Do you spend more time thinking about the future or the past? Why?
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Our brains are coded to dwell too much on our past and future. Time is the most impacting dimension that defines our life. It is up to us to either become a slave of it or hold its strings and dictate terms.
There is no denying the fact that the past teaches us many things and gives us precious memories ( that eventually make us humans). But it is highly elusive, it plays tricks with us when we commit the mistake of identifying with it. We destroy our future by connecting it with our negative past. Even this destroys our present
Yes, it’s difficult to get rid of negative things of the past but there is always a way to do that and I always try to deduce methods to do that. The magic lies in the present. You certainly have something to get fully engrossed in the ‘ Now’. You can take inspiration from the past and use that to your advantage.
What you should ignore , avoid or forget of the past
Embarassing moments
Fear generating moments
Failures that could have been avoided (including silly mistakes)
Regrets
Accidents
Emotional moments especially the loss of someone
What you should embrace of the past
Success but don’t make it infuse arrogance, in fact learn from it and use it as driving force in the present
Failures to learn from mistakes
Good memories of your loved ones
knowledge you acquired
Anything that can boost your productivity in the present
Well, apart from this, try to get fully engrossed in the present. The best way to do that is by doing something which you love most. When you are totally lost in the ‘Now’ in doing something which you enjoy then you hardly think about your past or future. You totally forget about time and make your present as productive as possible.
We all have our superstitions about the first day of the year and the most famous of them is that we end up doing the same things again and again throughout the year which we do on the first day.
So it is mandatory for me to write today . I hardly posted last year and I don’t think my superstitions work. Anyways, the beginning of the year always lifts up the spirit and it’s better to write now. A few more minutes passes and this post will also end up in the draft.
Lately, if you are reading my blog these days, you will know I have started opening up about my imperfections. I become anxious pretty quickly and every now and then I get a reason to procrastinate.
I know if you overthink,you will end up doing nothing. I know you should do things just for the sake of doing them without thinking much. Well 30s is a kind of age when you know you aren’t doing right(or probably doing nothing) but still you don’t change your course. It is like you have become a robot who refuses to budge outside his code. Maybe that’s a midlife crisis or maybe something else.
Resolutions to improve
Anyways, one more year to look forward to. I will try to improve and will not set up big goals (as they make me anxious). Small goals will do. Some of them could be
Exercise more
Read more
Write and blog more
Think less
Travel more
Apart from this , I will try to fight my biggest enemy- procrastination ( who is already cursing me for writing this post)
Thank you for reading, I hope you are not bored. I will try to improve my writing too….
I love to hike and trek in the mountains. Whenever I am in the wilderness of the Himalayas with my favourite trekking shoes on ,I feel I am in a fictional world full of excitement.
I really love my High ankle, waterproof trekking shoes and my trek pants with 4 chain pockets. I keep my pocket friendly gopro cams and sometimes my gloves in those pockets. It really gives me the feeling of a warrior on a mission.
When I am not hiking , just the glimpse of my shoes and trek pants give me a hell lot of positivity, as if I am transported in the shelter of nature, looking at the broader picture of life.
There are certain things in life which give us true happiness, not because we use them but because we experience something greater because of them.
What technology would you be better off without, why?
I took a lot of time to write this post . I thought of all the technologies around me and wasn’t able to detest any. I mean how can I face the heat of North India without an air conditioner. Then I thought of smartphones, TV , information technology, internet, all of them made our lives so easy.
On one hand it has helped us so efficiently in COVID times , on the other hand it has made us lazier . We hardly walk or cycle to go from one place to another. We hardly read books to get the answer, when it is easily available on the internet.
You can go on and on talking about the pros and cons of technology but just like the fundamental rule of nature , balance is the solution. We should avoid the excessive use of technology and constantly check our over dependency on it.
Hybrid rose Hybrid Hibiscus Hibiscus Dahlia Primrose Jasmine
The blooming season is actually getting over here in my part of the world . But for a short period when it stayed it showed me these colours. Here are the snapshots of all Good memories….
Kedarkantha Trek is the most famous trek of the Indian Himalayas. It becomes a winter wonderland in the winter months (December to February) due to plenty of snow. Many take this trek as a pilgrimage because of various Legends related to Lord Shiva.
The name itself is connected to Lord Shiva – Kedar means Shiv and Kantha means Throat of Lord Shiva.
