U: Universal laws of ‘being human’

   This is what happens when you read too much of physics, astronomy and non-fiction. Thanks to my new found love for non-fiction since past couple of days (and an accessible library to do so), my blogger mind is pulled towards laws, rules, facts and theories. Though that does not make me any sounder in science, it has definitely helped my creative arts. And since creative arts is about creating, what better way to express my affection than to combine these two streams into a post. Hence, the birth of my next post on letter ‘U’. As I move closer to the end of this A-Z series, I realize how influential these alphabets are? Besides the sing-song of A to Z that craves a permanent spot in our memory since childhood, every alphabet is so resourceful in the world of vocabulary.

  Now, while it is impossible to craft serious concepts over blog posts, I thought why not do just the opposite? Why not introduce humor, sarcasm, fun and uniqueness into something as important as physics laws and concepts to laugh at the lighter side of life? And why not draw fun at our human nature that makes us a unique social animal on this planet?

    At the onset, let me set forth a disclaimer - I do not intend to make fun of any of our great scientists, researchers, laws or theories that form a significant part of our life. I do not intend to mock their great efforts and contribution to the society. Without physics and their incredible input, we would not reach where we are today. Hence, kindly take it with a pinch of salt. This post uses some concepts of physics as a framework to laugh at our essence of humanity. The underlying thought is to tickle our funny bones and get back to work.

 The word ‘universal’ is extremely significant here because these apply to every individual on the planet. As living forms with mind and heart, we feel and experience many unique aspects that make us interesting. These stand for our obvious nature and behavior. Though each one of us are different with a novel outlook towards life, there are some things that unite us under the umbrella of being human. The aim is to capture those funny aspects and enjoy the essence of mankind. And though we take pride over the fact that we are different from others, we are still united by some weaknesses and strengths of being an equipped resource of this earth.

  Stay with me as I unfold five universal laws of being human as seen, observed, regarded and assumed by my mind. It may resonate with you or run parallel to your thought process. In either case, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy penning (read-typing) it.

  Moving forward, kindly remove your critic glasses and put on your humor lenses.  And after you are done reading, do share your feedback with whichever lenses you wish to put on!

1.       Reality is inversely proportional to expectation

 For this concept, there is no better example than looking at a mannequin. You enter into a clothes store and admire a perfect outfit on it. Or for today’s online world, you see a model on the shopping website. You love it because it looks incredible, beautiful, amazing and just wow to say the least. It is then followed by numerous images of beauty floating over your own mind, making you happy in your dreams. You are convinced you will look just like the model, carrying the outfit as wonderfully as him/her. But, life is not so wonderful, is it? Soon the reality steps in when you try it yourself and meet that laughing head called ‘reality’. 

Often in life, our expectations and realities are like opposite poles that cannot be united no matter what. What we expect may turn out to be totally different, yet wonderful in its own way. The fun of life is getting what we expect the least because that adds surprise, thrill, suspense and fun into an otherwise boring serial of never ending episodes. Though reality and expectation may be inversely proportional, it shouldn’t stop us from making efforts. Because hard work takes us closer to our goal, one step at a time.

 “Ask not what you want, but what is good for you”, these philosophical words re-quoted by my philosophical husband seem to fit in perfectly.

2.       Chaos is the only constant

This concept needs no explanation. You plan a big event with every single detail chalked to attention. You spend years, months, days, hours or minutes (depending on the project) to ensure everything goes as per plan. But, is that life laughing at you from the wing? Of course it is, because it is sending its favorite subordinate ‘chaos’ your way. Call it chaos, confusion, misunderstanding, unexpected circumstance or whatever fancy word you wish to pick from the dictionary, things do not go as per plan.

Somethings will go south, tossing your ideas to a certain extent. But, the real fun lies in this chaos. If our life was moving smoothly over a track at a fixed speed, would it be fun? Though I am nodding my head because it does sound good, it is not true. Some minor set-backs, confusion, last moment changes and unexpected twists are essential to keep us going.

What we fail to understand should come into the picture to increase our curiosity, attention, interest and enthusiasm. Such constant chaos will keep us on our feet, forcing us to do something rather than sitting calmly. Sometimes it is good to just relax, but too much of it can be dangerous too. Enjoy the chaos because these last minute thrills end up penning down the best stories of your life. We do not remember the formal ceremony of a wedding, but we do remember the 'punctuality-hating' caterer who amplified our hunger or the non-cooperative designer who kept the groom in his pajamas for too long.

3.      Realization is independent of time

     “Do not believe now, you will realize it later” or “When I was your age…” these words of your parents will always ring in your mind because they know it all ahead of time. As kids we do not realize why our elders keep repeating some irrelevant quotes of knowledge but everything makes sense when we go through those things ourselves. I should apologize my mom for sending unlimited hiccups her way because the number of times I remember her confident words since my childhood only keep increasing. The universal truth is we do not realize immediately at that instant. Label it ignorance, ego, free-will or immaturity, we cannot accept things when told to us now and here

      

      It takes a short while before we are able to realize it, hence I believe in its independent equation with respect to time. There is nothing wrong in not understanding some things right away. We are allowed some buffer time to load our life slowly. But, we should make sure it happens at the appropriate time. You may not understand why parents talk about settling down in life or striving to build assets every now and then. It will make sense someday along the journey, when you will hear "I had told you so."

4. Every thought has an equal and opposite doubt

       This concept is a bit subjective in nature. Whether you are a doubtful anxious person who worries about every single thing in life or whether you are confident to accept whatever comes your way decides its relevance. Thanks to a workaholic mind who cannot quit overthinking, we often find ourselves surrounded by cloud of worries. Every thought that germinates in our mind is followed by an equally powerful but diametrically opposite doubt. Like waves that rise and fall, thoughts rise in our mind with excitement and enthusiasm followed by falling doubts with disappointment.

 It is human to doubt and weigh consequences but inhuman to keep thinking. Thoughts are useless unless accompanied by actions. All your ‘buts’ and ‘ifs’ must cease at some point to make way for ‘congrats’ and ‘best wishes’.

You doubt if that evening walk will really help your fitness goals, but what is the harm in enjoying the action of spending time with nature?

5.       Mind is always at rest unless triggered by social media

  I can actually picture my husband screaming “Hear, Hear!” and nodding in full agreement to this statement. If there is one thing in life he will ever agree with me (How can it be more than one? Isn’t disagreement the middle name of marriage?), it has to be this one. He cannot disagree because I am guilty of this concept. He has seen an example of how his wife’s mind (and hence his) is peacefully at rest until she scrolls up and down over her phone on social media. And then what follows is chaos.

    

Thanks to social media - unlimited travel pictures and colorful photographs of people at parties create unrest in your otherwise peaceful mind. Till your phone is sitting quietly, everything is beautiful. But when it rings and glows and shows, you are forced to wonder why my life is not as colorful as that happy face on social media?

 Take this thought with a pinch of salt because there is fun in staying connected. There is no harm in sharing your happy moments with others. As long as you are able to find joy in social media, there is nothing wrong about it. Enjoy it to be a part of happiness, keeping jealously or comparisons at bay.

 As for me, dear husband, I cannot stop getting triggered. How can I not force you to book that next trip without showing dozens of photographs, every day? It’s okay to not practice what you preach, well, once in a while.

 

   This brings me to the end of my twisted concepts. Do send your valuable feedback. It will help me strengthen my application to recognize these universal laws, before I propose them to the committee of ‘being human’!