do not seem so. If we let go of our thinking, we return to our “factory default” setting of peace, love, joy, and a quiet mind.

There is nothing inherently wrong with anyone or anything in the Universe, but our thinking will make us think so. You do not have to be fixed because you are not broken. There is only something for you to realize and remember, which is that thinking is the root cause of our suffering. You do not have to do anything about your thinking. All you have to do is shift your understanding of thinking and you will fall back into the truth of who you are, which is beyond your thinking, your body, and everything you think you know. As soon as you let go of your thinking, you become one with Infinite Intelligence, allowing you to feel a never-ending abundance of love, peace, and joy that is always available to you because that is your true nature.

When you make space for Infinite Intelligence, it makes space for you. The more you trust it, the more it trusts you.

There’s never an end to how much space you can make for it. When you prioritize making space in your life and in your mind for Infinite intelligence to come through, your life will change.

Here’s the process for receiving divine downloads when you’re confronted with a challenge:

1. Become aware that your thinking is the root cause of all negative emotions.

2. Create space by surrendering any manual thinking from the personal mind and have complete faith that your inner wisdom (God/Universe/Infinite Intelligence) will give you the answer. Also surrender the how and when the answer will come to you.

3. Become aware of any feelings that arise as you surrender and magnify those feelings of love, peace, and joy. Meet what you’re facing with love and the answer will come to you.

If it seems almost too simple, that’s a good thing. The truth is always simple. Although it may be simple, it’s not always easy and even the greatest spiritual masters struggle at times.

Bonus was interacting and email exchange with the author:

I emailed author asking if he wrote the book without Thinking 🤔

To this: For anyone that is interested in connecting with me even further, I

would love to hear from you at hello@josephnguyen.org about

anything and everything. It brings me such a deep feeling of joy to

hear other people's stories, so I do keep my inbox open for those

who would like to share. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

With Love & Light,

Joseph

Ruskin Bond Summit

 3rd Sept 2023, Sweta Samota took us through this amazing session. 

Introduction

Ruskin Bond was born on 19th May 1934 , in Kasauli, Punjab States Agency, British India. His father, Aubrey Alexander Bond,was born in a military camp in Shahjahanpur, a small town in north India. Later he became a tutor in a small school in the Jamnagar palace for their princes and princesses, where Ruskin also studied for his first six years. He taught English to the princesses of Jamnagar palace and Ruskin Bond and his sister Ellen lived there till he was six. Later, Ruskin's father joined the Royal Air Force in 1939 and Ruskin along with his mother and sister went to live at his maternal home at Dehradun. Shortly after that, he was sent to a boarding school in Mussoorie. When Ruskin was eight years old, his mother Edith Clerke separated from his father and married a Punjabi Hindu, Hari. His father arranged for Ruskin to be brought to New Delhi where he was posted. He was very close to his father and describes this period (1942-1944) with his father as one of the happiest times of his life. When he was ten, his father died due to malaria, while he was posted in Calcutta. He was buried in the Bhowanipore War Cemetery in Calcutta. Ruskin was at his boarding school in Shimla and was informed about this tragedy by his teacher. He was thoroughly heartbroken. Later, he was raised in Dehradun.

His Favourite book was Alice in Wonderland. 

17th Century - Drama

18th Century - Essays

19th Century - Short Story and Essay. 

Writing

He did not get much inspiration from school, and he thought formal education was not essential for formal writing. He would be in the glorious company of authors. 

Logic and clarity at the age of 15. 

In October 1951, he went to Jersey, worked as travel agent, lost his job, and moved to London. 

"It is the desire of recognition and applause that lures me away, I tell myself fame is not greatness, and that if I remain as I am long enough I shall soon grow accustomed to obscurity. At least I shall retain my individuality, and in art that is most important".

In India he was writing for different magazines. Writing stories.  Short stories are fast to write, and help earn his living. So started with short stories. 

1951 - Untouchable - short story

1953 - First Book - The room on the roof. (Diana Athill - Editor and Publisher)

Got Padmasri in 1992 - after 40 years. 

