Prove me wrong

There are times you wish you were wrong. That the risk you took – seldom without overthinking – would pay off. That the impulsive leap you made would result in you landing softly somewhere. That what you feared would be the worst outcome would not be realised.

But overthinkers tend to have all possible scenarios considered. It’s not true, though, that they are shielded from pain because of this. It’s not true that they don’t get hurt because they saw it coming and you’re just proving them right. It’s just as hurtful – even more so – because you so desperately want to be wrong. You want that slight chance of everything defying your fears and turning out so much better. You desire that rarity of a happy ending.

Charles Bukowski had said that “sadness is caused by intelligence; the more you understand certain things, the more you wish you didn’t understand them”.

More often than not we try to escape life to run away from the reality we refuse to accept. We usually know what we ought to do, how we should act, how certain stories of our life will play out. But we obstinately deny it. We have difficulty in acknowledging the facts, because when our emotions are combating our rationale, we are guided by our feelings not our mind. It takes time, but the longer we resist, the harder it gets to let go.

And in the end, we are left with that incessant, perpetuating, yet constantly unanswered question: what if for once things turned out differently, contrary to all odds, to all predictions, to all expectations?

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The scourge of power

He was unfairly imprisoned for a crime he never committed. But in a corrupt society, justice has a price and the laws are what those in power interpret them to be. There could be no righteousness in a world filled with greed.

It is a disturbing truth, however, that those in power will always try to exploit and control those who truly possess it.

He was imprisoned because he held power through a source they could not master. His force stemmed from the intellect. He pushed people to think and question the circumstances that surrounded them. He prompted them to be critical and demand more knowledge. He opened their eyes and minds. And for that he was considered dangerous.

“It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it” (Aung San Suu Kyi).

A garden of surprise

©J Hardy Carroll

It was a strange place to go to get to know another person better. It was just their second encounter. Simon had promised a “surprise that would definitely be worth her time” if Harriet accepted to see him again. She blushed and accepted without thinking too much. Sometimes overthinking steals the joy of impulsive actions.

They spent almost the entire day at the botanical gardens. She had never been, but it was on her ‘to-do’ list. He had recently read about it.

It was there that they both discovered the importance of being blown away by someone’s mind and personality.

Also part of Friday Fictioneers

Professor-prompts

“Not everyone can do everything. Because it is as simple a fact that you can’t be good at many things. You can adequately do a lot, but only expertly do a few”.

He clearly remembered his professor’s words since the first day of college.

He was investing time to gain the knowledge required to specialise in one specific sector.

However, in an age of multitasking and in a labour market that sought individuals with a range of skills, he found the prompt contradictory.

How could you focus on one thing alone when the world was asking you to know more?

His professor was the one who offered the reply.

“The more specific knowledge you possess, the greater ability you have in comprehending a situation and offering solutions others cannot see”.

He then handed him a quote from a famous scientist. It said: “A smattering of everything is worth little. It is a fallacy to suppose that an encyclopaedic knowledge is desirable. The mind is made strong, not through much learning, but by the thorough possession of something” (Louis Agassiz).

“Never stop learning. Seek knowledge on everything and anything. But know what to invest on and specialise on something in particular. That will make you stand out. And it will make you sought-after and marketable”.

Being royal

©MCD

If someone gave you the chance to be a royal for a day, would you take it? Would you accept the commitments that come with the luxury? The restraints and regulations that come with everything money can buy?

We are raised to believe that we are princesses and princes. And some of us grow up to think we are, acting just as stubborn and spoiled as the description entails. But the real part of being a royal is not in the name or the title. It’s not in the things you have that reveal how much money you have or don’t.

It’s in the attitude.

The behaviour, the serenity, the calm in front of a storm, the nobility, the savoir-vivre and the etiquette. It’s knowing how to act like a decent human being.

And that is something money can not buy.

Because no matter the education you have, it you don’t adjust your mentality and cultivate your intelligence, it doesn’t really matter who you are.

Being royal is a feeling that comes from within, not a title you inherit.

 

The slightest in a day

Research has at various times shown that messy people are in fact smarter. That is not an excuse for being disorganised though. It just goes to show that a creative mind has ideas lying around everywhere. And that is represented in real life too.

In addition, the more ideas you have swerving around in your head waiting to be implemented, the more energetic you are and the more chances you have that your adrenaline levels strike a high.

In fact, this is the reason you often can’t sleep at night, tossing and turning in bed, waiting impatiently to fall asleep. But at the same time, the minute you sit on a couch to watch some TV or something of the like, in order to de-pressure yourself, that is exactly when – all so suddenly – you fall asleep. It is almost instantaneous.

