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Is my castle built with strong foundation?

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by Viswamitra, Sep 21, 2012.

  1. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    [JUSTIFY]I get into this mental chatter quite often. Is my castle built with strong foundation? Will it last the test of entire span of my life time? I have many chatters going in my mind and at least this one gives me immense amount of pleasure as it involves introspection and mid-course correction in my life. If I am not occupied with this chatter, my mind is delving into some of the things I would have done differently if I get another chance in the past or projecting the multiple scenarios that could become a reality in future. To a certain extent analyzing the past helps me derive some lessons out of it but a prolonged delving makes me waste an invaluable present moment. When I delve into the future I only project various scenarios without spending enough time to think about what I need to do now in order to have specific result in the future.

    Next major thought in my mind is whether what I built as my understanding of this world correct? The foundation for this was laid by my parents when I was young. On top of it, I have life experiences of close to 6 decades now. I keep building these metrics forever without verifying whether they work or not. I have no compilation of metrics that I could benchmark against. I have difficulty in understanding what real values are embedded strongly in my mind leave alone understanding the values of others. I speak about my values and how much each one of them mean to me is questionable always as I think if they are important values, I must be able to give my life rather than letting these values down. I have good and bad experiences in my life and I learn lessons out of both of them. Is my understanding correct about the lessons learned out of these experiences? I have a strange feeling many of the values I have built are in conflict with each other without which I won’t be having uneasy, uncomfortable and unhappy moments in my life. If my values, thoughts, words and actions are in perfect synchronization, why would I not be happy? I believe I need to keep finding those conflicts and eliminate them for me to become a better person. I am not going to give it up just by thinking that it is too late to fix them.

    I also feel that I have the habit of analyzing everything I come across and determine whether they are good or bad. I have a need to label them into one or the other categories. I wrote to Srama in my response to her blog about her daughter, “I am happy enjoying everything around me as long as I don’t have to make a decision which one is right for me”. Children are perfect example of diverting their minds from one to another pretty quickly and they are less judgmental when compared to adults. If there are people around me, I am deciding quickly who is good and bad and try to label them quickly. If I see things around me, I decide quickly what is good or bad. Why can’t I enjoy people around me with no strings attached and accept the people as they are? Why can’t I lead a life without judging everything around me?

    I have a feeling my judgment about the world will be perfected once I begin my work to fix my mind. Let me try and understand whether my castle is built with good foundation. Am I building values in my life based on good understanding of what they are, with proper understanding of my experiences and whether they conflict with each other? Do I have an open mind to accept if what I perceived as a bad experience turned out to be good or in the words of RGS, a curse turned out to be a boon? I have come to the conclusion that judgments I make everyday are in the wrong direction and they should be inwards instead of outwards. What is happening outside in the world is not impacting me but it is my reaction to what is happening outside that is impacting me every day.
    [/JUSTIFY]
     
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  2. iyerviji

    iyerviji Finest Post Winner

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    My dear Viswa

    Thought provoking post. I just got these quotes from google, hope it will be ofuse to you

    The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive.
    -Albert Einstein

    Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
    Mark Twain (1835-1910);
     
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  3. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Viji Akka,

    Thank you for your first response and for those wonderful quotes.

    Viswa
     
  4. Anandchitra

    Anandchitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Viswa written so well and crafted with years of experience. Through your eyes I got to learn many and also look at it from a different point of view
    These were along the thoughts I had while raising my child. I guess till then I did not give much importance but a child has ahabit of bringing many ideas values and beliefs to focus and make one retrospect. Not one with much thinking going on up there (read brain) i just brought up my kid in a fun way.
    I am glad I am able to catch up reading this very well written and thought provoking snippet. Thanks for writing
     
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  5. rgsrinivasan

    rgsrinivasan IL Hall of Fame

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    Thats a very clear introspection Viswa. And I am not sure, if I'll ever be able to make such an introspection in my life. Besides one thing is common it seems. The constant chattering of the mind and the never ending debate that we always have. And I can't claim mine as any closer to this Sir. This is written at a higher level and clearly stands out. -rgs
     
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  6. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear AC,

    Thank you for your wonderful response. The feeling is mutual about looking forward to the comments of each other. I am a big believer that the children keep watching the actions of the parents and therefore, our every action speaks volume to the children about their values and principles in life.

    I also believe every child has five core values such as Truth, Righteousness, Love, Peace and Non-violence as inherent qualities and they validate these values in the actions of the parents. If a child experiences happy childhood, half the battle his won in her/his future.

    Your comments are invaluable and keep them coming.

    Viswa
     
  7. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear RGS,

    Thank you for your kind feedback and we all learn from each other. When we know well that chatter in our mind will never stop, at least, we can channel it towards a direction that would become valuable to us. stopping the chatter is a lot of effort. Many times, I feel that I have a pet as a monkey and I am proud of it. Because of love it enjoys from me, it gets away from many mischievous things it does. It wants to be active all the time. All I try to do is to build a post right next to it and make it claim up and down when it is idling. When it is buys with work, it does not chatter much.

    Viswa
     
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  8. knbg

    knbg Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Beautiful reflection dear Viswa Sir..:).!!

    Helped to gather my 'wander lust' thoughts together.....
    I was clueless about the confusions or rather I shall say a feeling of discomfort I was experiencing these days....and your post gave me a good perspective and direction to channelize my thoughts...

    This is the first post( after a long time....... ), I read.....ruminated for sometime and posted my FB......
    Thank you for this eye-opening post Sir....may be the Supreme power chose to give this message through you....:)
     
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  9. Megalife

    Megalife Platinum IL'ite

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    My dear vishwaji
    I am still trying to fathom the fullest meaning of this write up.
    in several situations I too question my understandings.....several times what I feel so much as wrong has indeed been right. The biggest challenge in our efforts to understand what reality is, lies at the heart of the observer.

    ....Couldnt agree more....when I hear of serious conflicts in a household, my first thoughts are for the children....how would it shape their tomorrow? "No other success can compensate for failure in the home."
    Mega
     
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  10. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Bhargavi,

    Thank you for responding to this post and I would wait for years to get responses like that. It makes me feel so good. Frankly, all communication and all our interactions are happening for a reason. We all aspire to be an instruments in His Divine hands. With humility, I say that I am merely a pen in His Divine Hand.

    Viswa
     
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