I love the quotes of Mark Twain

His quotes are humorous, bitter, but contain wisdom.

One of my favourite quotes is, “Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”

I have found his advice most liberating and truly worth following.

We often make our lives miserable our life is due to our hyperactive conscience.

I have seen people getting so much upset about what is happening in their nation and around the world. For example,

• Many people are upset that the Taliban has captured power in Afghanistan
• Many people are upset since a political leader that they hate is ruling their nation
• Many people are so unhappy because there are so much injustice and inequality in the world

We can find a million reasons to feel unhappy if we allow our conscience to be highly active because there are a billion wrong things happening in the world at every time.

We must rather ask ourselves:

• Are we responsible for all these problems?
• Are we willing to do something concrete to solve these problems?

If we are not going to do anything to solve these problems, there is no point worrying about these problems.

Instead, we must try to use our energy to solve those problems which are due to us, or which we are capable of solving and allow the other problems to be solved by the people who are actually facing them.

If we choose to carry the burden of the world on our shoulders, we might be crushed under its weight and make our life miserable, without being able to solve these problems.

Hence, it is better to allow your conscience to relax on all such issues which are beyond your zone of influence.

Mark Twain’s advice to have good friends and good books are also great.

When we have good friends, we can share our joys, sorrows and thoughts with them.

Good books help us navigate the world and understand the thoughts of the greatest minds of the world sitting in the comfort of our homes.

Good books are like good friends which can help us enjoy our life and also learn about life.

I find the advice of Mark Twain quite liberating and extremely helpful in leading a great life.

-Awdhesh Singh

Awareness

Changing Yourself or Changing the World ?

 You are asking to compare two things which are incomparable.

• Changing the world is impossible.
• Changing the self is immediately possible.

Most people waste their life trying to change the world and in the process they themselves change to fit into the world.

No one can change the objective world, which always consists of good as well evil. .

• Many great saints, prophets and even Avatars of God tried to change the world, through love and spiritual knowledge but they failed.
• Many philosophers tried to change the world by giving the world new thoughts, but they too failed to change the world.
• Many kings and tyrants tried to change the world by sword and terror, but they also failed.
• Many revolutionaries tried to change the world by overthrowing the rulers and they too failed.

The objective world is never going to change.

However, it possible to change your subjective world to a great extent.

And that can be done by changing yourself.

• If you become good, the world becomes good to you.
• If you become evil, the world becomes evil to you.

Hence, be the change that you wish to see in the world.

When you make yourself good, your world becomes good to you, though the same world would continue to remain evil for other people who are themselves evil.

-Awdhesh Singh

If a cab driver makes more money than an IT professional, why should I study?

Karma's Role In Unemployment

Regrets...........

9 to 5 Job

 You are a lucky person if you have to work only from 9 to 5 i.e. for 8 hours, perhaps for 5 or 6 days in a week.

There are millions in this world like housemaid, housewives, labourers, guards, cops who have virtually no working hour and no scheduled holidays.

You must appreciate that every single working day, you have 16 hours at your disposal and you have 24 hours at your disposal on the weekends, holidays and leaves.

The number of free days you can enjoy in a year would be in the range of 100-150 days.

What a lucky person you are?

You have reasons to be happy and satisfied with so much time and resources at your disposal.

Millions of people would consider themselves lucky, if they can get your job.

When you are working 9 to 5 job, you also don’t have to worry about the health of the company because you can always change your job.

You also get sufficient money as salary to live a decent life and take care of your family.

The real problem with 9 to 5 job is that almost everyone you see around yourself has it.

Hence, you don’t feel special being an employee as you have nothing great to boast off.

You have been conditioned to believe that you are a special person who deserve something special in this world.

Hence, you feel ordinary and common doing the same thing over and over again and get bored.

Many people leave their jobs and start their own company or business to get rid of this routine.

However, most of them end up making their life worse rather than better for the following reasons.

• According to Bloomberg, 8 out of 10 entrepreneurs who start businesses fail within the first 18 months Thus 80% new entrepreneur lose all their savings, get burdened by debt and then back to 9 to 5 job soon.
• When you start your business, you have to work 12-14 hours a day for almost 7 days in the week. Even when you are not going to the office, you are working from home.
• You have to worry about cash flow, office rent, competitors, and employees all the time.
• You have to worry about the legal compliance of your company and managing with tax payments etc.

