The Joy of Being Realistic

The Joy of Being Realistic
Written by Naren

There are many people who have either positive or negative approaches in life, but how many of them are realistic? Realistic means to look at things as they “really” are.

• Do you look at things as they are?
• Do you only look at the positive side or only the negative side?
• Are your thoughts influenced by positive thinking or by negative thinking?

Let me start by sharing my thoughts:

Italian Neo Realism

After having read my articles you might have already presumed that I have a great passion for movies. In college I used to spend most of my time in the library engrossing myself in film books, than in the classes. As I was learning about films and filmmakers, I came across The Bicycle Thief, directed by one of my favorite directors, Vittoria De Sica. This film made in 1948 has made an indelible impact in my life. The film is an example of Italian Neo realism in the history of cinema. Films which belong to this movement were shot mostly in locations, with non-actors in the lead role, financed in a shoe-string budget, and typically featured the story of the working class family.

The Bicycle Thief is one great example of the realistic cinema. The protagonist needs a job to support his family, but jobs are scarce. He finds one, which requires a bicycle. He manages to buy one by pawning the family’s bed sheets. Unfortunately the bicycle is stolen on the first day of his work. Heartbroken, the protagonist, with the help of his young son, tirelessly and desperately searches for the bicycle all day, but with no success. Tired, frustrated and scared the protagonist steals a bicycle in the end, gets caught, and is beaten by the mad crowd in front of his son. Embarrassed he could not look into his son’s eyes. The film ends showing father and son walking along the way with their future lying in uncertainty.

This film renders universal emotions in a simple way, paints the grim picture of reality, and translates the story on the screen as it is, maintaining its universally comprehensible theme. It does not force on the viewer a message like “Oh! You have to be positive and good things will come along the way. Don’t think of negative, be always positive.” The story is a depiction of a sharp and poignant reality of the struggling family, the most profound portrayal of father and son relationship, and thus stands out as one of the best films of all time.

Positive Thinking -- A Sweet Candy

Those who say that you have to be positive are simply giving us false consolations and hopes. They are simply deceiving us. I am not into hope, I am into reality.

You can keep on hoping to build a castle in the air and stay positive, but do you think your positive thinking will produce the outcome you are hoping for.

Absolutely not! These are false dreams. You can keep on thinking about being as rich as Warren Buffet or Bill Gates and be positive about it, but do you think you will be rich as they are just by thinking positively.

Positive thinking is just like handing candy to a weeping child. When you give him a sweet candy, he will stop crying for the moment and then when it’s finished he will start crying again. How long can you keep on giving the child sweet candies? The very notion that: You have to be positive whatsoever happens to you, is wrong. And, by thinking positively do you think it will solve your problems. Do you think your miseries will disappear into thin air right away? Do you think by denying the negative, the negative will not be there. NO. By being positive, you are simply attempting to hide the negative. You are just being evasive and not acknowledging the other half of the truth.

Hence, we have to understand that, positive thinking is just one way of looking at things.

Similarly, negative thinking is the other way of looking at things. It is as wrong as positive thinking. I am not for or against either side. To me, both positive and negative are equally important as they comprise the whole. Just like every coin has two sides, there is day and night, there is life and death, there is joy and pain, there is beauty and ugliness –all of these things are complimentary to each other. This is the truth and this is the reality. Reality cannot be changed. A lie changes, but truth always remains the same. This is the way the Existence has planned things. There is nothing we can do about it. We just have to accept it. Total acceptance leads to understanding.

Final Thoughts

Have you ever seen the beauty of reality? Have you ever realized the joy of seeing things as they are in their whole or totality, instead of looking at only one side? There is so much joy in adopting a realistic approach in life – neither being positive nor negative – just accepting the way things are with grace and love. If you start practicing this holistic attitude from now onwards, you will see the result. You will be astounded to see how both positive and negative support and are interdependent to each other.

Let me conclude with one example: The lotus is a beautiful flower that blooms out of the mud. This is the positive way of seeing it. But, if there wasn’t mud for the lotus flower in which to grow, then it wouldn’t look so beautiful. This is being realistic, looking at both the mud and the lotus flower.

