i am typically civil with telemarketers, when i happen to pick up their calls. i let them give most if not all of their spiel, whether it's about new windows and doors, lawncare, or long distance options, after which i politely decline and hang up. right now i'm feeling less than adequate [sore throat, aches, and all stuffed up] and i was rather rude to the telemarketer i just hung up on.
me: heddooohhhh? [i said i was stuffed up]
telemarketer: ...[pause] hi, is this, the uh, residence of shabir jaffer?
me: no.
telemarketer: is there anyone with the last name jaffer who lives th--
me: no.
telemarketer: okay, then. thanks for your--
me: *click*
like i said, i don't typically do that. but i'm not feeling up to anything, really at the moment, including studying or hearing randomness come out of my dad's mouth, including, "is your sister home? her jacket's here, are you sure she isn't home?", among other such nonsensical phrases, which are then followed by outrageous belches that sound like a female walrus in heat.
yes dad, she's not home. many of us have more than one jacket.
but i digress; back to the matter at hand. so.
dear telemarketer, if you ever happen to read this, please accept my most sincere apologies. you're doing a fantastic job, and it's people like me that make you hate what you do even more. having been a part of the service industry for quite a while, i know how that feels. so, i'm sorry.
if you never read this, i'm still truly sorry, and i hope that message reaches you telepathically...somehow. i truly hope you have a WONDERFUL evening, and i wish you all the best. =)
4.09.2007
3.21.2007
be with those who help your being.
found this perfect little poem by none other than Rumi, the mystical Sufi poet, and thought it tied in nicely with my previous post.
enjoy.
Be with those who help your being.
Don't sit with indifferent people, whose breath
comes cold out of their mouths.
Not these visible forms, your work is deeper.
A chunk of dirt thrown in the air breaks to pieces.
If you don't try to fly,
and so break yourself apart,
you will be broken open by death,
when it's too late for all you could become.
Leaves get yellow. The tree puts out fresh roots
and makes them green.
Why are you so content with a love that turns you yellow?
-Rumi
enjoy.
Be with those who help your being.
Don't sit with indifferent people, whose breath
comes cold out of their mouths.
Not these visible forms, your work is deeper.
A chunk of dirt thrown in the air breaks to pieces.
If you don't try to fly,
and so break yourself apart,
you will be broken open by death,
when it's too late for all you could become.
Leaves get yellow. The tree puts out fresh roots
and makes them green.
Why are you so content with a love that turns you yellow?
-Rumi
3.06.2007
changes.
i think i'm growing up.
although i realize i am light years ahead of many of the people i know in terms of maturity [yes, it's true], i know i still have all there is to learn about the world and the way it works. and i think i just figured out something monumental. this is very general, and it might help to think of the following, let's say, quasi-philosophy in terms of yourself, and your life, if you want. or don't, whatever.
i need to rid myself of the people who don't bring anything positive to myself and my well-being. not just negative people, but people who just don't make me happy. i feel like i've been too affected by others in my life, that far too much of my experience thus far has been a reaction. i've had enough of people bringing me down, making me feel unworthy and just not good enough. those people who put me in negative moods such as this, and make me ponder what's inside the minds of the "friends" i hold so close. my new question to myself, is basically, if you make me feel like shit, why do i keep you around?
good question. and i don't have a good answer. so i'm going to get rid of you.
i'm realizing more and more that a very small number of the friend base i have are ones that i care to be around, ones that i look forward to spending time with. these, are friends worth my time, effort, ears, advice, tears and unconditional love. all the others, who wouldn't give the same to me, the ones who are far too self-absorbed to ask how i am, and appreciate who i am just aren't worth it anymore.
this, in effect, leaves me with very FEW friends. but at least they're friends that mean something to me, and that i know i mean something to. these are friends that know something's wrong even when i don't want to say it, that know when i need something and when i need to be left alone, and ones that take these feelings and states in stride, and don't judge or gossip, ones that understand on a level that can't be surpassed, because they're just the same; they understand me in terms of them, and i understand them in terms of me, and this works because we work. together.
perhaps this post is a tad idealistic in terms of my definition of a "friend" but i do have certain people in mind when i write this, and there are certain people who i just don't. i do realize that i've been blessed with the best friends i could ever ask for, and i am truly grateful for the ones that have been by my side through it all.
so, thanks. i hope i've been there for you too.
it becomes increasingly apparent to me that our happiness is determined by ourselves. we can't stand by and watch our lives happen, we have to make them happen with the tools and opportunities we've been given. surrounding yourself with positive people, and with people who have a positive impact on you as a person, and your life, is YOUR duty. i've come to realize it, now. as should you.
