Bring me that Horizon.

So recently I shared my theory of life with a close friend. This post is for them. They know who they are. And I really, genuinely hope this helps you too. :)

So basically I believe that life is like a boat voyage.

The sea you sail on is your life and circumstances you live in. Your destination is the end, and the winds that drive you there are your purpose in life. The crew that man your ship are your friends and family and basically all those that love you and that you love. You are the captain of your ship, because you ultimately control which way you go and where you end up.

Oh, ship.

Now sometimes the sea gets rough. Things happen that you hate, and sometimes it gets so choppy that you think things would have been easier if the damn ship would just sink already, and you wonder who the heck made you captain of the ship anyways. But as long as you have at least one person on your crew to hoist up the sails, you should know that everything is going to be all right, because just like the storms at sea, nothing lasts forever. Ultimately, the clouds will dissipate, the choppy waters will calm, and the waves will stop. The ship will stop rocking and turning and it'll sail smoothly once again. The thing is, even the good weather is transient, because it is the sea after all. It'll inevitably become stormy, and inevitably calm again. It's how things work. The circle of life, if you will.

I find this amusingly metaphorical.

And about the winds. Sometimes the winds just stop. That's when you feel desolate and hopeless, because no matter how much you might want to, you can never get your ship to move. But again, life is an ocean, and it never remains windless for long. The directions might change, sure, but that doesn't mean that you give up. It simply means that you change your direction, and look at the trip from a different perspective. After all. When winds stop, they stop because of pressure differences normally associated with a storm ahead. Everything happens for a reason, right?

What's important through your journey is to remember that no matter what happens, you will always have some people on your crew to help you move that ship along. You're the captain, but the captain never works alone.

So remember. Keep your eyes on the sea, your provisions well-stocked, and the wind in your sails. Out your hands on that wheel, and go fetch yourself that horizon.

Salvation á la mode, and a cup of tea.

“It’s a small world after all”. It’s a song we hear on Disney rides and children’s toys everywhere (my water dispenser even plays it when its dispensing water). The lyrics are quite simple, but they aren’t always true.

Sometimes it’s a very large world, and its very possible to feel lonely or abandoned in it. It happens to everyone. You, me, and even the person I hired to write this post for me. :P

It's a small, watery world.

Long story short, it’s not abnormal to feel like there’s nothing to look forward to – whether you’re at home, or in college, school, on vacation, or anywhere else.

In fact, I like to compare life to a cat. Its fast yet slow, needs a lot of attention, and somehow never goes the way you want it to. And this cat called Life can sometimes stare you right in the face with its beady, adorable eyes and shuffle around everything you know. All of a sudden the people and environment you’ve called home for the last so many years changes, and college introduces you to a new environment, new people, and new habits. And this is when that aforementioned feeling of loneliness can manifest itself the most. Its like Dr. Spencer Johnson said in his book, Who Moved My Cheese, “Change happens. They keep moving the cheese.”

Meow. Who moved MY cheese?

This article is dedicated to a very special friend of mine, who inspired me to write, and has been a huge support in the last few months. You know who you are. :)

There’s no one particular solution for feeling alone, however. But I’ll tell you what works for me. Find your group of close friends around you, and keep them closer. The thing about friends is, they’re always going to be there for you, no matter what. Whether you need to talk at 3 am, or exam notes, or even just a hug at 7:30 in the morning before a test, they’ll always be there for you.

And remember one more thing. No matter how bad things might seem now, everything will get better. You WILL pass that test you were worrying about. You WILL find someone you love, and who loves you back. You WILL get that job you wanted. You WILL be successful. But for any of these, you have to try. Make that effort, and you WILL get what you want. It’s one of the rules of life. :)

“It’s a world of laughter, a world of tears,

it’s a world of hope, and a world of fears.

There’s so much that we share, that it’s time we’re aware,

It’s a small world, after all.”

It’s a small world, after all. Learn to enjoy it! Don’t worry too much. Problems will come and go, but that beautiful smile of yours will stay forever.

And that’s the thing about cats. They always land on their feet. :)

Have you ever seen the rain?

"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough."
                                                                      -Mae West.

Have you ever had fun? And by fun I don't just mean sitting back and watching TV for a change, or sleeping over at a friends house. I mean, have you ever truly had fun?

Have you ever been on a boat, thrown your head back, let the sun beat down on your face, the salty breeze blow through your hair, and the saline smell of the sea fill your lungs? Have you heard the seagulls squack and the waves crash? There's a whole world out there, why limit yourselves to one room?

Because YOLO?

