All you need is your brains, bikes and your bros!

Life is beautiful.Life is mesmerizing. Life is also one of the best things that happened to us. Life is also short.

Many a times, we start running after things that we think matter prima facie. A new friend, a new crush, a new social networking site. We get attached to it, we start associating ourself with it, and then we start attaching our existence to it. One fine day, that friend goes away, that crush finds a new partner, the social networking site starts asking for subscription fee.

That day, we realize all that we sacrificed running after it, and what all we have lost in the fruitless and senseless pursuit. That day, we may regret what we have lost, or we may regret every mistake that we made.

Life gives us millions of emotions. We experience different things everyday, we feel different feelings everyday. We make a lot of friends, meet lots of people. What we do wrong is getting attached to each of them.

A comic I read years ago had the line which is the title of this post. The complete line was:

"All you need in this world is your brains, your bros and your bikes, and ride!"

(Biker Mice from Mars).

The idea is that we need to identify what is really important for us and whats not. We need to be choosy about what and whom we choose to associate ourselves with. Attaching our existence with transient people and things will only lead us to lose what is really worthwhile for us.

Relationships need to be identified carefully. We need to identify what really helps us achieve our goals, and helps us grow as individuals.

Identifying your close circle of people and needs is the core of any happy life. Over attachment can only hurt.

Above all, have your brains always with you. They will help you in any situation, and are most reliable.

Vivid emotions and their world

The title seems weird,but the post will explain.

Emotions are the driving force for anybody. Our power to love and hate is what distinguishes us from trees. Emotions allow us to connect to the world around us and feel what our heart says.

Emotions are powerful but they are unique to everybody. Emotional responses vary from person to person but sometimes this leads to problems.

I once read about an article about amplified emotional responses. The category of people who aren't exposed to a lot of different emotional scenarios or are generally hyperactive (like me) tend to have vivid emotional responses to situations which may seem normal to other people.

Now, these responses aren't really targeted to be sharper. The first analysis that brain does of the situation puts the situation in a much higher frame than it may actually be. The brain also tends to overthink and overanalyse the situation which leads to sharper responses.

Imagination also leads to contributing to this phenomenon.We tend to imagine things that aren't really true for the situation. Imagining things that aren't there doesn't help.

Sharper emotions have their benefits too.we tend to be happier for small things and that makes the world happier.

The main problem is that sharper emotions can be misinterpreted. Interpreting it as over sensitivity is the worst thing that you can do to an emotionally vivid person. Not anyone's fault,but this happens.

If a person is happy just because your earrings look good today, don't judge him as a weird personality. Chances are that he may actually be happy about it but fails to express. Also, if he is hyperactive, he is probably trying to find something to say about your earrings, but fails to find it.

Dedicated to my hyper friends,

Peace,

Atri

Passion.Happiness.Success

An interesting article I recently read about happiness and success.

http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/the-only-definition-of-success-that-matters.html

That lead me to start thinking and wondering what is it that defines happiness for us, what is it that allows us to be truly happy about our work, our success and believe that we do fulfilling work.

The route to happiness is contentment. The route to contentment is hard work. The route to hard work is passion.

I have seen many a brilliant persons. Full of brains,they ensure that the thing they are tackling is given full justice and it turns out to be as brilliant as it can be. They work day and night, and are so engrossed into their work that they tend to ignore the world around them.

What drives them? Is it money? Fame? I doubt that.

An article I read years ago said that to be a successful person, you need to love what you do. Cliche, I know, but please bear with me. The article said that it should be the case not only because you will work hard, but also because you will not be distracted by the money, fame that will eventually follow.

A very senior open source developer I was recently talking to made a very important point. He said that money is important, no doubt but the reason human beings live is to have that fulfilling feeling at the ends of their lives.

Is money that feeling? If you say yes, sure, but I would advice to look inside again.

The best thing about your work is your craft. The beauty of building something that holds value. Sure, you will need to do some mundane work that shall be necessary in order to fulfill your bills, but what matters is what you are doing for the majority of your time.

For the free spirited (and more towards the rebellious side, like me), the rules and structure on top of your work is like someone physically strangulating you. You tell the craftsman *what* to build, then trust his capabilities and good judgment to come up with a beautiful product, but this is applicable only when the craftsman is ready to believe in his capabilities, and in the beauty of his art.

When you feel you are not content with life, stop blaming the world. Look at yourself, and if you dont see the craftsman, you are doing it wrong.

The way of the craftsman is to pursue the excellence of his art, the excellence of his skills, and the excellence of his personality. Sure, the family he has is his primary responsibility, but beyond it, he must honour the craft he calls his own.

And walk towards the goal of the master. And be the master.

Peace,

Atri