**
although i realize i am light years ahead of many of the people i know in terms of maturity [yes, it's true], i know i still have all there is to learn about the world and the way it works. and i think i just figured out something monumental. this is very general, and it might help to think of the following, let's say, quasi-philosophy in terms of yourself, and your life, if you want. or don't, whatever.
i need to rid myself of the people who don't bring anything positive to myself and my well-being. not just negative people, but people who just don't make me happy. i feel like i've been too affected by others in my life, that far too much of my experience thus far has been a reaction. i've had enough of people bringing me down, making me feel unworthy and just not good enough. those people who put me in negative moods such as this, and make me ponder what's inside the minds of the "friends" i hold so close. my new question to myself, is basically, if you make me feel like shit, why do i keep you around?
good question. and i don't have a good answer. so i'm going to get rid of you.
i'm realizing more and more that a very small number of the friend base i have are ones that i care to be around, ones that i look forward to spending time with. these, are friends worth my time, effort, ears, advice, tears and unconditional love. all the others, who wouldn't give the same to me, the ones who are far too self-absorbed to ask how i am, and appreciate who i am just aren't worth it anymore.
this, in effect, leaves me with very FEW friends. but at least they're friends that mean something to me, and that i know i mean something to. these are friends that know something's wrong even when i don't want to say it, that know when i need something and when i need to be left alone, and ones that take these feelings and states in stride, and don't judge or gossip, ones that understand on a level that can't be surpassed, because they're just the same; they understand me in terms of them, and i understand them in terms of me, and this works because we work. together.
perhaps this post is a tad idealistic in terms of my definition of a "friend" but i do have certain people in mind when i write this, and there are certain people who i just don't. i do realize that i've been blessed with the best friends i could ever ask for, and i am truly grateful for the ones that have been by my side through it all.
so, thanks. i hope i've been there for you too.
it becomes increasingly apparent to me that our happiness is determined by ourselves. we can't stand by and watch our lives happen, we have to make them happen with the tools and opportunities we've been given. surrounding yourself with positive people, and with people who have a positive impact on you as a person, and your life, is YOUR duty. i've come to realize it, now. as should you.
**
2.11.2007
karma?
the way life works has always been something that has intruigued me, as i'm sure it has many of you. in all our curriculum of school years past, we've been taught much about the world and the way it operates. everything follows a seemingly logical path; there is typically a relatively explicit cause and effect to events and occurences. you go to school, you specialize in something, you get a job in that field. you pick up the phone, dial a number, and you talk. you buy a ticket to take the train to get to a set point. cause and effect.
however, i have always been interested in the things that aren't quite so explicit and well-defined in our lives. and i suppose the best thing that would sum that up, would be life itself. i suppose the main question i always find myself desperately searching for an answer to would be, why is life so easy for some, and so hard for others?
you know who i'm talking about, those people who seem have everything go their way, all the time. they could ever ask for, without asking for it: a loving family, a car when they turn 16, a significant other who would do anything for them, amazing grades, beauty, a dream job the instant they begin looking for one...you catch my drift. for these "chosen ones", it seems that things just fall into place when the time comes, and it's just that easy. meanwhile, the rest can only look on, and continue to struggle to make things happen; crappy marks no matter how hard they try, always getting in trouble with one person or the other, insufficient funds, less than gorgeous, can't find a decent paying job for the life of them, get treated like crap at home, and consistently have the door slammed in their face, both literally and figuratively. you get my drift here too.
