Bending Reality to Your Will

The Bender of Reality, image © Man of Wisdom

The world tells you things about you and it implies that that is your reality. The world wants to cage you in the things it says. It will also tell you that you can’t break free from this reality.

How? The world will tell you: “You’re poor.”, “You’re stupid”, “You’re ugly”, “You’re talentless”. And its favorite: “You can’t do it”.

The world will say these things repeatedly till they are tattooed in your mind. Till they’re your inner voice. Till you begin to believe in them. The words of the world will eventually become your reality. Especially if you do not bend and break free from them. You’ll make those words real, like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Most people’s reality is enforced by the world. They accept it and surrender to it. They they begin to tell others that indeed it’s the reality. This continues

How to Bend Reality to Your Will?

It’s hard to break free from this reality. Especially when everyone around you believes it. Even more so when you too believe it. But it’s not impossible. Bending reality requires a few things from you.

You Need a Dream

You had a dream, didn’t you? Even when the reality is a harsh cage, the dream remains a free bird. Unbound. Most dreams come in sleep, when you can’t even argue that this is absurd or impossible. Dreams can’t be argued against. They are free from arguments. You need this dream, even if it feels absurd. So the first thing needed is just the dare to have a dream, despite the harshness of your reality. So, dream. IF you already have a dream, great, cherish and never forget it.

A Hope and a Belief to Make a Goal Out of the Dream

A hope can make you believe things that the mind says are not possible. Like the dream you dreamt. You can believe that this can be a new reality one day. If you don’t believe in it, it’ll only be a dream soon to be forgotten. Or it may remain a mere wish, never to be attempted. But it will never become real. It will never become a goal.

You need a belief against your reality. “This can be real. I can make it real. Regardless of what the world says or how the circumstances are.”

You Need a Plan

A dream is not a real thing. It’s just a concoction of your mind. But a plan is concrete. You can put it on a piece of paper or in drawing and hold it in your hand. You can scratch it and revise it. You must have a plan. A plan lays down the path from the belief in your heart to destination of your dream.

Plan Big, Act Small – Action is the Ultimate Self Love

Action is the fuel that actually moves you on the path that your plan laid out. It’s the hammer and the chisel that will help you break out of the cage that has kept you a prisoner.

Most people never act. A simple way to get started is to make the actions small. When starting, make the action so small that there is little difference between acting and not acting. So you feel no resistance but still make some progress, however tiny.

Taking action is the act of love for yourself and your dream. (See how to develop love for self) The more you love your dream, the more you want to bend reality, the more you must act.

Remember, action is non-negotiable. You must act even when you don’t want to. Some call this self-discipline. I call it self-love.

Most people give up here. The more you procrastinate, the more the cage of reality becomes stronger. You must act to break free.

Only Consistency Takes You Further

The action can not come just one time or a few times. It must come consistently: daily, thrice a week, weekly, monthly and so on. Consistency keeps the hope, the dream alive. Avoid having zero days, where you took no action. If you have a zero day, next day try to do more than usual. This will ensure you keep making progress.

You Must Not Quit

The final act of courage is in not quitting. Despite circumstances, despite the world or even your voice screaming you can’t do it. Despite the failures, the losses, the rejections, the disappointments, the heartbreaks, the strong urge to quit – you must not quit.

Take rest, take a break, cry, let out emotions, show up again tomorrow.

Not quitting is the last test. Those who act and act consistently, still often fail here. They quit. They give on their dream, they forget it. They break half of the cage and still never take their head out to bask in the glory of their dream. They were so close. It’s a tragedy.

You’ve already worked so hard. Came so far. You must not quit. You must see this through.

Victory is Inevitable

Though not guaranteed, victory is still inevitable. Even if you do not get what you were chasing, even if the dream is not realized exactly as you wanted it, you’re still victorious. You’ve transformed. So has your thinking. Your reality is no longer what the world tells but what you want it to be.

You’ve just proved that you’re not susceptible to their voice. You make your own reality. Even if it’ near impossible, impractical or absurd. The words of the world are merely suggestions and you can simply ignore them.

The Bender of Realities

The more you do it, the more you will stop believing what people say. The more world’s opinions will sound like noise to you. The less you will care.

The opinions that used to become a concrete cage earlier, will now merely be a soap bubble. Merely there to amuse you. Blown away anytime you want.

The world won’t dictate your reality. You will dictate the reality of the world, to a large extent. Great progress is done by those who bend the reality to their will.

Don’t let the world make your reality, bend the reality to your will instead. Pursue greatness.

Till the next time, keep trailing on your Untrailed Path.

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Developing Love for Our Future Self

Developing Love for Our Future Self
Developing Love for Our Future Self

I’ve been trying to cultivate a practice of love for my future self.

It’s in part delaying instant gratification and avoiding procrastination but it’s more. It’s also making sure that the future self is happier because of what I do now. 

A Personal Example:

When I was leaving for my home town from my base, I spent the morning cleaning up the room, covering the bed, cleaning the kitchen stand, the bathroom and the toilet. I also washed all clothes and put them to dry inside on cloth stand.

The point was: most likely I’d come back in the evening and would be tired. Would likely have office from next day. So by doing chores now, when I come back 2-3 weeks later, I could have things sorted. At best, it’d need a quick sweep only.

Instead I came in nearly 2 months. When I came back, it was unexpected. The windows opened in a dust storm and everything was covered in layers of dust, including all clothes that I’d washed. Plus insects had creeped up in kitchen cabinet, spoiling bunch of food, even packed. I’d tried to make it easy for my future self but it didn’t work out this time.

I had come on Saturday evening. A part of me thought that tomorrow is Sunday, I could cleanup the bed now and do the rest tomorrow. But I’d to go early for a doctor appointment on Sunday and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to do the chores later. I again thought I should make it easier for my future self.

So I spent 3-4 hours till 10.30 PM cleaning up & washing up everything and then took a shower. By now I was exhausted and crashed into the bed after some time.

But next day, waking up to a clean room, clean desk, everything cleanly sorted and arranged made me much happier. Only needed to handover the trash. It also relaxed my schedule and I could focus on other things after the appointment.

Such a behavior of cultivating love for future self is also an antidote to procrastination and instant gratification.

Develop a Love for Your Future Self

Consider for a minute. If you develop love for your future self:

  • You complete your work way before deadline, so that your future self doesn’t suffer stress and anxiety.
  • You don’t binge eat junk food. Your future self would have to work extra hard to burn it off. Or it would be overweight and unhealthy.
  • You don’t binge watch some series till 3 AM, because your future self would wake up with lack of sleep, headache and stress.
  • Basically, you make choices that make your future self healthier, happier and closer to the person you want to be.


The key is to balance the present self & the future self. Your present self also needs to be rewarded & pampered, so do it. But not at the cost of your future self.

On good days, do it when the present self has earned it. On bad days, do it anyway.

Being loving compassionate to our self is the key. After all, we are going to live with us till the end, we might as well develop a loving relationship 🙂

Till the next time, keep trailing on your Untrailed Path.


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2022 Reading List – Books to Reread and Some New Books to Read

With September already nearly over, this is the latest I’ve made a reading list post in any year.

But I kind of felt like I need to reread a few books and may be read a few new books before I enter into 2023. So I thought let’s revive the reading list 🙂

Book Rereads – Books I’ve Already Read This Year or Would Read:

  1. War of Art – Steven Pressfield
  2. The Road Less Traveled – M. Scott Peck
  3. The Almanack of Naval Ravikant – Compiled by Eric Jorgenson
  4. Practice of Brahmacharya – Swami Shivanand
  5. Why We Sleep – Matthew Walker
  6. Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill
  7. How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
  8. Book of Five Rings – Miyamoto Musashi
  9. Man’s Search for Meaning – Victor Frankl
  10. How to Talk to Anyone – Leil Lowndes
  11. Sorry I’m Late, I didn’t Want to Be Here – Jessica Pan
  12. Reasons to Stay Alive – Matt Haig

New Books to Read:

  1. Chop Wood, Carry Water – Joshua Medcalf (Currently Reading)
  2. Mastery – Robert Greene
  3. The Decision Book – Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tschappeler
  4. Do the Hard Things First – Scott Allan
  5. The Prince – Niccolò Machiavelli
  6. Psychology of Money – Morgan Housel
  7. Money Wise – Sharath Komarraju

Technical Books I’ve Read or Reading

  1. Cracking the Coding Interview – Gayle Laakmann McDowell
  2. Designing Data Intensive Applications – Martin Kleppmann
  3. Elements of Programming Interviews (Python Edition) – Adnan Aziz, Amit Prakash, and Tsung-Hsien Lee
  4. Soft Skills: The Software Developer’s Life Manual – John Z. Sonmez

New Manga I’ve Already Read

  1. Solo Leveling (read 3 times, my favorite from this year) – Chugong and Jang Sung-Rak (aka Dubu)
  2. Dragon Ball – Akira Toriyama
  3. Dragon Ball Z – Akira Toriyama
  4. Black Clover –  Yūki Tabata
  5. Jujutsu Kaisen – Gege Akutami

Older Manga’s New Chapter I Read Every Week / Month:

  1. One Piece – Eiichiro Oda
  2. One Punch Man – ONE, Yusuke Murata
  3. Black Clover (from this year onwards) – Yūki Tabata

____

Till the next time, do the hard things, start small, aim big, take good care of yourself and keep trailing on your untrailed path.