The Joy of Waking Up Early

The Joy of Waking Up Early
Written by Naren

In this article I will be discussing why we cannot sleep, some of the benefits of being an early riser, and how it can be achieved by employing a few small steps. The article turned out to be longer than I had expected, so I have divided it into three parts. Each part is self-contained, but I would recommend you to go through them in order.

Sleep from different perspectives and its significance in our life

Sleep is absolutely essential to all living organisms. During sleep, while we are in deep rest, all our cells, brain, blood and other parts of our body are actively involved in refreshing and revitalizing our energy for the next day. If we don’t get enough sleep, we cannot function properly and it can have a negative impact on our body and mind. Sleep deprivation can cause many dangerous illnesses many of which we are not aware. Hence, we should understand our sleeping pattern; otherwise it can hamper us physically, emotionally and mentally.

Let me share my own thoughts first.

Was I an early riser?

No. I wasn’t. For most of my life in America, I have been a night owl. Why? There are many reasons. I came to the United States as an international student. In college, I was staying in the dormitory where nobody went to bed until 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning. And, as far as I was concerned, I just couldn’t sleep – it was a drastic change for me. On one hand I couldn’t sleep because of the agony of missing family, and on the other hand it was being in a completely different society. There were just too many things on my mind. As I mentioned earlier, most of my friends were late nighters. What did we used to do? Nothing. Just goof on the computer, play video games, watch movies, play ping pong, drink, party… Then when we had papers due the next morning, and we would stay up all night rushing to finish just before class. I was a pretty good student, but I must admit that I had not always been an early riser. It’s quite easy to be influenced and persuaded, and be lazy while you are in college. During the summer I had an overnight job as well as a day job to support my study in the United States. And, I must confess, things were not easy even after my graduation. I worked a graveyard shift for a while until I found a day job. I still remember how I used to yearn for a good night sleep while working those graveyard shifts.

So, not being an early riser was not a choice but a circumstance for the most part.

This certainly has had adverse effects on my sleeping pattern and stripped me of enjoying the beauty of the morning, which I came to realize when I could afford to wake up early. Yes, for the last two years, I have been an early riser, and I always strive to be one. I don’t always force myself strictly to adhere to such a routine – but I always try my best.

Sleep in a Third World Country like Nepal

When I was in Kathmandu everybody would go to bed by 8pm and wake up at 6 or 7 in the morning. There was no need to care about what time to go to sleep or what time to wake up. It was the same routine for most people. And as far as I can recall, my mother always got up by 5am, took a shower and began her morning rituals. It has become her habit. Despite her age and health, she still tries to keep up with her morning schedule as much as she can. I remember asking her once how she is able do so. She said that it is up to you to treat your body the way you want, and that your mind plays a big role in determining your sleeping habits. You can be lazy and stay in bed, or you can jump off the bed right away and get involved in your work. Her answer didn’t quite quench my query, as I knew that she also couldn’t afford to sleep longer. Yes, in a poor nation like Nepal, to sleep long hours is a luxury as most people struggle day and night for their existence. If one is wealthy, even in poorer countries, he has the utmost luxury to sleep late or wake up according to his desire; but if you belong to the struggling working class then you are not only forced to get little sleep, but also to become an early riser out of necessity. What an irony…

Sleep in Western Society

Since, this article is mostly written with western readers in mind, even though it can be applied to all, I am going to elaborate more on this issue. Not being able to sleep has been a big concern in most of the western societies.

• Why cannot we sleep?
• What keeps us from sleeping?
• Why people are staying up longer and longer at night?

