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A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,300 times in 2015. If it were a cable car, it would take about 22 trips to carry that many people.

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To walk life with  emotional, mental and physical baggage is always difficult. The way it weighs you down whilst you act in your day to day life and the way it troubles your sleep at night becomes a difficult challenge to overcome. To accept and tune into your actions is a way of dealing with these problems but at the end of the day baggage is real and everyone has their own. In the end it is always easier if you have someone to help you carry it, and that relationship you build is tested by it, but once you can trust a person to handle everything else that comes with you, you know that life is going to get much easier.

I found that focusing myself on the remedial things is what actually helps in terms of physical proactivity. The emotions that waver in an out are usually a result of you dwelling and stopping for too long and thinking too much. Diverting your focus on other things, especially tasks that test you physically and mentally are the go to especially when your dealing with your baggage by yourself. Sometimes all it takes is something as simple as preparing a meal or reading a book to help you forget and sometimes deal with whatever is bogging you down. I guess thats why a lot of people focus on work and the gym when they go through tough periods in their lives. For me its always been my writing. Many of you may know but many may not (and by many I mean the few that will actually read this), that writing helps me form thoughts and feelings and allows me to deal with my own problems. But the one thing that I have noticed is the freedom it gives me. I can express what I want, when I want to. And even though it may seem cliche’, that sense of being untangled and unburdened usually comes from some sort of activity or train of thought. I experience freedom everyday when I workout and every other day when I write one of these.

The baggage that I have to deal with is dense and acidic. It bothers me to my core and if I don’t deal with it I flip out and end up getting myself hurt, because it is real, as  it is for everyone else. But the simple strokes of movement that are able to take you away are what keeps the mind in tact and free.Some sort of movement is necessary and finding what puts you at ease can sometimes be the difference between surviving or succumbing to your troubles. To walk in freedom of movement is to achieve freedom in the mind and it in turn allows you to focus on victory and then as a result you are able to reap the benefits.

 

 

Spending time away from my life, even it is only as far as 3 hours away, always makes a difference. The  space from the every day hustle and grind that tires you out day by day keeps you sane when you get back into it. To be honest my time away has made me realise the important nature of having time to yourself and to those that matter. Its the odd things that open your eyes to whats important. Something as little as a walk up to a lookout that has an amazing view, to taking a stroll along the beach can make you realise how the simple things in life can be so relatable and how they can teach you so much in such intricate ways.

For example, the tiring walk up the summit of Tomaree was tough. I couldn’t tell you how many times I questioned whether the view that everyone kept bragging about was going to be worth it or not. The walk itself was tough as shit, climbing through bush, and whilst there was a pathway, it became riddled with dirt, rocks and a steep incline that made me contemplate giving up because I was not bothered at all. But when I got to the top it was a different story. The view was awesome, and worth every drop of sweat and step that it took to get to. Thats kind of how life works doesn’t it?  The path is shit and hard but the endgame, if you just push forward and make sure that you don’t give up,  ends with  you being left with an amazing product that you can admire and cherish for a long time.

I thought I learnt a lot from that, but what got me right in the feels was the walk back from the beach to the car. I love the beach, the sand, waves and the sun. Leaving it after a long day is always a shame, especially one as gorgeous as the one we went to. Not only was it secluded and quiet, but the water was amazing and I could literally sleep there for an age. But the trek back got to me. The pathway was wooden and covered in sand. It was hard and ranged from a warm to a hot after being beaten down on by the sun for a whole day, and the soft patches of sand that I hit every now and then was a nice break from the hard wood of the path. I walked it by myself and quietly, without much disturbance, serenaded by the noises of a late summer afternoon, including an array of different wildlife.