Key takeaways:

1. Embrace simplicity
2. Weave Personal Experience
3. Cultivate observation skill
4. Connect with Nature
5. Value relationships
6. Write from heart - Don't filter your thoughts. 
7. Preserve through rejections
8. Experiment through genres
9. Read Widely
10. Capture Nostalgia - Memories, observations, life experiences, 

Publishing

1956 and then 1980 - Traditionally published. His works translated into 12 languages. 

Key takeaway:

1. Know your audience - Profitability of your idea
2. Adapt to market trends
3. Build relationships
4. Leverage literary network
5. Global Appeal

Publishing Industry in India:

1. Pre Independence: Oxford university, Macmillan
2. Post: Rupa
3. 50s and 60s - Sahitya Akademy and National Book Trust
4. 70s and 80s - Jananpit award, Penguine, HarperCollings
5. 90s and 2000s - internet and digital technology - 1971 - Project Gutenberg
6. 2000 and 2010 - Digital publishing started
7. 2013 on - Kindle

Book reading sessions, go to book shops and give author signed copies. 

Marketing

1. Word of mouth - Relatable and memorable
2. niche book releases
3. Use of personal anecdots
4. Read Aloud session
5. Book signing and literary events
6. Social media mgt
7. Interview and media appearance
8. Website and online presence
9. Library and social visits

Instructions:

Write daily, never underestimate the power of writing your goals everyday. Write your goals daily, and let universe help you achieve it. 

Be mindful of your life. You are having such a beautiful experience. Draw experience and document from your life. It can provide rich experience in story telling. Document your experience. For depth in writing, create observational skills to capture vivid details. How is water dropping - the sound, the shape. 

Develop thick skin, accept good, ignore the rest. 

Rendeep R from Kochi

Cover : Canva and Midjourney

Author - Inflection : Available from 5th of Sept. 

And I got my first award.

Writer Block

 The biggest dead ends I see writers hitting:

Dead End #1: Endless Drafting. You write and rewrite and then rewrite some more, but you never reach "the end."

Dead End #2: Misguided Feedback. You ask your friends and family for feedback on your writing and are crushed when they don’t love it.

Dead End #3: Publishing Wrong Turns. You miss the very specific publishing directions you need to follow to navigate the publishing industry.

Any of those sound familiar?

Here’s the thing: it’s not your fault if you’ve ever gotten stuck along the way to publishing your book.

It’s not your fault, but it is your responsibility to learn how to overcome these obstacles and finish your book.

Happy Publishing!

Thanks to Sreerag for letting me do. 

This is my game, this is my story, I am going to rock it. 

https://kindlepreneur.com/amazon-kdp-sales-rank-calculator/#mainbg-wrapper

ABSR for your category should not be high. Category is store specific. 

If you are hit by Writers Block:

Keep writing, am writing, amazing words are comming out of me. 

Social Media Marketing For Books

Without even realising, we now discover new ideas and products more on social media than anywhere else. Authors across the world are now actively engaging and building a reader base for themselves on social media. Social media builds strong networks that stay with you for a long time. This loyal network will not just support your first book, but will also grow with you as you start authoring more books. In this mail, you will learn which social media platforms work well for you and your book.

Certain social media channels work best for certain kind of books. That being said, there are some popular ones that you should be part of, to build a strong following. Here they are:

Facebook: Facebook is the most popular social media platform in the world. Here, you can reach out to your already existing fan base and also build new ones by engaging with them through posts, contests etc.

Twitter: Twitter is a platform that works best when you want to establish yourself as a thought leader. Unlike Facebook this platform is all about brevity (allows 280 characters).

LinkedIn: LinkedIn has always been seen as a professional network. And for that reason, you need to be networking and engaging with the users on LinkedIn. Connecting with people on LinkedIn will help you build a strong network that you can promote your book to.

Quora: Quora is the place to be if you are looking to position yourself as a thought leader in a particular field and also promote your book. Here, you can answer questions asked by users. For example, if you have written a book about mutual funds, you can search for questions about investments and financial planning in India and answer questions asked by users. You can also share a gist of your book in your answer and urge them to give it a read.