____

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Man of Wisdom 2019 Reading List – 250 Books

Some books fom 2019 Reading List I could put together quickly

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.” ― Harper Lee.

And this quote sums up how I felt in the clutches of death and the impermanence of everything. Everything put aside, if I were going to die I wanted to read more books. Being bed bound for months, I chose the highest I thought I could aim.

For me 2018 was a terrible year for reading particularly due to the health crisis which taught me more than books could so I’m not complaining. I could barely finish half of the books of the 75 books of my 2018 Reading List.

For 2019 I wanted to focus on writing more and I’d thought of reducing my reading count from 100 books of my 2017 Reading List and 75 of 2018 to an easily manageable aim of 24 books, 2 books for each month. But then one of the final books in 2018 I’d read was Stephen King’s On Writing, and it changed my view completely. He summarized it as follows:

“Read, read, read and if you get time – write. If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” ― Stephen King

When I was ill and doctors were consistently recommending various surgeries and hinting about how few months I’ve left to live, I started writing my novel. If I were to die, I at least wanted it to be published. I didn’t know how many months I’d spend in hospitals and how able I’d be to write it. Thankfully, I turned out to be mostly ok. But I saw my weaknesses as I continued with the novel.

My torment of 4 months had profound impact on me. It also was an inspiration of selection of multiple books.

After that I’ve decided to read even more books than ever. Especially fiction. In 2017 Reading List there were no fiction books. In 2018, I’d added 10. And for 2019 I’ve added 130 fiction books and 120 nonfiction books.

Why more fiction?

I’m writing a novel and I hope to finish if not publish it by 2020. From fiction I get to learn a lot about narration, creating a consistent plot, developing characters, proper dialogues, world building and twists. I’ve learnt from both good and bad books.

I’ve also added a lot of varied fiction consisting of dozen plus genre like fantasy, drama, horror, thriller, sci-fi, adventure, philosophy, dystopia, young adult, classics and romance. And in multiple forms: novels, novella, graphic novels, manga series, comic books, collection of short stories and large works.

Isn’t the goal huge?

Yes I’ve never even achieved the full 100 books target. But that was because I almost exclusively read non-fiction books. And I didn’t count the comicbooks and manga in the total number I read, which would even then put the number beyond hundred.

Also I feel fiction is much easier to read and takes much less time. When I read non-fiction I make notes and sometimes extensive notes stretching into dozens of pages for a single book. In fiction I generally write down words the meaning of which is not clear to me, beautiful phrases. Sometimes I also write key allegories and ideas but that’s rare and very less.

This is the peak and I would not push further than this

250 books – This is going to be the peak, I admit. I’ll never attempt to read this many books ever. From 2020 onwards, after getting insights into writing and enough understanding of some of the issues I care about, I’d read more new topics but read less books. Perhaps somewhere between 50 – 100 books. Depending on what I want to learn about and which writers I want to read.

Book Categorization and Labelling:

By Type and Topic – The main categorization is by type – whether the books are fictional or non-fictional. After that I roughly tried to categorize them under some topic I found relevant. Though most books belong to more than one topic.

By Length and Labelling – I wanted to categorize books on how large they are, so I’ve added a label and length. Each book is categorized from Very Small to Medium to Very Large to Ultra Large and is followed by number of pages:
(VS: < 100, S: < 200, M: < 350, L: < 500, VL: > 500, UL >=1000)
I’ve added the page length too so others can pick up the book they want.

Being Accountable – My Personal Goodreads To Track All Progress and Book Reviews

I’ve decided to review most of the books and rate all of the books I read on Goodreads this year.

You can follow my whole progress, reviews on my personal Goodreads this year here. I’ve never given out my personal account. I was thinking of starting a separate account and copying all my reviews. But it would be tedious. I’d rather read books than do that. Changing the name would not be fair to my existing Goodreads friends, so I’m going ahead with this. Also I thought transparency is better. Though I’d still like my privacy to be respected. Feel free to discuss anything about the books there.

I’ve also linked my reviews of the books that I’ve already read.

May has started, so where do I stand?

All of my already read books for this year are here on Goodreads. I’ve read 63 books so far and nearly 14000 pages. So I’ve to read nearly 190 more books! I’m a bit behind but I’ll catch up soon hopefully 🙂

Let’s begin the list without further ado!

Part I. Non Fiction (120 Books)

Writing (6)

  • Beginnings, Middle and End – Nancy Kress (S, 149p)
  • Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life – Anne Lamott (M, 237p)
  • Poetics – Aristotle (S, 138p)
  • Zen in the Art of Writing – Ray Bradbury (S, 158p)
  • On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction – William Zinsser (M, 336p)
  • Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into Print – Renni Browne, Dave King (M, 288p)
Psychology (6)

  • The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You – Elaine Aron (M, 251p)
  • Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy – David D Burns (VL, 736p)
  • Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life – Martin E.P. Seligman (M, 319p)
  • The Hero with a Thousand Faces – Joseph Campbell (L, 416p)
  • The Road Less Traveled – M Scott Peck (M, 316p)
  • When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times – Pema Chödrön (S, 160p)
Communication, Confidence and Public Speaking (7)
  • What Every Body is Saying – Joe Navarro (M, 250p)
  • How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships – Leil Lowndes (M, 334p)
  • Influence: The Psychology of Persuation – Robert B. Cialdini (M, 320p)
  • Six Pillars of Self-Esteem – Nathaniel Branden (M, 341p) (Reading)
  • Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences – Nancy Duarte (M, 248p)
  • TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking – Chris J. Anderson (M, 288p)
Personal development (5)

  • Mini Habits – Stephen Guise (S, 127p)
  • The Now Habit – Neil A Fiore (M, 206p)
  • The 4 Hour Workweek – Tim Ferris (M, 308p)
  • Gifts of Imperfection – Brene Brown (S, 138p)
  • Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You – Lin-Manuel Miranda (Author), Jonny Sun (Illustrator) (M, 224p) Review
Death and Dying (2)
  • Mortality – Christopher Hitchens (S, 104p) Review
  • The Death of Ivan Ilych – Leo Tolstoy, Aylmer Maude (Translator) (Fiction) (VS, 86p)
Meditations and Mindfulness (3)
  • How to Meditate: A Practical Guide to Making Friends with Your Mind by Pema Chödrön (S, 175p)
  • Radical Acceptance – Tara Brach (M, 333p)
  • The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditationby Thich Nhat Hanh,Mobi Ho (Translator) (S, 140p)
Applied Ethics and Morality (3)

  • Just Mercy: A Story of Justice & Redemption – Bryan Stevenson (M, 336p)
  • Justice: What’s the Right Thing To Do? – Michael J. Sandel (M, 308p)
  • Eating Animals (M, 341p)
Tuberculosis (2)
  • Catching Breath: The Making and Unmaking of Tuberculosis by Kathryn Lougheed Read (M, 288p) Review
  • Spitting Blood – Helen Bynum (M, 320p)

Activism/Awareness  – Environmental (1)

  • Silent Spring – Rachael Carson (L, 378p)
History (1)
  • The Discoverers: A History of Man’s Search to Know His World and Himself – Daniel J Boorstin (VL, 745p)
Anxiety, Depression and Suicide (3)
  • Notes on a Nervous Planet – Matt Haig (M, 288p)
  •  The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression – Andrew Solomon (VL, 576p)
  •  Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide – Kay Redfield Jamison (L, 432p)

Cancer (2)

  •  The Death of Cancer – Vincent T. DeVita Jr. – (M, 336p)
  •  Malignant: How Cancer Becomes Us – S. Lochlann Jain (M, 304p)
Philosophy General (7)

  • Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy – Simon Blackburn (M, 296p)
  • Republic – Plato (L, 416p)
  •  The Nicomachean Ethics – Aristotle (M, 329p)
  •  The Myth of Sisyphus – Albert Camus (S, 192p)
  • Existentialism is a Humanism – Jean-Paul Sartre (S, 108p)
  • Problems of Philosophy – Bertrand Russell (S, 116p)
  • The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten: 100 Experiments for the Armchair Philosopher – Julian Baggini (Listening) (M, 306p)
Stoicism (4)
  • A Guide to Good Life – William B. Irvine (M, 326p)
  • Of Human Freedom – Epictetus (VS, 91p) Review (Favorite!)
  • The Discourses – Epictetus (L, 384p)
  • Letters from a Stoic – Seneca (M, 256p)
Epicureanism (4)