You most often feel like this. You wake up already tired, wishing you could stay in bed for a few more hours of sleep. But the urge and the stress of having so many things to do, don’t let you. You’re too diligent for that. You start to work, simultaneously sticking to-do notes everywhere and abruptly it happens: as if you’re injected with an insulin-dopamine dose, you become so adrenaline-high, multitasking seems too little to describe what you can do. Even as night falls, you’re still high.

It is a law of nature, however, that everything that goes up must come down (so it can have the energy to go up again). Just like that, you feel your mood fall. And so does your energy. And that is when you try to understand that you’ve done all that you could for the day. 24 hours are very often not enough. But being even in the slightest productive, is much more than most people do in their entire week, to say the least.

Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’re worth more than you give yourself credit for. And for that, you can achieve so much more than you believe.

 

Also part of Daily Prompt: Slight

Stretching your mind

Why do we learn new things? Why are we even interested in something we know nothing about and may possibly not affect us?

We learn because it is how we grow. It is why as children we are so easily excited about almost everything, regardless of how nonsense it may later seem to us as adults.

There are many types of learning, for example, targeted learning simply to pass an exam; specialised learning to become experts in one (or only a few) specific areas; and broader life-long learning that never stops.

“Education is the progressive discovery of our own ignorance” (Will Durant). It is how we find our place in the world and how we can discover new ways to make things better.

Indeed, as Benjamin Franklin said, “being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn”. We should want to learn. We should desire to broaden our perspectives and widen our horizons. We should be willing to engage in more talk than just things we know much about.

 “The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice” – Brian Herbert

Whispers of Light

It’s that moment at the break of dawn, when the sky is darkest. When you need a flashlight simply to find your way around your own balcony. That moment when the breeze is strong and carries with it the smells of dew break. It is that very moment when you’re too embarrassed to disrupt the silence.  When not even a whisper is heard and the sleeping world seems too peaceful.

But as light slowly emerges, so do the whispers that are heard, becoming a bit more decisive but still not stressing the vocal chords. It is a different moment, that of illumination. It is when day dawns, together with your plans, ideas and ambitions for the hours ahead.

And then as the sun rises, so do the people, the daily business, the noise. It is when you no longer care to keep your voice down because everyone is, or ought to be up, and about by now. It is when the whispers turn directly into loud talk, usually about anything and nothing simultaneously. When discussions happen often for the sake of it, with interlocutors competing not at wit, but at who will have the last word, no matter how trifling it may be.

It is that moment when you, who was so far whispering, acknowledge that sometimes it is better to whisper a thousand words that light up your mind, than shout ten than burn it down.

 

Also part of Daily Prompt: Whisper

The bold and the audacious

Ants – yes, those little creatures we so recklessly step on so often – are acutally astounding mechanical systems, in that they can lift up to 5,000 times their own body weight. But it is not only that which makes them admirable, it is their ability to work so effectively in teams – and even if acting alone, do so for the benefit of all – a trait the human race has yet to master.

You see, humans have an intrinsic underlying weakness: selfishness. The main goal it seems for many is how to gain power, to rise up above others, to stand out from the crowd, often in any way possible. They easily become intoxicated with the supremacy of power and get caught up in a vicious circle from which there is no escape.

When you spend an entire weekend watching Frank Underwood crush anyone who interferes with his plans for power, then it is only reasonable that you’ll begin to understand how being so relentless and emotionally unattached to anyone and anything can serve your own ruthlessly selfish ambitions.

It is not only about having power, however, and the means you use to acquire it. It is mainly about knowing how to use it right. That is what makes all the difference. And it is what sets people apart, either in a positive or negative light. It is the road you choose to take that will determine the legacy you leave at your footsteps.

It is the difference between being bold and being audacious.

There is a saying that “the doors will open to those who are bold enough to knock”. It takes courage to do so. Robert Frost had said that “freedom lies in being bold”, because that is how you chase after your ambitions. But that thin line that separates this fearfulness and daring nature from being reckless and uninhibited is reflected in the words of some of the world’s most prominent figures: “fortune favours the audacious”, said Desiderius Erasmus, and Benjamin Disraeli agreed, saying “success is the child of audacity”. Even Winston Churchill prompted, “the first quality that is needed is audacity”.

It seems it’s not the bold who get what they’re after, it’s the audacious ones.

And in the societies we’re growing up in, rife with conflict and controversy, people need to develop another characteristic: the ability to observe the world around them and distinguish between those who are after something for themselves, and those who are there simply to be. Those who stand by others, no matter what, and those who are only after their own interests. Those who empathise and listen when you’re unwell, and those who only selfishly care to have a good time when you’re in the mood too. Those who would do anything to rise above others at present, and those who would work to make things better for those to come.

What matter in the end is the intelligence of knowing how to wield the power the comes with power and the audacity to do it for the right reasons, no matter if you’re a lone ant, risking to be squashed.

 

Also part of Daily Prompt: Fake