Medium: As an author, writing is something you enjoy doing, isn’t it? Medium.com is an online publishing platform for people to read, write and share posts online. Think of it as Facebook for blogs. Here you can write interesting posts and share it with your followers. You can choose popular tags that are relevant to your expertise, create posts and share it. This way, readers will discover your content and start following you. For example, if you have written a book on Parenting, you can search for popular tags on parenting and write a small blog about your book.

 By being part of these platforms, you will build a strong online presence and an active following which will help you promote your book easily. 

WFH

 Some call it 'work from home', 'work for home' and even 'work for health'.

It was one of the boons of covid and for some, a bane leading to isolation, physical and mental exhaustion and anxiety. 

The good news though is that a small step from us, and change in daily routine can help improve our health. 

• Don't sit in one place, keep moving.
• Take short breaks
• Exercise regularly
• Stay active by doing household tasks
• Meditate live in the present
• Eat healthy and stay hydrated
• Spend time with friends, colleagues and family
• Live your passion.

Health is wealth, and this will help in turn improve wealth as well. 

No travel, no investment needed in dresses and make up kits. 

12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B Peterson

 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B Peterson 

Here are my 12 Rules for Life.

1 Stand up straight with your shoulders straight

Most lobsters are complete bastards left to their own devices. Most humans are complete bastards left to their own devices. This proves there is a God who wants us to have Order. Order is Masculine and Chaos is Feminine. Therefore to move towards Order, we all need to man up. Happiness is pointless. We are all on this Earth to suffer. So learn to suffer like a man. Not everyone can be as rich and successful as me, but try to be less of a failure than you already are.

2 Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping

The story of the Garden of Eden shows that we are all touched with Original Sin But you have a choice. You can either seek Heaven or be dragged down into Hell. Yes, you have a shameful, sinful nature but for God’s sake just make a bit of an effort. Stop waiting for other people to dig you out of your pitiful hole.

3 Befriend people who want the best for you

We are all Being. Just some of us are better Beings. Learn to tell the difference. Some people are beyond help. They are merely exploiting the willingness of good people to help them and, as Dostoyevsky rightly observes, will drag you down to their level. So stick with the winners. If people are determined to screw up, let them. They are nothing to do with the Divine Purpose.

4 Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not the useless person you are today

Face it, you’re never going to be that smart, so don’t compare yourself to someone who is. Start by getting on your knees to pray. Even if you don’t Believe in God. Atheists are merely people who are blinded to the true way of Being. There, you feel marginally less useless already.

5 Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them

Remember that children are born with Original Sin and have a huge capacity for Evil. They are not Innocent Beings. They need Discipline if they are going to grow up to be even vaguely worthwhile humans. And slap them if necessary – don’t listen to what the lefties say.

6 Set your house in order before you criticise the world

Remember the story of Cain and Abel? Well, read it then. Yes, Abel was a schmuck who deserved to die and Cain wasn’t quite as goddamn perfect as he thought he was. He deserved to die, too. We all deserve to die. So stop moaning if someone is richer and better looking than you.

7 Pursue what is meaningful, not what is expedient

Life is suffering. The Book of Genesis tells us that. There is no easy way round this. So quit looking for short cuts and start reading Nietzsche.

8 Tell the truth. Or at least don’t lie

To be honest, I’m scrabbling around for things but my publishers tell me I need 12. By telling you the Truth about this, I am an Improved Being. Certainly better than you.

9 Assume the person you are listening to knows something you don’t

Just shut up, quit moaning and listen to me. I know things you don’t. So don’t expect me to listen to you. That’s not the way things work. I’m here to make you feel Better about Yourself by telling you things you already know in a way that makes you feel clever.

10 Be precise in your speech

Confront the chaos of Being. Don’t try to beat about the bush. Things are going to be terrible. Oedipus killed his Dad. You may well kill yours. Get over it. Face up to the real horrors of the world.

11 Do not bother children while they are skateboarding

This is the rule that’s the real catnip for right-wingers everywhere. Want to know why the world is falling apart? It’s because liberals are turning boys into girlies with their namby-pamby ways. Let boys do boy things and girls do girl things. Nowhere in the Bible does God say anything about this trans nonsense. There’s nothing wrong with men having all the best jobs and women staying home to look after the kids. So back off, ladies, and give us men a break.