Many books have been devoted to the answers to these questions– but, in my view the biggest reason why people can’t sleep is the anxiety, stress and the worry of coping with this fast paced society. Yes, the world is not same as it was two thousand years ago. People then didn’t have to worry about uncountable bills to pay, like we do – but then again they had their own problems as we have ours. Many things have changed over the years. The environment is different. Deforestation, global warming, pollution, increase in population, and unawareness among people have given rise to so much anxiety and stress that it’s hard to sleep. How can you sleep when there are a thousand and one things pacing back and forth in your mind? How can you fall into deep sleep when your mind has become crowded with your thoughts and worries? It would be extremely difficult. In addition there are people who have to work nights to support themselves. Then there are people who have the luxury of going to bed early, but they can’t sleep because they are so troubled or occupied. So, most people live their lives sleep deprived. The later they go to bed, the later they wake up in the morning. In addition, some people have to force themselves to wake up early for work. How can one function well if they don’t get enough sleep? And according to scientific survey, we do need at least 7-8 hours of sleep whatsoever.

Who is to be blamed?

The society, the government, the credit card companies, human being themselves… The whole system, the whole practice has become so neurotic that it’s impossible to blame only one factor. Two thousand years ago people used to go into meditation so easily. Our ancestors would fall into sleep when they lay their head on a pillow, now we are having so much trouble – Why? It’s definitely something worth pondering.

The whole system, the whole pattern, the whole mind, the whole society needs cleansing. The whole human consciousness has to go through the alchemy of change. Unless and until a ray of awareness touches us, we will continue to live our life in misery and agony. Unless and until, we realize how essential sleep is for a better, healthy, and productive life, we will keep on suffering.

As Temperatures Rise, Health Could Decline

By David Brown

Washington Post Staff Writer

Depending on where you are, this is going to be a hotter, wetter, drier, windier, calmer, dirtier, buggier or hungrier century than mankind has seen in a while. In some places, it may be deadlier, too.

The effects of climate change are diverse and sometimes contradictory. In general, they favor instability and extreme events. On balance, they will tend to harm health rather than promote it.

That is the majority view of scientists trying to solve an equation whose variables range from greenhouse gas concentrations and the El Niño weather pattern to mosquito ecology and human cells' ability to withstand heat.

"We are not dealing with a single toxic agent or a single microbe where we can put our finger with certainty on an exposure and the response," said Jonathan A. Patz, a physician and epidemiologist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. "Climate change affects everything."

Predictions of how global warming could affect people's health are crude. They are based on the experience of the past several decades, when there has been a small, well-documented rise in the temperatures of the planet's atmosphere and oceans. What that says about the future -- a time when warming is expected to accelerate, but people may be able to prepare for it -- is quite uncertain.

In the last quarter of the 20th century, the average atmospheric temperature rose by about 1 degree Fahrenheit. By 2000, that increase was responsible for the annual loss of about 160,000 lives and the loss of 5.5 million years of healthy life, according to estimates by the World Health Organization. The toll is expected to double to about 300,000 lives and 11 million years of healthy life by 2020.

The biggest tolls were in Africa, on the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia. Most of that increased burden of death and disease was from malnutrition, diarrhea, malaria, heat waves and floods. But those diseases will play a minor role, at best, in many regions that nevertheless will feel the effects of global warming.

To organize their thinking -- and to focus the attention of policymakers -- researchers tend to put the health effects of climate change into five groups.

Heat Stress

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The most obvious effect of global warming is hotter weather.

Scientists predict that heat waves will be longer and more frequent in the future. Their worst-case effects may have been glimpsed in Europe's summer of 2003, the hottest spell there since the 1500s. About 30,000 people died of heat-related illness, including 14,800 in France in three weeks in August.

People who were old, very young, ill, immobile or poor were at highest risk. Although the human body can adapt somewhat to chronically higher temperatures, those groups will remain vulnerable -- and they are likely to make up a bigger slice of the population in the future.

About 20 percent of people in industrialized countries are over age 60 today. That figure will rise to 32 percent by 2050. More people will also live in cities -- 61 percent of the world's population by 2030, compared with 45 percent now. Cities are "heat islands," 9 degrees Fahrenheit warmer on average than surrounding rural areas and resistant to the cooling effects of night.

Aging and urbanization -- and possibly more obesity -- will put people at greater risk for heat-related illness. Nevertheless, that consequence of global warming may be easier to avoid than others, as a study published three years ago suggests.

