Downside Up

My experiment with fatigue and tiredness

2011-05-02T00:59:00.001-07:00

An hour of jogging,early in the morning(which is a pretty heavy workout for me),two hours of football in the scorching sun and an hour of lfootball in the evening exhausted me.I was so tired even to rise my hand up.But still,I gathered all my powers to stay awake and watch a game between man utd and arsenal.Manchester utd lost 1-0.This made me even more tired.Then I decided to retire for the day.
That is when I found a book by dale carnegie at my bedside stand.Its called “how to stop worrying and start living”.Just out of sheer interest I took a glance at the index.”how to banish fatigue”.hmm, interesting topic…
I then flew to that page and started reading the chapter.The author advocated the theory that every person who is fatigued , actually acted fatigued.
This got me thinking.Am I acting to be tired? does my mind and attitude really make me tired?It seemed to be a better idea to test and find out.That is when I remembered that I’ve not written a post in this blog.I then determined to seize this opportunity to test the point made by the author.
So I concentrated for about 10 minutes on some positive things such as light and gravity.By then I was all set to experiment with the fact.
And hence,I took a paper and a pen,started writing out this post.If you could have smelled a scent of sleepiness right from the beginning of this post,you are right.It’s not in me to stay awake till late night,let alone some special occasions. My eyes would start burning,if I tried to,and eventually would fall asleep on the couch itself.This is surely not easily modifiable.But this time,I would not give up.So I did some eye exercises that I’ve learnt in a yoga class.felt better.After that I continued writing my post.
And here are the results of my experiments.Its true!! The time was 11:30 pm when I finished writing this and I was surprised to notice that I still had much left in me.I came to know that your mind overcomes your body,if we really tried to.
But after this I got a doubt,a really serious one.If a man was so able to overcome tiredness using his mind,why should we even need sleep?This I could not answer.
So,as we reach the end of the post,I should conclude by saying some ways to be energized, when you are fatigued.Here,they are:

Make your jobs interesting.We rarely get tired when we are doing something interesting and exciting.Do interesting things or spice up jobs in the way you like.
Act ‘as If’ you are interested in the job at hand. This acting will tend to make your interest real.It will also decrease the chances of you getting fatigued.
Ask this question to yourself when you are just at you breaking point.”Since you have to do it,why not have a good time doing it?”
Our life is what our thoughts make it.Talk to yourself as often as you can,to fine tune your thoughts into purely positive.
And,the most important one.Don’t worry.Smile,breathe and go slowly.

“Although an ass is tired, he continues to carry his burden; he is unmindful of cold and heat; and he is always contented; these three things should be learned from the ass”
-Chanakya
Now for those who doubt my claim that I wrote this post in night by seeing the time I posted this,don’t tell that you couldn’t see a just about to sleep ciby in my writing.No confusion.Please believe.

Just the way you are

2011-05-01T23:52:00.000-07:00

“ ’Cos you're amazing
Just the way you are”

Today,when I was hearing this one song by bruno mars,I suddenly recounted an experience I had long ago.About 6 years ago,I was in a residential school in kodaikkanal,doing my sixth standard.It was a beautiful hill to school in.Well away from the noisy,fast paced city,we had a beautiful waterfalls behind our hostel.There was no building around it,at least as far as I could see.This is the place where I learnt to taste the sweetness of a slower life.

There,I had a friend from the nearby city madurai.We became friends by our common interest,Literature .He was such a good friend.We used to wander in the wilderness,not so wild,about the waterfalls in our free time.We used to ponder over the amazing beauty of nature.

One thing that used to catch our eyes every time we go on this expedition was a small puppy(some say it was a baby wolf ‘cos it was very difficult to see a pup in a forest.but we didn care) that used to run here and there around us.we liked him so much.So,we tried to catch hold of it,and keep it as our pet.And we succeeded in doing so.We got a jute rope,smoothened it with a insulation tape and used it as a collar and tied him behind our hostel.We used to feed it well.We usually take some food from the kitchen while it was being prepared .That,we gave it to our pup.He ate them.We determined to bring him up as a vegetarian,as we were not permitted non-veg in our hostel.