12 Pet a cat when you encounter one in the street

OK. So I really am scraping the barrel now. We’re all going to die. Probably painfully. So just make the best of what you’ve got. If you see a cat, stroke it. You might feel better. Though probably not. And if there are no cats, pet something else. Like a dog.

Blessed are the Strong, for they shall inherit the Earth.

Passion

 "I need to find my passion."

We obsess over our passion.

Expecting it to be lying in some corner, waiting to be discovered.

And when we do, our life will never be the same again.

Truth is - we do not find our passion.

We grow our passion.

That's a long journey.

For everyone.

But it is also a beautiful journey that will teach you a lot about yourself.

 ~ Ankur Warikoo

Find your profession, before you Find your passion.

Like the fairy tale lore goes - kiss a lot of toads before you find your prince

Finding your passion: The world's longest treasure hunt that starts and ends within you.

Here's a secret roadmap:

1. The Misconception: Passion is not something that's "out there" to be found. It's not a Holy Grail or Atlantis.

2. The Experimentation: Start saying 'yes' more. Try new things. Eat at new restaurants. Learn a random skill on YouTube. You're not off the path, you're expanding it.

3. The Discomfort: You will not find your passion in your comfort zone. Embrace the uncomfortable; it’s often the universe's way of saying, 'Here’s where you need to grow.'

4. The Reflection: Ever lose track of time because you're so engrossed in a task? Bingo, you're getting closer.

5. The Intersection: The sweet spot is where what you love, what you're good at, and what the world needs intersect. That’s your passion GPS.

Remember, it's not about finding a passion and sticking to it no matter what. It's about finding what makes you feel alive today. And if that changes tomorrow, that's okay.

Passions are not tattoos. You don't have to have one for a lifetime. They're more like T-shirts. Find one that fits today. And if it doesn't fit tomorrow, change it.

The treasure is not out there. It's in you. Dig in!

Passion is not a destination to find; it's a voyage of self-discovery. Embrace the journey, for along the way, you will uncover the depths of your soul, cultivate your interests, and kindle the flames of purpose.

And sometimes in figuring out the true passion, our entire life gets ended in just maintaining that one so called profession !! Everyone knows that uncertainties and risks are just dark rooms but what if we don't get out of that room again!! What ifs are actually terrific !!

Finding our passion is not about waiting for a eureka moment; it's about taking intentional steps toward discovering what truly ignites our soul. It's okay to pivot, explore, and redefine your path as you grow into your passion.

While growing our passion through exploration and self-discovery is a valid approach, the idea of discovering a passion in a sudden and transformative way should not be entirely dismissed.

Both perspectives have their place in the complex and diverse human experience.

The journey to finding one's passion is unique for each individual, and what works for one may not necessarily work for another.

Embracing both perspectives can offer a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamic nature of passion and personal growth.

GOD

 Generator, Operator, Destroyer. 

My Nephew of late has been arguing that there is no God, and everything is science .

Was researching on how to convence him and came across 'A Very Thoughtful Post. TWO FACETS OF LIFE....'

Something interesting regarding those who believe and those who don't believe in God! Very interesting. It stimulates our lateral thinking.

This lovely parable is from "Your Sacred Self" by Dr. Wayne Dyer.

In a Mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?” The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after Delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”

“Nonsense” said the first. “There is no life after Delivery. What kind of life would that be?”

The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.”

The first replied, “That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.”

The second insisted, “Well I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.”

The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover if there is life, then why has no one ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere.”

“Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.”

The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?”

The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her this world would not and could not exist.”

Said the first: “Well I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist.”

To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above.”

May be this was one of the best explanations to the concept of 'GOD' 🙂

Another related story from Sophie's world:

A Russian astronaut and a Russian brain surgeon were once discussing religion. The astronaut said I have been to outer space many times, but never seen God, to this the brain surgeon said, I have operated many clever brains but never seen a single thought.

