Microstory 179 – Retro tales 3 – Family man
I was speaking to one of my relatives after a long gap. A big-hearted, homespun advice agent and a grand family man. He is in his nineties. My mother had asked me to speak to him as he was inquiring about us. After speaking to him I reminisced about some of his life’s ideals. We used to call him our senior uncle. As soon as he came for a wedding he would be in the thick of things. He would swing into action. At times he would take his ideas to the next level which at times created a spot of bother for our relatives. One thing that stood out for me was the way he treated people. He is the person who in real life practises the principle of “leaders eat last”. In marriages and other family gatherings, he would be the person who would eat last and he would do so with the people who have worked to make it a success.
In the first year of engineering, I was very pleased to have him guide me in my life when I was staying far away from home. He would come and check on me. I am glad to have him in my life as a guiding spirit.
Microstory 180 – Are you motivational?
It was beyond my bedtime. I was already in bed with my recent addiction “Food and mood connection”. Our daughters entered the room and started chit-chatting. My younger daughter in the middle of some conversation asked me, “Are you motivational?” I wanted to say yes, instead I decided to toss it back to her. I asked her, ” What do you think?” I was expecting a yes from her. She responded, “Ah yeah, Not really.”
It was time to hide under the bed cover. My wife and elder one rolled over and laughed. It was lucky that they both were in the bed otherwise they would have been rolling on the floor and laughing. My elder daughter asked her if understood the meaning of the word motivation. She said yes she understood all the quotes that I share. I mustered some courage and decided to play that question with the others. They managed to assure me somewhat that I was motivational. That incident made me learn one thing from my younger daughter. Motivation is about creating a connection and not sharing quotes. Later that night I went to sleep with this question. Is there an overdose of motivation?
Microstory 181 – Obvious vs Amazing
A couple of days back I received a WhatsApp message from one of my friends on how to start a blog. In that message, my friend was not confident about blogging and therefore wanted tips on how to start and where to start. I thought for a moment about how to help as I was struggling to put out my 208th blog after a gap of 3 weeks. I initially thought I should call and speak. Then I decided to see if I can write to him about all the tips and tricks I have encountered in my blogging journey. Finally, I decided to send my 200th blog where I have captured 21 revelations. I was always wondering if it will be useful for my friend as it might be something he would be knowing. A couple of minutes later he messaged me and thanked me for the help. I discovered one thing that time which Ali Abdal had nicely captured in one of his videos. He said, ” What is obvious to you might be absolutely amazing to others”. I understood that the simple task of sharing a blog was a meaningful act.
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