  • Principal Doctrines – Epicurus (VS, <10p) Review
  • Letter to Menoceus – Epicurus (VS, < 10p) Review (Favorite!)
  • Fragments – Epicurus (VS, < 10p)
  • On the Nature of Things – Lucretius (VL, 672p)

Challenging – To Challenge My Long Held Perspectives & Beliefs (6)

  • Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland – Christopher R. Browning (M, 271p)
  • Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence – David Benatar (M, 237p)
  •  An Essay on the Principle of Population – Thomas Robert Malthus (M, 208p)
  • No More Mr. Nice Guy – Robert A. Glover (M, 208p)
  • The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability – Lierre Keith (M, 320p)
  •  The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief -Francis S. Collins (M, 320p)

Biography/Autobiography/Memoir (4)

  • The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State – Nadia Murad (M, 320p)
  • Twelve Against the Gods – (M, 316p)
  • Leonardo da Vinci – Walter Isaacson (VL, 600p)
  • Can’t Hurt Me – David Goggins (M, 290p)
Technology (1)
  • Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies – Nick Bostrom (M, 328p)
Holocaust, Genocide and Concentration Camps (3)
  • Night – Elie Wiesel, Marion Wiesel (Trans.) (S, 120p)
  • We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families – Philip Gourevtich (L, 356p)
  • The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (L, 472p)
Slavery in America (2)
  • Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl – Harriet Ann Jacobs (S, 176p)
  • Twelve Years a Slave – Solomon Northup (L, 363p)
Poetry (5)
  • Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám – Omar Khayyám, (T) Edward FitzGerald (S, 176p) Read
  • The Complete Collected Poems –  Maya Angelou (M, 273p)
  • The Essential Rumi – Rumi, trans. (L, 416p) (Reading)
  • Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair – Pablo Neruda (VS, 70p) Review
  • The Rose That Grew from Concrete – Tupac Shakur (S, 176p)
Social Sciences and Anthropology (4)
  • Factfulness – Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund (Reading) (L, 372p)
  • The Better Angels of Our Nature – Steven Pinker (VL, 1000+p)
  • Epic Measures: One Doctor. Seven Billion Patients.by Jeremy N. Smith – (L, 352p)
  • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind – Yuval Noah Harari (L, 442p)

Science General (5)

  • I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us & a Grander View of Life – Ed Yong (L, 368p)
  • Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warmingby Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway (L, 357p)
  • How to Lie With Statistics – Darrell Huff, Irving Geis (Ill.) (S, 142p)
  • 1001 Inventions That Changed The World Since 2,600,000 BCE – Jack Challoner (UL, 1200p)
  • A Short History of Nearly Everything – Bill Bryson (VL, 544p)
  • The Gene – Siddhartha Mukherjee (VL, 594p)

Music, Song Writing and Rapping (6)

  • How Music Works – David Byrne (M, 344p)
  • Piano Guide
  • Writing Better Lyrics – Pat Pattison (M, 200+p)
  • Perrine’s Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry (L, 434p)
  • How to Rap: The Art and Science of the Hip-Hop MC – Paul Edwards (L, 352p)
  • How to Rap 2: Advanced Flow and Delivery Techniques – Paul Edwards (M, 272p)

Fashion and Dating (3)

  • Dressing the Man/ Dress Like a Man / Style for Men
  •  The Art of Manliness: Classic Skills and Manners for the Modern Man – Brett McKay (M, 288p)
  •  The Way of the Superior Man – David Deida (M, 202p)

Love, Heartbreak, Relationship and Sex (7)

  • A Lover’s Discourse: Fragments – Roland Barthes (M, 234p)
  • The Chemistry Between Us: Love, Sex, and the Science of Attraction by Larry Young, Brian Alexander (M, 320p)
  • Cure for Love – Ovid (S, 100+p)
  • This is Me Letting You Go – Heidi Priebe (S, 135p)
  • Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find—and Keep—Love – Amir Levine, Rachel Heller (M, 304p)
  • Sex For Dummies – Ruth Westheimer (S, 128p)
  • She Comes First: The Thinking Man’s Guide to Pleasuring a Woman by Ian Kerner (M, 228p)

Finance, Economics and Management (4)

  • Rich Dad, Poor Dad – Robert T. Kiyosaki (S, 195p)
  • Money Wise – Sharath Komarraju (M, 240p)
  • From Rat Race to Financial Freedom – Manoj Arora (M, 308p)
  • The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business – Josh Kaufman (L, 416p)
Computer Science, Data Science and Programming (3)
  • Data Structures and Algorithms Made Easy – Narasimha Karumanchi (L, 400+p)
  •  Programming Pearls – Jon L. Bentley,Patrick Chan (M, 239p)
  • Statistics / Statistical inference for data science
Epidemic Studies and Immune System (3)

  • On Immunity: An Inoculation – Eula Biss (M, 205p)
  • How the Immune System Works – Lauren M. Sompayrac (S, 129p)
  • Vaccinated: One Man’s Quest to Defeat the World’s Deadliest Diseases – Paul A. Offit (M, 279p)

Feminism (3)

  • A Room of One’s Own – Virginia Woolf (S, 112p)
  • Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science and the World – Rachel Swaby (M, 288p)
  • We Should All Be Feminists – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (VS, 52p) Review

Health, Fitness and Running (5)

  • Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams – Matthew Walker (L, 368p)
  • Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy – Bret Contreras (M, 212p)
  • Becoming a Supple Leopard: The Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Preventing Injury, and Optimizing Athletic Performance – Kelly Starret (L, 400p)
  • The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman – Timothy Ferriss (VL, 571p)
  • Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen – Christopher McDougall (M, 287p)
120 books till here
Part II. Fiction (80 Different Books, 150 if count individual volumes)
~80 Different Books, 150+ counting volumes of series too
Manga (7  individual, 60 if counting each volume as book)
  • Monster Complete (Vol 1 – Vol 18) – Naoki Urasawa (18) (3000+ pages) Review
  • One Piece (Vol 27 – Vol 45) – Eichiro Oda (18) (3000+ pages)
  • Berserk Vol 1 – Vol 14 (14) (2000+ pages) Review
  • Uzumaki Complete (3 Vol) – Junji Ito (VL, 500+p)
  • Attack on Titan (Vol 27 – Vol 29/ TBP) (3) – Hajime Isayama (VL, ~600p)
  • A Girl on the Shore (2 Vol) – Inio Asano (L, 408p) Review
  • All You Need is Kill (2 Vol) – Hiroshi Sakurazaka (M, 200+p)
Graphic Novels (7, 16 if counting each volume as book)
  • The Complete Maus (2 Vol) (nonfiction) – Art Spiegelman (M, 296p)
  • The Complete Persepolis (2 Vol) – Marjane Satrapi (M, 341p)
  • Complete Sandman – Neil Gaiman (10 Vol) (2000+p) Vol 1 Review
  • Sarah’s Scribbles – Sarah Andersen (3 Vol) (M, 300+p)
  • Nimona – Noelle Stevenson (M, 272p) Review
  • Blankets – Craig Thompson (VL, 592p) Review
  • Arrival – Shaun Tan (S, 132)
Comicbooks (7, 9 if counting each volume as book )
  • Batman Knightfall (#1 -#3) – Chuck Dixon (VL, 600+p)
  • Superman Red Son – Mark Millar (S, 160p)
  •  X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills – Chris Claremont,Brent Anderson (Illustrator) (VS, 64p)
  • Daredevil: The Man Without Fear – Frank Miller (S, 160p)
  • Batman Year One – Frank Miller (Reread) (S, 144p)
  • Green Lantern/ DC Event: Blackest Night (whole storyline, counting as one only) – Geoff Johns (VL, 500+p)
  • Spider-Man: Blue – Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale (S, 168p)
Epics and Poetry (3)

  • The Odyssey – Homer, Robert Fagles (Translator) (VL, 541p)
  • The Epic of Gilgamesh – Anonymous (S, 120p)
  • Sonnets – William Shakespeare (L, 488p)

Shakespeare (4)

  • Hamlet (M, 289p)
  • Julius Caesar (S, 128p)
  • Othello (M, 314p)
  • Merchant of Venice (M, 237p)

Classics and Literature Fiction (7)

  • Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë (VL, 507p)
  • Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck (S, 112p)
  • Lord of the Flies – William Golding (s, 182p)
  • The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (S, 149p) Review
  • To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee (M, 324p)
  • Call of the Wild – Jack London (S, 172p)
  • To the Lighthouse – Virginia Woolf (M, 209p)

Feminism (3)

  • The Color Purple – Alice Walker (M, 295p)
  • The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories – Charlotte Perkins Gilman (VS, 70p)
  • The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath (M, 294p)
Philosophy (Lot of Albert Camus) (7)

