A rolling stone gathers no moss

As the world has changed over the years, so have many of the morals and definitions in life. From ‘Slow and steady wins the race’ to it being the fast, furious and calm, the hare and tortoise story is often ridiculed in this day and age, and with good reason- here comes the hare and he isn’t pausing for a nap anymore.

However with that being said, here is one that really needs questioning.

'A rolling stone gathers no moss.’

Well, this is perhaps true, but how about someone completing this phrase with all its involved nuances.

'A rolling stone gathers no moss, but a stationary one gathers just that.'

Think about it.
Now I am not taking away from the fact that a rolling stone indeed does not gather moss, but has anyone thought about the stationary one? What turns out to be that stone’s fate? Fixed, washed up, and covered around the same surrounding and muck for all of time?

How many people have you seen as seniors when you join a company to work, or friends who you may have left behind in a city where you studied, who have been there for almost all of their lives? If you have stepped out a while and come back, these people make you wonder- have they not grown at all? Its really lovely to find a city or village that you perhaps spent your formative years in, but what of the people in them?

You are born, and then you learn to roll around, you learn to crawl and then walk. You grow to get into nursery, then move into pre-school, then school and college and finally graduate to work. And then suddenly, that is all that is left to do. There are no more organized steps to grow after that and we have to pave our own way. But there in lies the catch. Quite a few of us, land up in the same job for years together not knowing what to do next, and life passes us by. Some of us cling on to continue studying, not knowing what to do next. And after a while, even that passes.

A couple of days ago, a senior person in the company I work for retired after around forty years in the same company. That’s right. Forty years! While there was perhaps a time where a steady job was everything, there is a time now where there are innumerable opportunities at any and every turn you take, provided you have the guts to embark on your own private adventure called life.

Edmund Burke wrote, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” extremely powerful words, and if you think about it, its the very same with our own lives as well. If you just sit around waiting for something to happen, you are not going to move. You will simply lie there, waiting, feeling safe in the same place you started until you suddenly you wake up one day, several years from now, and think to yourself, ‘what the hell! When did all that time pass me by? Why have I not grown despite having done everything right and by the proverbial book?’

The only thing necessary for the triumph of the mundane is for any man to sit still, stagnate.

You do not have to be a stone that hurtles down the top of a cliff, chipping of pieces of yourself as you come down, but you do have to be one that rolls at a comfortable pace. The only thing a stationary stone gathers is dust and nothing else but, literally a whole lot of moss. And unless you’re a worm, I’m guessing algae are not exactly the only thing you want to have collected in abundance in a lifetime.

There must be a reason the word ‘living’ and ‘alive’ stir up emotions in our mind.

So roll on. And gather some flower mush and fresh dirt while you’re at it.

Paul the Prophet

The Germans hated him for it. The Spanish loved him. Paul the octopus rightly foretold the results of each of the 8 football World Cup matches in 2010 that he was asked. Paul’s predictions were always right. Some hated him, some loved him. Some even spoke of wanting to kill him. Some wanted to make a monument of him. He was indeed good at predicting those results.

But here is the kicker for all those who harbor any kind of feelings towards this cephalopod- what Paul did after all was merely ‘tell’ what happened, he did not ‘cause’ its occurrence.

Nostradamus. Neither did he cause the World Wars, nor the death of Henry the second. Napoleon and Hitler did not do the things they did because he foretold them. The wars would have happened in any case and so would have history. His were mere predictions. Enough of which were also wrong.

Destiny refers to the predetermined course of events.
It merely presses to try and foretell. It does not do or cause or make. It is but a teller. The truth is that oracles, seers and even destiny are merely guesstimates.
The only true teller is time.
And for time to tell, something, anything must be done.

Man must do so that time may tell.

Destiny is a creation of that ‘doing’. Paul was not the creator, the Spanish team was. Paul simply told, or rather foretold in this case.
The truth lies in not sitting back and allowing life, events in the world to happen as it does without us. Not all that Nostradamus predicted came true. If man makes changes, if he decides to ‘do’, some predictions will fall apart.

Only time will truly tell. And for it to have something to tell, something in your favor, you must do.

To sit back and let foretold destiny by others shape your life into nothingness is more common that you would like to believe. And frankly then, if you have read the book, you know how the movies turns out. Where is the fun in that? Especially if you don’t like how the book reads. The idea here is to change the plot of the book if you don’t like it. Then there would be hope for the movie!