If you decide to follow your passion and choose to become a writer, painter, singer, actor, musician etc., you struggle for earning your bread and butter until you reach to the top.

Don’t get fooled by the success of a few in these fields by listening to the interviews of those who have made it to the top.

For every successful person in the glamourous profession, there are hundreds who are struggling with life in these areas.

Learn to appreciate and value what you have rather than running after illusions and making your life miserable.

Instead of thinking that you are stuck in your job for the rest of my life, realize that your living is assured for life thanks to your job.

-Awdhesh Singh

How much time to prepare for a Govt Job ?

Bhakts ?

 There are two types of people in the world.

• Emotional people
• Rational People

The emotional people decide everything based on their feelings.

An emotional person can’t differentiate between a person and his acts. Accordingly,

• If he likes a person, all his actions are good.
• If he hates a person, all his actions are bad.

A rational person on the other side differentiate the person and his actions. He can evaluate each action based on its merit. Accordingly,

• If an action is good, he appreciates the action
• If an action is bad, he criticizes the action

Most Indians are highly emotional and they have little or no ability to use their rational mind to judge every action of the government.

They already have formed the government either as good or evil based on their feelings about the leader.

Hence, they would either praise or criticize all actions of the government irrespective of merit.

Therefore you shall be branded either as a ‘bhakt’ (Nationalist) or ‘desh-drohi’ (Anti-national).

-Awdhesh Singh

There is a concept called....

Live by Principles Not Feelings

Principles of Natural Justice

 Dale Carnegie in his book ‘How to win friends and influence people” narrates an interesting story.

On May 7, 1931, the notorious killer “Two Gun” Crowley was hunted down and captured. He was one of the most dangerous killers in New York.

Once, he was sitting in a car with his girlfriend when a policeman walked up and asked for his license. Without a word, Crowley drew his gun and shot the man.

But when Crowley was captured, police found a note in which he wrote: "Under my coat is a weary heart, but a kind one—one that would do nobody any harm."

Crowley was sentenced to the electric chair.

When he arrived at the death house in Sing Sing, did he say, "This is what I get for killing people"?

No, he said, "This is what I get for defending myself."

The point of the story is this: "Two Gun" Crowley didn't blame himself for anything.

When you don’t care about others’ opinions and seek your own validation for your actions, you tend to justify your actions, however horrible they may be.

Hence, if you wish to know the truth, you must be fair in your judgment.

To arrive at a fair judgment, you must follow the principle of natural justice.

The three core principles of natural justice are:

1. No one should judge their own case (Nemo Judex in Causa Sua),
2. Everyone has the right to be heard (Audi Alteram Partem),
3. Decisions should be explained (Reasoned Decisions)

Hence, if you want an honest assessment of your actions, you must not be the judge of your actions and hear the point of view of other people as well, and then you must try to find out the truth, not emotionally, but through reason and logic, weighing all the opinions.

-Awdhesh Singh

Happiness

Imagine that you have gone to withdraw cash from a bank ATM.

You insert your card in the slot and then enter ₹10,000 for withdrawal.

Would you get the cash?

The answer to this question depends whether or not you have sufficient balance in your bank account.

• If you have deposited ₹10,000 or more in your bank account, you would get the cash.
• If you have not deposited ₹10,000, the ATM shall show you ‘insufficient balance’ and won’t give you any money.

The rule of the bank is that you have to deposit the money before you withdraw it.

In the same way, there is one rule in life.

You have to earn you happiness, before you can enjoy happiness.

And earning happiness is always painful.

You have to first suffer unhappiness before you are entitled to enjoy life.

• You have to slog for months before examination to get good marks and enjoy your result.
• You have to practice for several years painfully to get great performance in sports in the field and enjoy the accolades of the world and win the medal.
• You have to work hard for several years and take risks in life to acquire wealth and become rich.

You have to pass through tough times and suffer failures several times before you can enjoy your success.

If you are not willing to face tough times in life, you can’t enjoy happiness because only through sufferings, we earn our happiness.

Hence, when tough times comes, face it boldly, because when you would reach to the other side of tough time, you shall be welcomed by the happiness because you would have earned your enjoyment by facing the tough time boldly.