  • The Fall – Albert Camus, Justin O’Brien (Translator) (S, 147p)
  • The Stranger – Albert Camus, Matthew Ward (Translator) (S, 123p)
  • The Plague – Albert Camus (M, 308p)
  • The Metamorphosis – Franz Kafka (M, 201p)
  • The Prophet – Khalil Gibran (S, 127p)
  • Candide – Voltaire (S, 129p)
  • Siddhartha – Hermann Hesse (S, 152p)

Sci-fi Books (7)

  • Foundation #1 – Isaac Asimov (M, 244)
  • Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut (M, 275)
  •  Fahrenheit 451 –  Ray Bradbury (S, 194p)
  • Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy #1 – Douglas Adams (S, 193p)
  • Frankenstein – Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (S, 288p)
  • Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes (M, 216p)
  • The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood (M, 344p) Review
Large Fiction Works (2)
  • The Egyptian – Mika Waltari (VL, 700+)
  • Don Quixote – Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (UL, 1000+p)

Romance (2)

  • Wait for It – Mariana Zapata (VL, 693p) Review (Favorite!)
  • The Princess Bride – William Goldman (L, 398p)

Young Adult (1)

  • Holes – Louis Sachar (M, 233p)

Dystopia (2)

  • Animal Farm – George Orwell (S, 144p)
  • Blindness – José Saramago, Giovanni Pontiero (Translator) (M, 349p)
Historical Fiction (3)
  • Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini (L, 371p)
  • All Quiet on the Western Front – Erich Maria Remarque (M, 296p)
  • The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro (M, 258p)

Children’s (6)

  • Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak (VS, 37p)
  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle (VS, 26p)
  • The Giving Tree – Shel Silverstein (VS, 64p) Review
  • Charlotte’s Web – E. B. White (S, 184p) Review
  • Polyanna – Eleanor H. Porter (S, 157p)
  • Smile (graphic novel) – Raina Telgemeier (M, 224p)

Cultural (3)

  • Interpreter of Maladies – Jhumpa Lahiri (S, 198p)
  • Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi (M, 320p)
  • Norwegian Wood – Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin (T) (M, 296p)

Collections – Short Stories / Letters (2)

  • Selected Stories – Anton Chekhov (L, 467p)
  • Letters to a Young Poet – Rainer Maria Rilke (VS, 80p)

Fantasy (Mostly Queen’s Thief Series) (4)

  • The Thief – Megan Whalen Turner (M, 280p) Review
  • Queen of Attolia – Megan Whalen Turner (L, 362p) Review
  • King of Attolia – Megan Whalen Turner (L, 387p) Review
  • The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman (M, 307p)

Thriller/ Mystery/ Suspense (1)

  • The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson  (L, 465p)

Horror (2)

  • The Shining – Stephen King (L, 447p)
  • I have no mouth and I must scream – Harlan Ellison (S, 134p)

Humor (2)

  • The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (VS, 76p)
  • The Rosie Project – Graeme Simsion (M, 297p)
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”  – Dr. Seuss
What are your favorite books? What are the books you’re reading this year? Tell us!

I’d love to help you choose the books to read. Feel free to ask 🙂

New blog posts every Thursday and Sunday. Connect with Man of Wisdom on  Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Mail us at admin[at]manofwisdom.net

Till the next time, keep improving yourself, stay positive, see the joy around you, radiate happiness, stay emotionally resilient and keep trailing on your Untrailed Path.

Take care. I wish you happiness, health, healing and peace <3

Introducing Wisdom Bites® and Man of Wisdom’s YouTube Channel

Dated 1st of April, 2019

We live in a time where a world of instant indulgence is only a click away. So now it’s easier than ever to procrastinate on important work and indulge in frivolous pursuits.

This is why so many of us are involved in things that do not help us in any way but instead destroy our time, energy, peace of mind and add to our ever increasing anxiety and stress when we reach close to our deadlines.

And if you somehow master yourself and get down to work then still you’re likely to be invaded by distractions.

There seems to be a magnitude of ploys manufactured with the sole aim of grabbing every bit of our attention. Tailored feeds of infinite scrolling, ceaseless buzzing of notifications, tagging into random posts, three dozen tabs, 2 dozen applications and constant context switching.

Focused, monomaniac work seems to have become obsolete. It’s difficult to recall a time where most of our time was spent on focused, deep work with full attention and passion without any interruption.

This is why we at Man of Wisdom have come up with a perfect way to counter this, with what we’re calling Wisdom Bites.

What are Wisdom Bites?
Wisdom Bites are perfect recipe of avoiding distractions. Anytime, you feel like like indulging into something you shouldn’t be doing, you pick a wisdom bite (some people call them clothespins) and get a bite from it. Thus distracting you from the distraction and getting you to attend what needs your attention.

We call them Wisdom Bites and not "clothespins".We call them Wisdom Bites and not “clothespins”.

The name was inspired from the old adage, “Truth hurts”, then I concluded, that wisdom, then, must bite. And clothespins were the closest object I found that bites and hurts but doesn’t injure. Thus clothespins became Wisdom Bites.

But the obvious question you may ask is, “What if I don’t get a bite from the Wisdom Bite and get to my distraction just like before”. That’s bad manners and condemnable in harshest terms. You must get a bite and get to work, that’s what they were designed for.

We even made a video example of it. Which gets me to…

Introducing Man of Wisdom’s YouTube Channel
1st of April is a day when great journeys begin. A journey to wisdom must begin on the Fool’s Day. So we’ve started our YouTube channel too.

We’d really appreciate if you subscribe to our channel here: Man of Wisdom on YouTube.

We’d be beginning with our first podcasts series in April. And we’d be exploring more on story telling on YouTube. But we’d try to keep it in such a way that either they’re short or the longer ones have no or minimal text/video so you can listen to them while doing some other work.

And of course our first video is about Wisdom Bites:

Please like and subscribe. Do not forget to get your Wisdom Bite.

Follow Man of Wisdom on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. We strive to make the use of social media more useful and not at all wasteful. Though it’s a bit ironic to say this at the end of this post 🙂
 

Next post next Sunday. Take care!

The World is an Amazing Place (Despite All the Suffering and Pain) – Poem

Blue MarbleI still feel too sensitive to suffering sometimes and feel anxious and helplessness. In one such incident recently, this poem crossed my head:

“Pain and suffering can confuse you,
Feeling it all, all the time will bruise you.
You’ve to learn to let it go sometimes,
And see the world in a brighter light.

For the world’s an amazing place!
Full of joy and wonder,
Growth and splendor.
Stop focusing on all the blues,
World is brighter, despite all the dim hues.

There’s suffering, there’s overcoming it too.
There are struggles and yet people smiling through.
If you see all black, may be change your view?
Life is wonderful and you can see it too!

Crushing helplessness you feel,
And hopelessness you fear.
“World can’t be healed” hurt by their sneers.
Even if trembling, will you act, or surrender and kneel?

Those who feign the pain,
And those who stand indifferent.
If they continue to kill and wound around,
Why you too won’t hold your ground?

Remember though only feeling and not doing doesn’t make a difference,
Things aren’t fixed by magic, let toil be your preference.
See the ray of hope, even if  it’s on horizon and faint,
Set an example, it’s not enough to complain.

For the world is an amazing place!
Full of joy and wonder,
Growth and splendor.
Stop focusing on all the blues,
World is brighter, despite all the dim hues!”

It’s an amazing place <3

Liked the poem? Please share it! 🙂 Please let us know your thoughts in the comments. Especially, where we can improve. Thanks.

New blog posts every Thursday and Sunday.

Connect with Man of Wisdom on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Mail us at admin[at]manofwisdom.net 

Till the next time, keep improving yourself, stay positive, see the joy around you, radiate happiness, stay emotionally resilient, take good care of yourself and keep trailing on your Untrailed Path.

A Tree in the Forest – Man of Wisdom Tells Stories

The Ugly TreeIf you started from the southern edge of Atlantic Ocean, it’d be hundreds of miles of forest clad in complete darkness until you’d see the first twinkling of light. It was from Estrela’s table lamp. She turned it off as she went to sleep and the darkness extended a few more meters.
 
Estrela’s town was at the edge of the rain-forest. It’s been just a few years since her village had gotten electric supply line. Before that they were dependent on dried logs from the forest. Not just fuel though essentially the economy of whole village was based on the forest.
 
The forest nourished the town. There was plenty of food, wood, herbs, and game. A lot of villagers had moved to the cities, but some people had decided to stay back. They chose a life of simple living and one not away from the touch of nature. Estrela’s family was one of them.
 
She’d turned 12 just last month but she enjoyed walks in the forest more than her peers of same age. In daylight she’d walk a few miles to reach a particular tree and sit beneath it. But in darkness the forest is too scary to wander alone and that tree was too far away in the forest for a 12 year old. “Even for a brave 12 year old girl!”, her father explained as he declined her request, this evening.

