Tuesday, March 18, 2008

constant change...


Since ever, reading has been one of my most beloved hobbies. Something that comes naturally to me. Though the inconsistency of my taste and my wavering nature is well exhibited from the way I select a book to read, one particular genre was successful [till sometime back] in arresting a meaty portion of my time. "Self Help and Inspirationals". Yes! I have quite a few of them at my home. Dale Carnegie, Norman Vincent Peale, Og Mandino, Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield, Anthony Robbins, Robin Sharma, Napoleon Hill, Stephen Covey etc etc.. And the list never ends. My brother has this odd habit of collecting self help books and I, the very reader, continued to read them. And read again. Some tried to teach me how to find love, some tried to signify shortcuts to fame and fortune and some tried to make me a better human. I don't know how much they all succeeded but one thing is for sure, reading all these self help books over the years, I have finally decided one thing. That I 'm NOT going to read them anymore. Atleast for sometime. I think I don't need so much of help.

But I guess this happens with every one of us. Sometimes we just start feeling over filled. We might not know but we yearn to feel a bit empty. Sometimes we suddenly get to know that we know so much. Sometimes, our haggard minds desire for something new. Little bit immaturity. Little bit of childishness. Sometimes getting 100/100 isn't satisfying, as it doesn't offer any challenges or targets to achieve then.

I've observed something salient about us beings. That we, unlike every other creation in the universe, get tired of things. We actually dwell nowhere and are in constant state of search. Search for the subsequent. That search might not necessarily be for prosperity or betterment. It might be destructive and disparaging. We are self ignorant to the fact that changes can swing both ways. From better to worse. From worse to better. But who cares. What a 'typical' human soul wants is a Change. [And the word typical excludes saints and Sufis].

I think this is why anything in abundance just doesn't work for us. Infact, it starts to work against us. Start walking on The Right Path. Be true and speak the truth. One day, Even if you don't ask for a change, you might get weary about The truth, The Angels and The Heavens... Lie, lie, lie... and one day, there is a bright chance that you might start seeking "The Righteous Path". I wouldn't call it a God's blessing on that lier but to me, it is the same need. The Search for the subsequent. The quest that keeps us mortals tangling around two extremes. We leave "Black" in search for something brighter... but even "White" doesn't satisfy us. May be this is why; most of us spend huge portions of our lives traveling and roving in those "Gray" areas.

I believe science can re-create everything. It can make everything seem understandable and logical. But this strange expedition of us mortals is and should always stay as a delicate knot. Who knows, undoing it might change everything...

Noor.
Wednesday, March 19,2008
1:34 AM

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

A well written, a well expressed post. Great!

Anonymous said...

Brilliant work!

Anonymous said...

Hi! Noor i have read your article ,it is a nice peice of work .I think you have written this when you were depressed might be, because of this you article looks rough, in second para your idea is not clear as you have used many small sentences in it,i think your title should contain the idea of colors you have given like black white and grey or some thing similar,polish it with some humour or sudden interesting ups and downs that will attract readers if possible.Other wise your 2nd last para is beautiful and very much interesting.

Anonymous said...

I can certainly relate to what you say about self-help books. Around the age of 18 I developed a mania for reading and collecting them. (Some of the authors' names which you cite sound very familiar.) That phase lasted around 5 years - I've still got half a dozen of them somewhere, unread in the decades since. They didn't really change me, almost certainly because of my own indolence in putting the ideas into practice.


As to what you say about the nature of change - yes, for humans it's paradoxically the great immutable in the sense that the desire for it is always there. But for me at least the great kill-joy, if you will, is the fear that by changing one will lose what already has and what makes one comfortable, not just materially but also secure in a self-identity, which may or may not be advantageous. I think that may be true for the majority of people too, but I'm only guessing. But your article provides food for thought, so thanks!