10,000 HOURS OR 1 HOUR OF PASSION...

If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.

-Benjamin Franklin

You may or may not have realised that for the past week I have been blogging on a daily basis. I have been doing so because I love writing and I'd like to get some of my work out there. It not only makes me feel accomplished but it also makes me feel anxious. Why do I feel anxious? I do so because I would like to know what the audience thinks of my work. It doesn't really matter to me whether they like it or not but it would be a great motivator if they were to give me a thumbs up.
Today, however, I have sat in front of the computer for minutes on end with not a clue as to what the topic would be. I always thought of my self as gifted in the field of writing. Since childhood I had never needed to plan what I would write about whenever we were to told to write a composition. Once I sat down the idea came to me. You know what they say, if you fail to plan, you plan to succeed-in a serendipic fashion(well, "they" don't say that but I do). So, why do I still write even though a reasonable topic may have evaded me? Is it because I simply want to complete my 10,000 hours or is it because of passion?

If it is passion that drives me then you do not have to worry about the content that is conatined within the blog but if I am looking to simply cover up my 10,000 hours then this is all about quantity rather than quality. If so, then you should move on to another blog.
This is my definition of passion- passion is the difference between Eminem and Gucci Mane, passion is the difference between Natalie Portman and Keanu Reeves. You can see where I'm getting at, don't you?

If you have a work instead of a job then everyday is a holiday.

My question to you today is this; do you do what you do because of passion or because you feel that you have to? If you are passionate about what you do then kudos to you but if you are doing it because you have to then quit your job and check yourself before you wreck yourself.
Passion; the difference between a happy man and a miserable man.
Go and get happy. No one likes a miserable person because you make everyone else miserable.

HEY VIRGINITY! I WANT YOU BACK....

I lost my virginity when I was 14. And I haven't been able to find it.
-David Duchovny

When I was a freshman in high school I always imagined of the day that I'd lose my virginity. Being the typical teenager my dreams at the moment were less along the line of losing it to the person that I loved and more focused on banging some random girl I would meet at a party (no man can say that they haven't thought about it).
That was a constant thought it my head because I wondered why virginity was so special anyway. I mean, as far as I was concerned it was more of a state of mind rather than a physical attribute.
As a child we are always told that when you fall in love you'll know when the time comes for you to consummate that love but you are not told that it is better that your first time should be about making love rather than having sex. This in turn leads to uninformed youths looking forward to having sex rather than making love so you can imagine how charismatic one gets when the opportunity arrives.

 By that time you are anxious and overjoyed. The only things that are running through your mind are "should I be gentle or should I go all out?" and "should I carry a condom with me?". And then it happens. You have sex, you are no longer a virgin, all the endless nights of masturbation have possibly come to an end. That's what you think.
When I lost my virginity it was terrifying. Was I good enough? Were twenty minutes long enough? What would she think about me afterwards? But do you know what the most important thing was, "I had lost my virginity". No longer would I walk and ask myself, "how many times has that guy had sex?". Those days were over.
However, another problem rose from the pits of my bowels. I didn't use a condom. What the fuck! As far as I was concerned I was carrying some sort of STD. Those fears were with me for three months before I had the nerve to get tested (lucky me cause the tests came back negative). And if that wasn't enough, I started to believe that she was pregnant. On top of that, I assumed that she was screwing someone else. I fucking hated her.
Why did I hate her? I hated her because of my own mistake; I had sex and didn't make love. The reason that I had sex with her and didn't make love to her was because I didn't love her. Simple enough. All those problems I thought were going down were just me being paranoid because I had lost it to a random person.


Virginity isn't dignity but a lack of opportunity.

I had found my opportunity but didn't take it as I was supposed to. The opportunity to look at sex in the eye and say, "I don't want you" but I failed. My opportunity was gone and I was no longer a virgin; something that I assumed I could do without when I possessed it but knew I needed when I had discarded of it.
What happened to me was something that no one should have to go through. Don't dream of having sex, dream of making love because if you are to have sex you'll wake up the next morning with a bad taste in you mouth that will never go away.