The thing is that despite the plain and loneliness of it all, the walk back seemed a lot like my life to date. The hard mixture of rough and smoothness in the texture of the wood was like the walk that we all take, that in everyday life, all things are hard and sometimes difficult, they present a different level of ease in each situation but despite this you continue to walk on. The sand was the best part. Each patch  was all the personal interactions, all the emotions and inner thoughts, whether that be love or anger,  and reminded me of all the people who made the personal connection in your life. You see sand itself can be good and bad, it can be irritating and invasive but it can cause comforts and warmth. Those people in your life who you love or mean that much to you, they maybe difficult, they may be irritating, but if they care, if they do give a shit, they will always be there, despite everything, and its up to you to accept it or not.

I needed a break, from everything. The last couple of weeks have been some of the most difficult I’ve experienced in a long time. The thing is this getaway wasn’t something that caused distance between me and the life I was living before, instead, through the small things, it allowed me to realise how you have to push through the bad to get the good, even though it might not be for long, the trek is always worth it and the view is always spectacular, especially with the people you love.

 

We are all  afraid of something. The worst thing is never being able to admit what your afraid of. We all want to be fearless, to be able to step into any situation and not care, but at the end of the day all we have is our insecurities because you can never cease to be scared of anything in life.  For me, the ability to be afraid only means that there is a means and an opportunity to accomplish and overcome something in life. And thats all life is, a series of obstacles that get in our way. To pretend that you are not afraid is not strength, rather its only lying to everyone else and pretending that your not human. To be clear, fear is not always something physical. Sometimes the fear of commitment, of emotional and mental  stress or ache is what can truly get at us.

You see, I am always afraid. The constant influx of terrible situations that I have been left with to put everything back together afterwards is too high. But the reality is that despite all of these things the only way I and anyone else can get through it is to stay strong and just keep going. Whether that pleases the masses or not, you have to be you, and that means admitting where you are most vulnerable, if not to anyone but yourself. Being self aware of who and what you can be, despite what has and is likely to come your way is what is important. Not only to yourself but to everyone else around you. Letting someone or something drag you down and constantly put you in a place where you cannot thrive can be toxic, but being aware that you have the ability and you are willing to overcome whats ahead, including your fears is a reason to get up in the morning.

Fear allows us to truly live, because it is who we are.  We are not only defined by what we can do, but also what we can’t, and thats ok, as long as we make the right decisions by them. You can live your life being afraid of flying, of going onto a plane. But if you crave the world around you, if you want to explore different countries and cultures, it is up to you to make that decision to either overcome whats holding you back or sit at home wandering what could’ve been. The decision is yours.

All the times i’ve been fucked up by anything that life tends to throw my way, in the aftermath I have felt glad that I was able to at least be afraid of whatever it was. To live in a complete state of numbness is to live alone and void of emotion. At least the hard times made me appreciate the good times and it should do the same for everyone else. Regardless of what others may think, to have fear and to harness it is to be truly fearless, to accept our fears and try our best to live by them, that is the human experience.

You go through your ups and downs, life hits you hard and sometimes you fall harder than the last time. Sometimes you just don’t feel like getting back up. The constant push and shove of our day to day lives are a reminder that we are more resilient than we were yesterday, but sometimes the feeling of giving up is what ultimately settles in the back of our minds. So how do you end up picking yourself up, dusting yourself off and moving forward? As simple as it sounds the foundation for any reformation of any person comes down to these simple things. Confidence, Power, Persistence, Patience and Happiness. Because regardless of what gets thrown at you, whether its the major catastrophes that life moves our way or the little speed bumps that can derail you from your path there is always a way to get back on your feet.

Having Confidence is the main reason someone like me always ends up screwing something over. Whether its personal or professional, my lack of self assurance is a trip and a fall into failing to pick myself back up from anything. The thing is, confidence does not come easy but making sure that you add value to the world is vital. Sometimes we feel worthless but in some form or another we do do things that help people, and if not, we have a responsibility to do so. Being able to look at yourself, and believing in what you have and can achieve is the most important thing in trying to go somewhere. You can be unsure, and that is fine. Being scared and anxious are natural things that are apart of the human experience, but being able to move past that, to be able to get up and say that you can, regardless of whether you will or wont gives you something that a lot of people see and recognise…thats faith in yourself.

