I recently met an old friend from college.

He seemed to be matrimonially comfortable.

Nice car.
Well-dressed.
Nice watch.

I met him at a bureau de change, where I was going to turn my dirhams into dollars for my family trip this summer.

We reminisced about the good memories:
The nights out, the girls, the alcohol... the girls.

We would call this friend Ali.

I had some time, and I always take the time to check in with my old friends to see how they have evolved in life.

It's a very interesting exercise to see how different life choices make them change and the results of that.

So we sat down at a table in a cozy French café.

The kind of café with an authentic 1920's atmosphere, with jazz in the background, the smell of coffee mixed with tobacco. The kind of café where it's good to read a newspaper and smoke a cigar.

As our conversation progressed, Ali's melancholy became apparent.

Ali had taken over his father's business, a paper mill that was doing well without him.

He had long-term contracts with the government, so he didn't have to chase customers all day.

He told me that he was married, but that he still went out as much as he used to.

He often came home late.

He missed the carefree days of his college days.

As the conversation continued, Ali's eyes filled with tears.

Alcohol and drugs were ruining his life. Nothing tasted good anymore, everything was a boring vicious circle.

He and his wife were about to get a divorce, he told me.

I left that conversation with a feeling of pity and liberation: I don't like people who complain.

But I was able to learn a few lessons for my young audience.

You don't want everything handed to you on a golden platter.

You want to fight and earn your victories and your glories.

That's what gives your life meaning as a human being.

Ali had a childlike view of life, where women and partying are the
central point.

Unable to see beyond that, he considered everything that came after as inferior.

He didn't want the party to end, because he lived for the party.

If Ali had any passion, ambition or vision other than "having fun", he would be more excited about your future than mourning the past.

Ali's legacy was a poisoned gift.

A curse rather than a blessing.

Ali was deprived of adventure.

This made me rethink my notion of legacy.

Rather than giving your children an easy life of money and luxury, you should give them the tools to face life.

If I give a soldier a machine gun and don't tell him how to use it, I condemn him to suicide.

Finally here is the definitive lesson of this post:

Don't take the easy way out, it's a trap.

A promise of everlasting pleasure is a greater incentive than the fear of eternal torture.

Judaism and Christianity failed to extend such a promise.

The location in this photo is the Jew Street, in Ernakulam District, Keralam, India.

Yes, here reside Jews who trace their roots back to the time of King Solomon.

Called Cochin Jews/Malabari Jews or the Kochinim (Yehudey Cochin).

A few families of Sephardi Jews (Sephardim) expelled from Iberia in 1492 made their way here as well and settled in the Kingdom of Cochin. They became known as Paradeshi Jews (lit. Foreign Jews)

Both communities maintained their cultural and ethnic distinctions. And the Malabari Jews developed a dialect of Malayalam known in Israel as Malayalam Yehudeyth.


After India's Independence and Israel's establishment as a nation in 1947, the Malabari Jews emigrated to Israel and Paradeshis went to the commonwealth countries mainly Australia, much like the Anglo Indians.


I couldn't get into the last remaining Synagogue with rituals and congregation, due to the ongoing Jewish Festivals. But here is a pic from Internet

India has been probably the only country where Jewish communities flourished without facing much discriminations.

Many people think Judaism came to India with Saint Thomas the Apostle. NO.

Christianity came with Saint Thomas.

Jews settled long before Jesus Christ

Design for yourself a pattern of behaviours and habits - nothing showy.

This will be the image you extend for others to see.

The benefits are many - you will not be seen as someone to be competed with.

You can build in peace and surprise your contender if you have to.

4 POWER POSES TO BOOST YOUR CONFIDENCE

I just posted it on Social Skills University.

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Social Skills University

In the power game, you cannot completely detach from people's dramas.

Nor can you engage in them out of pity or you will be pulled into the abyss of insanity.

Show some outward concern for their problems.

But make sure you retain your inner rationality.

In the pages of Vizier, you will find techniques on how to play the social game.

While you maintain your mental sanity and not get pulled into the meaningless drama.

Stay rational and dominate the social circles.

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https://gumroad.com/a/739048563/eeLlD

Here is a litmus test for real and fake friends:

Tell them a recent good luck that fell on you; like winning a jackpot or getting that promotion.

This good luck should make your perceived value more than that of this friend.

Did their face become aloof? Jealousy detected.

I wrote a thread.

The most inspiring people I have ever met have all described their lives in some variation of the following concept:

They view their lives as sagas, as legends.

This may sound crazy or downright megalomaniacal, but this megalomania is the very basis of success.

It makes sense, how can you succeed at anything without having an irrational confidence in yourself.

I differ a bit, but you get the idea here.

Let's go back to the idea of seeing your life as a story.

Rewrite your life story

We all need to make sense of our lives and find fulfillment in them. A crisis gives us the opportunity to rewrite our life story and become what we always wanted.

Almost all great and successful people remember the "life shakes" they experienced that shaped them as they stand at the podium to receive an award or recognition.

It also allows us to see difficulties as a learning phase and to overcome them rather than to suffer them as an inevitability.

Write your story.

Be great.

It will invariably end up transferring to your lives.

If you feel you are depressed and think making reels about it will make you better,

Understand, you are not really depressed. You're just sad and craving attention.

Try getting some sun.

Depressed people don't make reels. Trust me on it. I know.