Emotions are the key to courage and alive!

Photo by Tengyart on Unsplash

We start feeling emotions from the very first day we get into our consciousness. We laugh with our friends to share our joyous moments. We cry when someone breaks our heart. We feel low when someone goes away. We feel high when we are with the right ones at the right time. These feelings are emotions. But what it is exactly? Is it human nature? Is it a way of interaction without having to say a word? Is it a deep connection of two souls which lights up the spiritual recesses? Maybe it’s all of them. But specifically, it’s the outcome of mutual state of minds. When two souls or minds co-relate, then emotions emerge.

Emotions are present in each and every one. Different persons picture it in their own way. Some say “It’s weak to be emotional. Emotions can distract you from the decisions you want to take for good.” I won’t deny it, but it’s not entirely true. A great mind had said, nothing is false, everything we see, we hear, we feel is truth. Cause everyone and everything has their own angle to the truth. In some situations, it seems to be true but in other situations, it may seem false. Here, another angle to the truth is that emotions are a very powerful feeling.

I’ve seen people going extreme in emotions, both in a good way and a bad way. But if you can channel this feeling in the right way, you can do great things to your life. If you love what you do, then you unknowingly put your emotions in that thing and this is what gives you courage in those moments of the reverse wind. When things aren’t falling in the right place, this is what keeps you going. Emotions are in there in your subconscious all the time. They keep you motivated.

Being emotional is a good thing and a bad thing. Let’s talk about the good thing first. Good thing is that it is the key to your courage in those low moments of life and it’s a key to being human. When we are emotional we do things with extremity. Like I said earlier if this extremity is channelized in positivity, the outcome will be great and positive for your life. The bad thing is sometimes being emotional can distract you from making the right decisions and emotions are channelized in negativity, which can make life really miserable.

From the experience I’ve had is, people who are emotional are mostly good at heart. But we should keep in mind that being emotional and being psychotic are way different things. While being emotional we shouldn’t forget the practicality of the situation. Emotion is human nature and Psychosis is a disorder. Emotional people are people who still can see the real picture and can adapt to the situation while being in that feeling.

Having some emotions towards our family and friends and the work we do, greatly enhance our relations, boost up our creativity, makes us alive. What is alive? Alive is a state of mind. A person can be breathing but still not alive, yes that’s possible. Until and unless he has emotions and feelings, he is way too far from being alive. Life isn’t about just being biologically and physically alive, but emotionally and mentally alive. Emotions are good but discipline is a great ingredient in the recipe of life. Life we really want is a mix of little emotions, great discipline and self-compassion.

Having said all of that, there should be a practical philosophy which everyone should follow. This can make you a better human being while being an emotional person. Our own values are very valuable. We should always let our values drive our decisions.

Recently I was watching an interview of Tim Ferriss on Mastering Any Skill. Tim had given great advice. I’ll cite him as stated – “The way I look at philosophy is, ideally it’s an operating system for life, for making a decision about what you should do and what you should not do.”.   So the whole point here is we should leverage ourselves to be emotional cause it makes us alive, but at the same time we shouldn’t let our values fade away, we should follow a practical philosophy, which will eventually make our lives better and us alive.

Continue Reading

Taking the control of your own life!

In our lives, we live through different phases. We meet new people, different people. People who were just strangers to us and then they slowly become our acquaintances, then friends and sometimes something more.
 
As this happens to everybody, this all has had happened to me as well. After leaving home years back, when I came to start a new phase of my life. It was the start of my professional career. I started meeting new people, everyday. Some of them I didn’t even notice when they came in and went out of my life. But some of them came to stay for long. Friends, close friends, best friends and more. We met, we laughed our stomachs out, we roamed, we explored, we shared things, we conversed. I felt really blessed with these people in my life. But then the next phase came in my life, when i saw these people go out my life as well. I was a whole new person, when they went.
 
