Living Grateful
Snippets to remind myself for self-improvement, self-development, and just being a better person.
The Weekend Fantasy
I'm grateful that I get to spend at least two days a week immersed in the fantasy of what my life could be like all the time. The key is to keep trying, and eventually, that dream will become a reality. Progress may be gradual, slower than you expect, but it will happen step by step.
Journey Is the Destination
The journey has always been more important to me than the destination.Given too much time i scare myself
On Conforming to Society
There's no universally "right" way to live life; instead, there's the path followed by the majority and the accepted norms. Sometimes, your unique approach may seem too radical or extreme for the majority, leading you to face the dilemma of either mimicking others poorly or sticking to your own natural inclinations. Choosing to go about things differently can result in being unfairly labeled as a sociopath. It's worth noting that many individuals who refused to conform to societal norms were instrumental in driving change and progress precisely because they didn't conform. Don't try to change the world. Be yourself the change and the world will change with and around you.
Good Days, Bad Days
You experience both good and bad days in life. There are days when you're highly productive and days when you feel scattered. Some days bring fulfillment, while others leave you feeling plain and lonely.
On Mundanity
Whenever you encounter something you consider mundane, take a closer look. Examine the details. Challenge the notion that anything in life can truly be mundane, for within the ordinary lies the potential for discovery and a completely different perspective waiting to be unveiled.On Ambition:
On Ambition
It's important to remember that there's a distinction between ambition and feeling inadequate. You don't need to experience both simultaneously to pursue your ambitions.
The Artist's Eye
Its the artist eye to see the usual objects as unusual.
Grow Into Relationship
Be with someone because you want to show them your world and see theirs. Healthy relationship is when you don’t mind the other person interrupting your daily routine. It's what you want to be to the other person, not what the other lets you be. Keep this in mind to keep your confidence, your respect, who you are, why are you worth it.
On Caring
To find what you really care about remember the last time you shed a tear. Care for what you care for. I had a dream of being freed from the weight of responsibility. When I woke up, I felt determined and ready take action, knowing that all I needed to do was be
Finding Value Amidst the Noise
Perhaps it may seem somewhat self-absorbed to believe that my life would be of any interest to others when sharing it openly. However, when observing the abundance of irrelevant content, shallow finance advice, and empty contributions, it becomes evident that there's value in sharing something genuine.
On Running and Breathing as Meditation
Running itself can serve as a form of meditation, with a strong emphasis on breathing. When you run, pay close attention to your breath. Running teaches you the importance of controlled breathing. There are moments when obstacles appear on your path, and if you forget to focus on your breath, you may find yourself struggling to overcome them. Without proper breathing, you lose your focus on the primary goal: to run.
Nature Doesn't Measure
The beauty of Nature lies beyond calculation. Humans often tend to round up or down to fit their perception of beauty for their comfort. However, nature creates its most exquisite beauty without the need for any measuring tape or calculations. Be grateful for the time you are granted, by others and Nature.
Places of Work
What does it say about us as a society when our workplaces are meticulously designed, with aesthetics that surpass those of our own homes? It raises questions about our priorities and the importance we place on our living spaces compared to our work environments.
Build the World You Want to See
I want to change the world by building one I don’t have to be ashamed for.
I want a world that is aware of its own potential and constantly striving for improvement rather than settling for the status quo.
Dirt, Smudges and Cracks
I appreciate the dirt, smudges, cracks, and signs of use. They serve as reminders of the moments and decisions I held onto and made.
Write and Play
Writing helps me get out of my mind, playing to get out of my heart.
More Happiness
It was in those fleeting moments that I found myself genuinely, profoundly happy, experiencing pure joy where I felt that nothing else could surpass it. I questioned why I should strive for greater happiness when I could have it in the present moment. The concept of relativity is a challenging one, and I, too, have succumbed to it, losing sight of both the potential futures, whether good or bad. In that mindset of living each day as if it were the last, I became lost and ceased to seek a way to be found. You are ready for these moments to only be happy but they are happy only because of the sad moments that come after.
