How Life Is

Vaastu Shastra (Science of Building House)

2009-08-06T15:58:00.001-04:00

Vaastu Shastra is often confused with Chinese Fengshui. But now with the cultural globalization, the Chinese Fengshui has also entered Indian homes, and now we see people changing their house arrangements, sleeping positions, and you see Toads, Laughing buddha's, and other similar things like fortune bamboos and wind chimes in place of Indian Gods like Godess of Wealth - Mahalakshmi, God of Destruction of Difficulties - Ganesha and so onnn...
Now, the recent days have seen much debate between these two ancient Shastras or simply put as Sciences. The Fengshui camp have been mud slinging Vastu shastra by saying it to be very old fashioned, and outdated. While the Vastu has been saying Fengshui to be unorthodox, and unusable.
Vaastu Shastra emerged in India about 6000-3000 BC, and it is mentioned in the ancient scriptures like the Vedas, and even Epics of Mahabharata, and Ramayana. The Ancient Indian Architecture was built on these very guidelines of Vaastu Shastra, may it be Temples or Palaces. The inner peace or "Shaanti" you feel while in any of those old temples comes from the vibrations you would acknowledge whilst in those places. Its all due to Vaastu which literally means "To Live".
The Origins of Fengshui, is pretty recent compared to Vaastu, and is supposed to be penned during the Han Dynasty - about 900BC to 25AD or so.

Vastu Shastra is based on the five basic elements of the universe in which we all live (All Free). These basic elements are Akash (Ether), Prithvi (EARTH), Paani (WATER), Agni (FIRE), and Vayu (WIND). Akash is usually mistaken as Sky the literal meaning while in Vaastu it refers to Ether or a combination of earth's Magnetic field & Sun's Rays.
Fengshui means Wind & Water. It makes use of another set of five elements - earth, fire, water, wood and metal.
Both the sciences relates to the same Idea - living in harmony with the environments and seeking equilibrium with it. But, Vastu and Fengshui Operates very differently in the way to achieve it. Might be due to the fact that they have originated in two geographically and culturally different areas, and different times.
I'm a Big fan of Vaastu Shastra than Fengshui, might be because that made more sense, and felt the effects of the same. All Vaastu rules are very much scientifically explainable, and really makes Technological sense.

Some Tips From Vaastu

The main entrance should be in the East or North but it should not be in front of the compound wall.
The wall of the house in the North-Eastern side should have minimum height.
If the wall of the house in the East is tall, it stalls the entry of prosperity, the Goddess Lakshmi, into the house. Therefore, it should be small in height.
The southern side of the house should be as tall and heavy as possible.
In any room of the house the beam or column should not cross in the center.
Terrace or balcony in the house should be either in the East or the North.
A well, pole or a temple should not be there in front of the main entrance of the house.
The slope of the house should be towards East, North or North-East.
Similarly, the slope of the plinth also should be towards East, North or North-East.
The height of the plinth should be maximum in the direction of South-West.
The main entrance of the house should not be in front of that of the opposite house.
The house should be equipped with the protective wall.
The upper storeys of the house should be constructed on the Southern or Western part.
The Master bedroom should be in the South-West, and should not be used by children
The cupboard in the wall should be the Southern or Western part direction of the house.

Now having said the above, lets do some detailing about sleeping positions according to Vaastu, and its scientific reasons
Head to North
The Vastu sleeping position with head in the North direction is strongly opposed. Never sleep with the top of your head pointing to the north and feet pointing to the south. Brings terrible dreams and disturbed sleep. It brings negative vibrations while you sleep. Loss of sound sleep pertains to irritability, frustration and emotional instability. So your physical and mental health will suffer. In fact only a dead body is kept with the head pointing the North and the feet towards the South.
The Science - The blood in the body contains iron (Haemoglobin - Hb or Hgb)), making the body magnetic with the positive polarity in the head. So its supposed that head represents the North pole while the feet are the South pole. When you sleep with your head to the North, these two positive polarities repel each other, disrupting the flow of blood and affecting your sleep and health. Hence one should never sleep with the head in the North.
South:
Vastu Shastra highly recommends this direction as your usual sleeping position with head towards the South. This is believed to provide sound sleep & health and increases the wealth and prosperity in the household. Sound sleep tends to develop better will power, calm mind, and so better behavior.
East:
East is the direction of knowledge and enlightenment; from where Sun rises. Sleeping with head resting in the East enhances memory, health and spiritual inclination. It is usually advised by Vastu Shastra Consultants to plan the children's room in such a way that their Vastu sleeping direction comes out to be east. This leads to higher concentration and retention power.
The Science - Early morning Sun's rays are proved to be beneficial to one's health. It helps production of Vitamin-D which helps in absorption of Calcium and Phosphates. This inturn helps better brain development.
West:
Sleeping with one’s head in the West is good for people who do not permanently reside in the house, like guests and married daughters, in their parents’ house. Though this is not a very advisable sleeping position, Shastra says sleeping with head towards West might cause disturbed sleep due to nightmares, or kinds of illness and tendency towards violence.
A small E-book which would help understand Vaastu Shastra is here for Download