“This is a rainforest and even at peak noon only less than 2% of sunlight ever reaches the ground. It’s pretty much dark in day too. What difference it makes in night?” she smirked victoriously. She’d heard that factoid in Planet Earth show. What could her father possibly reply against such a valid argument? She wondered.

“Light doesn’t need to touch the ground to light up the forest. The leaves diffuse and reflect enough to see. And the jaguars and wolves seem to agree as they choose night’s darkness to hunt.” her father explained. She knew jaguars sometime attacked people in forest and they almost always singled out children, so she nodded silently.

But her voice broke down. “I want to be close to mom. We don’t even have a picture. That ugly tree is the only thing still remaining of her.” 

She’d never seen her mother. Earlier her parents lived in another village, right next to a lumber camp. About a decade ago, the highest rainfall in Amazonia was recorded and with no forest roots to hold the ground, entire village was buried in a massive landslide. Estrela and her father had gone to nearby city to see doctor for her fever. They survived. Estrela had lost her mother at 2 and she’d very faint memories of her, she wasn’t even sure if they were real or she had made them up based on stories her father had told.

“The greatest gift and best memory Tanya left are you Estrela. Every cell in your body was formed in your mom’s womb. She lives on in you.”, her father said as he hugged her and Estrela gave a tearful smile. 

“I sometimes think if I’d not fallen sick, mom would still be there with us.” she could hardly hold the tears.  
“No. If we’d stayed back, then all of us would have died. No one can control when they fall sick. And Tanya would have wanted you to be alive and well and grow up to be healthy and happy. This is why she’d insisted me to take you to city to visit a doctor.” he paused.
 
“You know I used to blame myself too. I should have taken her along with us. But your mother didn’t want to miss teaching next day in her school. And I didn’t see any reason. Even the rain was as usual then. No one in the village knew or could think of that – that would happen.” his voice became too heavy. He took a few deep breaths as if composing himself, then said: “We just have to make peace that the loved ones we’ve lost would want us to live on. While remembering the best of them. They continue to live on – in us, through us. So we have to take care of ourselves and try to be happy. Because that’s how they’d want us to live like.” he smiled at her. 

“So it’s time to get proper sleep.” he said. Estrela knew he’d be in tears in his room. She wanted to distract him.

“Why did you people chose the ugliest tree in the forest for your tree house?”Estrela had asked this earlier too and she knew the reply her father would say: “Just wait few more months and I’d tell you.”

“Just wait few more months and I’d tell you.” her father said as he turned off the light. Estrela couldn’t hold her laughter. “Goodnight sweety.”

The next day was a holiday and in the noon she ran through the forest and reached the tree, panting and exhausted. It indeed was the ugliest tree in the area.

It was a very old, dying tree. The bark was rotten and full of stinky sap, the tree branches barely had leaves and looked ghostly barren, most of the tree house that her parents had built had fallen off or decayed with only some mold covered bamboos remaining, its trunk was covered with markings of woodpecker it looked as if the tree was full of insects too.

“Your Mother and I’d created a tree house on it when we were of your age” her father’s words echoed in her head. They must have been looking for the ugliest tree in the forest, she concluded as she stared at the torn, soiled flag her mother had designed. The ladder to reach the tree house was no longer there and some of the branches were either broken or  too weak to support even her. She sat opposite to the tree longing for that piece of cloth. A memorabilia of her mother. Only 2 more months. Till then I won’t visit here. she thought.

More than 2 months had passed and her father would everyday visit the forest and take notes on his notebook. One day he declared, “It is time! We’d leave before dusk and tonight we’d stay in the forest!” Estrela was thrilled, she’d never been in the forest after dark, let alone spend one full night there!
 
They left at noon itself, carrying their tents and sleeping bags. Estrela couldn’t stop herself:

“Please tell na da, why did you two chose this tree? This is old and scarred. It’s infested with fungus and mushrooms. There are ant colonies beneath its bark that it’s shedding and its wood doesn’t seem much strong. All other trees look much better. Why this tree? You’ve been delaying this forever!” She had written down a list of reasons why that tree was so ugly and rotated points when talking to her father so it always sounded new.

“You’ll see. But you’ll have to bear the bugs of forests as we wait” his father calmly replied.” But I hate all bugs. They’re so scary and ugly and weird and slimy and stingy.” she said making a dreadful face.  He just laughed.

They set up a cramped camp in front of that tree and by the time they were done, the diffused sunlight that lights the forest was gone. It was barely 5.

“Now watch closely” his father said as they wrapped themselves in cover and stared at the tree.

After maybe half an hour a little yellow light came flying, it flew around a bit and then settled on the tree bark. “Firefly?” Estrela asked curiously. Her father nodded.

Then another came from opposite direction circumvented the tree a few times and sat on it . “Brace yourself” her father said smiling as a few other fireflies came and sat on that ugly tree. 

This was just the beginning. Slowly dozens and dozens of swarms of fireflies started gathering around the tree. “They’re orbiting the tree as if it’s a Sun!” Estrela exclaimed. Her father laughed and said “Yes, they’re looking for the best place to settle.”

It was a spectacle unlike any other young Estrela had seen. Within few hours, hundreds of thousands of fireflies had covered the ugly tree. It was dark everywhere else, as far as she could see. All other trees – with beautiful bark, the ones covered with flowers, the majestically tall ones, the ones with peculiar leaves – all were shrouded by darkness. And the ugly tree glowed alone.

Estrela lay back, so she could see the dance of fireflies in its full fluorescent fervent. Their light went on and off as they breathed, it looked like twinkling of stars. As they wet up and down, around the tree, it resembled a meteor shower. Thousands of shooting stars had covered the night sky, even when the weather was cloudy.

“Why do the fireflies choose this tree?”

“This is the fireflies’ breeding season. This tree with its open bark and ugly sticky sap has pheromones similar to the fireflies secrete so they’re really attracted to it. They confuse it for their mate’s signal but since so many fireflies confuse it, they can always fins a mate and this tree becomes the central breeding ground.” he explained.

“A blue one!” Estrela shouted. In an emerald ocean suddenly a few blue sapphires began popping up. “I swear I saw a red one too! Can’t find it.” Her father’s eyes moistened. He missed his wife, who had a similar reaction the first time she saw the sea of fireflies. From his bag he took out something and asked Estrela to sit down and hold it.

“You hate bugs, right? Hold this branch but be very still.” her father said with a mischievous smile. Estrela got up and held it carefully.

 Even 5 minutes hadn’t passed and a firefly came sat on it. He wasn’t glowing. It was followed by a few more, some were on Estrela’s hand and fingers. She felt ticklish and funny. “Why aren’t they glowing?” she inquired. Fireflies don’t look so beautiful without their light, she thought. “Don’t move your hand, stay very still.” She tried to ignore the tickling and stayed still. The branch was now covered with bugs.

And then they started glowing as Estrela stilled herself. She felt like she was holding little stars in her hands. It was magical, delightful and she was in complete daze. There were even 2 blue ones among yellow-greenish ones. “This is the most beautiful bouquet ever!” she said. Startled, some fireflies flew away. She stilled herself again. A new firefly sat there. It glowed red. “See I’d told you! There are red ones too!” she said excited and handed the branch to her father. All fireflies flew away.

 
Fireflies tree

“Your mother had similar expression the first time I took her here.” he said smiling.

“We were just teenagers then. I was completely smitten with your Mother. Your mother loved stars. She told me how she longs to see the stars. The forest trees, the thick mist and the rain clouds hide the stars most of the time. We could hardly ever see a few bright stars. It’s either always raining or cloudy. And even when the weather is clear, the tall trees hide most of the night sky view.”

“So I kept on thinking and looking out for some way. Don’t consider me crazy but I even looked for ways to make the clouds disappear.”

“Whoa! That is really  crazy da!” she laughed. “But you really did find stars for mom!”

“This was the next best thing I could find for her. And she loved it and I think perhaps even more than how much she’d have loved the stars. She had named you after stars too. We came here to visit every night and then we decided to make a tree house to be enveloped in this light and see this phenomena up close and in all its glory. We’d to make peace with mosquito and other insect bites though.” 

“Wow! But how did you find this tree?” Estrela was now more curious than ever.

“I’d asked your mother to come to the hill town to see the stars. She said we could go once and then I’ll want to move there. But she didn’t want to. She loved the forest too much to leave it.” He paused to take a sip of water then continued:

“So. I’d followed fireflies before in forest and sometimes saw them gather in little groups on some shrubs. I thought there must be somewhere the group would be larger. I noted down the points as I saw larger and larger groups then realized there must be one place with most fireflies. And one night I stumbled on this tree! A year later we were engaged!”  He finished, laughing.

“The starry bouquet worked!” Estrela said laughing. Again the fireflies had started sitting and glowing. They both could clearly see the red one this time. Estrela finally knew why her parents had chosen the ugly tree. No. It was the most beautiful tree she’d ever seen.

