Reflecting on Oneself and Making Changes

By vinodnarayan on October 3, 2016 • ( 2 )

As Human Beings one of our most treasured abilities should be that we can (if we want) reflect on ourselves and what we do and make changes, correct what we feel is not right and then keep doing that. No wonder why it is important for us to daily think about how better we can be.

Past few weeks I have tried to do the same with me, my online writing, the time I spend on doing things that matter in life and kind of figure out where I should spend time. I figured a few things and based on that planning a few changes both on my online and my offline life. But since I have them pretty much glued much of it kind of touches both part of my life.

For people who connect with me through what I write and share, know that I am vocal about things that I think should to be discussed or debated. I realized that many times what I write goes a bit further than just being Vocal, it also becomes obnoxious to some. Yes I am talking about my posts that primarily pertain to religion. It is often not because of what I say, but because of the way I write or say it. I guess I get carried away at times and use words that might look very unpleasant. Now one needs to raise their opinion, so I guess the first change is that my posts where I need to oppose something I will make it a point to be polite and get the message across. You can politely disagree and argue on things. One main reason is sometimes the way you say it makes some very nice people feel bad. What ever we do, we should not make good people feel bad and I do not think (or have ever thought) that people with religion are bad. As an Atheist and Secular Humanist I believe there are more good people in any religion than bad people. And I also do not believe that every Atheist person is a good person.

Secondly I will start considering religion as a philosophical stand point by striking out the perceived divinity aspect of it because I think religion as a philosophy does give solace to a lot of people who believe in it, even if my rational mind can only see the folly in such a belief system. And I believe some people feel very lost and when they do not have a religion of faith to support them. It is not an easy path to be an Atheist and a Rationalist. It takes so much courage and determination, even though religious people will debate that Atheism is a kind of stupidity. I think it is important to keep the door open to have Philosophical discussions with people of religion because people ready to debate are the starting point of reform. And only those people can help us all in the fight against the evils of religion that some people take more interest in.

Third, I have pondered on the concept of spirituality for quite a while during my initial quests prior to becoming an Atheist and then with my ongoing discussions with many others and I feel today that having a growing spiritual population within every religion is a practical and possible solution to the evils of any religion. A spiritual population that would like to call them as spiritual rather than a Hindu, Muslim or Christian irrespective of which path they reach there. These Spiritual folks in my opinion would not be adamant practitioners of the religion and that by itself makes them free from the kind of offense they would take in debates. They will not even debate because spirituality for them does not need a defense. They are not defenders of any religion but just spiritual practitioners who can see humanity before religious indoctrination or keep them completely separate. Such people can be the strongest allies of secular humanists and others in fighting the evils of religion spread by some.

Fourth, I have created a Content Calendar to use so I can spend the least amount of time in creating content that is more thought through than impulsive, I have found that some of my impulsive posts have become more viral, but being Viral is not the point, the point is to make it more thought through and above all ‘being thoughtful’ about people’s sentiments. No impulsive posts again. I hope I can stick to it. The itch to write and post and react immediately is a tough thing to beat. But let’s see.

Fifth, Avoid becoming an ‘Internet Troll’. As per the wiki an Internet troll is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion, often for their own amusement. I do not think I am yet a Troll but my opinions have been sometimes impulsive yet look like a planned effort to irritate others 🙂 I think there are much better ways to say what I say. I found this out when I started talking very patiently to some people who commented on my content and after long discussions we parted agreeing to disagree but giving each of us the liberty to each other’s opinion.

Sixth is about time, Using it to do many things. Because it is important to do or at least try to many things not just what you want to do, but also what your loved ones want to do. Your goal is to create an environment where everyone gets to do what they want to do and that would need you to allocate your own time for others. Do it, its worth it. Also do things you love because there are many in this world who cannot see beyond the one thing they do. If you have interests, you are unlike others and pursue them. Try small and feel it….

Seventh, Why do I get the feeling that there is more talk and less action? Is it because of time or is it because of that lack of real commitment. It is always easy to talk and write and make a video, but it is not easy to get on the street and do. but yes I do honestly feel that there is more talk and debate and brouhaha than real action from my end. That needs a real change. A make over.

Finally ‘Be Good’…. Why so? because I do not think I have been really good in thought or deeds always. And that is a call I need to take daily. A “Was I good Today?” question at the end of the day. Why is it important to ask? Not because it will have an immediate effect, but it will let be keep a tab of things I do.

Is being only Good the aim? I don’t know but doing the things you find out is bad is not a rational thing to do again and you feel stupid too repeating them.. 🙂

Will keep posting on these kind of reflections once in a while. Making reflections public is a reminder.