Power isn’t what you think it is. Its not your ability to control the masses, its your ability to control yourself, to be able to encourage and inspire. Too often do I hear that a person has power in a relationship or in any other aspect of life. The truth is that that person only has power if they and everyone else believes so. You don’t need to control and assign everything to your pleasure to be seen as powerful. A powerful person is someone who defies what people think they can do and be’s true to themselves, no matter what the cost. That is power recognised. The ultimate feeling of having control over who you are physically, mentally and emotionally are what drives you to be able to walk around your day to day life and not give a shit what some judgemental dick says. Because recognising who you are and knowing what you can do is real power, and what you do with it makes it either genuine or not.

Persistence supersedes talent, luck and genetics, there can be no true success without it. All it takes is for you to make sure that you do get up and you do try again. The world is harsh and unfair but it can also be a beautiful place, and it is up to you to either fix whats wrong and become whats good or allow yourself to discover that no matter what happens, in the end your going to be ok, so long as you work hard. My constant battle with body image problems stemmed from years of never being able to compete with those who were naturally better than me at everything I wanted to be good at. In the end I decided to just give up, and I regret it to this very day. You see it doesn’t matter if even talent works hard, you will be recognised for the work you put in to make yourself better. It may not be today or tomorrow but someone out there will notice how much effort you put in. For two years I trained hard, day in and day out without fail and in recent times people have recognised me grow, not only physically but as a person in general. They recognised the changes I made to be bigger, faster, stronger and above all else, better.

Knowing how far you can go in the time that you have can sometimes be the biggest let down. Sometimes what you can do isn’t going to get to where you want to go in the shortest possible time, and thats ok. For some, this shit is easy but for others, knowing that something isn’t going to change over night is the most important thing in working hard. In todays day and age things do happen quicker, but in some circumstances all it takes is patience. Dedicating time and effort into your craft will produce the end goal and what needs to be recognised is that thats all it takes. Time, effort and patience are necessary, so that you will be able to realise that goals, for most, don’t happen overnight.

And finally happiness. Being happy is something that is often mistaken for things like satisfaction and content. But being happy with where you are and more importantly who you are, are what drives you to always want to be better. And yes, you will not always be happy, life’s twists and turns run us through a variety of emotions that can leave you confused and scared but just because you feel that its too difficult to attain, doesn’t mean that you should give up on your own happiness. Because bouncing back and being resilient means that we’re all on that pursuit of happiness, that we all want to achieve our goals and be happy with where we are at, who we are with and who we are in that moment. Looking at yourself now and realising that you feel better than how you were before, because you tried, is what lifts you out of that pit of despair that you once were left in and makes you realise that your happiness is always a priority, and being happy with how far you’ve come is the reason why you keep on going.

Because despite what people may think, you can always get back up and do your thing. All you have to do is stick your middle finger up at the haters and say a big “fuck you”, because whether other people  believe in you doesn’t really matter, as long as you believe in yourself.

I have been encouraged to open up on many occasions. The truth is I choose not to. And when I do its to people that I feel most comfortable with anyway. It’s a sad moment when you realise that trust is something that does not come as easily as you once knew. Instead of talking to people, I used to have a multitude of vices that took care of my deepest troubles. Drinking, drugs and exerting my body to physical pressure became a deadly mix that threw me off course. And yet I still maintain one concept in my life that every man needs in theirs. That a Vice is necessary.

For many its smoking, drinking, sex, drugs or any other form of habit that can ultimately kill you. For me its training. I find solitude in the gym. Call me a wannabe or a meat head but it is truth. There are so many annoying stresses that you encounter in your day to day life, that linger the back of your mind. In most cases you need something to get rid of it, to free yourself from the burden. Now I’m not saying that whatever we do is healthy, in fact a lifetime of witnessing strong people in my life victim themselves to whatever vice they choose makes me believe that it could quite possibly kill you. My point is this. Sometimes to escape the most intense situations in life, you need to do something bad. Thats were drugs and alcohol are justified. Thats why I choose not to judge anyone who decides to do either.