now i realize i am presenting the extremes of both sides of the spectrum, and each of us has likely experienced different aspects of both of these sides; no one is perfect. however, i do not believe that we are all equal in our triumphs and hardships. i think it's safe to say that some people simply have it harder than others. now assuming that there is SOMETHING greater than us lowly humans, what i've always tried to figure out, was what or who determines whether someone has it so easy, or so rough? what did those people do to deserve what they had in life? are some people really just born lucky? or is there more to it?
reverting back to my cause and effect theory, it seems logical to assume that a good deed performed by a person, would allow them a reward in life...karma, if you will. if you do something bad, then something bad will happen to you. but is this truth? or is the way our lives pan out already predetermined by a destiny of some sort, controlled by a higher being? i definitely believe in "god", but the master plan is still something i'm trying to decipher. i know i often sit back and in pondering any such event in my life, whether good or bad, wonder what i did, or didn't do to deserve this? but is this even a question, especially when these events i ponder are ones beyond my control?
another theory i've always entertained is whether there is a sort of quota of good and bad that one will experience during one's lifetime. what i mean is, if life sucks now for you, and life is comparatively amazing for your friend, will things even out one day? will your life at some point be amazing, while your friend's is comparatively crappy? and will this in the end leave us all with an equal experience of joy and strife?
this is a sort of messy post with just a few, random thoughts from my head to yours. things can ALWAYS be worse, and we should definitely be thankful for what we have...but you have to wonder why we get what we get in life, whether it's a reward or a disappointment.
it's hard to learn from your mistakes when you can't figure out the game.
**
however, i have always been interested in the things that aren't quite so explicit and well-defined in our lives. and i suppose the best thing that would sum that up, would be life itself. i suppose the main question i always find myself desperately searching for an answer to would be, why is life so easy for some, and so hard for others?
you know who i'm talking about, those people who seem have everything go their way, all the time. they could ever ask for, without asking for it: a loving family, a car when they turn 16, a significant other who would do anything for them, amazing grades, beauty, a dream job the instant they begin looking for one...you catch my drift. for these "chosen ones", it seems that things just fall into place when the time comes, and it's just that easy. meanwhile, the rest can only look on, and continue to struggle to make things happen; crappy marks no matter how hard they try, always getting in trouble with one person or the other, insufficient funds, less than gorgeous, can't find a decent paying job for the life of them, get treated like crap at home, and consistently have the door slammed in their face, both literally and figuratively. you get my drift here too.
now i realize i am presenting the extremes of both sides of the spectrum, and each of us has likely experienced different aspects of both of these sides; no one is perfect. however, i do not believe that we are all equal in our triumphs and hardships. i think it's safe to say that some people simply have it harder than others. now assuming that there is SOMETHING greater than us lowly humans, what i've always tried to figure out, was what or who determines whether someone has it so easy, or so rough? what did those people do to deserve what they had in life? are some people really just born lucky? or is there more to it?
reverting back to my cause and effect theory, it seems logical to assume that a good deed performed by a person, would allow them a reward in life...karma, if you will. if you do something bad, then something bad will happen to you. but is this truth? or is the way our lives pan out already predetermined by a destiny of some sort, controlled by a higher being? i definitely believe in "god", but the master plan is still something i'm trying to decipher. i know i often sit back and in pondering any such event in my life, whether good or bad, wonder what i did, or didn't do to deserve this? but is this even a question, especially when these events i ponder are ones beyond my control?
another theory i've always entertained is whether there is a sort of quota of good and bad that one will experience during one's lifetime. what i mean is, if life sucks now for you, and life is comparatively amazing for your friend, will things even out one day? will your life at some point be amazing, while your friend's is comparatively crappy? and will this in the end leave us all with an equal experience of joy and strife?
this is a sort of messy post with just a few, random thoughts from my head to yours. things can ALWAYS be worse, and we should definitely be thankful for what we have...but you have to wonder why we get what we get in life, whether it's a reward or a disappointment.
it's hard to learn from your mistakes when you can't figure out the game.
**
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