Cautionary predictions do not end with a person who dislikes you saying you will amount to nothing, or a less-than-secure person who has met with failures feeding you the same. It does not end with what a palmist or an astrologer says. It extends to what even people who are close to you say and predict. You sometimes even believe them, for better or worse. You let others thoughts, remarks and opinions shape your life. Most often these are merely roadblocks that you do not need.

A person must cause, for the effect to happen.
Regret is to sit back and listen to what is said and allow it to happen- especially that which is not in your favor.

Know this,

Just because some people did not have dreams as you do, it does not mean you cannot reach. Just because some others had dreams but did not follow them does not mean you should not. Just because some others had dreams, followed them and failed, does not mean you will to.

‘You are never going to be able to wake up early.’
‘You are never going to get that girl. She is too good for you and you know it!’
‘Come on, who are you kidding? That guy really is that good. You are not even close. There is nothing to be ashamed off. Its ok.’

You sat back. You let destiny write you.

What that black tongued negative person said to you years ago to you just came true.

OMG! But what can one do against destiny!

Now you tell me!

Spank Me!: Know what you want. But definitely know what you d...

Spank Me!: Know what you want. But definitely know what you d...: "Few of us know what we want. But most of us definitely know at the back of minds what we don’t want. And it’s a great place to start. There..."

Know what you want. But definitely know what you don’t.

Few of us know what we want. But most of us definitely know at the back of minds what we don’t want. And it’s a great place to start.

There are many things I want to do in life. Im sure there are many things you want as well. We all have direction, but few have anything real. It starts at age 5 or even earlier, certain of what we want to be, a fireman or a policeman or an astronaut, only to be just as certain as to what we want, at age 5 and a half – Superman it is! It is Superman for sure. No, but its definitely Spiderman! You can take that to the bank!

But as a sense of certain realities kick in, we tend to not know what we want of life any more. We start not-knowing what we want to be or do at age 10, and we do so well at it that we continue not-knowing at age 25 and continue doing so right into the 40s and more, bumbling through the years. The possible up-side to this of course is an excerpt from the Sunscreen song that goes something like this, “Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.”

Don’t try to force yourself to know what to do with life. But make it a point to know what you do not want. Use the art of elimination. And this is the easy part. If you are fresh out of school and thinking of what you want to pursue and you do not want to become an engineer, or doctor or get into computers, then don’t. Eliminate the options that do not make sense to you and start again. Do not do it just because everyone else is. Know that most of your peers are just as confused as you are, and are doing it with the same reasoning you have – everyone else (that includes you) is!
Step back after you eliminate these non-possibilities and then re-look at the world and your options. Remember, they too are endless – but every little strike out helps.
If you are working already, think about what you want in 10 years from now and have a look at someone else in that place already. Look at what he or she has achieved in life, what they must have sacrificed to get there, and how their life looks in general. Is that the person you want to shape up to? The answer to that is the answer to your question that you had right in the beginning. “What do you want to do with your life?” if it is in the negative, then strike that. And start again. Your list is now a little shorter.

Today’s world may be a rat race, but know what your race is.

Each of us have different a different race to run. Do not get consumed in a race of another person or people. It is easy to get carried away and lose yourself to a race which many others are running. For all you know, you are a long jumper!
So find out what you want! And then look it up!

Remember this. We all think we are different and unique, and we are. But we are all also frighteningly more similar to each other in thought and action that we would like to believe. Think of what you think of the people around you when you are in a flight or the metro or any other public place just waiting. Your mind wanders and you make opinions of everyone around you. Know this. Most of them are thinking the exact same thing about you too.

So think about what you think you want to be and what you want to do and then look at the people who are there already, and there will always be people to look up. Look at the best case scenario, also make note of the worst off. It could be your boss, it could be an industrialist, it could be an athlete, it could be an artist, and it could even be a local social worker. Of course you would say you will do much better, as each of does, but it will give you a good idea none the less. Now decide again. Your life direction need not always be a do-it-yourself kit which you spend your entire life time discovering only to find out you were working on the wrong kit! Directions to various kits are right in front of you already. You just have to sift through the kits. Is that what you want to do and be or is it that other person or maybe it is someone else. Choose.

Decide.
Decide against. Know what you do not want to be.

Know what you do not want to do or be doing 5-10-20 years from now.
And try again.