On Selfishness
I allowed my overwhelming concern for others to consume me entirely, even to the point of forcing myself to be selfish, to consider my own wants and needs. I was apprehensive that starting a family might bring happiness, but not in a way that I could truly admire; anyone can have a family, it's the easier path. Leaving a distinctive mark of your own is the challenging path, one that I can truly respect. If I had placed trust in the relationship, I might have been more willing to accept the associated risks.
The concept I struggle with is that the human world often displays a greater level of selfishness than I had previously perceived. There seems to be a dichotomy between human connection and kinship, as everyone appears to prioritize the preservation of their genetic lineage by any means necessary, in order to ensure its longevity.
Drama is Felt
I appreciate conflict in life because it's when emotions become real and deeply felt. Positive affection, on the other hand, can sometimes come across as insincere and needy.
Unhappiness, Inaction
For me, unhappiness stems from inaction, the inability to take action in areas where I desire to make a difference, and the fear of rejection.
The World Was Built Bit by Bit
The self-obsessed and impatient human tends to forget the world had grew incrementally. Next time you travel, take notice of the stairs and how they have shriveled with time. The chiseled gravel, marble, and stone have chipped away under the stress of human stomping. Some stones have been given metal hats to cover the scars, leaving others blind to the connection between what is rooted in nature. Building understanding of how the world is built iteratively involves the integration of design engineering, economic considerations, usability, and technological limitations of its time.
You inhabit a world made by those before you. Like layers of a cake they can be eaten over time but will sooner rot before you can consume them. Add on top. Eat the cream. You exist by the actions of your ancestors. You continue to exist by your will to live. All that surrounds you has a similar path to yours. The Nature had determined whether it will or not survive.
Opinions of Characters Not Mine
You can say anything you want in fiction but you better be careful when writing a non-fiction.
Make Your World Livable
As people age, they tend to conquer or become a part of their own world, often focusing more on their immediate family and responsibilities, including their children.
To cope with the complexities of life, people often naturally gravitate towards simplifying their world and focusing on what is within their control.
I want a world which is cognizant of its own importance of what it could always be over what it is.
On New York City
New York City is often described as a hungry city, as it provides countless opportunities for personal and professional growth. Living in such a vibrant and diverse city can help individuals develop confidence, vigor, tenacity, and grit. The city’s grid system, which organizes its numerous avenues and streets, serves as a metaphor for the structured chaos that defines New York’s constant hustle. Every corner presents a chance to challenge oneself, cultivate resilience, and thrive in a city that never sleeps.
There is stillness to the city at 5am. The water mirrors the individual lights, absent of waves. Dogs missing together with their owners in the park below your window. Manhattan across the river, rests sans the blinking of red, white and blue. Sounds of the flight absent. The golden hour in which the city sleeps.
New Perspectives
We rely on effective communicators and empathetic individuals to share and disseminate diverse perspectives. This helps us foster understanding and allows us to create new perspectives. However, the availability of perspectives may be constrained by historical, cultural, or ongoing circumstances in a specific region. Nevertheless, sharing perspectives is essential for our collective growth as humans. It is important to note that perspectives are shaped by accumulated experiences.
Art Behind the Glass
Once you put art behind glass it separates it from its audience. Like book that cannot be read.
Technology And Money as the Foundation
I love technology for the same reason I respect money because it provides society with a solid foundation for their freedoms. Technology grants people the opportunity to experience freedom by eliminating the need for manual labor and repetitive tasks. It also enables individuals to explore their freedom by offering cars and planes to travel long distances. Furthermore, it opens up a realm of possibilities and makes dreams attainable when the world feels too small.
What Do I Want
Start your day with a refreshing morning routine of waking up, stretching, and engaging in a run or swim. This will energize you and get you ready for the day ahead.
