Archive for February, 2008

Easy vs. Difficult

{ February 28, 2008 @ 3:24 pm } · { Notes on Life }
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I came across this real eye opening article in a local magazine and decided to put it up on my blog. It’s one of those things that are supposed to make you realize how empty and hollow your life is =) But I liked the article and am putting it up anyway. It’s a comparison between the easy and the hard things in life. I liked it because it makes you think about the important things in life (for a couple of seconds anyway), and hopefully, if you read it enough, one day – you might actually implement some of the message it is trying to convey. Anyways – I am all for feel good – ‘lets try to improve ourselves’ kind of articles. So read it – and become a better person!!

   

easy

Difficult

Judging the mistakes of others

Recognizing our own mistakes

Talking without thinking

Refraining your tongue

Hurting people who love us

Healing their wounds

Forgiving others

Asking for forgiveness

Setting rules

Following them

Giving advice

Practicing it

Having dreams

Pursuing them

Showing off your victory

Accepting defeat with dignity

Making promises

Keeping them

Saying – “I Love You”

Showing it everyday

Criticizing others

Improving ourselves

Making mistakes

Learning from them

Weeping for lost love

Taking care not to lose it

Thinking about improving

Getting down to doing it

Making promises

Keeping them

Receiving things from people

Giving to people

Making friends

Keeping them

Reading this

Following it

I changed it a little bit (sort of fine tuned it) I later googled this article and found it all over the web. Not really sure who came up with it – but whoever did – I applaud him/her for this extremely will written message. I am not really a changed person – but it does give me something to think about now.

Tips to help you pull an “All Nighter”

{ February 28, 2008 @ 2:48 pm } · { Student Life }
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So, the day before your crucial exam, you realize that your knowledge of the subject is pretty much restricted to the course outline you received on the first day of classes. You deferred both your midterms and with panic, you realize that this final counts for 100% of your grade in this course. In a last ditch attempt to salvage your grade (coupled with the fear of a failing grade ruining your already falling GPA), you decide to pull what we call in university as – “The All – Nighter”.

An important thing you have to remember about all-nighters is that there is no room for panic. Panic leads to distraction causing you to lose focus and in all eventuality – you will fail. You have to control your fears and emotions – and concentrate only on the impossible task ahead – learning fifty chapters in a course where you skipped every class – in one night.

If you decide to go down the All – Nighter route, first of all – congratulations!! Fighting the biological need to sleep is not an easy task. From my own personal experiences – I will try to present to few tips and some good advice to help you keep your resolve to stay up the night before the exam.

  1. The most important thing is to GET OUT OF YOUR ROOM/APARTMENT!! (As you can see – its #1 on my list). Basically, you need to get away from any place which has a bed or a couch. At 3 am in the morning, its very tempting to take a 20 minute ‘nap’ and before you know it- you will be snoozing through your exam.
  2. Chew some gum. Gum keeps your mouth moving and helps you stay awake. Even better is to chew some minty gum. Somehow the refreshing mint flavour made me more alert.
  3. DO NOT lie down and study. You will never stay awake – worse, you will probably drool on your books. Its best to stay up straight, preferably on a small, hard, uncomfortable chair. Large comfy office chairs with armrests are a big NO NO. You will probably find yourself sleeping curled up on the chair.
  4. A highly effective technique I learnt from my Chinese friends in university. Apply some tiger balm under your nose, behind your ears and on your temples. The pungent feeling on your skin will definitely not let you sleep.
  5. Try stimulating beverages like tea, coffee, energy/sports drinks, coke. This list is in increasing order of strength and efficacy and every subsequent drink should only be taken if the previous one fails to keep you up.. Many of my friends recommend red bull. Towards the end of my university life, I had practically become immune to all such drinks. In such cases try milk chocolate.
  6. Study in a brightly lit room. Dim lights have a strangely hypnotic and sleep inducing effect on most people.
  7. Study in a 24/7 library or some engineering lab (engineers generally come up with their brilliant ideas at odd hours of the night). Lots of people around means that you will probably feel self conscious about sleeping in public and more motivated to work. If you are using a computer, you will be less tempted to waste your time watching videos or playing games. You might also find friends to constantly wake you up when you fall asleep. In the end, its just soothing to watch other unfortunate souls like yourself suffer as well.
  8. Stay away from warm cozy areas. If you don’t fall asleep on the spot, you might just find yourself longing for your warm bed back at home.
  9. Stock yourself with lots of food and snacks. Munching on stuff keeps you awake and also replenishes all that energy your brain is using up by cramming a semester worth of information in one night.
  10. Take short 5 minute breaks every 2 hours. Stretch your legs and take a short walk (preferably outside) Winters are the best – nothing like the cold icy blast of wind to wake up your senses.

