Sunday, October 14, 2007

What I have learnt the hard way

Not a crime if you want to be different.

Not abnormal if you do what your heart tells you to do.

More to life than talking about things of common sense in a manner which sounds like I have nothing better to do than memorise a thesaurus.

Simplicity – the key to a fun life, loving the simple things in life.

Life is not all about power point presentations, business suits and graphs and statistics. It is neither all about movies, friends and adventure trips. Balance… so easy to talk about and so hard to find. Not claiming that I have found it, but yes, understood its importance.

Experimentation. Crucial to find smarter ways of doing things. Managing a group without a leader. I was a member of a group selling “unconventional” NGO products and still made a considerable profit.

Authority. Not to be scared of. But to be treated with responsibility and respect.

Can be friends with anyone, irrespective of similarities and differences. May not be friends but still can have mutual respect for each other. Need not be rivals to be on different sides of an argument.

Nothing more satisfying than a warm hug from a friend in times of joy or moments of extreme sadness.

Nothing more calming than a patient listener during phases of exasperation and frustration. Giving advices to friends is easy, but one in trouble really appreciates is a listener, not someone who plays agony aunt by jumping to conclusions and giving ready made solutions.

Nothing more exhilarating than being genuinely happy in a friend’s achievement.

Do not take your talents for granted. Absorb from people and situations. Small things that you pick up always help. You may never be able to put these learnings on paper, but that’s ok. There will be times when people will disagree with you, but that’s ok. The fun is not in getting people to agree with you, but in gathering more perspectives and broadening your horizon of thoughts, even though you may not agree.

There is no reason to justify all your actions. There is no real way of labeling something moral or immoral, ethical or unethical, good or bad. It’s all just so subjective.

Actions do speak louder than words. But words can be more scathing than an act of hatred.
To be able to listen without being judgmental is a rare quality. To be able to develop this quality, one has to be a part of groups; not only for academic purposes, but also personally.

Classroom sessions are not the only times when you learn. You learn every moment. But what each one learns is so different from what all the others do.