Before these people came in my life, I was living a normal, not much funny, a bit serious, disciplined life. But the life i was living was joyous, self-contented, not dependent on somebody else, not living through someone else’s decisions. I was happy. I was enjoying life. I was alive. Not that with these people I didn’t enjoy or felt alive. But there was something else to this. I felt changed after their vanishing act.
 
Post their existence in my life, my life started changing, I as a person started changing. The circumstances which came along with these people, stirred the change in my life and my personality.
 
Now I was totally engaged with these people. When people meet their values, their thoughts, their personalities collide and affect mutually. I saw myself adapting myself values that those people had. Earlier, I had a habit of not letting things go, but now I was letting things go. I started taking decisions based on the circumstances, decisions which could make a great negative difference to my life in a longer run. I saw myself loosing out on my own values.
 
But all these people come as a phase in our life, unless they are your true soul mate. Rest of the people come and go. Like the waves in the ocean, some waves are high and some are low. High waves make a great impact on the surfer and low waves doesn’t.
 
When these people went of my life and I got the chance to reassess the path of my life. I saw how my path had deviated after i had met these people. If I didn’t take any actions my life’s path which is now deviated from it’s original course, it’s gonna stay this way. So I started list down all the aspects on which had caused the deviation.
 
I came up with the following things:
  • Letting go attitude
  • Loosing out on my own values
  • Being too selfless for those people
  • Doing things which mattered to those people, but might be against my own values or morals
  • Leaving my own regular routines (i.e. fitness routing), for giving out more time to those people
 
Then I thought how can I fall back to my original path of life from which I had deviated. Things which should make me the same man I was before, were as following:
  • Discipline
  • To value my own values
  • Stay on the routines, no matter what
  • Self-compassion
  • Do what I love
 
I started following these things again now with more rigidity and I can now see where I am heading. I’m heading the right way. I’m meeting new people still, making friends still but while keeping up with the above things. I found the control of my own life back to myself.
 
By taking my own example here, I had mentioned several things above. But it doesn’t mean that people that I had met were wrong or they disturbed my life. No! That’s not what it is. The reason for my life path’s deviation was myself. I started loosing out on myself. That’s what caused this deviation.
 
This happens with a great number of people in the world. When they take decisions under painful situations or circumstances, which leads them to a life path which is not good in the longer run.
 
So the bottom line is we will live through different phases of life. We will definitely meet different people. These situations will arise. But it’s up to you, what you choose and what you let go. If you choose to stay with your own values or let them go. If you choose your disciple or let them go. If you choose to do what you love or let it go.
 
Of-course sometimes compromising a little is not that bad, for something or someone you love. Sometimes it’s not that bad to loosen up a bit and let go. It’s not wrong. But just watch out, if you don’t compromise your whole personality for someone else’s sake and you don’t let go of yourself. That IS wrong.
 
Just put your values on priority and keep up with your routines, no matter what! Cause these are the things you do for yourself, not for others. If you mix these things right, while you being with the people you love. That would be the life worth living with joy, pride and no regrets.
 
So go ahead, take back the control of your own life. Be yourself and stay motivated.
Continue Reading

Life you really want comes with discipline, consistency and self-compassion, always!

Photo by Hello I'm Nik on Unsplash

Photo by Hello I’m Nik on Unsplash

Life!

It’s not a predefined path towards happiness or sadness but a way which we carve out for ourselves. It’s based on the choices we make in our voyage.

Life is not a straight line, it’s a zig-zag path. Mixed with both the lows and highs of happiness and sadness. There has not been a single fortunate person who just had only happiness in life from the cradle till the grave and no single unfortunate one who just had sadness. Everybody, every single person experiences both the emotions in his or her lifetime. Though the ratio of these feelings differs for each and everyone.

If we want to live a happy and healthy life, we need to stay happy in a bigger ratio than sadness. How can we achieve it?

