Something to say

By now I'm no stranger to broken streaks and falling off wagons. A lifetime of destructive habits tend to guarantee that much. Nobody wants to live a hopeless life, after all. This is especially true for folks who feel they've got more time ahead of them than they do behind them. I should consider myself extremely fortunate to count myself among them. I have a tremendous amount of things on my bucket list. I'm of sound mental and physical health, I have access to various spiritual philosophies from which I'm free to pick and choose, and I have enough financial power through my parents to even choose my own vocation.

Yet that makes me far from special, in fact almost everyone I have some personal relationship with seems to belong in the same category, with some exceptions. In fact, most of them seem to be doing pretty well, so at least they have some appreciation of their gifts, at least on the subconsious level. Or, more likely, their generally agreeable temperments result from the palpable lack of barriers to thier desires. A majority of them don't seem particularly appreciative when push comes to shove. Not to self aggrandise, but in the spirit of discovery, it seems to me that true appreciation brings with it a thorough acceptance.

Whenever I have been truly grateful for my circumstances, it becomes second nature to embrace any and all hardships that come my way. If I were to get hit by a truck, I lived a good life. If my dog was to pass away, I had an abundance of good times and fond memories with her. If I were to become disabled, I revved my engines beyond the point of satisfaction. That's how it seems to me, and that quality is only present in the more religious of my peers, of which there are few. Although I feel tempted to give in to accessibility, prescribing easy targets like social media as the cause, I also sense that this is indicative of something more universal.

There are cliches everywhere you look. Most people born in poverty will be poor when they depart. Most well-off and comfortable children grow up to become utterly reprehensible. Power tends to corrupt and those that make sacrifices tend to be self rigtheous. An overwhelming majority of people seem to act in a certain way under specific circumstances. Call it my interpretation of the law of averages. Now there's certainly something to be said about human nature from this "group" behaviour. After all, every individual is a part of some group. One can learn from it, take notes, and draw a tremedous amount of useful input to create the best plan of action. 

But I've always been particularly attracted to the law of small numbers. Generally, it states that extremes tend to show up in small numbers. It also says that people tend to believe that conclusions about the larger group drawn from observing these small samples are just as valid as conclusions drawn from much larger samples of the same group. For instance, there are like a billion students in the world. That's a big-ass number. But a teacher from my school in Jaipur with over two decades of experience, will certainly value his own opinions about education, formed from personal experience, way more than the conclusions of a global study or analysis.

The law of small numbers is a really cool perspective we've gained through decades of connectivity, stipulations, and statistics. In the context of this conversation, however, it seems to me that individuals are always capable of beating the norms. Now, this might seem moronic, since it's literally the opposite of what the law is trying to teach. The law demands humility, and awareness of your own limitations, yet an individual always wishes to believe that they can beat the numbers. My point here is quite simple: There is great wisedom in listening to the world and keeping your eyes open. The knowledge gained from such observations provides priceless context. However, the flip side of that coin must never be omitted. Just as you add value to your life from listening to others, you will never find the answers that lie within your heart out there, without which you can never truly move the needle. 

In this way, the statistician becomes a statistic, while the meglomaniac becomes a dictator--oops I mean- a personality. There's something to be said about self-fulfilling prophecy and creating your own reality there. Then again, a statistician could just as well consider dictaters as a group of its own, and start another rabbit hole of analysis and stipulations. I find it much more productive to develop the skill of keen insight and presision while balancing it with the awareness of the big picture. After all, all dictators alos belonged to a much larger group called humaity, and a larger one yet, called living beings. 

At the end of the day, we all belong to any number of groups. Almost everyone and everything you come across will make sure you'll never forget it. Most conversations tend to be about the glory or hell of one thing or another. Everything seems to illicit feelings of boys vs. girls, hindus/muslims/christians vs. athiests/free thinkers/philosophers, or some other form of us vs. them. Because everything in the outside world will either stimulate feelings of inclusion or alienation. But always remeber that everyone also has something to say. All of us, have something worth offering to other people that's valuable to them.

Whether it's your consumer behavior for advertisers, the capabilities of your physical body, or the unique ideas and connections in your mind. All of it springs forth from your unique experiences, all of it useful to someone in some form or the other. If one takes some time to break themselves down into their core components, they'll often find that they can peel away one layer after another, only to find absolutely nothing at the center. Like an onion, we are nothing but the layers. But having peeled away all of yourself, you can also see that each one of those layers can serve a purpose. Each one is packed with value and is beyond capable of serving many causes.

It's through that process of introspection about your value combined with the wider context of the world that you can exactly locate your place in this world. I just wanted to say before I end, while this was not the aim of this article, I am pleasantly surprised with the shape it has taken. Still, to do justice to my initial vision, I should mention two things: May aim is to continue writing as much as I can while editing the dates in chronological order, until I "win back" my streak. I think this is the best course of action to master the art of showing up thereby clearing the single biggest hurdle between the haves and have nots. Secondly, I believe that no matter what group one belongs to, young, old, broke, busy, rich, poor, boy, girl, sick, or healthy, we can always make an attempt to beat the numbers.

It's something that's always within reach. The game that never ends until its over. You can shift from group to group, but you can never lose until you're alive. Let the laws, the numbers, and the world say what it says. Listen well and take notes if you must. But at the end of the day, none of those outsiders know what you have to say. To forget that is to forgo your existence. To omit those things you have to say, is to opt out of the game while still living. And make no mistake about the implications of opting out. It's to throw your whole out of balance. It's trying to ride a bike with a single pedal. It's inviting sickness, broken thoughts, half-truths, dementia, and psychopathy. It's trying to live a full life with just half of your being.