Do you see? Even an ugly tree could look like a breathtaking vista of heavens! So do we shine, with all our flaws and fortes. A tree in the forest, a drop in the ocean, a human in mankind.
 

Liked the story? Please share it! 🙂 Please let us know your thoughts in the comments. Especially, where we can improve.

Man of Wisdom Tells Stories is a new story series. We’ll post an inspiring story every 2 weeks. New blog posts every Thursday and Sunday.

Connect with Man of Wisdom on  Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Mail us at admin[at]manofwisdom.net 

Till the next time, keep improving yourself, stay positive, see the joy around you, radiate happiness, stay emotionally resilient, take good care of yourself and keep trailing on your Untrailed Path.

If you think world is a bad place, then be better, don’t make it worse by being wicked

I hear it so frequently, I’m sometimes even warned: The world is a bad place, therefore you need to be bad too. 

People often use it to justify their morally grey, questionable actions.  They also use adages like Straight trees are cut first. And justify doing evil: So be crooked.

By following this, you don’t improve the world, you make it worse
Before going into ethics and morals, let’s consider a simple idea:
Consider a dirty, polluted lake. You go to this lake and argue that it’s very dirty and throw your garbage in it. Now answer: Did your throwing garbage in it cleaned the lake? Did it make the water clearer? Or did you spoil the lake further? And if you’d instead picked up a piece of trash and disposed it off properly, wouldn’t it have made the lake even a bit cleaner than before?

Do you get it? Same is with the world. If the world is a bad place, by being bad in it. you make the world worse. You are being part of the very problem you’re stating and basing your actions on.

Be Better – You Owe it to Yourself, Your Children and the Next Generation
“You are personally responsible for becoming more ethical than the society you grew up in.” ― Eliezer Yudkowsky

Stop blaming the world for your weak value system. It’s too easy to point at your parents, your hometown, your culture, your country, the society, the system – and say your actions are all influenced by them and you’re simply doing what they’ve taught you. It’s an excuse to avoid moral growth, take responsibility and at least partake in solving a problem you’re already admitting.

Free yourself from shackles of your upbringing. And remove the vestiges of morally dubious teachings. Don’t let the shortcomings of society limit you for life. You owe it to yourself to be the master of your actions and be morally better than the people and place you were born in.

Our Obligation to the Next Generation
“We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”

Consider that the world you’d help build and leave is the world inherited by your children and the next generation. If you leave a world where it’s ok to do bad by making excuses and if same sentiment is shared by many people, you folks set humanity to a progressive descent and an ultimate doom.

It never seems a little lie will bring the doom of the world but it ever so slightly slides the world on that path. But on the bright side, so does every little act of kindness and righteousness. Be mindful that every small act sets off ripples of consequences in motion, not all of them are direct & obvious.

Leave the world a bit better than you were born in.

“But people will take advantage of us”
“You can lie down for people to walk on you and they will still complain that you’re not flat enough.”
Among all righteous and virtuous aspects, being kind and helpful is criticized most; in regard of others taking advantage of us. It probably happens and I understand that being completely selfless is not possible and can be fatal.

This is why we need to set boundaries and communicate it to people what is acceptable and what is not. It can be difficult sometimes and we may overthink how others would feel but we can’t pour from an empty cup and we can’t let others walk all over us. We owe it to ourselves to take care of ourselves.

This said, the other aspects of being good don’t prevent you from following them anyway: being respectful, earnest, helpful and virtuous.

Finally, know that the world is becoming much better day by day
“The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades” – Timbuk3. heh

Poverty has reduced, crimes have reduced, healthcare is improving in different aspects – we’ve reduced child mortality, we’ve almost cured many diseases like polio, smallpox, we’ve increased life spans and decreased deaths due to many diseases. We’ve improved literacy and education’s reach. More people live in democracies than autocracies and tyrannies, people have more freedom. Racism, sexism and other biases are reducing. Cleaner energy is getting cheaper. [Sources: 1, 2]

All this didn’t happen magically. If everyone thought that the world is a bad place and then would choose to do a bad deed, then the world would not have seen such a tremendous positive transformation. You ought to stop deluding yourself and start improving your value system.

Final note by Epictetus to make you think more on being morally strong:
“Now is the time to get serious about living your ideals. How long can you afford to put off who you really want to be? Your nobler self cannot wait any longer. Put your principles into practice – now. Stop the excuses and the procrastination. This is your life! You aren’t a child anymore. The sooner you set yourself to your spiritual program, the happier you will be. The longer you wait, the more you’ll be vulnerable to mediocrity and feel filled with shame and regret, because you know you are capable of better. From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself. Separate yourself from the mob. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do – now.”
– Epictetus, Enchiridion.

What do you think? Please add your comments below. If you like the post, please share it.

Upcoming post this Sunday: A Tree in the Forest in Man of Wisdom tells Stories series.
New blog posts every Thursday and Sunday. Connect with Man of Wisdom on  Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Mail us at admin[at]manofwisdom.net 

Till the next time, keep improving yourself, stay positive, see the joy around you, radiate happiness, stay emotionally resilient, take good care of yourself and keep trailing on your Untrailed Path.

 

2018 Reading List and Reading Challenge – 70 Books, 2 books each week

 “Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”
-Charles William Eliot

For the past 2 years I’ve been making a reading list. 2017 reading list was a bit heavy with a lot of unrelated challenging categories. This year I’d focused more on books related to areas I want to focus on and have chosen relatively lighter reads than last year. I’ve either removed unknown and irrelevant areas or kept such books at minimum.

Reading Challenge
In 2018, I want to read 70 books, less than last year’s 100. I’ll begin this challenge from May 1st and about 35 weeks would be left in the year. Averaging about 2 books per week, something similar to last year.

How I Selected These Books?
I don’t want to read a book which would consume lot of time and without me gaining anything. So since March beginning I’ve been listing down areas I want to learn about and then going through reviews of and opinions on some of the best and well known books. I’ve also interacted with lot of people and asked what are their favorite books and which books had most impact on them.

The 4 Areas of Improvement for 2018:
For 2018 I’ve defined 4 areas I want to improve upon most, I call them the 4C’s for easy remembrance. They’re about being more: 1. Creative 2. Conscientious  3. Communicative & 4. Clutter-free. I’ve included books related to each of them in this list.

Priority of Books:
I missed some of the important books last year. To avoid that, I’ve added some must read shelves. The absolute must read shelves are: Writing, Death, Suicide, Depression & Mental Health, Cancer, Critical Thinking, Biology & Diseases, Psychology, Communication & Rhetoric and finally Ethics, Morality, Virtues and Humanity. These shelves will get priority over all other books.
Since I plan to write some fiction this year and I’ve been mostly reading non-fiction for the past 3 years or so, I’ve added 10 fiction books.

I’ve not kept any textbooks of areas I’m studying like last year; as I never read them cover to cover and often skip large parts. About 10 books in this list are from last year’s reading list that I’ve added to this list.

Reading Order and Categorization:
I wanted to group books by week and when I should be reading them. For that I wanted to label them on how large they are, so I’ve added a categorization and their length. I’ll post a rough week by week reading order post separately. Each book is categorized from Very Small to Medium to Very Large and is followed by number of pages:
(VS: < 100, S: < 200, M: < 350, L: < 500, VL: > 500)

I still need to add 3 books, so please suggest your favorite books!
The current Reading List has 67 books and I need 3 more. What are your favorite books? What is the most impactful book you’ve ever read?

Part I: Non-Fiction
A few years ago I’d realized I don’t read any non-fiction book. I decided to change that by reading 3 books in 2011 and achieved it. Since then I’ve been increasing the target from 1 book every month in 2013 to 1 book every week in 2016 to 2 books each week in 2017 and 2018. If you find reading challenging and want to start reading, start small and slowly increase. In no time you’d be reading a lot of books.

