BYBS : Work, We Love

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The Free Dictionary defines work as: "physical or mental effort or activity directed toward the production or accomplishment of something."

The key words here are "effort" and "activity". Any kind of work requires some effort, or activity and that is why we seem to avoid work. I know I do.

Everything that we do in life can be put into two categories : things that we want to do, and things that we have to do. Some amount of work is involved even in doing things that we want to do, and yet we do them with great pleasure. For example, blogging is an activity that involves a fair amount of work, and yet so many people willingly spend hours sitting in front of a computer, racking their brains, trying to come up with a decent post. On the other hand, if we don't want to do something, then a job as simple as brushing teeth becomes a big chore.

A big part of our time is spent in doing our "jobs" - work that we do to earn our bread and butter. The majority, it is said, are stuck with jobs that they don't want to do, but have to do. This results in this majority being not very satisfied with their jobs, and, as a result, they are dissatisfied with their lives as a whole too.

But, if we could find jobs that involved doing what we like, nay love, to do, then we would not only be very happy doing our "jobs" but we would also be able to achieve more happiness in our lives. Therefore, being able to find a job that will let us do what we really enjoy doing is one of the greatest blessings that we can hope for.

Have a happy week ahead!

Blogrolling woes!

BlogRolling, the site, has been down for a long time now. Going by what is on their site now, it has been almost three months since the site has not been functioning the way it should. This is what they have to say on their site:

Hardware was installed and tested the week of January 5th as promised, now we’re just waiting on delivery of the final code. We ran into some UI issues and made a decision earlier this week to simply go with the old UI rather than try to jazz things up and protract the outage.

Our developers are working on the migration tools now to get your old data into the new system. With some luck, I’ll have a concrete relaunch date Friday coming, or possibly Monday at the latest.

Keep your fingers crossed with me, I will post more as soon as I get word back from the team.

I am sure they are trying their best to get the site back on, but then three months is a really long time. I have been using BlogRolling on this site to keep the BYB blogroll updated, but since the site has been down, I have neither been able to update the blog, nor have I been able to add new members to the blog.

As long as the site was working, I think they were providing a good service, and on top of it all it was a free service. Therefore, when the site went down I decided to wait for the site managers to get it back up. But, now I feel that the site is not going to be up any time soon, and even when it does, it is hard to say if it will be working in the same way as it previously did.

So, I think it is time to look for some alternatives for the BYB blogroll. Any suggestions?

BYBS - Technology and an ebook!

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I have always wanted to write a book, and that, I am sure, is no secret for anyone who has been visiting this blog for any length of time. But, writing a book is no mean feat, and getting it published is a task that even Hercules might have failed at.

However, today, we have a gift that Hercules could not even dream about - the gift of technology. Technology has made it possible for a whole set of people - like me - to write, and be read through the medium of blogs. I am sure I am not alone when I say that being able to blog is a great blessing.

Human beings are never satisfied with what they have, and they are always looking for more. This need for more has caused the rise of some, and the downfall of a great many. A little hunger, I think, is a good thing. Too much is definitely bad, but a little bit is needed to make a person try harder and stretch himself to do his best.

I have also - to satisfy my urge of writing a book - compiled an ebook out of some of my posts I wrote in 2007. It is titled Thirteen Cross Two (because it has twenty six posts) and you can download it here.

So, this week's blessing is technology - the great enabler - that helps us achieve many things that for our ancestors were nothing but dreams.

Have a great week ahead!

BYBS : What is Religion?

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Religion and metaphysics are subjects that have intrigued man since time immemorial. From the very beginning man has been in search for answers to questions like: Who am I? Where I have come from? Where will I go?

I recently got a chance to read a book, The Science of Religion by Yogananda Paramhansa, which deals with some of these questions.The most impressive thing about this book is that it answers most difficult questions about life in the very simplest of words.

We all define religion in various ways - sometimes just to suit our needs. But what truly is religion?

The answer given in the book, and one that I totally agree with, is as simple as avoidance of pain, and search for bliss. If the answer is so simple then why are we always troubled and in pain? Because, the book says, we, in our search for bliss, confuse pleasure and Bliss, and mistakenly begin to pursue pleasure.

The ultimate source of suffering in our life is the fact that our spiritual self begins to identify itself with the physical self a little too much. The spirit is undying and eternal, but the physical self is temporary and it is best for us that we always keep this is in mind.

The book also says that we should not curb all our wants and desires, but we should make a hedge around them so that our wants and desires do not become a source of pain and suffering.

Many more such questions are answered in the book. I felt that the book is a must read for all because today we are all running after things – things that we are not even sure we want. We want them simply because our neighbor wants them, or perhaps because it is fashionable to want them. But is that what the goal of our life is?

Yogananda Paramhansa did not think so, and I find myself agreeing with him completely.

I think everyone should read the book if one gets a chance; one’s entire way of living might change – for the better – after reading this book, which has only about 85 pages.

BYBS : Resolutions

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Friends tell me that I make a lot of resolutions, and often I end up breaking these resolutions.

I can not disagree with what my friends say. I do make a lot of resolutions - I will do this from tomorrow, I won't do that from tomorrow, and so on and on...the list is endless.

Why do I do that?

One, because I am not perfect. Far from it I have many flaws and imperfections, but I want to get rid of them. Slowly, steadily, but surely. Resolutions are a good way to do that.

Two, it is kinda fun to have resolutions. Doing things differently adds variety to life, and variety, as we all know, is the spice of life.

Three, resolutions, more often than not, are for the better. I mean have you ever heard of anyone making resolutions for the worse. At least I have not.

Making resolutions to me is a sign that the person is interested in making things better for himself, and for those around him. Making resolutions to me is a sign that the person still hopes that things can become better.

Making resolutions, therefore is about hope. I hope you have not given up that hope, and have made many resolutions for 2009. How does it matter that some of your resolutions will be broken. After all 2010 is still to come, and then 2011, and then many more years...

Happy New Year 2009

Happy New Year to all readers of The Blue Panther Experience.

I am not sure if you would want to know where and how I spent My New Year's Eve, but I am going to tell you anyways.

I spent it in a bus. It was very cold and adding to my cup of woes was the fact that in my hurry to leave I had picked a sweater that was still wet from the washing. How was I feeling? I will let your imagination decide that, because words, at least decent ones, fail me when I start to think about how I felt.

But, I am glad it was the last day of 2008. I reached home at 4 AM in the morning, and went to bed. I woke up to 2009 in a warm and a comfortable bed, so I think 2009 is going to be a good year.

But then again, no year is good, or bad for that matter. It is what you do in the year that decides whether the year is going to be a good one or not. And one of the things I do every year is make a list of new year resolutions. How long I manage to keep them is another matter altogether, but I do make the list every year.

This year the list got pretty long. I guess it is because of some new things I learned this year, and some bad habits that I might have caught over the last few years. Whatever the reason might be, the fact is that the list got pretty long, and I am not going to burden you with it.

I am although going to talk about a couple of resolutions with respect to my blogging. I was looking up the number of posts I wrote in 2007 and 2008. The number in 2008 was almost half the number in 2007. Not only that, after a brief run through the posts, I felt that the quality of posts in 2008 had definitely gone down. Look from whatever perspective, a decline in both quality and quantity can not be a good thing. Some things need to be changed over here.

So, I decided one of my resolutions is going to be : Blog more, write better!

What are your blogging resolutions for 2009?