Okay. Let me run off topic here for a second to apologize for the extremely long gap. I'm sorry, but I'm in the middle of my board exams. These are the ones that decide the rest of your education, so you understand why it can take a bit of a toll. :P Also, the obligatory dedication. This article is dedicated to Thejas. One of my best friends, who really knows how to have fun. xD

I'm sorry. What's that? Can't hear you over my awesomeness.

Okay back to the sentimental crap. It rained the other day. Now you might not think that this is such a big deal, because, you know, rain. But it was special for me. Why? Because I hadn't seen the rain in God-Only-Knows-How-Long.

No, I don't live in a desert, thank you for asking. So I asked myself, "Why do I suddenly feel so delighted about the rain? After all, it rains like every other day, right? Right?!" And a couple of half-assed excuses and lame attempts to dodge the question later, I had to admit to myself that I spend so much time studying or watching TV or doing some other form of indoor activity that I barely even look outside. No, I'm not exaggerating. I saw the rain for the first time in a month last week, and I was thrilled about it, damn you.

So that brought about the mandatory life lesson. Take some time out of your busy day, every day. Just look out the window, breathe in some fresh air, listen to the birds sing, the crickets chirp, and let the breeze blow in your face. Love life, because after all, you only live once.

                                    
                                                                Indeed.

Wind Beneath My Wings. (:

There is no such thing as a self-made person. Behind every successful man, there is not just a woman, but countless others, all doing their bit to make them the person they are today.

Unless of course, you have a face like that. That, my friends, is a self-made man.

Which brings me back to my newest inspiration. Come day-after-tomorrow, I will have been on this Earth for exactly eighteen years, and in that time, I haven’t amounted to very much. But whatever little I HAVE amounted to, I owe entirely to my family and my friends.

Sometimes, I fight with my friends. Then I look up at God (assuming, of course, that He exists), and ask him why he could possibly condemn me to a life with these people. Or I come home from school and curse my teachers, thinking:

Indeed.

But then, not more than ten minutes later, I ask myself, “What would I ever do without them?”

See, family, friends and teachers are meant to be a part of our lives. Like William Shakespeare said, “All the world’s a stage, and men and women merely players.” Our life is like one big play, and friends, family and everyone else are the background crew in your lead role. They set up the stage, teach you your lines, correct you when you’re going wrong, help you when you begin to forget, and let you make a graceful exit when the time is right.

Gee. I wonder what play that is. Looks wrong. xD

So the next time your parents/teachers yell at you for not doing homework, or you get into a fight with your friends, just take a look around you. Look at the backdrop, and ask yourself whether they’re just trying to give you the right prop at the right time.

This article is dedicated to everyone. I know I haven’t been very active lately, in fact, I've been very near dead. That’s just because I (along with countless other twelfth-graders) have enormous amounts of pressure building. There’s barely enough time to breathe, let alone write.

Anyhow. This article is a little thank-you gesture to everybody who’s ever been there for me when I needed it.

 I can fly higher than an eagle, if you are the wind beneath my wings.

Sorry.

I've been extremely inconsistent these past while, and I'm really really sorry. I've had a lot going on. I'll have a post up soon.

Check back on the 9th of September. Maybe before. :)

Be yourself, no matter what they say.

Have you ever wondered why sometimes, you’re just too scared to do something a little bit radical? Ever wanted to challenge something a teacher tells you, but were afraid they wouldn’t like it? Have a crush on a girl/guy but don’t want to tell them because you’re afraid they’ll think you’re a creep? What about skipping class to go hang out with friends? Don’t expect me to believe you’ve never at least WANTED to do that.

Think for a second. What do you think was stopping you all those times? It was fear. Fear of what other people would think. Fear of the consequences. I feel you. I’ve been there, and I’ve done that. Veni, vidi, but not necessarily vicci.

I’ve been around for almost 18 years now, and in that relatively short time, I’ve learnt a lot of life lessons on my own. This one, however, I couldn’t have done without the weirdest, most amazing best friend ever. This article’s for Gautam. Cause he’s got da swag, yo. B-)

You really can't argue with that. So why even try.

I’ve always thought that you had to think anything you did over half a dozen times before you do it. “Thought before action is better than action before thought.” Or something like that. (I’m really bad at making up quotes. :P ) But you get my point, so yeah.

This summer, at GYLC, I had a very personal dilemma. It was one of those make-it-or-break-it kind of situations, and I really wasn’t sure whether risking my neck to do something was worth the possible embarrassment I would certainly be facing if it didn’t go as planned. And things in my life have this nasty habit of going as far away from the plan as it is humanely possible to get. And then going further.

Anyhow, I was procrastinating like nobody’s business; making up the most wild, wacky of excuses not to do aforementioned thing when I was given a pearl of wisdom I’m never going to forget.