Based on Articles from

http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Vastu_and_Feng_Shui/id/2067
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/vastu_shastra.htm
http://architectureideas.info/2008/11/vastu-shastra-guidelines-bedrooms/

CHRISTIANITY IN AMERICA

2009-06-02T22:47:00.009-04:00

In 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail across the Atlantic, hoping to find a westward sea route to China and India. His mission, supported by Spain’s monarchs Ferdinand II and Isabella I, aimed at evangelizing and colonization. Coulombs wrote in his journal, “Your Highnesses, as Catholic Christians, and princes who love and promote the holy Christian faith, and are enemies of the doctrine of Mahomet, and of all idolatry and heresy, determined to send me, Christopher Columbus, to the above mentioned countries of India, to see the said princes, people and territories, and to learn their disposition and the proper method of converting them to our holy faith.” So holy that Columbus behaved like “a cruel and greedy tyrant with a brutal disregard for humanity.’’ According to historians commenting on documents recently discovered at Valladolid (north-western Spain), where he died 500 years ago. But the twin objectives were amply fulfilled in the following decades, in the form of vast riches and the Christianization of all natives.

From the latter’s point of view, however, the picture was very different: they lost their land their land, their freedom, their honor, their lives, and their culture. As soon as they set foot on the “New World,” colonizers indulged in speakable cruelty on those they called “Indians.” In his 1906 Christopher Columbus and the New World of his Discovery, historian Filson Young wrote:
“Lust and bloody cruelty, of a kind not merely indescribable but unrealizable by sane men and women, drenched the once happy island [Hispaniola] with anguish and terror. And in payment for it the Spaniards undertook to teach the heathen the Christian religion.’’
Young then narrates the courageous but hopeless rebellion by a few Indian chiefs, which resulted in the wholesale slaughter of their clans. “After that,’’ he continues, “there was never any more resistance; it was simply a case of extermination, which the Spaniards easily accomplished by cutting of the heads of women as they rode through the villages. Thus, in the twelve years since the discovery of Columbus, between half a million and a million natives, perished; and as the Spanish colonization spread afterwards from island to island, and the banner of civilization and Christianity was borne farther abroad throughout the Indies, the same hideous process was continued. In Cuba, in Jamaica, throughout the Antilles, the cross and the sword, the whip-lash are only Gospel advanced together; wherever the Host was consecrated, hideous cries of agony to and suffering broke forth; until happily, in the fullness of time, the dire business was complete, and the whole of the people who had inhabited this garden of the world were exterminated and their blood and race wiped from the face of the earth.’’

A few voices protest were heard, notably that of the Spanish priest Bartoleme de Las Cases rightly traced the atrocities to greed: “The reason why the Christians have killed and destroyed such an infinite number of souls is that they have been moved by their wish for gold and their desire to enrich themselves in a very short time.’’ Colonization was, he wrote,’’ born in blood and fire,’’ and he feared that Spain-even the Church-may have to suffer divine retribution for the black deeds of the conquistadors.

Herman Cortes with the Aztecs of Mexico and Francisco Pizzaro with the Incas of Peru continued the streak of bloodshed, with varying degrees, and always with the Bible in hand. Aztec labourers were worked to death in Mexico’s gold mines; in Oaxaca, the principal mining town, “the ground was so bleached with human bones that one could not go in that direction without stepping upon skeletons.’’ Historian Edward Dahlberg wrote in The Gold of Ophir. “Pedro de Alvarado, the lieutenant of Cortes, annihilated four to five million [Mayan] natives in the peninsula of Guatemala and Yucatan within a few years…. Does Soto lop off the heads of Indian couriers because he was too fatigued to remove their iron collars? Gonzalo Pizarro [half brother of Francisco] threw numerous Incas to the dogs…’’ In The Conquest of America. Tzvetan Todorov writes: “If the word genocide has ever been applied to a situation with some accuracy, this is here the case. It constitutes a record not only in relative terms (a destruction on the order of 90 percent or more), but also in absolute terms, since we are speaking of a population diminution estimated at 70 million human lives. None of the great massacres of the twentieth century can be compared to this hecatomb.’’ Besides the Spanish, other colonizers from Western Europe took part in the bloody conquest. Along with human lives, culture was snuffed out: thousand of Mayan codices (manuscripts) were consigned to the flames as they could only be the work of the devil. The environment also suffered, with forests laid waste and traditional agriculture destroyed.