And so,he grew used to us and started wagging his tail when he saw us.Day by Day,the love I had to him multiplied exponentially.But, we could not figure out the fact that he was actually getting weaker.

And then I came to home for a week,because I was sort of home sick.And then when I returned,I heard that my friend was also out of the hostel for a week for some medical purpose.I searched for my pup in the place where we used to tie him.But alas,he was not there.

When I enquired about him,I could not believe what I heard.It was dead.And for the first time I found out how it would feel if a person whom you care about,dies.Even if it was a pet.

His death gave me a good hard lesson .The lesson that I wish to keep in my mind for the rest of my life.No thing in this earth is nice when kept away from their true nature.If it still was in the wilderness,it would have found its own food,not waiting for two careless boys stupid enough to leave a pup hungry for a whole week.

And here enters the lines of bruno mars.How beautiful and true lines they are??Everything in this universe has a destiny to fulfill and the universe conspires to make an individual to achieve it.And the journey should not be altered by others.The beauty should be grasped in its most natural form.

And I think this would appeal to all those who have pets.what do you think your pets are??are they your entertainers?do they not have their own work or do they not have their right to be entertained?They are just ONE of your important things.But you are the only thing that they have.So,have pets only if you wish to spend your life FOR them and WITH them.

For my friend,he was upto two bad news.what was the other?It was that he had acquired one of the most dreadful diseases in the world.Brain tumor .The doctors had already fixed his end,he said to me in private,one day.I was the only one who knew this and I could not bear the stress. every time I saw him thereafter I remembered those tears running down his cheek when he said this.But he seemed okay.

And so I came back from that school after spending just two months there to my home place.Those two months were the most eventful and emotional months of my first 16 years on this earth.

As long as I am here,I would have a memory of him and our baby dog,or wolf,whatever

I LOVED THEM JUST THE WAY THEY WERE.

The "how-to"s of slow downing

2011-05-01T20:59:00.001-07:00

Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast. – Shakespeare

In my previous post i had written about getting used to slow down and do things even more productively.I ,now,have to confess that i have took some ideas given below from some of the philosophers and life coaches(as i call them).enjoy the post.And remember to do it SLOWLY.

In our rush-aholic world slowing down seems foolish. In school we have to be “seen” to be studying. Even though doing a task more slowly can often produce a result faster, many of us get caught up in unnecessary fastness. You may be suffering from too much speed. After all, you are reading this. We humans are NOT ALWAYS efficient machines that can run seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. Burning the candle at both ends results in burnout.

Humans need rests, relaxation, and recreation. We need time to think about things, to clear the mind, and to have fun.Slowing down is a way to conserve, and harvest our energy, not about relief from boredom by just watching more TV or going shopping. You may have to confront boredom at first. Sometimes things have to get worse before they get better.

In Japan there is an expression for death by overwork: Karoshi (Kah-roe-she).If we let it, work can take over our lives. Work is of course necessary, but the problem is taking it too far. You decide what excess is for you. Having drive is a self-actualizing positive attribute, but being driven, being compelled to work long-hours, is soul destroying.(from robin sharma)

Slow calm
More haste, less speed, or haste makes waste are a well-known sayings. When under pressure, the ability to act slowly and deliberately is a benefit. The wise carpenter measures twice and cuts once. Taking time to read the map instead of blindly heading off in what you guess might be the right direction makes sense.

Thinking and considering before acting takes a level of impulse control that’s missing when we become overly stressed. Rudyard Kipling’s poem, If, is about keeping your head when all those about you are losing theirs. Maintaining a sense of calm when others are stressed and panicking is not easy. Slow is not about being lazy.

Slow eating(from "the primal blueprint")
How many of us have heard our mothers tell us not to gobble our food? Children eat like animals until they are civilized. We eat and run. The slow food movement started in Italy as a backlash against fast food, but that is another subject. Current wisdom has it that eating slowly can help you lose weight. Taking your time to chew your food releases the nutrients. It’s easy to overeat, but slowing down can help.

