Is there a God ?

In the last couple of weeks, I had 2 very interesting experiences. Coincidentally I watched 2 movies on Netflix. Both had extremely logical, passionate and convincing arguments. The only problem was that they held the exact opposite view of each other.

The 2 movies were "the Unbelievers" and "God's not Dead."

'The Unbelievers' follows renowned scientists Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss across the globe as they speak publicly about the importance of science and reason in the modern world - encouraging others to cast off antiquated religious and politically motivated approaches toward important current issues.

The film includes interviews with celebrities and other influential people who support the work of these controversial speakers, ..."
http://www.unbelieversmovie.com/info.htm

"God's Not Dead is a 2014 American Christian drama film directed by Harold Cronk, and stars Kevin Sorbo, Shane Harper, David A. R. White and Dean Cain. The film was released to theaters on March 21, 2014, by Pure Flix Entertainment.[4] The film follows an evangelical Christian college student (Shane Harper) whose faith is challenged by a philosophy professor who declares God a pre-scientific fiction."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God%27s_Not_Dead_%28film%29

Its important to view the movies and appreciate the underlying arguments as opposed to analyzing the complete movies, which could lead to several areas of disagreement with both of the movies.

I discussed the same with a friend who asked me an extremely interesting question. "Which point of view do you now agree with?"

My answer. Before I saw the movies I didn't know which view had greater merit.

After watching both the movies I now know a little more about both points of view, including the merits of each view. But, my conclusion remains the same, "I don't know".

A Wasted Trip ?

I just got back from a quick 6 day visit to Mumbai earlier today. The trip had just a single purpose. To be part of an event. The event did not take place. And so my trip was completely wasted. Yet it was the best ever trip in my entire life.

This just doesn't make sense. How can a wasted trip be good, let alone the most amazing trip ever.

Well, Ivy was to have what she termed a "minor surgery". All of my doctor friends aka Google disagreed and called it a "major surgery", and I was there, to be at her side. I arrived on Sunday and she was to be admitted on Tuesday evening and the procedure was scheduled for Wednesday.

I had planned all of my meetings on Monday and Tuesday, so I could be with Ivy at the hospital Wednesday onwards. Depending on how everything went, she expected to be there for between 4 to 7 days.

On Monday, she went for a pre-surgery check up. She called me up Monday evening and said, "Steve, the procedure is cancelled". I was concerned and my immediate thought was that her condition required that her procedure be postponed, till she gets healthy enough for it. This had been recommended by the doctors, a month earlier and so I thought she was still not ready.

She probably heard the concern from my voice, and said, "No. It's not what you think. The growth has almost disappeared. The surgery is no longer required." I just couldn't believe it. This was a miracle. Something no one expected. Something no one even hoped for. Not the doctors. Not any of us. Not even Ivy.

A thought did cross my mind. Could this have been Ivy's way of getting me to come down and spend a week with her. Probably not. Magical moments can't  be planned. The just happen. This was one of those once in a lifetime magical moments. My best week ever.

The fact that I also got my 2nd patent, paled in comparison. Although I was ecstatic about that too.

Thank you Ives.

10 extra years of life

Most people would love to live longer. Believe it or not, you can live 10 years longer following what Jane McGonigal recommends. And a full 7.5 minutes just watching this talk.

I'll let you go ahead and increase your life-span without taking any of it away.

Happy Birthday Reia

 
Dear Reia,

Yesterday you became an adult. Now you can officially do what you've been doing for the last 18 years. Making your own decisions.

Almost 3 years ago when we moved to Wilton, CT we had a minor disagreement, or a major fight based on the point of view. At that time, you wrote a note that was supposedly an apology. What it said was,

"I'm sorry, if it was my fault, but I think it was your fault too. We need to live together and I'll change. But you need to change too."

You have changed, for the better and I hope I did too. In the last 3 years you've grown to be quite an amazing person. And as our adventure together comes to an end, as you leave for college this fall, I'm glad we took what was then considered a stupid decision to move here.

Happy Birthday. This is just the beginning of what I'm confident will be an extremely exciting and successful adulthood. May all of your dreams come true.

Pa

p.s.: I'm sure you're wondering how come you or Freia didn't get a birthday gift. We've been extreme;y lucky and so I figured that giving the gift of education to 2 young girls in India who weren't as lucky as us, would be a gift you'll will appreciate and will be memorable. For them. And for You'll.

Listening

I've noticed that most people don't listen. Irrespective of what the speaker has to say. And the parts that they do hear, are those that endorse their own opinions. And they have extremely strong opinions. Most of the time not based on knowledge or data or evidence.

Interestingly most successful people listen. Even when the speaker has nothing to offer. Most important they have an open mind about even their strongest beliefs and so are able to absorb all new information and then process it through objective analysis and evaluation not hindered by the baggage of preconceived notions.

I've gotta go and listen. And if you have any thoughts about this or anything else, please do let me know. I'd love to listen. To an expert about how to listen.

I believe, oops think, that developing this one quality could make a major difference. At work and more importantly in Life.

Happy Birthday Freia

Dear Freia,

Yesterday you went from being a teenager to a young lady.

I had written down quite a few thoughts and words of advise. And then while working through them stuck them down one by one. I realized that you're far smarter than me and probably knew all of it.

And so on your 20th birthday, I have but just 1 thought.

"Aaika Jagasa, Kara Manasa",
which loosely translated means, "Listen to the world. And follow your heart."

Happy birthday. We're very proud of you and all you've managed to do.

Lots of love,
Pa

p.s.: Actually, we'll be very proud of you, no matter what you do.

Being Happy

I've always felt that if you did what you enjoy for a living, you'd be very happy. Unfortunately life doesn't always work that way and most people aren't able to get to do what they love or even like.

In my mind the answer was obvious. If you can't do what you love for a living, love what you do for a living.

And yet, most people are not very happy with what they do for a living and wish they were doing something else. I could never understand why if they couldn't start liking what they did, change and did something that they did like. Whilst most of them had a zillion reasons, I was never convinced, simply because it wasn't a short-term choice that was being discussed but a life choice. What exactly was the point of going through life and not ever enjoying its moments.

This week, I came across a very interesting talk, "The happy secret to better work". And it had an extremely interesting take on work and happiness. "We believe that we should work to be happy, but could that be backwards? In this fast-moving and entertaining talk, psychologist Shawn Achor argues that actually happiness inspires productivity.

I'm feeling very lucky. I love what I do. And so get to be happy and productive. And best of all, I even get paid. Sometimes.