Historian David Stannard uses a similar language in his American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World (1992): “The destruction of the Indians of the Americas was, far and away, the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world.’’ Stannard, advances 100 million as the number of indigenous victims right up to the nineteenth century; asking “What kind of people do such horrendous things to others?’’, he answers squarely: Christians, tracing the problem to their attitudes towards sex, race and war. Claims of racial superiority as well as exclusive ownership of the truth in the form of Christianity certainly provided convenient pretexts to the colonizers.

In fact, back in Spain, to justify the treatment of Amerindians, an influential Jesuit maintained that they were “inferior to the Spaniards just as children are to adults, women to men and indeed, one might even say, as apes are to men.’’ Some asserted that they had no soul; while others were sure they had no intelligence. In view of Catholic theology, therefore. Indians were born slaves (similar arguments will later be used towards the Blacks.) Las Cases again rose to the occasion and confronted these views in 1550 at the famous Council of Valladolid. Arguments were heard by theologians for ever a year, during which Las Cases hammered the point that “All the nations of the world are human and all share in the same definition: they are rational beings. All have intellect and will, as created in God’s image and similitude.’’ Las Cases resolutely went against the colonial stream, and eventually won the debate through his learning and deep conviction that Native Americans had a right to be treated as free men. Though it would make little immediate difference to their lives, it was an important victory in the realm of humanist ideas.

At the age of eighty-one, still gnawed by anguish at the fate of Amerindians, Las Cases wrote to the Pope boldly demanding his urgent intervention to restore their rights, as the suffering inflicted on them may otherwise bring about “ the damnation and destruction of the Church.’’ He asked the pope to excommunicate “all those who affirm that wars against the infidels are just if waged to combat idolatry, or for the convenience of spreading the Gospel, specially in regard to those infields who have never injured or are not injuring us.’’

The Competition is On....!

2008-09-26T13:14:00.004-04:00

"Competition is a rivalry between individuals, groups, nations, or animals, for territory or resources. It arises whenever two or more parties strive for a goal that cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which coexist in the same environment."
This is a definition given by Wikipedia about the so called "Competition".

If you noticed the line which says, Competition occurs naturally between living Organisms Coexisting in the same Environment. Does this apply too ALL...? Which means it exists between all animals... and last it happens between Humans...!

Isn't it something which says Competition is a Rivalry... A Rivalry where in One person stands on Top of another person to compete, and thereby Win. The age of healthy competition, which was termed as MODESTY is no more in virtue. If we think in a way, even humans starting from their lives as an Infant start to compete. They think, and learn as fast as they can, to compete with their parents so as to talk, walk, and FEEL. Thus the competition is born... and it stays with the individual until he is weakened and probably no more.

The Current age hailed as the competitive world, does not feel any virtuous deeds, it wont think of modesty. All that is done is shown and showcased atleast twice as powerful as it could be. And so, the most powerful emerges. The Modest & Skillful individual practicing Non-violence is the poor guy, hiding his face from the crowd which refuses to recognize the efforts put in.....

Doesn't it seem scrimpy that the competition between two Organizations or even two Countries is the very same Competition of SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST (as said by Charles Darwin) going in on between People; I mean Humans...? Where does it take you? Its only the material concerns about which the whole world is schizophrenic.

What if every human thought of living a yogic life...? wouldn't it be beautiful...!

The Rise and Fall

2008-08-18T14:42:00.003-04:00

General Pervez Musharaff (1999-2008)

Whadda Empire...! whadda Dictator... Whadda Life....!

Musharaff seized power in 1999 by effecting a military coup d'état and has suspended the constitution of Pakistan twice since then. After announcing his intention to combat extremists, Western countries (including the United States and the United Kingdom) have switched from sanctions to active support through military and monetary aid. He took power on October 12, 1999, ousting Nawaz Sharif, the elected Prime Minister, dismissed the national and provincial legislative assemblies, assumed the title of Chief Executive and became Pakistan's de facto head of government, thereby becoming the fourth Army chief of Pakistan to have assumed executive control. Later in 2001, Musharraff appointed himself to the office of President of Pakistan.