In America, we talk about being full up after a meal. Food is seen as fuel. You are more likely to eat quickly if you eat alone. You are more likely to eat quickly if you are working at the same time. When we gulp down food our stomachs don’t have a chance to digest it properly, nor signal to our brains that we are satiated.

Taking a break between courses or eating smaller portions and waiting, eating with others, and taking time to digest what you eat is a good way to practice slowing down.

Slow attention
Slowing down helps give our full-attention to what we are doing. Like full-attention Zen, slowing down can put us in the zone, or what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls flow (Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience).

Try walking more slowly. Pause before responding to questions. Speak more slowly. Does this feel awkward? Why?

Slow down now
Personal energy, attention and time are limited. By slowing down we can use these better to our advantage. Slowing down is counter-intuitive. It’s not easy to go against the grain no matter how much sense it makes.

SO JUST SLOW DOWN

The Bernoulli’s theorem of life

2010-12-02T02:58:00.001-08:00

"I keep my time saved in a box
From going fast in cars
I’ve piled it up high
From saying hello to friends with a quick goodbye"
~Kathryn Williams
First point I want to make in this post is that this is not about fluid dynamics.obviously what role does physics has to do in a personal development blog?The idea of writing this post rose in me when I had to deliver a seminar on the bernoulli’s theorem(the physics part).But as I could not say that in a science class, I decided to write this post instead.
So,what does bernoulli say? He says that faster flowing liquids(or fluids) exerts lesser pressure on its surroundings.So,how does this relate in anyway in developing ourselves?After understanding the psychology of this theorem,I assure you ,that you will get more out of your life.people will love to talk to you,to be in your presence or consider you as a role model.
Now,I want you to think of your most favorite person,say your LKG teacher.Think of the reasons why do you like them that much.Most probable reasons would be that they were funny,expressive,creative etc.,
But the key point that many never figure out is that they are LIVING in the present and are mindful.Now,back to the bernoulli.We may now change the bernoulli’s theorem to “faster thoughts exert lesser pressure or presence than slower and calmer thoughts.”
The world is seemingly moving at a faster pace. Everywhere you turn, the pace is quick. Deadlines are close, workload is increased, to-do lists are long, homework never ends – it’s chaos.
At least it feels this way.
Has the world really sped up? Are there more things happening today than 50 years ago? No, and no.Thanks to the Internet and cable we hear about everything that happens, immediately.
Our interconnectedness through technology has helped create the illusion of a faster paced world. It’s also created the illusion of less loneliness– but there’s nothing that can replace real life connections with other people. Physical contact and interaction is vital.
Honestly, when was the last time you stopped and took in the smell of fresh baked bread? Or colored with crayons? Or walked barefoot in the grass? Or took a few minutes to just breathe?
here’s a few tips to use our new theorem to improve:
1.Begin by giving yourself permission to slow down. This may seem like a foolish idea, but many people believe they don’t have permission to slow down. You do. Whenever life seems to move too fast, take a deep breathe. Three to five slow, deep breaths will slow everything down.
2.Just for at least half an hour a day.No matter whats in your schedule.This one is simple. Turn off the phone. The Internet. The television. Spend time talking, playing games, take a walk outside. The point is, unplug and connect with other humans.
3.Be 100% present.This is tough at times. But it also is a source of increased tension in life.Whatever you are doing, focus on being 100% present. Multitasking is impossible anyway. Focus on doing one thing at a time and being 100% present while doing it.
4.Spend a moment at the end of your day preparing for the next day. Pick out clothes, make lunches, talk with your parents.Then in the morning, before you jump into your day, take some time a simply sit quietly. Enjoy a cup of tea or coffee. Breathe slowly, meditate, pray. What a great way to start each day!!!!!!
“To climb steep hills require slow pace at first”
-william shakespeare