My areas of focus are related to my life goal: To Reduce Suffering in the World through the Project for Better World Without Diseases, Disasters and Despair. So For Despair/Man of Wisdom shelves are: Ethics et al, Philosophy, Psychology, Depression, Stoicisim etc. For Diseases shelves are: Cancer, Bio & Diseases. For Disasters: General Science. General Shelves: Biographies. Also some Personal shelves like Fitness, Writing, Communication and Business. Here’s the non-fiction list:

Writing (2)

  • On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft – Stephen King   (M, 320p)
  • The Elements of Style – William Strunk Jr. & E.B. White (VS, 105p)

Death (2)

  • How We Die: Reflections of Life’s Final Chapter – Sherwin B. Nuland (M, 278p)
  • Mortality – Christopher Hitchens (VS, 104p)

Psychology, Self-Development and Productivity (8)

  • Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience – Mihaly Csikszentmihaly (M, 303p)
  • Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha – Tara Brach (M, 333p)
  • On Dreams – Sigmund Freud, Montague David Eder (Translator) (VS, 64p)
  • The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide: How to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify Your Life – Francine Jay (M, 298p)
  • This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life – David Foster Wallace (S, 138p)
  • The Hero With a Thousand Faces – Joseph Campbell (L, 416p)
  • How to Live on 24 Hours a Day – Arnold Bennett (VS, 92p)
  • The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle (M, 229p)
  • Self Control – Its Kingship and Majesty – William George Jordan (S, 192p)

Suicide, Depression and Mental Illnesses (4)

  • The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression – Andrew Solomon (VL, 576p)
  • Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide – Kay Redfield Jamison (L, 432p)
  • November of the Soul: The Enigma of Suicide -George Howe Colt (VL, 640p)
  • Reasons to Stay Alive – Matt Haig (M, 266p)

Cancer (2)

  • The Death of Cancer: Why the War on Cancer Is Winnable and How We Can Get There – Elizabeth and Vincent DeVita (M, 336p)
  • The Truth in Small Doses: Why We’re Losing the War on Cancer and How to Win It – Clifton Leaf (VL, 512p)

Stoicisim and On Stoicism (3) 

  • The Discourses – Epictetus (L, 384p)
  • Musonius Rufus: Lectures and Sayings – Musonius Rufus (VS, 102p)
  • A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy – William B. Irvine (M, 326p)

Biographies and Mémoires (4)

  • The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank (M, 283p)
  • Leonardo da Vinci – Walter Isaacson (VL, 600p)
  • Twelve Against the Gods – William Bolitho (M, 316p)
  • Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World – Tracy Kidder (M, 333p)

Survival, Exploration and Adventure (4)

  • In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette – Hampton Sides (L, 454p)
  • Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival – Dean King (M, 351p)
  • Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage – Alfred Lansing (M, 282p)
  • Adrift: 76 Days Lost At Sea – Steven Callahan (M, 344p)

    Applied Ethics, Morality, Virtues and Humanity (4)
  • The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty – Peter Singer (M, 224p)
  • The better Angels of Our Nature – Steven Pinkman (VL, 806p)
  • Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? – Michael J. Sandel (M, 308p)
  • After Virtue: A study in Moral Theory – Alasdair MacIntyre (M, 304p)

General Science (2)

  • Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming – Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway (M, 357p )
  • Scale: The Search for Simplicity and Unity in the Complexity of Life, from Cells to Cities, Companies to Ecosystems, Milliseconds to Millennia – Geoffrey West (L, 481p)

Popular Space Science (2)

  • Astrophysics for People in a Hurry – Neil deGrasse Tyson (M ,222p)
  • An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth – Chris Hadfield (M, 295p)

Challenging, Hard to Read (1)

  • Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland – Christopher R. Browning (M, 271p)

Communication and Rhetoric (2)

  • The Elements of Rhetoric: How to Write and Speak Clearly and Persuasively – Ryan N.S. Topping (??)
  • How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships – Leil Lowndes (m, 345p)

Critical Thinking (3)

  • An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments – Ali Almossawi and Alejandro Giraldo (VS, 56p)
  • Logically Fallacious – Bo Bennett (M, 248p)
  • How to Lie with Statistics – Darrell Huff (S, 142p)

Philosophy and Spirituality (7)

  • Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind – Shunryu Suzuki (S, 138p) 
  • The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus: A Roman Slave – Publilius Syrus, Darius Lyman Jr. (Translator) (VS, 92p)
  • The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World’s Greatest Philosophers – Will Durant (VL, 704p)
  • The Dhammapada (S, 114p)
  • Be Here Now – Ram Dass (L, 416p)
  • The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays – Albert Camus, Justin O’Brien (Translator) (M, 212p)
  • Brahma Sūtras – Badarayana (S, 192p)

Fitness (1)

  • Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance – Alex Hutchinson (M, 320p)

Biology and Diseases (4)

  • House on Fire: The Fight to Eradicate Smallpox – William H. Foege (M, 240p)
  • The Making of a Tropical Disease: A Short History of Malaria – Randall M. Packard (M, 320p)
  • Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights and the New War on the Poor – Paul Farmer (L, 438p)
  • Illness as Metaphor – Susan Sontag (VS, 96p)

Business, Finance and Economics (2)

  • The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World – Niall Ferguson (L, 442p)
  • Business Adventures – John Brooks (L, 408p)

Part II: Fiction (10)
I’ve decided to read fiction books this year. This is mostly based on recommendations, seemingly interesting premises and/or very high reviews. I only included standalone books which aren’t part of any series. The fiction books list:

  • Silmarillon – J.R.R. Tolkien (M, 333p)
  • Kingdom Come (#1-4) – Mark Waid & Alex Ross (M, 231p)
  • The Book Thief – Markus Zusak (VL, 584p)
  • Fahrenhite-451 – Ray Bradbury (S, 175p)
  • The Moon is a Harsh Mistress – Robert A. Heinlein (M, 288p)
  • 2BR02B – Kurt Vonnegut (VVS, 15p)
  • Siddhartha – Hermann Hesse (S, 152p)
  • Pollyanna – Eleanor H. Porter (M, 304p)
  • A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini (L, 367p)
  • A Brave New World -Aldous Huxley (M, 288p)
  • Daytripper – Fábio Moon, Gabriel Bá (M, 256p) – Already Read 

Part Rereads (Favorite books that I go back to again and again)

  • Bhagvadgita – Original translation (without commentary) 
  • The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer – Siddhartha Mukherjee
  • Meditations – Marcus Aurelius
  • Letters from a Stoic – Seneca
  • Enchiridion – Epictetus 
  • War of Art – Steven Pressfield 

    “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”  – Dr. Seuss

    What are your favorite books? Which books would you suggest me to read? Share in the comments!

    New blog posts every Thursday and Sunday. Connect with Man of Wisdom on  Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Mail us at admin[at]manofwisdom.net 

    Till the next time, keep improving yourself, stay positive, see the joy around you, radiate happiness, stay emotionally resilient, take good care of yourself and keep trailing on your Untrailed Path.

The Bird and the Mountain – Man of Wisdom Tells Stories Part 1

[Image courtesy: BBC Planet Earth]



The crane’s last wound had almost healed now. It left a long scar on her belly. Now she was ready to fly and make an attempt one more time. Like she had done over a hundred times now.

She was an obstinate bird who had refused to give up on her flight despite consistent failures. Her body was covered in scars and wounds. She’d hit the mountains far too many times, her wings were tattered by going against storms and turbulence again and again. Her body had weakened for there is hardly any food in the frozen mountains. She was a water bird that used to eat fishes, now she could get only insects, seeds, acorns and sometimes rats, if she’s really lucky.

It’d been 6 months since she was separated from her flock. She remembered that day clearly: It was her first migration. She was hungry and tired from flying nonstop for days. The cold of Himalayas was unbearable. It was sickening. She was falling behind her flock and it seemed she’d either turn around, hunted by birds of prey or simply fall down of pure exhaustion.
 
And then she caught a glimpse. She had seen nothing so magnificent, ravishing, otherworldly. She felt the mere sight had cleansed her tardiness.
 
She’d never seen anything so tall. The mountain peak seemed to go beyond the heavens. Covered in snow it glowed like a blinding silver pillar or was it golden, under sunlight?
 
All the birds in the flock took a steep turn and avoided that mountain, which was engulfed in a storm. But she continued, as if mesmerized by its mortifying beauty. She flew straight towards the mountain, hoping to fly over it. She couldn’t even reach half of its height nor anywhere near it. The storm stopped her midway, she couldn’t fly one inch forward and then once she lost her endurance to keep flapping her wings, she was thrown straight to her death or so the flock thought, who’d finally sped up and continued their journey.
 
She fell straight through a pine tree, onto the ground which was luckily covered with fresh, thick snow. She’d survived with a broken wing and numerous thorns on her body. She somehow managed to drag herself to a crevice. Surviving on moss, fern, leaves, twigs and on some lucky days: buried insects. Once healed, she moved to low altitude, not-so-cold mountains. There she found a cave, probably abandoned by some other animal. She had found warmer caves, but she chose this because from its edge she could take a peek at the peak of that mountain., She’d decided that she’s going to fly over it, no matter what. She spent weeks collecting twigs and dried grass to make the cave warmer as well as collecting and storing some food . So she could spend her days focusing on improving her flight than hunting for food. This was her new home for the foreseeable future as she continued to practice.

She’d begun with low flights, learning how to take steep turns, conditioning  her body for cold wind and regulating her speed. When going at higher altitudes, she slowly grew accustomed to low oxygen but faired poorly against the turbulence and stormy winds, which she could never get through. She’d return to her cave with new wounds.

It’d been months since she’d seen anyone of her kind. Yet she could see the mountain from her cave. She shared her loneliness with it, her companion in solitude. Whenever she felt lonely, she’d steal a glimpse of the peak and would feel better.
 
