Fear is meant to be overcome

I overcame my fear of going out.

I travelled to another state within India today.

Although my mother was with me, I kind of guided her throughout the journey.

I felt very anxious and I was chanting the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra throughout the journey.

That helped me a lot.

I guided my mother by telling her to cross check any directions she got from strangers. And we saved ourselves from getting lost.

Google maps saved us. My strong English speaking skills also saved us.

I realised that I am more capable than how little capable I thought I was.

We met a few extremely kind and helpful people who helped us reach our destination.

My sister’s advice and phone calls also helped me a lot. She is really a positive force of nature.

I’m glad you read this line. Thanks a lot!

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The Purpose of Life

What’s the purpose of life?

I guess the purpose of life is to live a good life.

That’s it.

Although this depends upon your definition of a good life.

But that’s the beauty of life. You get to choose your definition of a good life.

But since everyone has a slightly different definition of a good life, does this make any sense?

It does. Because as long as you’re happy in life living your version of a good life, you have a purpose.

To live your good life, to be happy is the purpose of life.

I’m delighted that you’re reading this line. Thanks a lot!

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I wish I could study and work more every day

What do you wish you could do more every day?

Study and Work

I wish I could study and work more every day.

I study and work on projects sometimes related to my MBA Data Science degree.

But I get tired and get mood swings.

I bet everyone gets these mood swings when sitting down to study.

But they study regardless of their mood.

I need to work on my “study regardless of their mood” aspect.

Relation to mental health

My bipolar disorder is also responsible for my difficulties in studying long hours.

It’s not like I don’t want to study and work. It’s just that I can’t.

Writing helps me tremendously to cope with the frustration of being unable to study.

But I guess I need to draw a line between what I can do and what I expect myself to achieve.

Satisfaction

  1. What I can do is – study for 2 hours.
    What I expect myself to achieve is – study 4-5 hours.
  2. What I can do is – go out with family, friends, relatives, etc. and sometimes alone to the barber’s saloon.
    What I expect myself to achieve is –
    • to travel from my town to the city by bus, or
    • take a public transportation facility,
    • to talk to strangers,
    • to make friends,
    • to go to regular/offline university, etc.
  3. What I can do is – be satisfied and work hard for uplifting genuine values like honesty, integrity, generosity, etc.
    What I expect myself to achieve is – to achieve external success that has no meaning expect earning more money.

What I can do and what I expect myself to do are two different things. They are not the same things.

Conclusion

Sure I can aim to study more but I need to be satisfied with what I have.

I can try to study and work for 3 hours next time. Or may 2.5 hours.

Because my circumstances are different.

Wanting more isn’t always necessary because we don’t need to compare ourselves with others.

I need to take it slow.

I’m glad you’re reading this line. Thanks a lot!

Thank you to all the psychologists and psychiatrists of the world

I’ve always misunderstood my psychologists. I’ve thought that they don’t understand me and that they are just using bookish rules to treat me.

Today I’m grateful to them.

I’ve always mocked CBT(Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) exercises and put it off. I’ve always taken my psychologists’ time for granted. I’ve always undervalued them.

Today I’m grateful to them.

I’ve always undermined psychology, psychiatry, medicine, science,etc. I’ve always thought that “spirituality”,”soul”,”heaven”,”self-help books”, etc. are superior to psychologists.

Today I’m grateful to them.

I’m grateful because they understood me beyond my imagination. They listened to what I couldn’t hear in myself. They use the most advanced science on a common person like to heal me.

And I’m healed because of them.

Thank you to all the psychologists and psychiatrists of the world if you are reading this.

All Is Vanity – Sab E Maya

Daily writing prompt
What tattoo do you want and where would you put it?
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I want a tattoo that says “All Is Vanity” and I would put it on my right arm.

Christina Grimmie

I would do this because I’m inspired by my favorite singer, Christina Grimmie.

She had a tattoo exactly like this and I want to remember her every day through this tattoo.

She loved Jesus and she cared for her fans(or “frands” as she called us).

We had a ritual. Instead of saying “Team Grimmie Rocks” she would say “Team Grimmie Rawwks \|/”.

But in June 2016, she was murdered and we lost an angel.

She was a good person, she achieved quite a bit of success with over 3 million subscribers on YouTube and success in “The Voice” TV music show.

But God took her back.

In these moments we start to question “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

But the truth is we must trust God’s plan. God’s plan is greater than our plans. This was said in Christina’s Memorial Service as on YouTube.

But we still have her music and we must share it. So I’m sharing it with you.

Please subscribe to her YouTube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/@christinagrimmie

I believe listening to Christina’s music will help most people find inner strength to fight life’s challenges and find hope.

My Understanding

Other than that, from my humble perspective the meaning of the tattoo is beautiful.

I’m not a deeply religious person, but I care about God and love God.

