2016 NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS

jan 1, 2016

HAPPY 2016!!! I hope everyone had a memorable NYE with their loved ones. As for me? It was a chill night in with a few of our close friends. You know you’re old when you can barely stay up past midnight for the countdown. Haha!

So let’s talk about what everyone is talking about today… RESOLUTIONS! I’ve had a love/hate relationship with goals until I read the book “The Magic Lamp” a while ago. I’m not a big self-help book reader, but this book is different. I highly recommend that everyone gives this book a try because it really helps you set goals and achieve them in the most practical and strategic way possible. Now… I’m not writing this post to teach you all HOW to achieve your goals, but instead I wanted to share with you what my 2016 goals are. Usually when I set goals like this I keep them to myself, but this year I wanted to publicly talk about them, so 1) you guys can keep my accountable and 2) it will be great to look back on this post at the end of the year.

So here are 5 Goals/ Resolutions of 2016:

1. Become More Active in my Community

Maybe it’s because I put so much of my life out on social media that I prefer to be alone in my own little bubble if I had the option. I usually shy away from meeting new people and building new relationships, but after marriage & relocation to seattle I have realized the importance of community- to support, serve, and connect.

2. Read at Least 1 Book a Month

I used to be a big reader, but after social media took over my life reading has become all but obsolete to me. Being able to lose myself in a good read not only stimulates the mind, but it’s healthy for the soul. It allows me to dream, imagine, and be creative.

3. Learn to Cook

I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again: I really want to learn how to cook different cuisines . Especially now that I’m in U.S, I’m so much more aware and careful of the things that I put into my body. Being able to cook from home is not only economical but is so much healthier for everyone in the family. Health is wealth!

4. Run 2 Times a Week

This is not for a weight loss goal but more so for my mental sanity. It’s when I run that I feel the most inspired. Something about running releases a mental block for me, and allows me to think beyond what I usually do. Some of my best ideas have come to me while I was running! Whether it be on a treadmill, around the block, or on a track I need to get back into the habit of running at least 2 times a week.

5. Put a Cap on my Work Day

I love what I do and I work around the clock, but I want to be present for my husband 100% when I get home. Shutting off e-mails and social media once I get home.

So those are my 5 New Year Resolutions! I’m excited and nervous to get started on them TODAY! Remember: goals are achieved by doing something about them everyday…it’s not an overnight thing! Now that I’ve shared my goals, I would love to hear yours! Let’s keep each other accountable this year. 2016… #wegotthis

XOXO

Neetu Yadav

Rig veda being pragmatic.

Vedic civilization created its scriptural knowledge in rational world. Rigveda discussed everything including origin of universe and origin of Gods and made questions wherever required and noted down uncertainty and possibility where knowledge might go wrong. 129th hymn of the 10th Mandala of the Rigveda (10:129) is concerned with cosmology and the origin of the universe. The Nasadiya Sukta  also known as the Hymn of Creation. 

को अद्धा वेद क इह प्र वोचत्कुत आजाता कुत इयं विसृष्टिः ।
अर्वाग्देवा अस्य विसर्जनेनाथा को वेद यत आबभूव ॥६॥

But, after all, who knows, and who can say
Whence it all came, and how creation happened?
the gods themselves are later than creation,
so who knows truly whence it has arisen?

इयं विसृष्टिर्यत आबभूव यदि वा दधे यदि वा न ।
यो अस्याध्यक्षः परमे व्योमन्त्सो अङ्ग वेद यदि वा न वेद ॥७॥

Whence all creation had its origin,
he, whether he fashioned it or whether he did not,
he, who surveys it all from highest heaven,
he knows - or maybe even he does not know.

Life After Death

There are many rumour/stories of people recalling their previous birth, and I am not talking about that weird TV show. Usually these stories are propagated by word of mouth after a lot of masala-mixing. The closest I have got to is my father telling me about a small girl. He was at some relatives' house where a child girl remembered her previous birth. The relatives went to the said location/family and to their shock, all of the description from the girl corresponded, including the nature of her previous death. Worried parents made all efforts to make the girl forget her past and were successful. She is happily married now.

If the story told by the girl's relatives to my father was true, there was no way such a girl could tell exact description of a house in a far-off place at such small age without having ever visited the place. Then rebirth was truth. And this one truth is enough to confirm religion-based answers to the many unanswered questions the universe poses to science. It would be immense pleasure for me (or anyone) to confirm such rumours.

The Uncertainity Theory

Most of us are familiar with Heisenberg's Uncertainty principle. This is not related to it. It is something philosophical. I and my brother Anuj have debated and discussed these things over the years. Yes, that includes lot of phone bills and scoldings from mom for fighting. Finally we are almost in unison.

It began with the usual questions like "Why are we here?" "What is it all about?" "Does God exists?". And then I uttered this line: Everyone in this world is confused. It was me, the laziest-of-all and confused girl, slamming the whole world to be like him. No one would believe it and at first not even my brother. Then later one day my brother called. He blamed me for having incepted this weird theory into him that caught up his life and general thought process. I knew I was at fault and since this could not be undone, I have decided to now fill this idea in all of you. I firmly believe that an individual human with limited years on the crust of planet earth and a limited cognitive capacity can never unravel the uncertainty that surrounds us.

Coming to the concepts. There are two popular paths to seeking answers- Science(based on pure logic) and Religion (based on logic after you have assumed the root illogically). Now we have two choices, either believe the religions (which one of the religions is another question) or find out for ourselves by experimentation. Since most people do not have the desire or luxury to become a physicist, they choose to be confused or religious. The religious ones fake it till they make it, the confused ones die with a blot, while the science guys refuse to accept that we can never understand the absolute theory. Yes, I am an agnostic atheist.

I say the nature of reality+meaning of consciousness+existence of god etc (or the truth) is something we yet do not know or can possibly never know. It is unknown to us, but it is certain, solid, a fixed set of logics. We may never know it, but it is only one set of knowledge. Anuj however says that the truth is not something that is certain or single set of information. He says that its nature is also uncertain. He means to say that we can never know the truth because of the fact that the truth is intrinsically uncertain. It cannot be accurately found out ever. And I agree with all of you who are saying that my brother is far too pessimistic than even me. In order to stump him I asked "How can you be SURE that the truth is uncertain?" And he retorts "I am not sure. It is uncertain whether the truth is uncertain."