Like that, except a little more useful.

“Dude. Seriously. What are you afraid of? Okay, stop for a second. Now tell me, what’s the worst that could happen? Worst case, you’ll [describe failure] and people will talk about it for a few days. And then what? They’ll forget, and everybody will go back to their lives. Maybe a couple of people will remind you about it later, but big deal! And if you succeed, then what? You’ll [describe success]. Don’t worry about failing. You can’t learn to run unless you know how to walk first. Just grow a pair and do it.”

I did it. That thing I was planning, I mean.

It was one of those days when everything works. I did what I had to do, and (surprise, surprise!) didn’t fail miserably at it!

What did I learn out of that? I learned not to be afraid of consequences. Never be scared of what MIGHT happen if you fail. Instead, think of what’ll happen if you don’t.

Yes, reader. Apply this anywhere and everywhere you can. Go ahead. Challenge your teacher. Tell that girl/guy how you feel. Skip class to chill - but only just this once. :P

“If manners maketh a man as someone says, then he’s the hero of the day. It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile. Be yourself, no matter what they say.”

                                                           - “Englishman in New York” -  Sting and The Police.

Addicted to Life.

So the other day I was in the car with a friend, stuck at a traffic signal, and we saw this group of three weird-looking guys - about 21 or so - wearing these God-awful hoodies (olive green, among other colors) that had random phrases like YOLO and "Sup Bitchezzzzz" written all over them. And that got me thinking. And this was BEFORE we noticed two of them smoking. The scene looked suspiciously similar to the one from the movie American Gangster. Naturally, that got me thinking. Why in the name of the great Heavenly Father would someone willingly do that kind of crap?

I mean, how can this POSSIBLY hurt?

We live our lives as addicts. Whether we're addicted to waffles, or drugs, or sausages, or alcohol, or chips, or cigarettes, we all try to find something that makes us happy. My issue with drugs and smoking aside, the driving question behind this article is HOW exactly we end up addicted. I mean, no one just randomly picks up a bucket of paint-thinner and tries to sniff it.

This article goes out to one of my best friends - Shashank - who I recently had this fascinating conversation with about drug abuse. He's always hated it, which is why I felt only too justified in dedicating this one to him. :)

The fact that both of us look completely stoned here is entirely irrelevant.

So we were talking about this the other day, when suddenly the answer dawned. 

And with it, disillusionment melted away like snow before the summer sun.

IT IS US.

WE cause our own addiction. Us and our desire to be "cool." Its weird really. The minute a movie showing some ridiculous kind of drug abuse releases, we start hearing about similar cases of abuse in the newspapers. Take Down in the Valley, Dream with the Fishes, or even Eyes Wide Shut.

Its human nature, actually. Because we think actors are cool, we tend to emulate whatever they do. Don't believe me? Britney Spears started the whole "pants six inches below the waist" craze. Most stars are have admitted to being addicted to some form of drugs or other - Lindsay Lohan, Daniel Radcliffe, Demi Lovato, Robert Pattinson, Justin Beiber; tell you what. Find me ONE actor/star who ISN'T addicted to either drugs or alcohol, and I'll dedicate my next article to you.*

*Conditions apply.

And its not just drugs. We see forms of celebrity influence everywhere. I mean, the "duck" pout didn't just magically appear out of thin air. Nor did the aforementioned "pants six inches below the waist" phase, or the mirror self-shots. Humans tend to blindly imitate what we see other people doing, without regard for whether its actually beneficial or not.

Truer words have never been spoken.

You know, sometimes I tend to wonder why or how we began to consider ourselves at the top of the evolutionary ladder. I mean, we still copy what we see so called "lower life forms" do. Because - and I'm sure you'll agree - the act of chewing on weird-looking spotted mushrooms can only have been initially observed in a lower primate.

                          

Either that or a Super Mario game.

So anyways. A standard part of any addiction debate is the question part. The part where we ask: "But what can we do about it? How do we make sure we don't get addicted to anything?"

The answer is quite simple, really. Just ask yourself three questions:

1. Do I fully understand what this person is doing? Do I have any doubts that I want to be [sniffing the liquid normal people use to dissolve paint/putting leaves in my mouth, setting them on fire and breathing in the fumes/whatever else]?

2. Is doing this going to harm me in any way?

3. Would this help make me a better person/the world a better place/spread some happiness around?

4. Is doing this going to embarrass me later?

If the answers to any two of these questions is yes, then DON'T DO IT.

"Go on. Its completely safe." Said no one, ever.

Remember, we've been given brains. Its about time we used them.

See you in a week!