On Introductions I've generally realised and come to terms with the fact that my reaction times suck. That is to say, if you took a shot at me, I'd not know what to come back with immediately. Much like George in S8E13 - The Comeback, I'd have a comeback a while later in a rather very unhelpful way. But the problem spans beyond comebacks. I am a thinker by nature....
Right vs Wrong Its the quintessential philosophical battle. What is right and what is wrong? I am not sufficiently philosophical to attempt to answer that question. But I have, for a while, believed that there isn't anything right or wrong. These are just social constructs made up by societies to ensure their own peace. Which is to say, anything that is wrong isn't necessarily universally wrong - it is wrong in that context....
I keep reading about how India is really moving up the ease of business list. That's nice to read but it doesn't seem to translate very well to common people like me, though. As a citizen of the country, it should be relatively simple for me to setup a company there. Even as a non-resident, it should be simple. Am non resident, but my passport is still Indian. So that is my home, irrespective of anything....
So I am an entrepreneur now. And I turned 41 last week. Despite all this, the year has been extremely eventful. We took two vacations, I attended two conferences; presented in one, my wife found a good position that challenges her and gives her the space to grow, my son completed a year learning to play the drums, finished level 1 of swimming. Not all was bright though: I got covid twice this year; my immunity seems to be in a terrible place, i've been dealing with a variety of stuff with my body - results of not taking enough time to exercise in my twenties are showing now....
Success is an elusive metric. What does it mean to succeed? I've pondered over this question a few times. I avoid reading this stuff up, though. So whatever follows here on are my own thoughts. Some influenced me, but mainly as they occurred in my head. They must be naive, for most of you. What is Success? According to a dictionary, Success is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose....
Rest In Peace Manoj. I will miss you. I keep thinking I should have made some time to meet you - either here in Singapore or back home in Chennai. I think we met in the second year. And I don't think we hit it off all that much, though. We became friends much later, though, if I recollect right. I knew you wanted to be a pilot back then....
So I quit my job. And have decided not to search the market to get back into a grind. And thankfully, the wife can keep her job and become the "breadwinner" of the family. That's a relief - to not have to worry about food on the table and the bills. I wanted to be running my own business back when I was in high school - circa 1998. I didn't even know "entrepreneurship" as a term....
2022 was a lot of ups and downs. Its the year we traveled to meet our families after 2 years of lockdowns and restrictions. Its also the year we got vaccinated for COVID. And still got COVID anyway. Its the year I spent learning ROS. Its the year I almost shipped my side-project. Almost. Its also the year we decided that our impermanence in life is probably a good thing....
Earlier this year, we all got our booster doses and were eligible for traveling. And the situation also seemed to ease a bit after the initial Omicron wave here in S'pore and in India as well. So we took a quick 2-week trip to Chennai in March. Flights were empty, airports were empty and the whole experience was so chilled out. Am getting ahead of myself. Let me just look at how the year has fared so far....
2021 was not the best year I've been through, going by how tough things got for me - personally and professionally. But it is highly likely that this is the year that taught me the most about every aspect of myself, my life, my aspirations and motivations. Instead of pouring over everything that went wrong, am just going to reflect on the learnings and see what I can do better for the next year....