Anticipation

How's this for a teaser? I can't tell you what it is right now (maybe later) but this is a really exciting time for me and I am eagerly waiting for fall of this year. It has the potential to be a significantly life changing period for me and my family and I can hardly wait. ok enough said... back to the daily grind for now.

Life has been pretty hectic - a bit more than usual recently. I could use a vacation - a big long one but then given the economic times, that would be fraught with danger.

We have been thinking seriously about Nalin's health. He has enlarged tonsils, adenoids etc. The docs think that they could be because he suffers from chronic allergies. So, we got a sleep study done on him. As luck would have it, thatnight Nalin was going through a bad cold/cough spell. His sleep study results are not encouraging at all but I wonder how much of those results were influenced by his cold/cough and his inability to get a proper night sleep. Anyways, we are planning to take a second opinion and eventually will need to decide whether to take him through surgery or not. Its not a decision I look forward to but it is an important one. fingers crossed for now.

Kids at home are watching so much of thomas on TV that it is kind of scary. All engines have a number associated with them. The situation is such that my little one looks at a number somewhere (say 5) and calls out that's James. James, ofcourse is a train engine with number 5 on it. So no more tv for them during week days and esp. no more thomas.

Weather has started warming up ... and our evening outside walks are beginning.

A simple thought

I have often wondered what is the origin of a thought. Where do they come from and where do they go? Once a thought originates, it can lead to certain emotions or vice versa. For example I am happy today (emotions), and this can lead to thoughts in my mind (specific or random). Conversely, I am thinking about my kids or a recent vacation (thoughts) and this can lead me to be happy or worried or tense (emotions). So, emotions and thoughts are interlinked. Now, together, thoughts and emotions are linked to the brain. Why?? Well, a thought/ emotion can force the brain to generate signals in the body that result in the body taking certain actions. For example, I get a thought that it is a nice warm day and the golden gate would be a sight to see. I feel anticipation or curiosity or some sort of emotion. The combination forces the brain to send a signal to the body, that ok lets go visit SFO today. The body takes ACTION and I go see the golden gate.

Do you see how powerful thoughts are? A simple thought can cause us to start doing things. Similarly, an action can lead to thoughts. For example, I am driving my car (action) and a thought strikes me that maybe next time I should take the train. or, I go for a walk (action) and a thought comes to my mind that "this is fun and I should do it more often". Therefore, Actions can lead to thoughts as well.

So, it follows from above, that thoughts, emotions and actions are all inter-linked. But the question still remains, where do thoughts originate from? Who is causing them to come in our mind or making them leave? Why do we remember some thoughts even after a long time and why do we not remember other thoughts no matter how hard we try? What causes thoughts/actions/events to become a memory, permanently imbedded in our brain while others are lost, which we cannot recall even after a few hours or days. For example, I recall events from my childhood even now but If someone were to ask me what I had for lunch last monday, I would not be able to tell them.

This is something to ponder on - thoughts. This will eventually lead us to discuss another important aspect of self realization - thoughtless state of mind!!! Till then, think about thoughts once in a while.

Human nature

I have often wondered why, given a particular situation, two people in the same situation react differently? Let's take the example of workplace - you would find all sort of people there. People who are overly aggressive, people who are a little aggressive, people who jump to a conclusion at the drop of a hat, people who couldn't care less about anything, confident people, scared people, indifferent people and so on. So, what makes people behave differently? Could it be their genetic code? or could it be the environment in which they were raised? could be that people are afraid of something? Taking an example 2 people could be afraid of being found to be technically incompetent yet one could go on the defensive and keep a low profile while the other could be aggressive and try to remove the deficiency. A third person could also be aggressive and pretend to know the subject and so on.

I feel, the bottom line is that all of us are insecure w.r.t something or the other be to work, finances, relationships etc etc. There is a scared little buddy sitting within each of us. Depending on this buddy's feelings, we act in one way or another.

Finally, I think all of us need to learn to face our fears. If you are afraid of swimming, get into the pool (not at the deepend though) :) If you are afraid to speak up, take a deep breath and do speak up. If you are afraid that people might mock you for technical incompetence, then take steps to rectify the same but in no situation should one remain fearful of what others might think or do. Face your fears and challenges and move forward. Lastly, the road to success does not include stepping on other people's toes... be collabrative rather than confrontationist. you will go far...

BTW, this was just a general post, before people start jumping to conclusions. :)