This is a wonderful essay. Loved it for the meaning and how it was written.
If you love writing, just go ahead and click the link.
https://theamericanscholar.org/writing-english-as-a-second-language/
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Monday, May 18, 2015
Man's search for Meaning - Viktor E Frankl.
There are some books that have a profound impact on your life , some may even be life changers. This was such a book for me.
This is a memoir of Viktor Frankl's experiences at a concentration camp. Through his ordeals there , Viktor Frankl made several observations to find happiness and meaning even when you have lost everything.
It opened my eyes to a new way of looking at suffering in life and through it view what it means to be satisfied and happy with your life.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book . One of the best books I've read.
Memorable Quotes - There are many quotes that I will hold in my heart. Here are some .
On Human beings :
..for we have come to know man as he really is .After all , man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz. However, he is also that being who entered those gas chambers upright, with the Lords prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips - pg 135.
I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment , in contemplation of his belowed. - pg 37
In a position of utter desolation when man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings -in a honorable way- in such a position ,man can, through loving contemplation achieve fulfillment - pg 38.
The experiences of camp life show that man [at places where man] does not have a choice of action,man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions .
On Suffering :
If there is a meaning in life at all ,then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life ,even as fate and death. Without suffering and death, human life cannot be complete. -- pg 67.
it is a peculiarity of man that he can only live by looking to the future.And this is his salvation in the most difficult moments of his existence . -- pg 73.
'He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how ' - Nietzsche (pg 76).
On tears :
There was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer . - pg 78
Not only our experiences , but all we have done ,whatever great thoughts we may have had ,and all we have suffered , all this is not lost - pg 82.
The crowning experience of all, for the homecoming an, is the wonderful feeling that, after all he has suffered , there is nothing he need to fear anymore -- except his God. - pg 93.
Five stars...cant recomment anymore.
This is a memoir of Viktor Frankl's experiences at a concentration camp. Through his ordeals there , Viktor Frankl made several observations to find happiness and meaning even when you have lost everything.
It opened my eyes to a new way of looking at suffering in life and through it view what it means to be satisfied and happy with your life.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book . One of the best books I've read.
Memorable Quotes - There are many quotes that I will hold in my heart. Here are some .
On Human beings :
..for we have come to know man as he really is .After all , man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz. However, he is also that being who entered those gas chambers upright, with the Lords prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips - pg 135.
I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment , in contemplation of his belowed. - pg 37
In a position of utter desolation when man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings -in a honorable way- in such a position ,man can, through loving contemplation achieve fulfillment - pg 38.
The experiences of camp life show that man [at places where man] does not have a choice of action,man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions .
On Suffering :
If there is a meaning in life at all ,then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life ,even as fate and death. Without suffering and death, human life cannot be complete. -- pg 67.
it is a peculiarity of man that he can only live by looking to the future.And this is his salvation in the most difficult moments of his existence . -- pg 73.
'He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how ' - Nietzsche (pg 76).
On tears :
There was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer . - pg 78
Not only our experiences , but all we have done ,whatever great thoughts we may have had ,and all we have suffered , all this is not lost - pg 82.
The crowning experience of all, for the homecoming an, is the wonderful feeling that, after all he has suffered , there is nothing he need to fear anymore -- except his God. - pg 93.
Five stars...cant recomment anymore.
Wild - Cheryl Strayed
A great read. Got to know some great stuff about REI , the PCT and John Muir.
Some memorable quotes:
The breaking of so great a thing should make an even greater crack
- William Shakespeare ( Antony & Cleopatra).
She loved us more than all the named things in the world
-pg 14 (about her mother)
She was monolithic and insurmountable. the keeper of my life.
- (about her mother)
I prayed to the whole universe and hoped that God would be in it, listening to me..
then I faltered. Not because I couldnt find God, bug because suddenly I absolutely did:
God was there, I realized and God had no intention of making things happen or not..
Fear , to a great extent , is born of a story we tell ourselves.
pg 51
I had to change. Not a different person but into a person I used to be .
- pg 57
This was once Mozama, I kept remainding myself. This was once a wasteland of lava and pumice and ash. This was once an empty bowl that took hundreds of years to fill. But has
as I tried, I couldnt see them in my minds evey. Not the mountain or the wasteland or the
empty bowl. There was only the stillness and silence of that water.
- (About Crater lake) .
What if I forgave myself ? I thought . What if I forgave myself even though I have done something I shouldn't have ? What if I was a liar and a cheat and there as no excuse for what I'd done other than because it was what I wanted and needed to do ? What if I was sorry , but if I could go back in time I wouldn't do anything differently than I had done ? .. What if what made me do all these things everyone though I shouldn't have done was what also had got me here ?
-- pg 258.
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Fight Club
Every evening , I died, and every evening I was born . Ressurected.
Where would Jesus be if no one had written the gospels.
One minute was enough, Tyler said , as person has to work hard for it , but a minute of perfection was worth the effort .
A moment was the most you could even expect from perfection.
Maybe self improvement isnt the answer..maybe self destruction is the answer - pg 49.
I just dont want to die without a few scars..its is nothing anymore to have a beautify stock body.
Sometimes you wakeup and have to ask where you are - pg 33
you wake up ,and you're nowhere..you waking and thats enought - pg 33.
The first rule about fight club is you dont talk about fight club - pg 50.
Its only after you've lost everything ,that you're free to do anything - pg 70.
The lower you fall, the higher you'll fly - pg 141.
We are the middle children of history, raised by television to believe that someday we'll be millionaries and movies starts and rock stars, but we dont - pg 166.
-- Completed 17-May -2015.
Monday, May 11, 2015
Lesson learnt.
Son and I were building something for the past 2 weeks. It got over finally.
Few hours later a friend steps on it and what we built was broken.
Then..
Me: Oh no.. all our efforts wasted :( :( Why did you leave your friend to do this (angry angry angry).
Son: (excited) Don't worry Daddy. Lets build it again!! This time we can complete it in one week!!
Me : Wow! Thanks for the valuable lesson son!
Few hours later a friend steps on it and what we built was broken.
Then..
Me: Oh no.. all our efforts wasted :( :( Why did you leave your friend to do this (angry angry angry).
Son: (excited) Don't worry Daddy. Lets build it again!! This time we can complete it in one week!!
Me : Wow! Thanks for the valuable lesson son!
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Hello Strava.
Got my free Strava account today. It was a great inspiration for today's run. Great conditions to run this morning at San Diego. So I was able to get a new high today.
Just shy of 10K. That milestone is for another day :)
Just shy of 10K. That milestone is for another day :)
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