Routine - sounds boring???

"Such a boring life!!!",I thought as I monitored the OS alerts at work. Same work, same cabin, same system, same cab, same room, same food every day... I'm bored of this routine and the repeated tasks.... I looked up and saw the roof of my office... "Eh! Fan is also not there", I thought.. I have this peculiar habit of looking at the rotating fan, whenever I feel bored. I closed my eyes, still head upwards, and my back rested on the chair. 
A question popped up from somewhere... "Is repetition and routine the key to life's boredom or is it the life's meaning?"  The question gave me a mild jerk and I sat straight. I was fully awake now.. I heard my heartbeats. It's repetition of the same beats throughout our existence. Our heartbeats, Our breathing, revolution of the Earth, the diurnal circles of the sun, everything needs repetition... My rotating fan too repeatedly rotates to make me feel the air... We need to sleep every day; we need to eat every day, etc, etc, etc.. ; and without undergoing all that repetition and routine -- we'll probably be dead.

My respect for the power of routine has increased dramatically after this episode.  I understood that most of the life is routine - sometimes it may be dull; but it is the momentum which keeps us going.

Beliefs and Values

Getting to know different people and their very different perspective on life is a great experience in itself. We get amazed when sometimes people don't behave in the way we expect them to. Some of the things or say basic ethics which we feel are very natural to any human may seem to be "Rocket science" for others. I have experienced this recently and was wondering and pondering over these thoughts.

I believe that the basic difference among the people comes from beliefs and values one has. There are many influences in society that could affect our beliefs and values. It probably starts from the influence of our cultural backgrounds, our parents, our communities, our schools and teachers, our books. And, we also form our own beliefs from individual life experiences and observations.

Eventually, we figure out an optimal path guided by our values -- matched to our personality, environment, responsibilities, health, etc. But our beliefs and values can change with time. Changing beliefs and values will shift one's fundamental goals, motivations, attitudes, behavior -- our direction in life.

"Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is."

--Bhagavad Gita

Colors of Life

Holi went by yesterday. Some of the girls were playing with colors. I was not much interested. I remembered the good old days of my childhood, when Holi was the time to play, play and play...It usually occurred during the Final exams in the academic year and that was really sad. I remember how we used the water from the tanks upstairs and poured water on every person passing by. 
Holi is a time to reach out with the colors of joy. It is the time to love and forgive. It is the time when one can express the happiness of being loved and to be loved through colors. Holi is a special time of year to remember those who are close to our hearts with splashing colors! I see Holi, not as a religious festival, but as a social festival in which all the colors of castes, creeds, regions and religions shall be mixed up.
So, coming back to reaching the colors of joy, I spent the day by watching the colors of nature. Isn't color an integral part of our life? We know the colors of the rainbow as a natural progression; we know how (white) light breaks into the same rainbow colors through a crystal prism or through water. When the sun sets we go through the same array of colors again, though amber and deep blue are the dominant colors. At mid-day we have this crisp cool white light. A glance at any natural scene provides many examples of the mysteries of colors. There are so many different colors of life, of feelings and of expressions. I wonder at God's creation!