I believe that serving mankind is serving God. God lives in each one of us.

So if we serve others, we are serving God indirectly or rather more directly than praying in a temple or a church.

But from the context of this tattoo “All Is Vanity”, I know a term “Maya”.

In India we say “Sab e maya”. “All is illusory”.

Maya means illusion in the most basic sense.

Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I understand that God is the ultimate reality.

Whether you call it God, or Brahman, or Paramatman, it doesn’t matter.

There is this realization. I don’t know what this realization is.

But it is the realization that changes everything.

This realization is the realization of the Truth, God, the Ultimate Reality,etc.

And all the temporary achievements we have and all the attachments and desires are all maya, an illusion.

Conclusion

I’m glad that you are reading this line. Thanks a lot!

Met Sri M in Kolkata many years ago

A few years ago, I met Sri M who is a spiritual teacher, social reformer, educationist, author and global speaker.

Here’s a brief introduction of Sri M-

https://satsang-foundation.org/the-founder-sri-m/

He came to our city for his book release. The book’s name is “Shunya” which in English means Zero or Nothing or No-thing.

We went to the auditorium and we watched discussions and classical Hindustani music show I guess.

Then there was a Q/A round.

I promptly went ahead and asked my question.

But I thought the question was dumb.

I was about to ask “How to find God?”

But I couldn’t ask that question.

Because I thought it was not my duty to find God.

I have more important duties like taking care of my parents and getting higher education.

So I asked the question, “Sir, when I read the book I felt unconditional love. Is the book about unconditional love?”

Now this was an even more stupid question.

But Sri M said,”Maybe you feel that way because you yourself have unconditional love in you.”(there may be a slight difference from the actual words but it doesn’t change the meaning)

Now this is something.

Then we took Sir M’s signature on our copies of “Shunya” and Sri M blessed my mother and me. And he, we and everyone else left the auditorium.

This was something unreal of an experience.

I still can’t believe that all this happened that day.

Well it’s something to meet realized beings.

When I met Sri M, I had met a lady in a train who claimed to have seen God.

And she has helped me and advised me since on life’s problems and spiritual realizations and we’re still connected.

She asked me what I felt when I met Sri M.

I said that I didn’t know because I think I am not so spiritually advanced.

As I write this, I realize that I need to be more mindful during my spiritual meetings.

And it is one of my dreams to visit Sri M’s ashram at least some time in the future.

I’m happy that you’re reading this line. Thanks a lot!

Caring

What is one word that describes you?

The word “caring” describes me the best.

I care about my family and friends and even strangers.

In school, there have been occasions when I have helped that new classmate sit in my seat in spite of me having a good time with my friends because he said he had some eye disease and he couldn’t see the white board from the back bench.

Once I had decided to not submit my assignment to the teacher because the previous day I had forgotten to inform my friend about it. He was upset and so I decided to postpone the assignment submission and submit it later with him.

In regular college where I went for only 6 months, I was always polite to everyone.

I made a few friends and they love me and I love them.

I learnt the values of caring from my mother. And I think it’s a crucial skill.

But sometimes I wonder if I care too much. So much that people take advantage of me.

A college classmate once said to me “You are so good. But nobody cares.”

Well, I don’t care if nobody cares.

And most people do care. People remember.

So yes I appreciate anirbansaren.com/ coming up with daily blogging prompts for their users.

I’m really happy that you are reading this. Thanks a lot!

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I’m so proud of you

Daily writing prompt
What was the best compliment you’ve received?
View all responses

The best compliment I’ve ever received is from my elder sister who says,”I’m so proud of you. You are working so hard to fight your bipolar disorder.”

I think she is the one who understands me.

Well the quoted sentence is similar but not exactly like how she says in Bengali.

I’m happy that you read this line. Thanks a lot!

What’s confidence? – An Original Poem

Daily writing prompt
Who is the most confident person you know?
View all responses

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What’s confidence?

What’s confidence?
To be humble, yet fiercely brave
To be reasonable, understanding of your enemy’s pain
To not be violent, but argue peacefully.

What’s confidence?
It’s not about speaking in a charismatic way
It’s not about lying so subtly
It’s not about manipulating to get your own way.

What’s confidence?
To be honest about your needs
To draw healthy boundaries
To respect yourself.

What’s confidence?
It’s not something to show others
It’s how you feel about yourself
It’s about your values.

-Anirban Saren

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If I had to say who the most confident person I know is, it would be-

Not one person, but all kinds of people who share value of humanity.

And guess what everyone can be a confident and good human beings.

But if I had to say one person’s name- my mother.

She is the most confident person I know.

Thank you my dear followers/readers/writers.

Honestly I get social anxiety in the comments sections of some of your posts. Y’all know so much more than me and I feel like if I comment, I’ll look like a fool. But I will try to comment more.