Why I do not want to be successful

2010-11-05T03:22:00.000-07:00

‘Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.’
-Albert Einstein
We can see thousands of people writing about how to be successful.But i now have started believing that it is not so important as it seems to be.
Now, this may seem weird. Which kind of loser doesn’t want to be successful?It’s me.I am that loser.And i’ll say you why, below.
The first and foremost problem with success is how you define success…is it being famous,a celeb,rich,intelligent,coming up with a new idea,helping others??I was no different.But when i started to venture into the land of zen and many other traditional paths of finding the inner reality ,i saw that most of them disagreed with the traditional values of success.
The logic behind this view of success is this.That is ,If all that you want is to make money,you’ll do horrible things to get it.If you wanted to be successful in business you may even screw up people to get that(obviously that’s not okay).If all you want is fame ,you may even give up your dignity for that.
The deeper problem
There are other problems though.Whatever your definition of success,it’s some thing you are looking for…something that exists in the future.It’s based on your desire to achieve something you desire,your feelings that you’re not where you want to be.
This particular trap of striving for this future success is virtually never ending.You strive for more,and then when you get it you strive for more again.You’re never satisfied.Take people who have a billion dollars for example.They’re successful rite?.Why don’t they stop making money,then?Why would they need more than a billion dollars?How the hell are they going to spend it?They strive to make more money because there’s never enough.They’ll never be successful enough.
That’s true not just for the rich,but for all those who strive for success.Striving is a condition that never ends , unless you give it up.
What to do then???
This whole post has the potential to make you all turn against me.Am i advocating to sit simply and watch the life pass by?no never
An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.rite?If you have understood in that sense then you have completely misunderstood my purpose.All i am saying is that success isn’t about achieving something in the future.It’s all about doing something right now that you love.
Take this blog for example.Now i have a total of less than 400 page views (totally).But i don’t think that i am not successful.I am successful right from the day one of starting the blog.I have done what i wanted to do, what i loved to do.i was happy.
So just forget about success and just find joy,passion,love,awesomeness right now at this moment.That is a success you achieve without any self-help course or without any method.This also has another name-“mindfulness”(i’ll take care of that in a later post).so,don’t care about success.Just go out and do it.

Living without plans

2010-10-16T03:44:00.001-07:00

“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans”
John Lennon

The prevailing way of living in our Western societies is to plan out our lives, both for the long term and on a day-to-day basis.We have planners and digital calendars that map out our lives, sometimes to the minute. We feel we’re in control, with plans like this.But it’s all just an illusion.
We cannot control our lives to this degree, no matter how we try. Things will always come up to spoil the best-laid plans.And what happens when the plans go wrong? We are stressed out, because things get out of our control and don’t live up to our expectations. This is one of the greatest sources of stress for most people.I’ve experienced this on a trip with my friends to write an exam in a nearby city.Traffic and everything came just at the last minutes.Actually we went to the wrong exam centre at first.
Think about how often your days actually go according to plan, exactly — it’s pretty rare, because we have no way of predicting the future. No matter how hard we try.So if plans will almost always go wrong, and when they do we get stressed out, isn’t all the time we spend creating the plans a bit of a waste?
But what’s the alternative? Giving yourself to the moment. This will not work for everyone, I’ll admit: there are those who will have a hard time giving up the illusion of control, and others who are controlled by their steadfast school timetables,like myself, and cannot work or live this way.
Still, it’s something worth considering.
Here’s how to do it — starting with the don’ts:

Don’t plan. Planning is an attempt to control the world around us, but it’s a futile attempt. Throw out your plans, for now at least until you’ve decided this method isn’t for you. What do you do instead? More on this below. For now, just stop planning.
Don’t worry about the future. Will something bad happen? Are there things coming up that we must anticipate and prepare for? Of course, if there’s a massive hurricane headed your way, you should probably get ready. But otherwise, just realize that the future is unpredictable, and worrying about it is a waste of time. Focus on right now, and you’ll always be able to handle what comes.
Don’t have expectations. If you expect people to act a certain way, or hope that things will turn out a certain way, you’ll always run into problems. Forget about outcomes for now. Go into things without expectations, and they will always turn out perfectly (if a bit messy).
Don’t overreact. This is a major problem when people plan and things go wrong — they overreact, and get upset and emotional and blow things out of proportion. Stay calm, because if things “go wrong”, they didn’t actually go wrong — they just happened. More on how to react below.