P.s. Virginity is yours to keep. If you'd rather live with it then the better for you (but that's a bit freak-like though).

SILENCE: GOLDEN OR GOLD-COATED?

Today  morning I watched a programme on the Japanese channel NHK (DStv 433). The programme was called Begin Japanology and it focuses on aspects of Japan that people tend to overlook. Today's topic was Zen Buddhism. Now, this has overally nothing to do with the topic I am just about to discuss but it is the foundation.

The Zen head priest called Noelke Muho was telling the presenter of the challenges he faced while becoming a priest and then he stopped talking. The air was filled with utter silence and it spread over to my living room. What was the silence for? Was he thinking of what to say next or did he just fill that it was necessary? The answer to those questions are irrelevant at this stage.
Anyway, there is a saying that states that speech is silver and silence is golden. What does that even mean? Well, most people would state that it refers to the idea that a lot more can be gotten from silence than from speech. How is that so?
When I was a child my mother always wondered why I was so quiet. That would then lead to a squabble which would end with her telling me that whenever I had a problem I should learn to speak up about it. What did I learn from that? I learned that silence isn't golden but gold-coated.
What can silence get you? It can get you a lot of things such as the nickname "push-over", a headache from people constantly pushing you over and people's assumption of your weakness. Yeah, not much good comes of it.
In the far east (Japan to be specific), they have symbols which tell us more on silence and outspokenness.This symbols "Deko and Beko" refer to ideologies. Deko speaks of the the state of mind used by the Japanese. That state of mind refers to the fact that they do not need to speak up to know that something needs to be done i.e. they understand the aura exerted by those around them and beko refers to the state of mind commonly around the west which states that you need to speak up to get what you want.

Which of the two idealogies is correct? Do you think that silence is golden or is it gold-coated or is speech silver or is it just shiny aluminium? You be the judge.

GENETICS AND DESTINY.

Has anyone seen the Grey's Anatomy teaser on MNET Series? Well, if you have then good for you and if you haven't get you ass down on in front of the TV and spend longer periods of time there.
According to that teaser, we are who we are from birth, like genetics set in stone. That makes things unfair, doesn't it? What does that imply? It implies that you are what you are not because of your past experiences but because of the combination between mummy and daddy.
It explains a lot, however. One of the most explained things would be the difference between winners and losers. There is a blog titles "things we forget" (thingsweforget.blogspot.com) which explains the theory clearly in  a single image.

If the teaser speaks of the truth then it would imply that the reason that one person would see a hurdle and the other a barrier is not because one chose to look at them that way but because of your genetic structure. That sucks. Well, it sucks if you are a loser because it means that you will be a loser for the rest of your life.
What effect does this have on destiny? According to the Oxford dictionary, destiny refers to what will happen to someone in future, especially things that they cannot change or avoid (point one for destiny). This in turn implies that destiny and genetics go hand in hand i.e. you will not have a hot girlfriend because genetics and destiny have conspired against you, you will be a billionaire because genetics and destiny have decided so.
It has been written in a book by Paulo Coelho (paulocoelhoblog.com) that when you desire something, the universe conspires to help you get it. If Paulo Coelho is indeed as wise as he seems in the content of his works then this match is at a draw. Why is that so? Because as much as genetics and destiny conspire against you, the universe conspires in your favour. Then I guess the losers are all lucky. Maybe the next time you look at that image the universe will make you see a hurdle.
In the end it all boils down to how much you desire something. Even though your genetics say that you will never be assertive enough to stand up to that bully, maybe your desire will beat it down. Do not make this stop you for chasing after what you believe in. Go for goal and come back with glory.