On November 3, 2007, only days before a bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan was to decide on a petition challenging the constitutional validity of his re-election as president in the controversial October 2007 elections, he, as Chief of Army Staff, suspended the constitution, jailed several justices and lawyers of the supreme court including Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, ordered the arrest of political dissidents and human rights activists, and shut down all private television channels. On November 3, 2007, Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan which lasted until December 15, 2007. During this time, the constitution of the country was suspended.

On November 24, 2007, the Pakistan Election Commission confirmed his re-election as President.

In 1961, he entered the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul, graduating 11th in his class. He was commissioned in 1964 in the Artillery Regiment. Later he joined the Special Services Group and was posted to Field Artillery Regiments. A graduate of the Command and Staff College, Quetta, and the National Defence College, Rawalpindi, Musharraf is also a graduate of the Royal College of Defence Studies of the United Kingdom. Musharraf revealed in his memoirs that in 1965 he was charged with taking unauthorized leave and was about to be court-martialed for it, but was excused due to the war with India

Musharraf participated in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 as the 2nd Lieutenant in the 16 (SP) Field Artillery Regiment. Later, in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 he served as a Company Commander in the Special Service Group (SSG) Commando Battalion. On promotion to the rank of Major General on January 15, 1991, he was assigned the command of an Infantry Division. Later, on promotion to Lieutenant General on October 21, 1995 he took over command of 1 Corps, the elite strike Corps. In 1998, following the resignation of General Jehangir Karamat, he was personally promoted over other senior officers by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, as an obedient officer and took over as the Army Chief of Staff and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

From May to July 1999, Pakistan and India were involved in the Kargil Conflict, an armed conflict between the two countries in the Kargil district of Kashmir. It was planned and executed during General Musharraf's term as the Pakistani Army Chief of Staff under Prime Minister Sharif.

Sharif has claimed that Musharraf was solely responsible for the Kargil attacks.[16] On the other hand, Musharraf claims that the decision was made by Sharif, who was under United States pressure. Ex-CENTCOM Commander Anthony Zinni, and Sharif, have stated that Musharraf requested that the Prime Minister withdraw Pakistani troops from Kashmir.

Musharraf's role in planning the Kargil attacks was criticized by one British journalist for showing "a shocking lack of strategy."

Casualties on both sides had been particularly heavy in Kargil. Musharraf had good relations with Jehangir Karamat from whom he took over the command. Soon after the coup, one of the first to be appointed as minister was journalist Maleeha Lodhi who was close to Jehangir Karamat. Also recruited was Shaukat Aziz (who served as the country's Prime Minister later) who volunteered to improve the economy. Western banks rescheduled Pakistani loans, which had been subjected to economic sanctions since Pakistan conducted atomic testing.

Pervez Musharraf resigned from the Army on 28 November 2007 in an attempt to regularise his position as President.

On August 7, 2008, the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (N) agreed to force Musharraf to step down and begin his impeachment. Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, announced sending a formal request or joint charge sheet that he steps down, and impeach him through parliamentary process upon refusal. Musharaf, however, said: “I will defeat those who try to push me to the wall. If they use their right to oust me, I have the right to defend myself."

Pakistan's ruling coalition, on August 16, gave Musharraf Tuesday deadline to resign. No president has ever been impeached in Pakistan's 61-year history. Presidential aides, however, said Musharraf refused to leave office under pressure.
On August 18, 2008, in a speech defending his record, Musharraf announced that he has resigned. In the August 18 negotiations which failed over the legal technicalities, he sought immunity from prosecution if he resigns before the impeachment proceedings

The Best part are the Final WORDS of Musharaf :
"After viewing the situation and consulting legal advisers and political allies, with their advice I have decided to resign. I leave my future in the hands of people. Not a single charge in the impeachment can stand against me. No charge can be proved against me because I never did anything for myself, it was all for Pakistan. On the map of the world, Pakistan is now an important country, by the grace of Allah. Whether I win or lose the impeachment, the nation will lose. They don’t realize they can succeed against me but the country will undergo irreparable damage. My resignation will go to the speaker of the National Assembly today.” In an emotional one-hour speech, Musharraf raised his clenched fists to chest height, and said, “Long live Pakistan!”