It examined mortality on hot days in 28 cities in the last third of the 20th century. Death rates were lower in the 1980s and 1990s than in the 1960s and 1970s in most places, with the least reduction in cities of the Northeast and the Midwest. (A heat wave in Chicago in 1995 caused more than 500 deaths, the biggest U.S. toll in years.)

This steady decline in heat-stress death was almost certainly the consequence of air conditioning, better awareness of the problem and improved medical care.

"If there is a very effective response system, then even in hotter temperatures you may not see more deaths," said Kristie L. Ebi, an epidemiologist and consultant in Alexandria. She helped write the health chapter of the most recent report of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner along with Al Gore.

Extreme Weather

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Climate change is expected to increase the severity of storms, especially ones associated with cyclical events such as the El Ni¿o Southern Oscillation.

Flooding is the most common weather disaster, responsible for the deaths of about 100,000 people and the displacement of 1.2 billion from 1992 to 2001. The worsening of this hazard will vary by region. It is expected to change little in Southeast Asia by 2030, but it may increase 50 percent in West Africa and quadruple in Central and South America.

In addition to storms, rising oceans threaten coastal populations. Of the world's 20 megacities, 13 are at sea level. Storm surges, while short-lived, can cause permanent damage, eroding land and damaging water supplies and cropland with saltwater.

Greater variability in weather patterns along with higher temperatures may lead to droughts and water shortages. Today, 1.7 billion people -- about one-third of the world's population -- live in places that have periodic water shortages. That number is expected to increase to 5 billion by 2025.

When it comes to food production, climate change will have varying effects. Overall, it will tend to slow the long historical decline in the number of hungry people.

In 1990, there were 520 million people at risk of hunger, according to a study by British and American scientists published in 2005. In the absence of global warming, that number was predicted to fall to 300 million by 2080. With global warming, it is expected to fall to 380 million, although under various scenarios of greenhouse gas reductions it could drop to 320 to 340 million, according to recent mathematical modeling.

Air Pollution

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Climate change affects air pollution in two ways.

Heat speeds chemical reactions and consequently may worsen pollution from ozone and airborne particulates, or soot. It may also spur pollen production by some plants, which could in turn worsen asthma and allergies in some people.

One model of global warming's effects on air pollution in 15 eastern U.S. cities predicts that the number of days exceeding ozone standards will rise from the current average of 12 to 20 per summer by 2050. Deaths linked to that pollutant -- nearly all in people who have lung or heart ailments -- could go up 5 percent under that scenario.

Waterborne and Food-Borne Disease

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Higher temperatures and torrential rains are likely to cause outbreaks of some diarrheal diseases.

The incidence of cholera -- a bacterial infection whose home is South Asia but that circles the world in slow epidemics -- depends in part on water temperatures in the Bay of Bengal and on monsoon rains. A recent study of waterborne-disease outbreaks in the United States in the past 50 years found that 67 percent were preceded by heavy rainfall.

Researchers in Australia have shown that the number of food-borne infections from salmonella bacteria goes up in hot weather.

Overall, climate change is expected to increase the burden of diarrhea, mostly in developing countries, by 2 to 5 percent by 2020.

Vector-Borne Disease

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Scientists suspect that many diseases transmitted by insects and animals will become more common, although there is more uncertainty about this than other consequences of global warming.

Dengue and malaria, carried by mosquitoes, are most likely to increase. Under some projections, Africans will be exposed to malaria 25 percent more of the time in 2100 than they are now.

That risk, however, could be offset by controlling mosquitoes with pesticides, the use of bed nets by children and pregnant women, and better medical care.

Other diseases that may become more prevalent are yellow fever (also carried by mosquitoes), schistosomiasis (by snails), leishmaniasis (sand flies) and Lyme disease (ticks).

The Role of Planning

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In the United States, most public discussion of global warming has been about ways to slow the phenomenon, and not about ways to dampen or prevent effects that are already inevitable.

"We are a good decade behind Europe in designing and developing adaptations that will decrease our vulnerability and increase our resilience," said Ebi, the epidemiologist.

Such planning is wise not only for the federal government and states, but for cities and towns as well, Ebi believes.

"The impacts of climate change really do depend on your local context," she said.