Random hits on the keyboard

The Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, said, “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way”.  Marcus was a great Roman Emperor who ruled in Rome from 161 to 180 AD. He is also well known as a Stoic philosopher. Marcus Aurelius never claimed to be a Stoic.  But he lived the Stoic life. He kept a journal of his life, which was later published as one of the profound and important books ever written, Meditation. There are 12 volumes of books; those were the words of wisdom, and the books were never intended to be published. They were all self-reflections, words of wisdom to oneself. On the fifth book, paragraph 20, he wrote The impediment to action advances action, what stands in the way becomes the way. The phrase encourages a mindset where challenges are integrated into one's progress, rather than being seen as roadblocks to be avoided. The obstacle itself can offer a new path or method to move forward.  Recently, I have been reading (not a ...

Last year, I paid 200% extra on the pollution test of my car because I was late by just one week. I was furious - cursing the system, the rule-maker, the whole government. Whoever came up with that fine had clearly never stood in the queue for a vehicle pollution test. The actual cost of the test was 400 rupees. I ended up paying 1,200. It made no sense. The late fee felt like a blatant punishment and white-collar corruption. On top of that, I lost half a day running from window to window, queuing, filling forms, and submitting documents. To add insult to injury, I had to affix a 10-rupee postage stamp to the receipt. And guess what? That stamp cost 15 rupees from a street vendor, established inside the government office. Open robbery, right under the nose of the State. This year, I decided to be early. Determined to avoid another financial ambush, I went for the pollution test before the expiry date. I took a deep breath- Stoic breath - ready for the usual round of hassles. Since my s...

Inspired by a quote from the famous philosopher René Descartes “Cogito, ergo sum” (“I think, therefore I am”), I grounded my thoughts to find – I don’t know what – something meaningful. I wonder if this has to do with the middle-age crisis? Or something else. I have been writing a few blogs - not realizing that many of them are on running, By no means, can I be categorised as a runner. I started running recently, about two years ago. Slowly, I started to feel something that I had not felt earlier. Running has connected me to my body, mind and many more. It has a profound effect on me. I run for fun now.  Running has changed my viewpoint on pain and pleasure. It has given me confidence and of course good health. Every run is a challenge to be a bit better. I start to eat good food. I am becoming selective about what I eat. I try to attend running events in my town. Surprisingly enough, I have been challenging myself on other aspects - for example my reading habit. These days, I tend...

This week, I finally started reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. It’s an easy guess, I know—it’s one of the most widely referenced books on Stoicism. I’ve come across countless mentions of it in podcasts and talk shows, and I’ve tried picking it up before. But each time, I struggled to grasp its essence. Determined to give it another shot, I decided to take a different approach. This time, I paired my reading with YouTube videos from Ryan Holiday, the well-known Daily Stoic guy. His insights have helped me see the book from a fresh perspective. Marcus Aurelius, a Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 AD, was also a Stoic philosopher. Interestingly, my first introduction to him wasn’t through history books but through the movie Gladiator . At the time, I had no idea that the wise old emperor in the film was the same Marcus Aurelius who penned Meditations . It turns out, his writings were never meant for publication—they were personal reflections, private notes to himself. And yet, centuri...