Each time going out of the cave took great courage. The winds were precarious and flying over Himalayas, even the lowest mountains is perilous. The height is too great, the temperature too cold and the winds too strong. The turbulence and storms stand like an invisible barrier, sometimes even over the mountains – as if the mountains weren’t high enough! She’d wait for weeks for good weather to practice.
 
But good weather was rare. Frequent hail and snowing had made her feathers coarse and brittle. She’d lose lot of feathers in her flights against strong winds. This made flying even more challenging. The cold was often overwhelming and no matter how much dried grass she’d cover herself with, she still shivered. Sunlight reflected from snow covered mountains were blinding and her eyesight had weakened over time. There was lack of oxygen at such heights and she’d try to breathe in as much chilly air as she could, feeling the sting inside-out. 

But she’d look at the frozen mountain and strangely, it’d warm her heart. Under sunlight the snow glistened on the mountain, it felt like a golden river was flowing down. It was the most gorgeous sight she’d ever seen. She wanted to come close to it, to fly over it, to touch it, even once, even if it meant death…
 

She’d made the attempts too many times, always aiming for the peak. But Everest is no joke, as she realized after dozens and dozens of flights and falls. But she always made the attempt one more time. Her mind was occupied monomaniacally to cross over the mountain that challenged her spirit.
 
After weeks of waiting, she found the weather was comparatively clearer. She left her cave and began her flight. She was still miles from the mountain and harsh winds broke her ascent. Her flight was no longer smooth, there was a hailstorm ahead, she’d to turn back. Else one hit and she could be dead. Dejected, she began her descent.

As if the storm wasn’t enough, on her way back, she saw a shadow passing over her. She turned upside down and saw him: his wings were large and broad, they seemed to cover the sun. She’d seen eagles attacking birds earlier, but to see an eagle up close was daunting. She dived down, she’d to get to her cave. Its opening was not large enough for the eagle to enter but the cave was deep enough for her to stay out of reach. Then she saw her imminent death: there was another eagle beneath her. Himalayan eagles hunted in pairs. Perhaps their nest was close by or may be it was miles away. It didn’t matter. Neither height nor distance is a big hurdle for an eagle.
 

The eagle hovering above her took a deep dive. Bolting down like a spear sent from hell. His wings cutting through the wind, like a bullet aimed straight at her. He was getting closer and closer to her. His flight was so majestic, so intense yet so graceful; for a second she forgot she is his prey. He was almost at her height now. She tried to fly rapidly up and down, in waves – quickly changing her altitude and taking sharp turns but he followed the exact course, locked onto her like a torpedo. She could hear his wings fluttering. Too close, too close, she thought. She was completely exhausted, she could no longer continue. She felt the talons on her back, her feathers torn, blood spurted. It was painful. The claws grasped around her neck and the eagle flew up. She writhed in pain. He was flying up, going for his nest. He carried her as if she was weightless. His strength was terrifying.

As they emerged from the shadow of a small mountain, she saw it: Everest covered in sunlight. She still hadn’t flown over it, not even touched it! She couldn’t die here. She must escape. She had to try. She curled herself into a ball. Her wings inflated like a parachute, resisting the wind. Everything about eagles was aerodynamic. Having a parachute like resistance suddenly slowed the flight. Startling and greatly taxing the eagle. His grip loosened. The exerting eagle due to his insane momentum flew straight ahead like a missile, while she fell down like a stone. She’d evaded the first eagle. He was too far to follow and must have hoped her mate below would make the kill.

She opened her wings to stop the fall, trying to glide towards the mountains. She could see the female eagle below her, who was laser focused on her, following her every move. Was this the end? The mountain image was fresh in her head, she decided to give it her all. In her dozens of unsuccessful attempts, she had learned a lot about diving and falling. When you fall from 23000 feet, you are freely falling in gravity and can do lot of risky acrobatics in air before you’re endangered by gravity. She slanted her legs backwards, stretched her neck outward and began spinning herself forward. Thanks to her sharp beak and her serrated claws, she struck the eagle like a shuriken. Her beaks and claws dug through the eagles body, tearing its head apart.

The hunter was hunted. The crane had never enjoyed such a nourishing meal. Snow is a great preserver and the meat lasted almost a month for her. 

This encounter taught her a lot. She realized she needs to build strength. She must nourish her body. She also needs to understand and feel the wind flow better and utilize it as much as she can. She could learn a lot from the way eagles flew. She was still in awe of the dive, the strength, the effortless fly and the focus of the eagles. They were master aviators, truly apex predator of the skies. And that was because of the way they utilized the wind to fly and their bodies.
 
Sadly a crane’s body is not that aerodynamic friendly. Their bodies are more suited for warmer climate near the water bodies, closer to the ground. So she’d to make the best of what she had. She spent almost three months strengthening herself and learning to fly like an eagle. She was ready for the final flight.
 
Everest was enveloped in a thick, blinding hailstorm. As if the storm was its guardian that must be dueled, a trial that must be triumphed. She wasn’t strong enough to soar to its peak in this tornado. So she decided to use the storm to her advantage; same storm that had nearly killed her numerous times. The main obstacle was getting inside the hailstorm. The outer winds are strong and impenetrable and random flying and falling ice rocks could kill her.
 
Wind and snow can be thick, but she was  a water bird. She would regularly jump in an opposing current to catch fish. She could dive through the hailstorm, she just had to get through the outermost turbulence layer.
 
Remembering the eagle’s dive and how she herself would jump in streams, once she got close to the hailstorm she closed her wings, straightened her body and used her momentum to get through the turbulence, penetrating it like a drill. Now she was inside the storm, but in the opposite direction of the wind. She could barely last a second. She instantly turned completely around to align with the wind direction and opened her wings slightly. She was riding the storm wind. She slanted herself slightly vertically and the wind was taking her up. Balls of snow and garbage left by human mountaineers was flying randomly throughout. She’d to dodge continuously. One hit and she’d lose control over flight and would be killed. Hailstones even larger than her were floating randomly. Her eyes had teared up due to piercing cold wind and the moisture was frozen and crystallized. She was essentially blind in the blizzard. She folded her neck and used her wings to break the ice on her eyes. But this ruined her control, she got strayed in the wind. A sharp ice stone pierced her still crystalized left eye. Her white head became red with the blood, which instantly froze. She couldn’t possibly fly with a blinded eye. She was going to fall to her death at the footsteps of Everest. With her one good eye she could see the summit, after all she was flying over its base. She’d never been so close. Oh this damn mountain! What all she’s already gone through for it?! The mountain glittered in the sunshine, this time it didn’t feel heartwarming. This time the bird found it annoying as if the mountain was mockingly, triumphantly smiling on his invincibility. There’s no way in hell this piece of tall rock would stop her now.

She inflated her wings to increase the drag and cease the fall. Then facing upwards, she aligned herself to the direction of the wind. Gliding was not going to cut it. She used all her strength, beating her wings to raise her height. She had never flew so fast, rising hundreds of meters in mere moments but to her it felt like eternity. She was sapped of her strength, her vitality and maybe even her hope. As if fortune smiled on her, soon enough she saw  the peak. Within moments she was close to it and then at same height. Then finally flying over it.

She took a sharp dive and her feet touched the peak. She landed there. She felt rapture. Hundreds of fall, dozens of wounds, hungry nights, no air to breathe, unbearable cold and even losing an eye – all was worth it. She felt a strange warmth over one of the coldest places on the planet.

But it didn’t last. The mountain was unforgivable. Its guardian storm had intensified, as if unable to digest that its impregnable walls of hailstorms were breached by a mere bird. So it gathered all its forces to bury it right there and remove all evidence it happened. She couldn’t stay there for too long or she’d be frozen dead. She ran over the peak and jumped, in descent she’d to just cut through the wind and then ride it like an eagle. She was out of the storm. She looked back one last time. That glorious golden mountain. Their affair was now over. She faced forward never to look back.

After some hours time, over the horizon she could see the greenery. Warm weather, big fishes, soothing baths and green surroundings, oh how much she’d missed it! 

She was the first bird to migrate this year, a month before any bird. She was also the first bird foolish enough to migrate over Himalayas at peak winter through raging storms. First to migrate solo, without even one companion. And of course, the first bird to ever fly over Everest, the tallest mountain in the world. But she was blissfully unaware of it as she lay into warm water after munching on belly full of fishes.

The humans called Everest “The mountain no bird can fly over”, they had no idea.

 
It was outworldly, that in an icy wasteland a bird could find warmth in a frozen mountain. And she could share her loneliness with it.

Liked the story? Please share it! 
Man of Wisdom Tells Stories is a new story series. We’ll post an inspiring story every 2 weeks on Tuesdays. New blog posts every Thursday and Sunday.

Connect with Man of Wisdom on  Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Mail us at admin[at]manofwisdom.net 

Till the next time, keep improving yourself, stay positive, see the joy around you, radiate happiness, stay emotionally resilient, take good care of yourself and keep trailing on your Untrailed Path.