I don’t really endorse all nighters – and doing it too often can actually ruin your physical and mental health. I believe that one should only pull an all – nighter in the most extreme case. (This of course does not apply to engineering students – for whom all – nighters are a way of life =) In the end, the best way to prepare for any exam is to start studying early!! Happy Cramming!!

30 pieces of silver!!

{ February 9, 2008 @ 4:56 pm } · { Notes on Life }
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When things aren’t really going your way – I guess you become a real sucker for feel good morale boosting anecdotes. At-least – that’s what is happening to me right now. I got this little story in an email at work – and was really impressed with the message it sent out – so here I am sharing it with the world (or the very very very few who actually visit my blog =)

A motivational leader (Lets call him Scott) was giving a speech to a group of people as part of an elaborate leadership workshop. He held out a $100 bill and asked – “who would like to have $100?” At this point, a hundred hands shot up in the air. Scott then crumpled up the $100 bill and asked again – “who would like to have this $100 bill?” Again, a hundred hands shot up in the air. Scott then threw the $100 bill on the floor and repeatedly jumped on it. He then asked again – “who would like to have $100 now?” This time, yet again, a hundred hands shot up in the air. 

Scott then proceeded to give his deep and inspiring insight – “My friends” – he said – “This just goes to show – that no matter how much I crumple or stamp on the 100$ bill – everybody still wants it. The bill didn’t lose its value even when I crushed it and tarnished it.”

In fact, the same theory pretty much applies to life as well. There will be times, people and circumstances which will make you feel like total crap, and you feel down and depressed, but remember what you are worth, because no one can take that away from you. (Also remember to rate yourself pretty high otherwise this entire exercise will be totally pointless =)

As for the title of this post – “30 pieces of silver” – that’s how much Jesus was sold for. (I am not a christian – so I don’t really know the exact details) – but this just proves that even great men have been undervalued. So what I am trying to say is that – it is up to you to set your own standards in life and not let your life be dictated by what others value you to be.

How do you drive your car?

{ February 8, 2008 @ 2:59 pm } · { Notes on Life }
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I am not going through the greatest time of my life at this point. In fact, these days, it seems like everything I touch turns to dust. There are so many road bumps in my path and all I want is to have a smooth journey for once. It’s seriously depressing and mentally exhausting!! At times like these, I like to pluck from my memory, an incident, which I can convolve to construe a neat moral story because sometimes seemingly small unimportant events in your life can have a much deeper meaning. I fondly remember this one particular incident which has really taught me a very valuable lesson in life and it also forms the basis for this post.

During my summer holidays, I was out with a couple of girl friends in Dubai. Within my eclectic mix of friends, I also had a friend who was fabulously wealthy. (Maybe it’s because of the “rich girl = big snob” stereotype, I am very compelled to add that she is also one of the nicest people I have ever met in my life) Moving on… we were getting ready to head back home, me in my mom’s 8 year old Nissan sunny, and my friend in her (lets take a deep breath) - Brand New Silver MERCEDES SLK Convertible. Anyways, as we get into our respective cars, my dear friend looks at me with a sly grin and says – “Wanna race?”

Ordinarily any person in their right mind would realize that this would be a pretty one sided race. I mean how can a beat up 8 year old car compete with a flashy new sports car, especially one that goes from 0 – 60mph in 5 seconds?

But then again – C’est moi!! I consider myself to be a pretty hot driver, and other than my dad, I have yet to meet someone who can drive better than me. (This does not include professional and stunt drivers by the way) And just the word “race” has this strange effect of provoking me and arousing my super competitive spirit.

Needless to say, within minutes, my friend was way ahead of me. However, thanks to a red traffic light and some slick maneuvering on my part, I ended up right next to her and in front of the red lights. The lights turned green, and I hit the accelerator with full force - only to see my car remain completely stationary while my friend zoomed ahead. I quickly switched off the AC (oh and trust me this helps when you want your car to accelerate) and my car slowly surged ahead. I wasn’t out of the race yet, there were still a few more kilometers to go and I was generously cursing my car when the crazy traffic in Dubai unexpectedly came to my aid. Up ahead I saw my friend completely enclosed by non moving cars and realized that this was the time to use my awesome and aggressive car steering techniques to plow my way through the traffic.

In the end, I won the race despite having an older and more inferior car – but that’s not what this story was about. The thing is, recently I have been feeling that life isn’t being fair to me at all. All around me, I see people getting these great opportunities, while for all my hard work throughout the years, I have only faced disappointment and rejection. What this story teaches me is that sometimes life hands you out a really crappy car, but you can still win the race, if you know how to drive it. Furthermore, you can also beat the people with flashy cars. Because when the roads are clogged with traffic, its not the kind of car that you have but the kind of driver that you are – that’s going to help you win the race. Similarly in life - your success will not be determined by the opportunities that you get, but by the way you deal with the disappointments that come your way.

Hope this little anecdote gives you a tiny moral boost your lighten your spirits. Keep checking out my page for more of my motivating speeches. =) Peace out!!