The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness by Morgan Housel

In the Psychology of Money, Morgan Housel teaches you how to have a better relationship with money and to make smarter financial decisions. Instead of pretending that humans are ROI-optimizing machines, he shows you how your psychology can work for and against you.

Doing well with money isn't necessarily about what you know. It's about how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people. 

1) No one's Crazy: Theory isn’t reality

“The challenge for us is that no amount of studying or open-mindedness can genuinely recreate the power of fear and uncertainty.”

We are not spreadsheets. As much as reading can inform us about what has happened in the past, like stock market crashes or how stocks have trended up and to the right over time, learning about something in a book is very different from actually experiencing the event. So be careful. You may think that you can hold your stocks during a 30% market downturn because you know that only suckers sell at the bottom, but it’s only when you experience that type of downturn that you’ll learn what you’ll do.

2) Luck and risk

It’s easy to convince yourself that your financial outcomes are determined entirely by the quality of your decisions and actions, but that’s not always the case. You can make good decisions that lead to poor financial outcomes. And you can make bad decisions that lead to good financial outcomes. You have to account for the role of luck and risk.

To mitigate the risk of overweighting the role of individual effort in determining outcomes:

Be cautious about the people who you admire and look down upon. Those at the top may have been the benefactors of luck while those at the bottom may have been the victims of risk.

Focus less on individuals, and turn your mind to broader patterns. It’s difficult to replicate the outcomes of successful individuals, but you may be able to participate in broader patterns.

“But more important is that as much as we recognize the role of luck in success, the role of risk means we should forgive ourselves and leave room for understanding when judging failures.”

Be kind to yourself when you make a mistake or end up on the wrong side of risk. The world is uncertain, and it may not be your fault if something goes wrong. Bill Gates, Paul Allen and Kent Evans. 

3. Never Enough

Happy people have something that others dont's. They have 'Enough'. 

• Let the goalpost stop moving is hardest skill
• Social comparison is a problem
• Enough is realizing that the opposite - an insatiable appetite for more - will push you to the point of regret.
• There are many things never worth risking, no matter the potential gain. 

4. Confounding Compounding: Lessons from Buffet

“There is no reason to risk what you have and need for what you don’t have and don’t need. – Warren Buffet

“As I write this Warren Buffet’s net worth is $84.5 billion. Of that, $84.2 billion was accumulated after his 50th birthday. $81.5 billion came after he qualified for Social Security, in his mid-60s.”

Compounding is deceptively powerful.

5. Getting Wealthy vs. Staying Wealthy

“Getting money requires taking risks, being optimistic, and putting yourself out there. But keeping money requires the opposite of taking risk. It requires humility, and fear that what you’ve made can be taken away from you just as fast. It requires frugality and an acceptance that at least some of what you’ve made is attributable to luck, so past success can’t be relied upon to repeat indefinitely.”

Getting money and keeping money are two distinct skills. While getting money necessitates risk taking, hard word, and an optimistic disposition, keeping money is a different skill. It requires you to mitigate risk, avoid getting greedy, and to remember that things can be taken from you at any moment.

6. Tails you win. 

You can be wrong half the time and still make a fortune.  Your success as an investor will be determined by how you respond to punctuated moments of terror, not the years spent on cruise control.  A good definition of an investing genius is the man or woman who can do the average thing when all those around them are going crazy. Tails drive everything. 

“Long tails – the farthest ends of a distribution of outcomes – have tremendous influence in finance, where a small number of events can account for the majority of outcomes.”

The investment decisions you make on 99% of days don’t matter. It’s the decisions you make on a small number of days when something big is happening – a massive downturn, a frothy market, a speculative bubble, etc. – that make all the difference. Warren Buffet has owned 400 to 500 stocks during his life. He’s made the majority of his money on 10 of them.

7. Freedom: Highest form of wealth

“The ability to do what you want, when you want, with who you want, for as long as you want, is priceless. It is the highest dividend money pays.”

Having more flexibility and control over your time is far more valuable than getting another 2% on your returns by working all-nighters or making speculative bets that impact your sleep.