I come from a family who love their drinks. Scotch and wine bottles are stored in quantity in our kitchen and yet for those moments my dad drinks his wine or my brother has a glass of something I don’t say too much because I understand that life takes its toll. I chose a different path. I chose to physically tear myself down and start from scratch. Either way your digging deep to whatever the hell your mother gave you or trying to poison whatever is killing you from the inside. Being physical seemed like the easiest option. When you gain strength that your body can handle you forget that in the real world you aren’t as weak as you may think. I now know that the next guy probably wont be able to handle me, because I chose to let something that could potentially destroy me make me into something that can do things. Thoughts become things and using your every tool available will get you to where you want to go. Whether thats business, school or life in general.

Every man needs a vice. Too many lazy shits are sitting on their arses doing jack all and think they are ok because they have a job and some money in their pocket. The truth is you ain’t shit until you know what its like to stick your hands into your own waste and pull out something that you can use to benefit where you want to go.

That’s what’s called using every tool available to you. Because while drugs, alcohol and all kinds of undesirable habits may kill you, the reality is there probably allowing you to express yourself in a totally unforeseen way. For me i’d rather mutter under my breath while I grunt and cuss under the weight of a dumbbell or barbell but for everyone else that maybe different. Because if it doesn’t kill you, then why not use it?

In Australia, guns are illegal. Because we believe that having a weapon that can takes someones life and is solely used for that purpose should not be in the hands of just any everyday citizen. When you put a lethal machine in front of a violent person there is only going to be one outcome, violence. But there is also one thing that is worse than any physical object that can cause just as much pain and suffering…hate. Yesterday at 4:30 pm a man was shot and killed outside of the Parramatta police station by a 15 year old gunman. Now although this is the most tragic thing that could happen to that person’s family, there is one that is starting to brew again amongst the rest of society. The gunman was identified as being of Iraqi, Kurdish background and was born in Iran. And although police are not entirely sure, they suspect that his intentions where politically motivated and, quote, “therefore linked to terrorism”.

A man was killed, peoples lives were at stake, and if history tells us one thing is that we as a society turn to one thing or a group of people to blame our problems on. If it were true that this person’s actions were linked to terrorism, what would be the first reaction of every normal citizen in Western society? to blame and outcast Muslims as solely responsible for what has happened. The whole concept of terrorism is to divide a country and conquer them through fear and violence. And yes we are afraid. I don’t live that far from Parramatta, and who knows what could be next. Something could happen right next door. But thats the point of what they are trying to do. Create a split  through hate, and the media are always going to play at that, because they don’t give a shit. All they want is a reaction to which they can profit from, and we are giving it to them.

The first thing I heard from media outlets, was in fact that the gunman was 15years old and that he was Arab, and that it was likely linked to terrorism. Not once did they report that the victim was a family man who had been working in the finance and business sector for 17 years. No, that wasn’t important, but identifying the gunman as a potential terrorist because of his ethnic background and by no further proof in that matter. And as a result they bring hate back into Western Sydney when people associate his ethnicity and his religion to terrorism.

We forget that there are real people in this world that suffer the same consequences that the rest of the world does. They escape war torn and fear filled countries to raise a family and live a happy life. But when the world around them turns to use a weapon worse than any bomb or gun on them to outcast them just because of where they come from and who they worship. Hate isn’t just an inconvenience, it ruins lives, collectively. And in the end destroys everyone, even the people who use it.