Don’t blame the bank if it refuses to withdraw cash from your account due to your inability to make sufficient deposit in your account.

Don’t blame the world, if it refuses to let you enjoy your life because you refused to suffer pain in life.

-Awdhesh Singh

Why there is so much pain in your life?

Optimal Forager Behaviour

Source of picture: Google Images

Once the rain is over, an umbrella becomes a burden to everyone

 There is a famous saying, "Once the rain is over, an umbrella becomes a burden to everyone.”

The bitter fact of life is that in our world, loyalty ends when benefits stop.

The only reason you should keep an umbrella is that the rain will not be over forever, and the umbrella will be helpful in the future.

However, if the umbrella becomes too old, broken and has many holes in it, it would surely be discarded forever,

Most human relationships are reciprocal in nature, and most people change their behaviour when you are no longer useful to them.

If you wish to live with self-respect and dignity, you must ensure that you remain useful throughout your life.

It is also important to understand that one day, you will become too old and lose all your utility to society.

In such a situation, the only thing that can make you useful is your savings and assets.

If you have money, your utility will never be over and there will always be a few people to help and serve you.

While there are certainly some good people who remember what you have done for them and would always be loyal to you, however, in reality, loyalty is tested only when you are in a difficult or hopeless situation, and if you are discarded at that time, you will have nowhere to go.

Hence, it is better to keep a backup option in the form of wealth, in case your loved ones and friends discard you at the time of your need.

Clare Boothe Luce wisely said, “Money can’t buy happiness, but it can make you awfully comfortable while you’re being miserable.”

-Awdhesh Singh

Salary in IT after 20 years

Are you Fit to earn much ?

Success and Failure

 One of my colleagues in IRS left the services 6 years ago to join politics.

He has been the most active member of our WhatsApp group and is often called FPM (Future PM).

Before he quit the job (by taking VRS), he and his wife came to me for my opinion. His wife was not happy with his decision as none of their children were settled or married.

I told him that I don’t understand politics and can’t guide him in this regard. However, I warned him politics is very challenging with very low success rate.

However, he was confident that he would succeed as a politician. His confidence was based on his three-time election as president of the IRS (C&IT) association.

He formed his own party, the Uttar Andhra Praja Party, and fought in the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Vishakhapattanam.

Metta was perhaps inspired by a fellow IRS officer, Arvind Kejriwal, who became the CM of Delhi within a very short time of forming the AAP.

Unfortunately, he could get only 326 votes in the 2024 election and placed at 31/34 place.

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I wish him all the best in achieving success in politics, for which he has taken so much risk and is working so hard.

However, you can't become successful just by wishing for it.

It is often said, “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.”

The fact that beggars don't ride horses despite their wish establishes that you can't achieve everything just by wishing or wanting.

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I don’t believe that you can succeed in almost everything if you really want it.

I know for sure that I won’t succeed in many things in life, such as

• Politics: I can’t lie, tolerate the corrupt or criminals, or play casteism or communal card to generate hatred and divide the people.
• Sports: I am a medium-height person, and my body is not suitable for athletics. I also can’t excelll in games like boxing, basketball etc.
• Business: I am very poor at marketing and sales. I can’t pitch for funds for start-ups.
• Celebrity: I can’t become a popular personality like Osho, Acharya Prasant, or Jaggi Vasudev because most of what I say is unpopular and unacceptable to most people.

I believe that I would not succeed in more than 90% of the areas even if I wanted to because of my lack of aptitude in those fields.

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It took me a lot of time and maturity to understand myself and to identify in which fields I could not succeed.

If I am somewhat successful today as a writer, it is because I have discarded most of the fields where I can’t succeed, focused only on a very limited domain, and worked on it for a long time.

I agree with Albert Einstein's famous quote: "It's not that I'm so smart; it's just that I stay with problems longer."

Hence, if you wish to achieve anything of value in your life, identify the things where you can’t succeed despite your best effort so that you can focus all your time and energy on a limited domain to achieve excellence and become hugely successful.

-Awdhesh Singh

Take a moment to look around and Ask this........

Don't Abandon Your Dreams

Source of picture: Google Images

Footnotes

[1] 

Election Commission of India