8. Man in the Car Paradox:

Ferraris don’t generate respect

People buy mansions and fancy cars because they want respect and admiration from others. What they don’t realize is that people don’t admire the person with the fancy house or car; they admire the object and think of themselves having that object. So buying impressive items to gain admiration and respect from others is a fool’s pursuit – these things can not be bought.

9. Being rich vs. wealthy

If you’re rich, you have a high current income. But being wealthy is something different – wealth is not visible. It’s the money that you have that’s not spent. It’s the optionality to buy or do something at a future time.

Being rich offers you opportunities in the short-term, but being wealthy provides you the flexibility of having more of the items you want – freedom, time, possessions – in the future.

What’s the optimal portfolio?

The optimal portfolio is one that allows you to sleep at night. It allows you to generate reasonable returns, while also maximizing your quality of life and control over your life. It will stand the test of tough recessions and other blips in the road. Most academic understandings of the ideal portfolio ignore the very real human factors that come into play and that may cause you to deviate from the strategy.

10. Leave room for error

If you want to be in the game for the long run, you need to leave room for error. “Room for error lets you endure a range of potential outcomes, and endurance lets you stick around long enough to let the odds of benefiting from a low-probability outcome fall in your favor.”

A big gap in most people’s understanding of room for error is accepting that there is a difference between what you can technically endure vs. what you can emotionally endure.

For example, maybe you have enough money saved up to last you two years. So maybe you quit your job to pursue your dreams, assuming that you can always get a job when you get closer to $0 in savings. Technically, you can do this, and you won’t even be in debt. But perhaps emotionally, you start getting nervous after you’ve burned 30% of your savings, and all of a sudden you’re depleted psychologically. If that’s the case, you may ditch your dreams and go back to a day job even if you had another year+ in financial runway.

So if you don’t account for your emotions in your models, you may end up in suboptimal situations.

11. The difficulty of long-term financial planning

As humans, we tend to underestimate how much our personality and goals will change with time. This makes long-term financial planning hard. We may think we’ll never have kids or a big house when we’re young, so we plan as if that’s the case, but then we find ourselves with a house and kids that the plan didn’t account for. So when thinking about your investment strategy, try to account for the unknown.

12. The price of investing

“Like everything else worthwhile, successful investing demands a price. But its currency is not dollars and cents. It’s volatility, fear, doubt, uncertainty, and regret – all of which are easy to overlook until you’re dealing with them in real time.”

If you choose to invest and try to compound your wealth, there is a price. And that price is often hidden – it’s the ups and downs of Mr. Market that take you on a ride. It’s the uncertainty and fear that pop into your mind from time to time, as market conditions and your personal conditions change. You have to be willing to pay that price if you want to invest, especially if you’re very active with your strategy.

The only way to deal with this market fee is to accept that it exists and to be willing to pay the price. You need to be prepared to deal with the volatility and uncertainty. It’s a part of the game you’re playing.

13. What game are you playing?

“Few things matter more with money than understanding your own time horizon and not being persuaded by the actions and behaviors of people playing different games than you are.”

If you have a buddy who’s making lots of money trading short-term options and you start getting FOMO and want to play that game, you really need to consider if that aligns with your goals. If you have a 20-year time horizon and like the simple nature of passive investing, it would be stupid for you to start playing your buddy’s game. You may be able to profit, but at what cost? Know the game you’re playing, and know the game others around you are playing as they tell you about their latest tactics.

14. Pessimism is persuasive

Pessimism often sounds smarter and more persuasive than optimism. If something is not going well, it’s easy to think that it will continue not going well. And that sounds very plausible. But what this line of thinking misses is that problems often create demand for change and solutions. And this leads to ingenuity that creates changes that only the optimist might believe in.

15. The problem with hindsight

When we look back at the past, we create stories about why certain things happened. And those stories make us think that the world is understandable and makes sense in some way.

The problem is that these stories may be complete nonsense. What happened may have been completely random, yet our stories delude us into thinking that there is some lesson we can learn to better predict the future.

Avoid the illusion that you have full control in the uncertain world in which we live.