Set aside time for reading and reflection, allowing yourself moments to think big and expand your knowledge. This will stimulate your mind and foster personal growth.
Seek out opportunities to work with intelligent individuals who challenge you. Surrounding yourself with people who possess high standards and share your values will inspire you to continuously improve and strive for greatness.
Embrace self-driven individuals who have a strong sense of morality. By collaborating with like-minded individuals, you can collectively work towards elevating the world and making it a more efficient and progressive place.
In my free time I find myself wanting. Empty for not having what I just had, for missing begrudgingly only until I get it. Like a small spoiled child I thirst for the adult pleasures that I have to get for myself, but have no issues blaming the world for not serving my desires on a silver platter.
On Gut Feeling
I find that my instinctive intuition is not yet refined enough for me to willingly place complete trust in it. While some individuals possess an innate ability to confidently make decisions based on these instincts, I personally feel the need to develop and hone this aspect of my intuition further.
On Making Mistakes
It's completely normal to feel hesitant about making mistakes, as many people can be concerned about how they may be perceived by others. However, it's important to remember that making mistakes is a natural part of learning and growth. Rather than associating making mistakes with someone who is stupid, try to reframe your perspective. Making mistakes means that you are taking risks, trying new things, and stepping out of your comfort zone. It's through mistakes that we gain valuable experience and knowledge. Embrace the opportunity to learn from your mistakes and focus on personal growth rather than worrying about how others may perceive you.
Being Given Time I Run
When given too much time, I'm allowed to overthink and run astray.
On Normality
How to know what's your norm when you remember the joys of artificial highs?
At the Intersection
I’m choosing left or right (?) on the nearest exit, taking the long route to nowhere.
To have children or not is not a decision you make in a vacuum on your own. It comes from a feeling that you’ve grown with time cultivated, not always carefully decided.
It’s an ongoing spectrum you’ll explore with time without having to think about it. At all. The resolution will come with time on its own to bruise your ego, demolish your courage, bolster your fears. All for the best. The best you can over be. Whether you go left. Whether right. You’ll swerve through the roads as colors traverse through the rainbow. Live the life in the spectrum that it is, instead of the box you enshrined it in because others told you that’s the only way to live and be happy.
On Being a Good Neighbour
Sorry for being a noisy neighbor i like to enjoy my life at a full volume.
On Heartbreaks
I seek heartbreaks to be stronger for living. Heart stabbed and shattered every time I open the door. The self imposed emotional damage murders my ability to love, with the growing apathy and disillusion. Often I wonder whether the same would come on its own or not.
On Setting Roots
Every morning i would pass by a red Mercedes 560SL, with a beautiful polished chrome detailing and cream leather seats. An unscratched perfection. Plate that simply read: ONARIDE. Every morning I wanted to escape and getaway. The car spelled freedom. The car spelled problem in the wrong place at a wrong time. One day it'll be either this or that. The split in the fork.
Early Dreams Follow Your Days
Until today I remember laying in the bed and dreaming of the skeleton who visited to look at me over the shoulder of the bed. The Death wishes me well in life, to have a good try, hopefully I can find my way back to her eventually, as she’ll miss me gravely. I was 3 years old.
Documenting Your Life
Document your progress, take a picture, make a small note, save it on the side. You'll find it one day, smile and think to yourself: "this was really me" or "THIS.. was really ME?" Either way you'll have a profound moment of self reflection, worth the second or minute it takes you to immortalize yourself.
I think perhaps that's why Gen Zs have such a better grasp of their individual selves. They've been exploited and ever publicly presented since their childhood. They've never known privacy, never known individual personal space. All has always been shared from the words they produced, to the work they had to put in, to space they work in, to relationships that got ever more frivolous and non-monogamous.
