Things I've Noticed

Quick Quote on Miracles

"I only believe in miracles that already came true."

+ Atul

Experience It While You Still Can

For there to be birth, there must be death and destruction.  That is a basic tenet of Hinduism and explains the fact that everything can’t exist forever.  This holds true for man-made objects as well as things in nature.  I have been fortunate to have visited quite a few amazing places but there are many more to be seen.  We all have a bucket list and I urge all of you to see and experience what's on your list as soon as you can, before the items are gone.  In 2001, the beautiful towering Buddhas of Bamiyan statues in Afghanistan were dreadfully destroyed by the Taliban.  Nobody can see them now and nobody in 2000 expected them to be gone forever a year later.  I visited the World Trade Center when it was still standing and I’ve been to the Taj Mahal and Niagara Falls.  Who knows what could happen tomorrow?  The 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Honshu, Japan is proof of the instantantaneous destructive power that nature possesses.  But man often destroys nature.

Quick Quote on Creativity 2

"Inhibition is the enemy of creativity."

+ Atul

Don't Let Bad Versions of a Food Turn You Off to That Food

I was fortunate to grow up in the U.S. as part of a family from another country. That means I was automatically exposed to multiple foods. But back when I was a child in Northeast Ohio, there wasn’t so much ethnic food variety beside Italian food and Chinese food. There were hardly any Thai or Middle-Eastern or Greek restaurants around. Fancy “boutique” fruits and veggies weren’t available fresh and we somehow made do. I grew up eating mostly regular American food interspersed with dinners of Gujarati Indian food. Now that I know how good of a cook my mom is, I should never have complained. As I kid, I may have done so anyway. I preferred chicken nuggets over home-cooked Indian food. My parents policy was that we had to try everything. We did so, (even if accompanied by a chaser of Coca-Cola or orange juice that hid the flavor of foods we found unpalatable.)

Remembering Names Is Not All It’s Cut Out To Be

When you meet somebody, you should remember the person’s name. That’s what we’re told is proper. If we don’t remember, it supposedly means we don’t care to know the other person. But I feel it is overemphasized in our culture. A name is just an arbitrary label given to a person by their parents or other relatives or friends. Granted, not having names would make life extremely difficult as we would have to use hard-to-memorize numbers or some other system I can’t even fathom right now. But I think people should care less about how much you know their label and more about whether you recognize them and how much you know them as a person.

A dog doesn’t know another dog’s name. A dog might identify another in a doggie park by appearance, but also by smell. They and many other animals rely on their sense of smell. As humans, we rely on our sense of sight. So shouldn’t we prioritize visual recognition more? Acknowledging that we recognize a person should be validation enough that the person created a (semi-)permanent impression in our grey matter. Just yesterday, a guy mis-took me for a fellow med school student that he knew. I didn’t get offended because the guy who he thought I was may look a lot like me. But if the reverse happens and somebody doesn’t recognize me even if they’ve met me multiple times, I would be more offended.

Quick Quote on Multitasking

"Multitasking is training for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD.)"

+ Atul

Perspective on Your City Requires More Than One View Point

I may not be as worldly as a diplomat who has lived in multiple countries, but I have moved around and lived in 5 cities.  I’ll acknowledge that since they all happen to be in colder weather climates near the Great Lakes, they’re not the most diverse set of cities.  But I’ve realized that moving around and traveling has given me exposure to differences and commonalities and a perspective that can make what other people say about cities irritating.

Last week, here in the Minneapolis area, it was -15 degrees Fahrenheit without windchill!   Yet, people in Los Angeles recently complained that it was “freezing” when the temperature dipped below 50 degrees.  (Nothing alive can freeze at 50 degrees so it’s a ridiculout claim, but I digress.)  It’s all relative.  People who never live in more than one city or don’t care to learn about other places have no perspective.  Then they tend to complain when it could be much worse.  Even if they don’t move to different cities to live, they could always educate themselves by using the internet.  Then maybe they would stop complaining and start understanding.  The same holds true for people who say their lives are horrible or that they’re the only people with problems.

Every Possible Facebook Post Fits One of These 37 Types

I am on Facebook perhaps a bit too much these days and I've realized that even though I like to see what my Facebook friends are up to, I've realized that our posts are all pretty much typical.  I'm guilty of posting many of these types but this list should make you think.  Are there any types of posts I"m missing?  Which type do you find most annoying?  Please respond in the comments section.  Hope you enjoy it.  I'm pretty sure you'll be able to relate.

1. Look at what I did.
2. See what I bought.
3. My life is so great or I am so blessed.
4. I can’t believe this company I bought something from did that to me.
5. I support a cause and if you do, share this post.
6. This is my opinion and I am right.
7. Please visit my site or buy this thing I’m selling.
8. This just happened in the world or in my life.
9. Look at what my kid or pet has been up to.
10. If you Like this, I’ll get something.
11. I have a personal problem and need sympathy.
12. Watch this funny video.
13. I’m listening to this band, you should too.
14. Can somebody help me with something?
15. My relationship / marriage / baby ownership status has changed.
16. My profile picture or background picture has changed.
17. I just played a game on Facebook.
18. I am going to an event.
19. Look at my pictures of something or an event in my life and see who I was with.
20. Read this funny line I thought of.
21. This quote represents me.
22. I’m doing something really insignificant but I thought I’d let you all know.
23. Look where I am.
24. I need ideas for something to buy or a place to go.
25. Something about work sucks.
26. I used this website.
27. Go team or my team sucks.
28. I read this article.
29. Check out this cool new thing / idea I discovered.
30. I miss my deceased friend, relative or pet.
31. I am about to go do something fun.
32. Why do people do certain things?
33. I like somebody else’s status or photo so I'm sharing it.
34. I am posting this picture so that you can tell me how great I look or what a good picture it is.
35. I can’t wait for something that’s going to happen soon.
36. I really appreciate somebody in my life.
37. I'm quitting Facebook for a little bit of time for some reason.

+ Atul

Quick Quote on Addiction

"A person with an addictive personality is simply a glutton for gluttony."

+ Atul

Celebrating The New Year, Whatever That Means

 

 

Happy New Year to all of you! It’s 2013. Who would have thought we would make it this far? Certainly not the Mayans. But it’s 2013 only in the modern Christian calendar. To the Jews, it’s 5773, to the Hindus, it’s 2069 while in the Muslim Calendar, it’s 1434. And the date the year flips over for other cultures is not January 1st. It is after all, just an arbitrary number that changes on some arbitrary date. What makes the New Year a big deal? When we used to write dates on pieces of paper and checks, accidentally writing the prior year was something that helped make the year changeover a problem. Now, computers fix that stuff for us, even Y2K. We tend to forget that a new year means that it has been 365 days since the earth was in the same spot as today relative to the sun. Our planet has traveled 584,600,600 miles and we are right back where we started 8,760 hours later. Our planet is moving around the sun at 66,671 miles/hour!  The New Year is like a reset button as we repeat the seasons so it makes sense that we track it.  It would probably make more sense to celebrate the New Year at one of the season changeovers.

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