Humility does not seem to go hand in hand with pride, but when you believe in yourself it doesn’t need to. I figured out that this thing has become a lot more like a motivational blog then anything else. Before hand I was reluctant to even talk to anyone about it, whether I felt ashamed or if I was scared I couldn’t really tell. But being ashamed doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m not proud of what I was talking about. To be honest, thats what it was, I didn’t realise how much of an effect this would all have. And to this day I don’t think ill ever realise how special this actually is to me.

I was never proud of anything that i had accomplished. I guess thats why I let myself go towards the end of school. I saw kids get pats on the back for the little things and here I was, barely getting recognition. I didn’t want it, I just thought that with all that goes on in a young persons life, they deserve to know how well they are doing. Not one time did I ask for approval, nor did I ever get overly upset about not getting an award or a trophy because from a very early age, I was taught that you would constantly get thrown on your face. The sad thing was that no one then taught me to get right back up. I was left with the decision to either accept it or I could just forget and give up on what I was set out to do.

It sucks sometimes looking back on a whole solid academic record and not getting as many awards as I thought I should. It sucks that despite being a solid athlete or team player, I didn’t get the trophies or the thrill of going into and winning a Grand Final, and it sucks that I can never understand how much of an impact this whole thing might have on someones life. The thing is awards and trophies don’t really matter. Sure they look good when people see them, but what actually truly matters is whether or not you are proud of what you have done. To this day I haven’t sat down and actually taken in the amount of work I put into different aspects of my life. I have always been hard on myself, whether that be on the field or in the classroom, I never hesitated to criticise who I was just so that I could beat those around me. Its a sick game that gets played in the Indian community time and time again. Uncles and Aunties compare and contrast their kids like shiny little trophy’s as opposed to actual human beings with real feelings and actual emotions. Even to this day, the mark up on kids is way too high, and the judgement on these kids have since been considered normal gossip. Categorising people based on mistakes and triumphs they have made in life keeps there head down and leaves there esteem even lower. The only way they fail at life is if they choose not to live it day by day and try the best they can each and every day, not whether or not they get a 90+ ATAR or if they get into a difficult degree. Each and every person is different and they have the right to do especially if that is what they were meant to do. Just because one day you might not earn the same amount as the guy next to you, doesn’t mean that that makes you any less of a person. Be proud of who you are….small, skinny, fat, tall or shredded you should embrace the person that lives for each day, no matter who or what tries to bring you down.

You look at the world around us, and everyone wants to one up the guy next to them. The fact is that you’ll never be able to beat everyone, but it is up to you to try and at times fail, and thats ok. So long as you get back up, keep going and be proud of what you’ve accomplished. One thing I learnt from a Bollywood film called ‘3 Idiots‘, is that its simple, Life is not a race, its not for competing, its for living.

In previous posts, I described the concepts of success, how it was a state of mind, how doing what you wanted and how that made you happy was key. Let me make one thing clear, being a lazy shit and pretending that bad things are what you want to do is not the same thing. I am not one to judge those around me. But if you waste your life being “happy” with destroying yourself than you have to set your head straight. I look at New Years Resolutions as a major concern, ask yourself this, how many actual resolutions have you or anyone you know have actually been fulfilled. Every person out there decides at one point to get healthy, to quit something bad for them or to lead an overall better life for their own sake. But they fail to do so because of one major problem. Lack of commitment, lack of motivation and lack of discipline. Leading a healthy lifestyle is hard and it takes time. But without the  initial input you simply cant succeed in what you want to do.

The classic example is fitness. Being fit is a way of life yet people don’t seem to grasp that. The amount of people that commit to going to the gym or being more physically active at the start of the year, then a few weeks later decide that that was enough, is too damn high. Then for some unknown reason they seem to think its ok to go out party, drink excessively, do a  shit tonne of drugs and just be ok with the shit that they are left with.  This applies to everything. If you choose to do something that TRULY makes you happy…then why waste away at failing to be proactive about it. If you want something that is meant for you then it is up to you to go out and get it. Your mum or dad is going to love you regardless of whether you have a million dollars or ten dollars in your pocket,  whether you weigh 100kg or 40 kg, they’re not going to care at all. It is up to you and you alone to seek out what you want and walk that path. Every second, minute and day that passes you miss out on a bunch of opportunities to meet your goal. Yet we as a modern day people decide that its ok to waste away, convincing ourselves that were having the time of our lives.

