Life goals

This one's a simple post. You'll see pointers/facts listed below that are in plain sight, but a massive chunk of our fellow earthlings do not see them. I wish we could broadcast these so everyone could live a wee bit less fearfully. There's ample to keep you afraid, the economy, the terrorists, the right-wingers, the left-wingers, the newspapers, the layoffs, pay cuts, the works. So, here goes.

Take care of yourself. Not in the way of a parting message, but take care of your body and mind. You only get one of each in your lifetime, unless you figured out how to transfer your lousy brain into a healthier body, or steal someone's soul. Hi there, the devil? Work out. Squat, jump, jump-squat, lunge, push up, pull yourself up (perhaps, along with another human, if you can). Sweat it out. Your company won't take care of you. The world's witnessing that during a pandemic. 

Earn to the point where you feel proud of answering "How much do you earn?" Yours truly has issues here. During every call, my grandmom asks "How much do you make?" Ideally, it's none of her business. Strangely, I haven't met a single mutual acquaintance who has been spared this question. Perhaps, it's her thing. If a girl asks you this question during the first date, never invite her to the second. It's an unnecessary statistic for her as long as you can pay for the meal, none of her concern. It's also a red flag that she has a penchant for irrelevant information. Bail out, immediately. That said, figure out a way to earn enough that you're at peace with the number in your bank account. You owe that to yourself. 

Keep your tolerance levels low. It saves energy and keeps the truly important people by your side. They'll respect your standards. This isn't gender-specific, mind you. Be it men, be it women, keep standards high, and tolerance levels low. If you let them get away once, they'll take that as your standard. So, keep it simple. Don't let them get away with rubbish. Hone your bullshit-sensors. Again, you owe it to yourself. 

Do not give excuses, and crucially, don't argue. Never argue. If you have to fight to make a point, you're not making a point at all. In fact, you're lending credence to your opposition's point when you put up a fight. You may think that you're trying to show them the right way by dishing out logical bullet-points. Seldom will their puny intelligence (hoping that you actually have a valid argument) grasp your gift of sensibility. Walk away. Save your voice, energy, and sanity. Don't get embroiled in a battle with the mucked-up pigs. The pigs will have their fun, and you'll get dirty. Thanks, Dadaji. 

About excuses, again, they are just that, excuses. If you're right, walk away. If you're wrong, apologise. If you let your ego come in the way, you're going straight back to the pigs. Energy, folks, energy is pristine. Save it, use it for better stuff than fighting over trivialities. There's this movie called 'A Bronx tale' starring Robert De Niro. and Chazz Palminteri. In it, Palminteri, a local mobster, befriends De Niro's son and becomes a genuine well-wisher to the boy, almost a father-figure. Think Rich Dad to Robert Kiyosaki. 

The boy once lends some money to an acquaintance. As it often happens with lent money, the acquaintance evades De Niro's boy each time that it's time to repay. The boy grows impatient with the borrower and threatens him to return the money. Palminteri notices the whole situation and is well-aware that the money's not coming back (come on, he's not been a notorious mob-boss for nothing). He tells the boy something to the tune of (and I paraphrase here) "The money that bum owes you is the small price you pay to get rid of such characters. Don't sweat it." 

Two things here. From two paragraphs ago, don't waste energy over trivialities and arguments. Second, when you lend, make sure that it's an amount that won't hurt you if not returned. Third, if you feel particularly generous and still want to cover your bases/mean business, ask for collateral. Why do you think banks are here to stay? Yours truly can't reiterate the fact enough that these are all a message to oneself. Pick what you like, ditch what you don't. Until next time...