And now for the dos:

Do be open. What would it be like to go into each day without a plan, but just to see what happens? A bit scary, because of the lack of security and control, a bit chaotic perhaps, a bit like we’re a piece of driftwood floating in the middle of a churning sea. But in truth, this is what it’s like to go into each day *with* a plan — it’s just that we normally fool ourselves about the amount of control we have. So start the day with no plan, and be open to what emerges in each moment.
Do what you love. So what should you do, now that you have no plan? Do what you’re passionate about, do what excites you right now. Create something amazing.Try solving a very difficult problem. Pour yourself energetically into a project.Write a novel.And what you think you’re creating might turn out to be completely different from what emerges, but you’ll have fun.
Do act, in the moment. Giving yourself to the moment doesn’t mean being passive and just letting life happen. It means acting, but doing what is best at this moment, what you are excited about right now, what needs to be done, in the present.
Do respond appropriately. Life happens, and we must respond. But instead of overreacting, we can respond calmly and appropriately.We have a chemistry teacher whom,i think is the perfect example for this.More on him in later posts. We can take the action that’s required, fix the problem, do what’s necessary to prevent it from happening again, and move on without it ruining our day.
Do accept. Accept what happens. It might not be what you considered ideal, but it’s what life has given you, what has resulted from your actions in an unpredicatable world. Accept it, respond, act, move on. Don’t get caught up in things not going your way, but accept that’s what has happened.

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DISCLAIMER
Again,this way of living won’t be for everybody. Some don’t have the freedom to live this way, and others just won’t give up control. Some will think this is a passive way of living, but it really isn’t: it’s just a way of living in the moment without being caught up in the future (or the past) so much.
And when we live in the moment, we’re really living life to the fullest. This is the gift of the present.
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How I Became an Early Riser

2010-09-24T17:59:00.001-07:00

I’ve found that waking early has been one of the best things I’ve done as I’ve changed my life recently, and thought you might like to know how I get up at 4:30 a.m.

For many years, I was a late riser. I loved to sleep . Then things changed, because I had to wake up between 6-6:30 a.m. to read and cope up with my grades.Some years before i felt the need to exercise.So getting up earlier still was needed.
So, I set out to make waking up early a habit. I started by getting up at 5:30 a.m., then at 5 a.m. When that became a habit, and I had to wake up at 4 a.m.during tenth standard, it wasn’t a problem. Now that I completed tenth standard, I don’t need to wake that early anymore, but have settled on a happy compromise of waking at 4:30 a.m. Some days, when I’m really tired (if I go to sleep late), I’ll wake at 5:00 or 5:30, but that’s still earlier than I used to wake up.
Here are my tips for becoming an early riser:

Don’t make drastic changes. Start slowly, by waking just 15-30 minutes earlier than usual. Get used to this for a few days. Then cut back another 15 minutes. Do this gradually until you get to your goal time.
Allow yourself to sleep earlier. You might be used to staying up late, perhaps watching TV or surfing the Internet. But if you continue this habit, while trying to get up earlier, sooner or later one is going to give. And if it is the early rising that gives, then you will crash and sleep late and have to start over. I suggest going to bed earlier, even if you don’t think you’ll sleep, and read while in bed. If you’re really tired, you just might fall asleep much sooner than you think.
Put your alarm clock far from you bed. If it’s right next to your bed, you’ll shut it off or hit snooze. Never hit snooze. If it’s far from your bed, you have to get up out of bed to shut it off. By then, you’re up. Now you just have to stay up.
Do not rationalize.Go out of the bedroom as soon as you shut off the alarm. If you allow your brain to talk you out of getting up early, you’ll never do it. Don’t make getting back in bed an option.
Allow yourself to sleep in once in awhile. Despite what I just said in the previous point, once in awhile it’s nice to sleep in. As long as it’s not a regular thing. I do it maybe once a week or so.
Make waking up early a reward. Yes, it might seem at first that you’re forcing yourself to do something hard, but if you make it pleasurable, soon you will look forward to waking up early. My reward used to be watching the sunrise, or meditating. Find something that’s pleasurable for you, and allow yourself to do it as part of your morning routine.
Take advantage of all that extra time. Don’t wake up an hour or two early just to check your emails, unless that’s a major goal of yours. Don’t wake up early and waste that extra time. Get a jump start on your day! I like to use that time on planning for the rest of the day, on exercising or meditating, and on reading. By the time 6:30 rolls around, I’ve done more than many people do the entire day.
Enjoy the break of dawn! As much as you can, look outside (or better yet, get outside!) and watch the sky turn light. It’s beautiful. And it’s quiet and peaceful. It’s now ,my favorite time of day. Getting up early is a reward in itself for me.

Breaking The Habit

2010-09-15T09:38:00.001-07:00

"I don't know how I got this way
I know it's not alright.
So I'm breaking the habit,
I'm breaking the habit Tonight"

These are the lyrics from one of the songs of linkin park.Me too have cultivated a habit.
I have started biting my nails ,it is that simple .And the funny thing is i didn’t even notice this for about a month. But now i realise how can a habit overpower our will.Now, i cant stop it and am getting scolded by my mom for this.
I can’t be living this way.You have a feeling that you are having the control of your mind and body but when you actually put it to a test you fail.That is the most awkward feeling anybody could ever have.
So,I’ve decided to dedicate the coming week for the eradication of this habit.I’ve referred a couple of books and got some ways.One of the ways is to keep a tag.That is ,a thing that will remember you to stick to your goals. It may be an elastic band on my wrist .I am supposed to switch it from one hand to another ,in case i bite my nail.this would be a reminder of course.But i don’t prefer this.
Another nice trick is to slap or to pinch yourselves(may seem childish) whenever you get an impulse to take a bite of your nails.So, I hope these two tricks will do more than enough .
After accomplishing these goals i am damn sure that i will have a better control over myself.This will surely help me in reading whenever i want(which i don’t do now) and can aim at higher grades.It’s not that i do all this for achieving good marks.When you get control over yourselves you have an inner peace ,that is,you can feel happy when you really want to be happy.cut back your worries and live for today.That will take me and you in our journey to a happy life.
“I am, indeed, a king, because I know how to rule myself.”
Pietro Aretino
I really welcome all suggestions by my valuable 4 readers(including me) to increase self control.

Life Transformation

2010-09-01T05:20:00.001-07:00

hello readers…
Actually speaking, I thought i lived the right way.The ideal way.I have read many books on living, by both modern and ancient authors.But, I haven’t reaped any real benefits out of them.Only now i realise that the problem is not with the books,but was with me.i haven’t worked out any of the beautiful methods the books offered.I practically see the effects.
I cant actually be satisfied with my life.So now i realise my mistake. Now, i resolve to fill my life with all the happiness ,energy ,health and wealth.And this i resolve to do within two months at maximum.My main tools will be teachings of zen ,robin sharma and vivekandha.Now, i offer you a ride in my journey.After all i am your friend . ask me the doubts you have through this blog,or email(cbchak@gmail.com). I now promise to update this blog periodically , at least once or twice a week.
So, see you at the top…
“Life is a lab.You have the freedom to experiment with all your resources. Use your creativity to the maximum possible extent.” - ciby chakravarthy.

The intro

2010-08-16T07:37:00.000-07:00

Hi ,everybody.
This is my first post.In this i am going to tell who this blog is exactly for.Though this blog is for talking about general topics,most of the posts will be associated with my level of thinking.Of an eleventh standard boy.The contents may sound silly for adults.But,I think these will be creating an interest in those people with the same wavelength of mine.So,be generous to check out my blog once in a while.
Enjoy