The Last Answer
At the end of your days, they’ll ask you whether you’ve spent your time well? Two things will come to mind - the people and the work. The legacy of your doing. In Normality you are pushed to produce family and find that as the reassuring answer to your life’s search. What we should be asking instead is whether your life had enough purpose. Spawning life always spells purpose. Most of us are life. I believe more life is more of your life. Large transformation comes from the select few and if you were dealt the Ace, you ought to play it.
On Collection and Preservation
Art I realize with age and lived experience overshadows the immediacy of function. The ultimate question of what I’ve left behind. A selfish signature of my existence is limited to a child (temporary, progenic) or prodigious work (unreachable divinity). Every time post-vacation I come with a new perspective that has me revisit the importance of what I’ve acquired. The nice luxurious place and similar items of consumption, leaving me empty. Instead the people I’ve met continue to excite me.
Others Don't Live Your Life
I continue to look for solace, salvation, and explanation within others. Hoping they’ll bring me longlasting peace and resolution, alas I don’t think they will. Don’t think they can. Don’t think they should. Don’t think my dreamer’s expectation can be met for me to be happy each and every day. The only way to get there is to let go, expect less because as much as I’d like no I cannot do more. Not alone. Not on my own.
On Maturity
What does being mature mean? Why do we need to say and hear big complicated words to think more of what is said? Simple is understood the best. Does it come with responsibility over life? Do you remain a child as long as someone else has responsibility over you? As long as you don’t sustain yourself? And as soon as you get your pet to feed yourself, you lose a little of the carelessness? You move out and start taking care of yourself. You find a partner and take care of each other. Then are you mature? You have another pet and a few plants. You have a child of your own. Then are you mature? Then another. Then are you mature? How much of the child’s wonder, carelessness have you retained? You age, hopefully, hopefully gracefully. Your children have pets and plants and children to repeat the cycle. Then are you mature? When you pass away, then are you mature?
On the Judgement of the Creator
I’m scared of missing something. To fill my stomach, my ache in what I’ll never find maybe after I’m not breathing the same accursed air as you. I’ll be able to tell you are not the one for me. The highlight of your day is when you obtain. Mine is when I create anything - a memory, an object, a moment. I judge you for that. The lack of essence. Then again would my way be possible without yours?
People Talk to People
On Taking Risks
My nature is to look for solutions because I fear of what i don't understand. Once I understood this of myself I had to learn that logic is not the best choice to all solutions.
On Making and Breaking Habits
Add a step to things you want to stop doing: overeating? keep your favorite snack in the back of the pantry or out of the house. Remove a step to things you want to do more: want to exercise? Prep the clothes the day before. It's all about the friction just like if you are building a product. Add the friction for things you want less of, and remove friction for what you want more of.
On Planning For Future
You can prepare but not plan for what you don’t know.
On Making Decisions
What do I do on the days I'm not sure of my decision?
On Memory
I grew up told I don't remember a thing. I worked to focus. I got older, slower, but removed anxiety. Anxiety is what kept me from owning my time, my ability to focus. When you are able to find time to understand yourself, remove the largest obstacles you face you'll grow. I no longer have shit memory. Instead I have a second brain in writing. In understanding that I need a place that I have seen and where I can recollect. Try it out. Write what you know in 5 minute bits once in a while. Put it all in one place. This website is my 5th attempt. So far the best once I keep up with. It sets a "physical" location which i can browse through like i would a website. Because it is a website. And if i forget or am unsure i can revisit. Store only what matters and scrutinize the structure so it works for you. The fact that its public facing is your own choice. From experience I encourage you. It's rewarding to have something published.
Someone always has it worse than you do.
Make Hard Things Easy
There's plenty of hard things in life. Find time, learn how to make things that are hard easy for yourself. Why do hard things in the first place? Hard things are a challenge. And challenge is a good thing to live for.
Create over Consume
At the end of your life what you consume doesn't matter to anyone but you. What you create does. Create life, bring joy to others by help, spreading passion, or building value. Leave more in than you consume.
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