Simplify your life: Reduce television

I have a number of books on my bookshelf at the moment - and among them I have this cute little one called "Simplify your life". It's full of nice little things one should do to slow down one's life and "enjoy the things that really matter".

As I ponder how I will manage to get 30 days off to go trekking in the Himalayas, I decide that better for the time being to stick to my yoga schedule and let things come as they are coming. And to read some tips from this book. I don't start in order though, so let me share with you what Elaine St James says about television.

Well, she says to switch off the television - but I cannot agree with that. What I do agree with is that you should minimalise your television watching. News is essential, and so is a good movie off and on. Like some movies I am dying to watch but keep missing - Like Che Guevera's The Motorcycle Diaries that keeps coming on television and for some dumb reason I keep missing.

If you're hooked on to some show - then do watch it. Television helps you unwind and forget your day. So does reading a book - but one hour of television watching won't kill you. I watch my favourites - Criminal Minds and Monk these days. Sometimes I watch Brothers and Sisters, though it gets slightly irritating.

The best shows are the ones on Travel and Living that take you places. I saw a great one on Venice once - it absolutely convinced me that it was the best place on Earth (and I've already visited Venice!!). I like documentaries on great painters, so apart from reading about art, I sit and watch it as well. BBC once did a series on Great Artists and I sat and watched every one of them.

A philosopher from the Brahmakumaris once told me that your mind absorbs images and thinks about them - so it's better not to expose it to horrid things like violence and hateful scenes. It's something to think about especially if what you're watching is disturbing you. I for example, avoid reading the local news about NCR - some of the things I read is really creepy. In fact, I even do this abroad - no point knowing who got shot/killed/mugged/etc. It'll just leave you scared and depressed.

Plus, with reduced television watching, think of all the time you'll have to read and spend with family/friends. Today par example, I spent the whole day cleaning (yippee!!). I rewarded myself at the end of the day with chocolates ... Hmmm.... loadsa chocolates.... I in fact didn't eat much for dinner....

You only live once right?

Pandora's Jar

Pandora is a Greek woman created by a decree of God Zeus. He was angry because a chap named Prometheus stole the secret of fire. So he had Pandora created, as a punishment for Earth. Zeus gave her a jar (not a box as is commonly said) in which he kept all the evil and bad of the world.

Pandora was told not to open the jar and see its contents. But Pandora did. She apparently released all the contents - except hope. Later on however, hope was also released.

So let's ponder over this for a few minutes. Pandora's jar had all the evils in it - but why would hope be an evil?

Hope is the belief that there will be a positive outcome to a certain string of events. I've always associated it with the cloud that has the silver lining, the expectation of good and happiness.

So why did the Greeks consider it to be a dangerous emotion?

One has to look at hope in two ways. One way is that hope forms a way of combatting the day to day evils of the world. It allows you to have faith in the soul of mankind and deal with difficult situations hoping that tomorrow will be a brighter day.

But false hope can lead to disappointment, despair, frustration and agony. I think that this is why the Greeks thought it was an evil. Nietzsche apparently agreed and has gone on record to state that it was some sort of sadistic plot of Zeus to keep man constantly in turmoil by giving him hope. Nietzsche said "Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torments of man.".

So what do I think? Well, I don't think that hope should be confused with positive thinking. But I do think that hope is important. Allan K Chalmer's once said "The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for." I think it depends a lot on the person as well, like most things. If you're pessimist, you'll view hope as a sad reflection of what cannot possibly be accomplished. If you're an optimist, you see hope as a way of achieving the impossible. Elizabeth Gilbert (author of that excellent novel - Eat Pray Love) said "To sit patiently with a yearning that has not yet been fulfilled, and to trust that, that fulfillment will come, is quite possibly one of the most powerful 'magic skills' that human beings are capable of. It has been noted by almost every ancient wisdom tradition."

Everyone has their 15 minutes of fame. Every dog has its day. All good things will happen. You just have to work hard and wait. So what if Pandora opened her jar! As the Brahmakumaris would say, to change the world you have to change your thinking.