Anyone can achieve it, cause happiness is a choice not a state of mind. At times there will be situations that definitely gonna make us sad, but it’s our choice to fight them or to surrender. We do have a choice to surface up from that sadness. We have a choice to be happy. But it needs strong willpower to make that choice. More than 60% of people I know as friends, family or as close ones don’t possess that kind of willpower, which results in them being in a sad state which is totally unnecessary for them. They could choose happiness over that sadness but they didn’t, because their willpower was not that strong which didn’t allow them to move on from that sad thing. So how do we deal with this?

To reach a greater goal, first, we need to take the first step. That’s the most difficult part. Most of the people couldn’t make it there, because they don’t even take that first step.

Once we have taken the first step to get started, then we need to keep on moving by taking short but steady steps. Some people, after getting started, get so excited that they move on high pace, but they couldn’t keep up that pace and get tired of different circumstances like not getting the desired results or physical tiredness etc. and eventually they stop moving. But people who take smaller steps and keep on going on a steady pace and not thinking much about the goal but the process of reaching there, eventually get there.

Taking small steps and keep on going is not easy as it may seem, but it’s better than the former one. We must practice it with discipline so much until it becomes a native habit. Who said no efforts are needed? Of course, it will take great efforts, but won’t it be worth it? If it will give you a happy and healthy life.

Haven’t you heard, a healthy mind in a healthy body? In most cases it’s true. How could you achieve it? [Here’s a good article on 7 Steps to a Healthy Body and Mind.] There is only one way to be in a routine. Just show up every day, do it every day. Practice self-compassion each and every day.

Come on, make that choice, be happy be healthy. Show up every day for the routine you want to follow. Take that first step and keep moving.

Thanks to James Clear and Anca Dumitru for inspiring this post.

 

Inspiration only reveals itself after perspiration.

– James Clear

Continue Reading

How long does it take to save a month’s worth of expenses as your emergency fund?

I was reading through my daily reading list today and I came across some good articles which really helped me learn something on how to save emergency funds. It really came out to me as an eye opener!

Every finance advisor today advises us that we should keep aside three to six months’ worth of expenses for emergency. But very less number of people end up saving that kind of emergency fund.



What’s the reason that rest of the people couldn’t do it?

Answer is very simple to this question, cause they save very less. Suppose you are saving just 5% of money from your whole income, that means you are spending 95% of your money in your expenses. So we’ll check how much time it actually takes to save only one month’s emergency fund.
By a simple formula, which I got from an article:



So you’ll be able to save a single month’s worth expense in 95/5 = 19 Months!  Yes More than a year and a half for just a single month’s worth of emergency fund.

That’s a bad news, obviously. But there is a flip side to this situation. If we just increase our monthly saving to 10% the time needed to save the money for a month comes down drastically to 9 Months only. An exponential drop! Just Imagine, you saved 50% for 2 months so you’ll be able to get that 1 month’s emergency fund in just 2 Months!!

So the bottom line is we need to save money a little more than we usually do, if we want to save some good amount of emergency funds. How to seriously save money, you can get some help on that here. Rob Berger (doughroller.net) has explained it very well.

Here’s another link for a great article I found in Morning Star’s yesterday’s newsletter, 5 Steps to Build an Emergency Fund. Great Article.


Hope you enjoy today’s post and start saving more towards a great emergency fund goal! Good luck.
Continue Reading

A poem for today’s post, goes by the title ‘Sea’ by yours truly.

Sea!
by Himanshu Sachdeva

I’m sea!
Flowing boundless and free!!

Letting the life be flourished,
And the creatures inside me get nourished!!

My waves live with soaring energies!
But inside of me there is an abyss!

Where live the darkest fears of mine!
It in fact is devil’s shrine!!

There lives no thing bright!
And it goes deep to infinite!!

Continue Reading

Effect of alcohol on our sleep!

Some people think that a “night cap” of alcohol will help you sleep; this couldn’t be further from the truth. While alcohol may temporarily relax some muscles in your body, it’s extremely detrimental to your sleeping system.

Alcohol Suppresses Deep Sleep, and REM sleep! Alcohol will suppress the 3rd, 4th, and 5th stage of sleep, which will result in a very light, un-restful sleep. Reduced REM sleep usually leads to a REM sleep rebound, in the form of intense dreaming or nightmares, which weaken your sleep for days afterwards.