Escaping Devil's Workshop

2008-03-21T10:19:00.010-04:00

"Idle Mind is a Devil's Workshop....!" What a Truth...! I've been sitting idle for the past couple of days, our server's down. There's nothing much I can do about it.

Going on Thinking what am I gonna do... feeling to do... where to.... what to... how to...

As we know.. All these thoughts crop up in the mind only when you are lazy enough to see that you are sitting idle, cropping up something devilish. Then You start thinking of the past, present and the future, run diagnostics, peel off the good things, and start off to mitigate the positiveness of what happened.

The personality of a person takes shape in the 'boredom hour'. It all depends on the how a person utilises his/her time when he/she has nothing to do. Idle time spent doing creative work results in accumulation of positive thoughts and energy but the same can cause personality disorders if wasted in some destructive work.

I've seen people falling prey to dual or multiple personality wherein we see extreme mood swings in individual. Its a kind of multiple personality disorder as a situation where on one hand the person is full of aggression and on the other hand he/she behaves like a child. In between the individual also maintains his/her actual personality. Funny enough isn't it? Yes it is.. People do start to think of all the negativity that has been surging up their lives, and start to leave off the good.

Instances like people peering into others lives, or even as there are few acquaintances, of mine, actually those who were staying alone, started developing a nature of pegging down other people for their deeds, and actions, discriminating them, and at the extreme levels they start molding the good to relatively bad. They start lamenting the world, the people around them, and eventually start loosing the hope within themselves.

All that such guyz think are the atrocious & evil of mankind, as because their mind's filled up with inferior feeling of Not having Something to Do. The Inner subconscious mind tells them that they are sitting idle, "look at the other people working.., doing their own creations, their work". The conscious mind starts to palliate the thought saying "Oh my dear... Let them, they are fools trying to make themselves part of the world, there's nothing much you can gain by doing those..", starts making you indolent.

But, yes these people are not on blame. The personality disorder also occur because of conflicts and sufferings faced by a person in early life. Children who see domestic violence at home are usually prone to personality disorders.

Life is not fair. Get used to it.

2008-02-27T22:27:00.006-05:00

"Life is not fair... Get used to it..." This has been an idiom for most people in the course of their life.
But, Is it really that the life is not fair enough to execute the things that we say are fair on our part or has never been a fair circumstance/result on others part. Isn't it that we are always thinking of our own achievements or rather motives while we feel the adverb - Fair. Isn't it the sacrifice/loss of someone else which must have lead the fairness of our life...?

Alas..! the fairness of the game of life comes into picture only we fail to prognosticate. Our expectations and our feelings get hurt. If we didn't have a concept or a feeling, we would never have felt bad. Its like a wise quotes, Never do a favor for a favor in return.

2007-08-13T05:22:00.000-04:00

This is something which I had always loved to share with everyone, something which I always keep talking about at home. I used to discuss these with my parents and now my hubby stands to be the victim (he has always been calm and patient with all the thoughts that arise in my explosive mind).

I believe and appreciate the Indian culture, the culture of history, all the while absorbing customs, traditions, and ideas from both invaders and immigrants. Many cultural practices, languages, customs, and monuments are examples of this co-mingling over centuries.

Customs or Cultural practices become customary, and then on become Traditions.

I sometimes feel that there are certain customs and traditions which are beyond measure. People follow these customs blindly and are extremely bound by these, such that, they cannot come out of these even if they want to. Right from the beginning....when the world was young......from the time of Adam and Eve, there might have been certain practices which were followed in a specific pattern. Generations after generations started following these practices. It's a wonderful thing that people have always been keen to follow these and have maintained them till now. A good thing about the Indian culture is that there's "Unity in Diversity". There are lots of people from innumerable States and provinces, belonging to a wide range of castes and religions. In addition to that there are the colourful customs and joyful festivals being celebrated differently in different parts.

Talking about festivals and celebrations, there's a lot of complexities involved in it. The diversification in the culture can be seen in the manner in which these festivals are celebrated. As People belonging to different castes and religion, do celebrate the same festival differently, these differences can also be seen in the splendor of the celebration. This might be either due to the social or cultural differences. Another reason which I can see is the "financial status" of people and herein the problem arises !!!

