2023 Week 26

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American bestselling author, motivational speaker and sales trainer Zig Ziglar is credited with today’s quote. Ziglar’s teachings emphasised the importance of a positive mindset, goal setting, continuous learning, and taking action and believed that success was not merely a result of external factors but was influenced by one’s thoughts, beliefs, and actions. In this quote, Ziglar conveys the idea that having a vision or a dream is the first step towards achieving it. The quote emphasises the power of belief, determination, and the capacity of individuals to turn their aspirations into reality. He suggests that the ability to conceive an idea or a goal in one’s mind is essential. Dreams serve as a source of inspiration and motivation, fueling the desire to accomplish something meaningful. However, the quote’s true essence lies in the second part, and here Ziglar implies that dreams alone are not enough; they must be followed by action and effort. With dedication, hard work, perseverance, and a belief in oneself, individuals have the potential to transform their dreams into tangible accomplishments.

This month, I decided to walk a minimum of 10 km every day, and I am happy to announce that I achieved it! I reached my home in Mumbai at the beginning of the month, and by the end of the month, I was less than 50 km from the town of Kolhapur in Maharashtra and about 60 km from the border between Maharashtra and Karnataka. My stats for the month include more than half a million in the number of steps I took and more than 300 km covered during the month

I read only four books this month, but they were fairly long books, so no complaints there. At the halfway point in the year, I am at almost 80% of my reading goal for the year. And if there are no major disruptions, I should not only meet the goal but exceed them.

GG is still working and thriving there. As she does more internships, she will be able to figure out exactly what she wants to do. BB is enjoying himself at home, given that he will not be enlisting anytime soon. We came to know that he will be enlisting only in October.

That’s all from me this week. Take care and see you soon!

In My Hands Today…

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How to Lose a Country: The 7 Steps from Democracy to Dictatorship – Ece Temelkuran

‘It couldn’t happen here’ Ece Temelkuran heard reasonable people in Britain say it the night of the Brexit vote. She heard reasonable people in America say it the night Trump’s election was soundtracked by chants of ‘Build that wall.’ She heard reasonable people in Turkey say it as Erdoğan rigged elections, rebuilt the economy around cronyism, and labelled his opposition as terrorists.

How to Lose a Country is an impassioned plea, a warning to the world that populism and nationalism don’t march fully-formed into government; they creep. Award winning author and journalist Ece Temelkuran identifies the early-warning signs of this phenomenon, sprouting up across the world, in order to define a global pattern, and arm the reader with the tools to root it out. Proposing alternative, global answers to the pressing – and too often paralysing – political questions of our time, Temelkuran explores the insidious idea of ‘real people’, the infantilisation of language and debate, the way laughter can prove a false friend, and the dangers of underestimating one’s opponent.

She weaves memoir, history and clear-sighted argument into an urgent and eloquent defence of democracy. No longer can the reasonable comfort themselves with ‘it couldn’t happen here.’ It is happening. And soon it may be too late.

In My Hands Today…

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The Earth Transformed: An Untold History – Peter Frankopan

Global warming is one of the greatest dangers mankind faces today. Even as temperatures increase, sea levels rise, and natural disasters escalate, our current environmental crisis feels difficult to predict and understand. But climate change and its effects on us are not new.

In a bold narrative that spans centuries and continents, Peter Frankopan argues that nature has always played a fundamental role in the writing of history.

From the fall of the Moche civilization in South America that came about because of the cyclical pressures of El Nino to volcanic eruptions in Iceland that affected Egypt and helped bring the Ottoman empire to its knees, climate change and its influences have always been with us.

Frankopan explains how the Vikings emerged thanks to catastrophic crop failure, why the roots of regime change in Eleventh-Century Baghdad lay in the collapse of cotton prices resulting from unusual climate patterns, and why the western expansion of the frontiers in North America was directly affected by solar flare activity in the eighteenth century. Again and again, Frankopan shows that when past empires have failed to act sustainably, they have been met with catastrophe. Blending brilliant historical writing and cutting-edge scientific research, Climate will radically reframe the way we look at the world and our future.

Poem: Inspiration

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Soure

Some days, I struggle with a serious case of writer’s block and inspiration eludes me however much I search for it. This poem is inspired from that feeling.

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Inspiration

Sometimes when words fail and there’s nothing to say
When my mind goes blank, and I stare at the screen all-day
I search desperately for something, a spark of an idea
Some romance, some poetry and some drama

I then remember inspiration is all around
In nature, in a park and even a fairground
In the stories told over the ages
Or even in the laughter of the babies

Maybe a walk outside will prove to ignite
That inspiration which seems so light and tight
Or maybe a moment of peace will be the key
To find that badly needed perspective and the much-needed beauty

I just need to open my eyes and see
The wonders that surround me every day
I just need to open my ears and listen
The melodies that fill the air with joy

Maybe a book, or a song, or even a work of art
Will be my muse to stir my creative heart
To open up new worlds and sights
And bring about fresh insights

Wherever inspiration comes from
I will embrace it and soothe my mind like a balm
To open my heart and feel the emotion
And imagine the possibilities that beckon

Inspiration is everywhere, I just have to find it
To embrace and share it, to live and enjoy it
It is ingrained in all our psyches
Because inspiration is the key to unlocking creativity