Considering that most people combine alcohol with coffee to fight hang-over, this is a deadly combination for your sleep system! Alcohol also dehydrates your body, so even small doses of it will produce un-restful sleep. As you remember, your blood vessels dilate during deep sleep to allow more blood flow to the muscles. If your body is dehydrated this process is much more difficult because dehydrated blood doesn’t flow as well through your blood vessels as fully hydrated blood.

Note: Never Combine Alcohol With Sleeping Pills! If You Do, You’re Risking Your life!

Source: The book – ‘Powerful sleep’

Continue Reading

Fear of the unknown!

Death!

The reality of life, is death. Knowing that if we are alive we have to die someday, is not a thought that would annoy your mind. But knowing that you have only 8 months to live is a thought that can recess the deepest and the darkest corner of your mind.

You would say why me? Why now? Why this?

All these questions, but one answer, destiny. Cause it was written in your destiny.

But on the brighter side, knowing this can free a personality from within your own self. The free one. The soothe one. The conquering one. Yes that’s you minus your fear of the unknown.

You see, it just takes a knowing to get out of a fear. Knowing of the time you are left with.

So likewise you only need knowledge, to clear up the fog of any unknown. Better you get inside the fog and spray it clear.

For example, I like football, I like watching it, but one fine day, some boys are playing in the back yard and someone kicks the ball hard and the ball just come rolling to my feet. Now I have two options, one – I’ll think if I’ll be able to kick the ball nicely and to a great reach, but I’ll be afraid, what if I couldn’t kick it? What if I missed the shot? What if I kicked it in wrong direction? With all these thoughts I’ll pass the thought of kicking and walk away. But on the other side the second option – I won’t think for even a fraction of a second and kick it with all my gut, I know even if I missed it nothing gonna happen! Seriously nothing! But if I kicked it hard and it went to a great reach. Boys will gimme a nice little smile and I would walk away happily.

A large part of the society is the former. The ‘miss it’ one.

That’s the reason I’m writing this right now. Cause I too had been through this shit myself. I had been the former and the latter both. You know which one felt nice? The latter one. Cause he took his chances to not to regret later.

The same way if you get to know the date of your death is just eight months away, you would like to pass each of your day like its your last. Exactly that’s what I’m talking about. Cause you will conquer the fear of the unknown. And live it freely.

So instead of getting yourself a deadly decease and than coming to the above feeling, why not just do a single thing which will help you throughout and you will be able to live like a free spirit and enjoy your inner self. That one thing will change you completely, it will get the frightened one out of you and will make you a true free man or woman. And that one thing is – Wake up everyday watching the sun rising through your window and think, hey! Get your ass out of bed quickly and do the things you really really love, dude it’s your last day! Do as much as you can! You never gonna get ‘this’ day ever again!

Moral of the story, live it like its the last day of your life! And conquer the fear of the unknown. Live well, live free!

Continue Reading

Why do they call it “better half”?

Most men call their wives their “better half” because they believe it, but the expression comes from an ancient Middle Eastern legend. When a Bedouin man had been sentenced to death, his wife pleaded with the tribal leader that because they were married, she and her husband had become one, and that to punish one-half of the union would also punish the half who was innocent. The court agreed and the man’s life was saved by his “better half.”

Continue Reading

Rosetta stone!

Rosetta Stone
Script is being written,
I’ve found that bronze chisel which was long gone!
I’ve now started writing that long pending story,
This time on an excavated Rosetta stone!

Life is ephemeral,
Reminiscences are making them last long!
There is dense fog cloud in my chest,
Now it’s just trying to be blown!

They said it’s just the sixth degree of separation,
The one will loom before long!
I trust them to make this ensue,
And Now I see her coming, holding in her left hand, that ‘Greek Anemone’.

She’s rising through the half light,
On the night of the crescent moon!
This anecdote is in the making,
Unsure of what made it look-up atone!
Continue Reading