MATURITY VS. IMMATURITY

Wasn't childhood grand? The simplicity in everything and the ignorance. Those were the parts of childhood that I enjoyed. As a child it was easy to give any answer to any question without fearing any blast of rage due to your reply. Everyone assumed that they were geniuses because we believed that we were simply smarter than the next person, everyone knew that they were the strongest because they won that last game of arm-wrestling and everyone believed they were the most attractive because mother told them so. Those were the good old days. When nothing bothered us apart from that missed episode of SpongeBob Squarepants. But alas, those moments have to come to an end.
As we get older we look at the world from a different perspective. Nothing is ever as bright or as colourful as they were before, we all give the same answer to the one question because it is the "mature" thing to do and we worry too much about what the rest of the world thinks about us rather than what we think about the rest of the world. The world is just so dull because we have come to limit our expectations and cut-off our imagination. A wise man once said that maturity terms rationality as knowing what we cannot do. Well, I say that wise man was not wise enough. An even wiser man said that adults are obsolete children. Why is that so? We lack what it takes to make our lives magical. We worry more about the latest fashion trends, no matter how uncomfortable they are, rather than being happy.
Why don't we go back to our roots (the roots in reference being immaturity)? Maybe the world would be so much better if we learned the answer to this question: are you happy with the way you live your life today? Well, honestly I am not. I'd rather be frolicking in the garden rather than stay indoors and study for my next test. But I can't because I was told that mature people know how to prioritise. Well, I say that immature people know WHAT to prioritise.
Live your life for you and not for those around you. You were born alone (unless you have a twin) and you will die alone (unless you die in some sort of freak accident) so wouldn't it be better to make the most of your life in a way that pleases you?

WHEN WILL ETERNITY GET HERE???

I'm pretty sure that everyone who reads this has watched Boston Legal. You know; the show with the crazy lawyers who always seem to win their cases with a combination of charm, wit and just the right amount of insanity.
Well, Boston legal has greatly affected my future. How so you might ask? The answer to that is pretty obvious. Well, if you're a proper genius, that is.
Since childhood, I have always avoided mathematics. The subject never seemed to sink in deep enough or the waters were just a lot heavier than usual. When I got into high school I was asked what I wanted to be. Pretty easy, isn't it? By that time most people would say doctors, engineers, pilots. I did not have the power to say that because I knew what it took to be any of those things; advanced knowledge in mathematics.
I constantly asked myself, what career did not require innate ability in mathematics. The answer came to me in the form of a copyrighted CD with the scribbled title: Boston Legal.
At first the show was horrible. I mean, William Shatner's (is that how you spell his name?) potrayal of his character was reprehensible and Alan Shore was a dick to say the least. But after a couple of episodes the idea had sank in. Being a lawyer was easy. I mean, if someone like Denny Crane could do it then why would Oscar Ruto lack the ability to do it.
I was asked the same question a few days later, "What do you want to be when you're older?"
"A lawyer," it rolled out of my toungue like semen out of a pornstar.
After hours of (dare I say it) "meticulous" research I discovered that I needed only a basic knowledge of mathematics in order to get into the field of law. Yeah, that would suit me perfectly.
I spent the next three years telling everyone around me that I would be a lawyer.
Earlier this year the final examinations was tossed onto our laps. I would either make or break my future and then it dawned on me. For some reason the results of that examination did not bother me because I had just concluded that law was not where I wanted to go (you see the ryhmes, don't you?).
My parents were furious because they assumed that being a lawyer was my dream and that I had just lost sight of where I wanted to be. The truth was that I had just got sight of where I did want to go and the courts were not on that path.
What is the point of this short "tale"?
The point is simple. Sometimes it may take an eternity to know what you want, or rather, don't want out of this life. Due to the fact that we only have one life, I think it would be wise to wait for that so-called eternity to end before ripping the price tag of a pair of jeans that don't fit.

Brain and heart.

A friend of mine once told me that it took true manhood to have a strong heart. He went ahead to state that it was better to have a heart than a brain. Due to my curious nature, I was forced to ask why that is so. Him, being the confident orator that he is, pointed out that when someone is brain dead, they were still alive because their hearts were still beating. Pretty reasonable, isn't it? However, as I begun to ponder on this mentality, I came to the conclusion that as much as he was right, he lacked the capacity to think that maybe it was more the mind that the "heart" that dealt with valiance and all other characteristics that would make people claim that one has a strong and pure heart.
This obvioulsy sounds superficial and is mostly biology than psychology. But what is psychology? This is the study of the human mind; exactly, mind and not heart......
This blog is incomplete and it shall only be complete once I can start up a good debate via my followers.