16. Investment results

If you evaluate how well you’ve done by focusing on your individual investments, versus your entire portfolio, you’ll overestimate the brilliance of your winners and feel too much regret about your losers.

Good decisions are not always rational. Sometimes, you have to consider that you’re an emotional creature that may have different needs than an ROI-optimizing model may suggest.

If you can do everything you want without trying to outperform the market, then why try to outperform the market and endure the price tag that this pursuit requires?

17. Cash is not the enemy

“A plan is only useful if it can survive reality. And a future filled with unknowns is everyone’s reality”

If you’re relatively young and earn more than you spend, the best way to optimize your long-term investment returns is to invest the majority of your money into a diversified portfolio of low-cost index funds. Holding more than a few percentage points of your net worth in cash is silly because the value of cash erodes with inflation, and that cash can otherwise be put into assets like stocks that historically have compounded at a rate of 6-7%.

While it’s an alluring prospect to invest in ways that maximize your returns, these theories often don’t account for you psychology. Imagine you’re 95% invested in stocks and have 5% in cash. The market declines 20-25%. Depending on how that crash affects your psychology, having such a small percentage in cash may make you more likely to panic sell some of your stocks during that downturn. And that panic sell may lead to you missing out on far more returns than if you had held a larger percentage of your portfolio in cash and didn’t sell because you felt more secure.

This actually happened to me during the March 2020 downturn. Being too invested with low cash reserves led me to panic sell some of my portfolio, and it was a financially and psychologically costly mistake as we saw one of the fastest market reversals in history. And it led me to re-evaluate my theory of investing.

Humans are not spreadsheets! So even if the models say that you maximize returns by being only 1-5% in cash, you might actually hold 10-20% in cash to protect yourself from your psychology when things go poorly. And if this larger cash reserve saves you from one making one big financial mistake, it might be the best move for your portfolio.

“At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history. Heller responds, “Yes, but I have something he will never have … enough.” Enough. I was stunned by the simple eloquence of that word—stunned for two reasons: first, because I have been given so much in my own life and, second, because Joseph Heller couldn’t have been more accurate. For a critical element of our society, including many of the wealthiest and most powerful among us, there seems to be no limit today on what enough entails.”

― Morgan Housel, The Psychology of Money

Value Alignment and Niche

 Value Alignment – Personal; Eye opener. 

• Value Alignment: Understand top three values, you will be able to add value to other value, and help make money. If you don’t fill your day with high priority actions, it will automatically be filled with low priority distractions. 

Some times we are to busy being too busy being too busy

1. Asking 11 questions, identify values.Top three item that fill out your

1. Space: 

1. Books/Kindle - Learning,

2.  Laptop – work

3.  Mobile - connection, 

4. Water - Life

2. Time: 

1. Self - growth

2. Cooking - Living

3. Work - Living

4. Sleep - Health

3. Energy: where does it not drain?

1. Walking and listening to inspirations

2. Work

3. Misunderstanding – draining.

4. Money: Where are you spending most of your money?

1. Expenses

2. Books

3. Service/Charity

5. Organized: Where people need not tell you to do it

1. Self 

2. Work

3. Kitchen

6. Disciplined & Reliable: Top three areas of your life?

1. Assigned tasks - cooking

2. Family

3. Work/office

7. Dominant Thoughts:

1. What is my niche?

2. What to cook?

3. How to finish my tasks?

8. Visualize Most:

1. Starting something of my own, being of service to society, Legacy

2. Next travel

3. My book

9. Inspires you the most:

1. Nature

2. Book

3. People around

10. Consistent Long term goals:

1. Helping people

2. Being the best

3. Peace and Happiness – spreading 

11. What do you want to study?

1. Psychology/Human behavior

2. Finance/book/money

Highest Values?

• Contribution to community

• Family

• Self-Development

Spend time doing things of highest value. 

2. Identify your least three values: 

1. Cleaning – Like to systemize it

2. Gossiping

3. TV

3. Reflect on your current life style and make a mental note on % of value – 70%

4. Top 3 Action you must stop – (Automate, Delegate, outsource) : Cleaning/Technology automation/Marketing/procrastination

5. Top 3 Actions you must start – Find niche/Put product in place/marketing

6. Commit yourself. 

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder

In the novel "Sophie's World" by Jostein Gaarder, Sophie Amundsen is the main protagonist and the character through whom the story unfolds in the beginning. Hilde Moller Knag, on the other hand, is a character within the book, but she is not directly related to Sophie.

