Checkmate

Travel light. The two words I can absolutely never abide by, not if my life depended on it. To elaborate, I had to make a one day trip out of the city and I had on me all of two (very well stuffed) bags (and the nagging feeling that I was leaving something behind).
Just so I don’t give you the wrong impression, I’m not a fashionista, a fashion victim or a Carrie Bradshaw in the making. No, far from it. Which is what got me wondering about the cause of my leave-nothing-behind affliction, and my investigation led me to another two words: What If.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that the impact of those seemingly innocuous words is beyond just travel bags. I also recognize that it isn’t just me who is subconsciously sorting through the millions of permutations and combinations of potential moves on the chess board of life.
I like making the comparison to a chess match, because of it's uncanny resemblance: the inter-dependency of moves, the endless strategic planning, the ability to only influence and not control what happens around us, the not-immediately-apparent purpose of an event, the little sacrifices along the way that have huge returns, but most of all the fact that try as you may, there are times you just can't predict how the guy across the table is going to move his pieces.

Like in a match, for every situation we are in, a lot of us are mentally taking every route from the fork in the road and deciding what we’ll do when we see that next roadblock there.
Now this is a good thing, being proactive, having a Plan B in place, being prepared for what might come your way, but most of us (though I have certainty only one individual so far :D) don’t realize is that like in the battle of two minds, you can’t cater to every eventuality, you can’t anticipate everything that’ll be thrown your way. You have to give some credit to the big guys up there, you can’t expect to keep second guessing them. I mean, there has to be some reason you’re down here and not rolling the dice (too many game metaphors!) up there with them!

Having highlighted the similarity, what most of us miss out on is that there is one way in which this isn’t like your regular chess match: here everyone’s playing for the same side, yours.
So what you might see as an offensive move from the opposing (for want of a better word) team that causes you to move out of your comfort spot, may very well be exactly where you needed to go to kick that Nasty Knight of the board.

So, I’m coming to learn, sometimes you just have to let go of the controls, because even if you don’t, autopilot’s going to kick in, so you can either fight it and struggle trying to win back the controls, or you can sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.
Easier said than done, I agree, like anything worth doing. But in my experience, the key is to take that first step: start by letting go of that one niggling problem you just can't do anything about. As I ponder on the when parameter of the Let Go philosophy, I'm presented with the impractical simplicity of the phrase when you've done enough. That, I'm afraid you'll have to identify for yourself. (Hey, if I were that smart, you'd be paying to read this! :P)
Anyway, gotta run, there is a certain co-pilot I need to try and steal the controls from! :D

The Fading Pink

I'm finally ready. Ready to join the legions that have taken to the burgeoning Blogosphere (note the clever alliteration :P), ready to get the presses rolling, ready to share some thoughts on... well... more thoughts.
I bet you vets (who have unfortunately happened to stumble across or have purposefully been directed to this page :D) out there are probably rolling your eyes, looking all too disdainfully at the newbie, wondering how many more of such hopeful novices who think they have latent writing skills, that were all too well hidden till right about now, you'll watch come and go.

Rather cynical start for a first post isn't it? Good. It sets the stage for what I'd like to continue on. If you look around, you'll notice a growing majority, especially the young adults (and fast joining them the pre-adults or post-teens, or whatever is the term of choice nowadays), have this aura of cynicism about them, a veritable cloud of gloom. Now don't get me wrong, I don’t mean that "dark" phase most teens go through revelling in self pity, finding perverse solace in the make believe fact that the world is out to get them. I'm trying to explore just how that very treasured feeling of contentment seems to be rapidly fading from our lives and why we’ve become a society that is so distrustful.

Now here are the few theories I have on why there seems to be an upward trend in this general attitude of skepticism, I leave them unanswered because I’m still trying to sift through them myself:

1. Evolution: It’s not like folks back in the past were happy as clowns (who as a matter fact, and rather ironically, I find more scary than funny) on dope, sure they had their share of problems, but by and large they were satisfied, happy. Was it because they didn’t know any better? We might be tempted to think so. It's a known fact that smarter people are less happy. Why? Well, think about it, if you knew what all you could have, would you want to settle for less?
2. We take ourselves too seriously: Are we mistaking maturity for cynicism? Have we started believing that to be wise is to be dismissive of frivolity?
3. The Irony of Masochism: Nothing conveys this thought as well as an oxymoron: do we enjoy being unhappy? Do we feel guilt in being happy all the time?
4. Cool Factor: Allure of the Angry Young Man? Are we falling prey to notion that cynicism sets you apart, lends an air of being oh-so-hip?
5. Trapped: Is it but natural that we adapt to the situation we’re in? Is mankind really going to the dogs? In this age of use-n-throw have we not spared man either? Have we learnt better than to expect anything good?

I, personally, am quite partial to cynicism and it’s more socially acceptable cousin, sarcasm, I like reading between the lines, not taking things at face value, analyzing and reanalyzing things, believing we aren’t doing enough and that there’s always a reason.

Why? I’m not sure. But in a world where everything’s complicated, right from the all encompassing Universe down to a minuscule cell, it’s hard to imagine that words and actions would be so simple as to mean just what they appear to. Then again that’s one man’s opinion, and I’m sure there’ll be plenty who'd say, if you go looking for trouble you’re sure to find it!
I don't mean to imply that every deed is an attempt at subterfuge, merely that there usually is a less obvious, subconscious even, reason, good or bad, for the things we do or say.

Then of course there’s Murphy’s law: If something can go wrong, it will. It has truly stood the test of time, held good in almost every situation and you just can’t argue with the facts!
To close, I borrow from a friend who adds a twist to a famous quote: Plan for the best, expect the worst!

PS : For an interesting read, albeit a rather biased view, on this fascinating phenomenon (for those of you I’ve managed to lure to the other side :P), I would direct you to - The Cynics Sanctuary (don't miss the definition at the top).