Monthly Archives: March 2013

The Penguin Attitude

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Remember those four penguins from the Madagascar movie series? Yep, the ones who were always on the go. They didn’t waste any time not accepting the changes in their plans (like we…ahem… I normally do), and instead just adjusted their sails according to the winds. In face of any emergency, their motto was simple; Smile and wave, boys, smile and wave! They could teach you pretty valuable lessons on crisis management and practicality.

Many of us don’t always readily accept change. I, for one, take my time with changes. I like planning my stuff ahead. And a change in plans pretty much rocks my stability. I consciously have to tell my mind to take it easy and to keep it cool in case of a crisis. (Yours truly has put autosuggestion to good use and succeeded quite a few times! 🙂 ) .

But the fact remains that I tend to spend more time lamenting about the problem rather than actually trying to find a solution. And that’s the time when I remind myself to adopt the penguin attitude. Whatever the issue is, however the big the problem appears, I know that worrying about it is not going to provide me a solution. The human mind (umm…penguin mind?) is a powerful device when calm. Instead of stressing, if I choose to focus all my energy on evaluating my resources and working out a solution, life becomes so much simpler.

All of us face changes and crises. Sometimes big, sometimes small. It could be a new place, a change in circumstances, a work emergency. All you need a flexible mind, ready to adapt to changes. All you need is the penguin attitude!

Skipper, we are ready to roll!

Of writing and conversing

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WritingWriting, to me, has always felt like baring my soul on a piece of paper. I have always guarded what I write, sharing it with very few people. I have mulled over the idea of blogging for a very long time before I actually decided to commit to it. And I’m still amazed at my decision, considering that normally, I just keep to myself and blogging is all about connecting with different people.

So what brought about this change?

It’s not just about having an audience (though I certainly like that part; who doesn’t?!). It’s also about sharing what I love, and making new friends and hearing other people’s views.

I’ve always been more of a written conversation person. As I child, I was fascinated by the idea of sending and receiving letters. Written letters. But sadly, that has become a thing of the past now. Emails became the substitution and that transition wasn’t really difficult for a person of my generation as we never had a chance to get too attached to letter writing; we were exposed to internet quite early in life. I’ve maintained long and beautiful friendships via emails. But then emails were replaced by Facebook. And I thought that Facebook messages would be somewhat similar. But they are not. Nobody bothers keeping in touch in the true sense. Seeing somebody’s photographs on Facebook is not the same thing. I long for personal emails in my inbox.

And here’s another thing about written conversation. You have time to think. Some people may argue that it’s not really conversation if the thoughts don’t flow out at once. I’m not going to question that. Fluent conversation is beautiful in its own way, and I enjoy a good conversation regardless. But just say, you and me start talking about something. You raise a point. I spend some time thinking about it, then get back to you. Isn’t that a meaningful contribution to the conversation? Won’t we be having a more enriching conversation if we spend time on the thoughts that we want to convey?

Blogging is about conversing. I want to hear your thoughts and tell you my own. I want a conversation.