Hilde Moller Knag is introduced as the daughter of Albert Knag, who is a major character in the story. Hilde exists in a separate reality, as she is a fictional character created by Albert Knag as part of his plan to teach  about philosophy and the nature of reality. The story alternates between Sophie's world, where Sophie is learning about philosophy from a mysterious mentor named Alberto Knox, and Hilde's world, where she discovers the book about Sophie's life that her father has written for her.

So, while Hilde Moller Knag is a significant character in the book, she is not directly related to Sophie Amundsen but rather connected to the fictional narrative created by Albert Knag to educate his daughter. She is the reason that Sophie and Alberto were created in the first place. Hilde bears a strong resemblance to Sophie in that she learns to think philosophically alongside Sophie. She is compassionate, because she feels for Alberto and Sophie, even though they appear to be fictional characters. 

Hilde believes that Sophie exists somewhere, although she cannot explain how. At age fifteen, she still retains enough belief in the mysterious nature of life and the inexplicable mysteries that surround us to hold a firm belief in something that would be characterized as impossible. But it turns out that, although she does not know it, Hilde is correct—Sophie and Alberto do "exist" in some strange way. Hilde represents that sort of person who can think and reason well but also is willing to believe in what she feels to be true regardless of what anyone else thinks. So, in some ways, Hilde represents that ideal reader for Gaarder's book. Sophie's World is designed to be both a novel and a history of philosophy, and someone like Hilde would understand and think about the philosophical ideas that are put forth but would also be partial to the fantastical aspects of the story.

An addictive blend of mystery, philosophy and fantasy about life, the universe and everything. 

There are lot of questions to ponder through out the book like:

• Who are you?
• Where does the world come from?

At somepoint something must have come from nothing...the only thing we require to be a good philosopher is the faculty of wonder...so The Natural philosophers belive that nothing can come from nothing. Myths are a precarious balance between the forces of good and evil. Fate is the fortuneteler trying to forsee something that is really quite unforeseeable. Per Socrates wisest is she who knows what she does not know. Athens say several tall buildings have risen from the ruins. Then we have Plato, Aristotle, Hellenism, Descartes,  Spinoza, Locke, Hume, Berkeley, Bjerkely, Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Marx, Darwin, Freud British empiricism (from sense) , continental rationalism, 

We go through the Major's cabin, various exchange of letters and post cards, various cultures and ages, Renaissance, the enlightenment, French enlightenment movement covering cultural optimism, return to nature, Natural religion, Human rights, the fairy tale genre - Grimm's Fairy Tales like Snow White and Seven Dwarfs, Rumpelstiltskin, The Frog Prince, Hansel and Gretel.....points and counterpoints and our own time.

Everything is one and this one is a divine mystery that everyone shares. 

Time and space are two forms of intuitions. There are certain conditions governing the mind's operation which influence the way we experience the world. 

The tension between 'being' and 'nothing' becomes resolved in the concept of 'becoming'. Because if something is in the process of becoming, it both is and is not. 

With strong emhasis on God's activity in the course of history, people were preoccupied with the writing of history for many thousands of years. And these historical roots constitute the very core of their holy scriptures. 

Main difference between human and other animals are human reasoning. 

A Russian astronaut and a Russian brain surgeon were once discussing religion. The astronaut said I have been to outer space many times, but never seen God, to this the brain surgeon said, I have operated many clever brains but never seen a single thought. 

We may desire something very badly that the outside world will not accept. We may repress our desires. That means we try to push them away and forget about them. There is a third element in the human mind. Echos of moral demands and judgments. World's moral expectations become part of us. Freud called this the superego. Conscience is a component of the superego. What we remember is preconscious, what we do not is unconscious. 

A phenomena that we did not believe in before may be true. our great grandparent might not have known about TV or electricity or mobile or computers.