We don’t know shit, and it is up to you to go out and experience everything. For the most part our paths come across a variety of obstacles that we can either choose to overcome or to just forfeit ourselves to. Whether we just choose to give up or stop caring is different amongst everyone but for the most part we think were doing all we can. The truth is that there are two things can make you great. Besides the obvious talent, Hard Work and Dedication are keys to success. If you commit to yourself and to your goals, the path will be clear. But we choose to trample on other peoples dreams and don’t even try at our own just to avoid disappointment.

Watching  NFL teams train is a major source of inspiration for myself. The amount of hard work that each individual has to apply  to even make it is ridiculous. But it is proof that for those who try their absolute hardest and believe in what they are doing, then they succeed, maybe not the first time, but in time they can get to were they want to go. Persistence supersedes talent, luck and genetics there can be no true success without it. This is true in all walks of life. And it is up to you to stop fucking around and start realising that without the latter you will never get to were you want to go.

I look to my right I see a touch screen phone capable of pretty much anything, I look to my left and I see a nice warm bed thats waiting for me to sleep in, and I look forward and type on a 2014 macbook air that cost over $1000. We grew up in privilege. We grew up with the best opportunities in the world, with the best access to education as well as all the necessities that one could ever need and much more. And yet we are never as grateful as we should be. The bottom line is this. We got lucky. Period. By some miraculous turn  of events we made it into the world, for the most part, happy, healthy and safe. Looking at all these videos today of children drowning whilst trying to escape a war ridden and ultimately unsafe country, looking for a brighter future, to two boys scrambling around on the ground picking up leftover pieces of bread so they can get some sort of meal into there bodies, makes you think how lucky we actually got. We could’ve been that kid, a child that has to live in fear every single day of their lives as to whether or not they would eat or drink or even live to see the next morning. I don’t care what anyone says. We got lucky. And we should be thankful. Thankful that your roof doesn’t have a gaping whole in it. Thankful that we have a meal to put into your stomach so we wouldn’t have to starve. Thankful that most of us have loving families that would do anything for us to be happy. And yet we rarely are.

There is no such thing as FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS. It may seem funny at the time, but in reality its a joke to even say it. We have minor problems in our day to day lives, but if you fail a test, chances are you can make up for it. If you break your phone, you can fix it. If your hair is not on point or you outfit isn’t swag as fuck then we can always change or come back at it the next day. We have, as a generation growing up in a first world country, an array of possible solutions that can ultimately make our lives easier. In fact our day to day living is much easier than everywhere else in the world. Yet we still find a way to complain, to sook, to compare our problems on any scale to that of people across the world. For the first time in our lives, why don’t we, as youth, stop and be thankful for the fact that  we were given so many opportunities, not only in education or food or tangible goods, but in life in general. We should be thankful that we and our kids have the best possible shot at life before we or they were even born. Because even though we get one shot at life, we get the best shot. The world is open to us. WE don’t have to worry, and even though we are exposed to these things, we don’t live by them. We don’t live our lives by that one underlying factor, that we got lucky. That maybe, just maybe we didn’t deserve the life we were handed, but by some external grace we got dealt a hand that allowed us to live happily.

So the next time you feel hard done, the next time life throws you a curve ball and you bitch and complain about it, remember that your parents chose to bring you into this world, a safe and secure one where you can thrive, and chose not to put you into a deep, cold, treacherous waters because it was safer than the land they lived on. Remember that there is a world of opportunities out there for us and it is up to us to realise that no matter what happens in life, we should always be grateful that we got to live it here and now, where someone out there would much rather be.