The customs have become a bondage for the society and they have enslaved themselves to these. Coming out of these would either bring down their social status or they are left with a feeling that they are breaking the age old customs. But in reality neither of them is true. These age old practices are liable to changes and they should be so. As time changes these changes occur. The new generation demands more of genuine approach towards life rather than blind folded acceptance of rites and rituals. That's a good approach to life as against the usual "prestige issue" attitude. Sincerity is what matters here. We have been taught to be sincere towards our work and at the same time we are also required to follow the footsteps of our elders. But both the things seem to be contrary. How can you follow your ancestors and be sincere at the same time. It doesn't mean that our ancestors were not sincere !!!!! They have always followed the customs and they had done it with utmost sincerity. Now time has changed. The price of sincerity is too high. It is measured in terms of money as against olden times where it was measured in terms of love.

These days people are buckled under societal pressure. They live under constant fear of being criticized by the society thus making their life miserable. The urge to please the society ultimately leads them to a situation where they are left with loads of criticism and zero appreciation. There are lots of instances wherein we find people committing suicide out of sheer financial pressure. This is the result of unnecessary display of wealth.

The question here is "whom are we trying to fool?". Its not the society who is being fooled, but we are fooling ourselves....our conscience. So why exert our energy on undesirable things. Lets make life more meaningful and genuine. Let's not waste time pleasing others. Do the things which pleases your conscience.

Ultimately we are answerable only to one person....and that's God. Your life is your own. Do not allow external influences to control your life. After all Life's a beautiful gift of God !!!!!

2006-03-24T06:54:00.000-05:00

First of all I am basing this composition, not on what I know but on what I don't know. I'm perplexed to say the least. How am I to encapsulate every facet of being an adolescent? Having rushed through the phase, I'll try to sum up every emotion, every state of mind or on how life is or how it is perceived is a task seemingly impossible. Where does it being and where does it end? The actual transition of being a teenager to an adult may be recognized on your 18th birthday however in reality how could this be? Growing up is a process, which we cannot deny because from the day we are born we are curious. As human beings we crave understanding of others, the world and most significantly ourselves. This becomes very apparent in your childhood and adolescence.

We wonder why it is that people come in and out of our lives or even why some stick around? We question whether or not life is determined by fate. Why do we form relationships or shy away from them? Relationships constantly challenge our strengths and our weaknesses. As we get older we say that our lives become more complicated. Maybe because the issues those relationships bring about are more complex. For many reasons a child could not comprehend this.

How is it all going to end? Like many people my concerns lie in what awaits me in the future whilst coming to grips with who I am today. I know I echo generations of adolescents prior to me and generations long after I will have moved on to another stage of my life. However, at times it still feels overwhelming as if I am a child trying on a pair of adult-sized shoes. I stumble in them, I trip and occasionally I fall. Yet two things occur, underneath my nose, I get up and I grow into them. Just when I am getting comfortable, I will find that my feet have grown out of them. Will I survive? That is the pressing question in mind, being able to survive in the 'real world'. Then again, what does it mean to survive? It's a daunting concept because for so long it depicted a society that is in constant sacrifice. It is a place where my idealism will be in constant challenge.

I was talking to a friend and we were discussing that major shortcomings in the society that we are entering. The lack of unity and ignorance is what allows our society to fall apart.

He said that we all have a different set of values and beliefs. We think we are right and that they are wrong. How can we wish for peace when we are in constant conflict? Where they have what we don't and we have what they don' t. Where enemies still exist as does self-hatred. Many people have different philosophies about life and one of the most common ideas is that it is about survival of the fittest. So do we only accept that people who are dominated by strengths? Whilst they are vital in society's survival, we as humans have our weaknesses and they have a rightful place in the community. If this is what our society promotes, where the weak are ignored and that we are only in competition, then what hope have we in survival?

I am having a dose of the Holden Caufield syndrome and you realize that it is in the hands of the individual. We have to discover it for ourselves. I have another close friend, who has described himself being in some sort of identity crisis, after a talk we had he had a revelation. So much of his unhappiness had been in the notion that people always wish that they were someone else. Then he realized what he wanted to be - himself. That moved me because it meant that there is hope.

Another friend and I were talking on the phone and she had asked me if she had changed much since Year 7. I responded by saying that personalities haven't altered much. What has though, is how we perceive our lives now. We have matured and I realized that every moment of sadness and happiness is worth getting to where I am now. Suddenly growing up doesn't seem like such a horrible idea.

Life doesn't begin when you turn 18 nor when you get your ENTER score nor does it occur when you have a revelation. Life began when you were born. You needed a journey to get to be 18 and had to overcome many hurdles to get that ENTER SCORE or to have that revelation. Every stage in life brings about new challenges and I am grateful of this. Everybody and I are on an endless odyssey of self-discovery.