A Legend says that lord Shiva chose kedarkantha peak as his abode for meditation and solitude but a bull disturbed his peaceful state. This frustrated lord Shiva and he relocated to kedarnath , a town in Uttarakhand India, a more secluded place for his meditation.
Almost in the middle of the trek you witness the beauty of ‘ Juda ka Talab’ , a beautiful Himalayan lake. It is believed that when Lord Shiva was meditating, a drop of water trickled from his hair and formed this beautiful lake.
Juda ka talab
Another Legend is connected to Pandavas of Hindu Epic, Mahabharata. It is believed that Lord Shiva was angry with Pandavas for killing many during the great war of Mahabharata. So for forgiveness Pandavas wanted to meet Lord Shiva. But the Lord didn’t want to forgive them so easily and went to the Himalayas.
So he disguised himself as Bull but one of the Pandavas, Bheem recognised him and went after him. So lord Shiva hid underground and when he rushed from his Hiding place , he let his body ( of bull) get divided into different parts and threw it to different places of Himalayas . His throat fell at Kedarkantha thereby giving the name Kedar+Kantha.
Memories make us Humans. And the perfect way we can save all those memories and experience is by taking photos. These photos say thousand words and sometimes they are beyond any language. From distant galaxies to the grains of sand , we have stored all of it in photos . It is a treasure we can give to the coming generations . It is truly our greatest invention.
The Buran Ghati trek Cinematic video out now on my YouTube channel. Please like , comment and subscribe , you will surely enjoy it.
At kedarkantha peak
Stuck in a hazy nightmare,Lost in an urban illusion,Craving to get my breath,Back from the land above ! A faint whisper wakes me,From an urban slumber.Holds my face and echoes“Come to me in the land of Gods” O powerless soul! wake up,Free yourself from this muddle,The mess that pollutes ,Is created by you ! O […]
From the beginning of time man has been fascinated by mountains And his curiosity drove him beyond it in search of food shelter and livelihood.
But his quest for adventure Forced him to come back to mountains time and again because it was the mountain which taught him to fight against his own weakness infusing strength in him.
For me mountains not only infuse strength but it enhances your perspective. Trekking or hiking in the mountains is like a meditation when your complete focus is on the trail, the beauty of nature,your breath and you hardly worry about your past or Future.
You are truly present in the moment when the mountains test your resilience and your one mistake here and there can become life threatening.
It was my time for the test when I decided to go for Buran Ghati Pass Trek in the Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh. Previously I have been to 2 Himalayan treks- kedarkantha and kuari pass along with few hikes and attained maximum height of 3800 + meters . This time I decided to go above 4500 meters but something more awaited me.
Ancient temple at Janglik
The trek starts from Janglik ( 2804 m ht), an ancient ( 400-500 years old) and remote village situated in the Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh. The trail from Janglik ascend into a deep forest of Oak and pine trees and opens up to Dayara meadows (3376 m ht)
Dayara
From Dayara the trail goes further up and the beautiful landscape slowly turns to white of snow from the green of meadows . Further you walk alongside pabbar river and the trail guides you to Litham (3578 m ht) . Here you find yourself among the big mountains , fully covered in snow.
Litham Campsite
From Litham , you resume your journey alongside pabbar river , flowing beneath several snow bridges , and walk further up in snow ( mostly in the month of May you find snow and this time due to western disturbance there was excessive snow) to reach Dunda ( 4075 m ht) campsite, the last campsite before buran pass .
In between Litham and DundaDunda campsite
Then, the judgement day comes . You wake up early at 1 am in the dark , prepare yourself for the hardest day ( we took almost 14 hours to cover 8 km in excessive snow ) and start your climb at 3 am in the dark. The climb is steep and you walk on hip deep snow ridges ( twisting your ankles and sinking deeper in snow many times) , applying your full strength and trusting your instincts and your trek leader.
Weather suddenly became Good for the final push . Dunda campsite
You climb for more than 1 hour to reach your end goal , the buran pass , situated at an altitude of 4575 m . This pass connects the pabbar valley to sangla valley in kinnaur . The stunning views of Snow covered mountains from here take your breath away . It is nothing less than a blessing to witness the beautiful creation of God from this point. Climbs like these infuse a sense of wisdom you never felt before. You start looking at things with a broader and better understanding.
The hardest climbFinally at Buran PassPreparing to go downThe other side
The descend from here is quite technical , the pass stands like a wall to the other side and you have to come down 30-50 m with the help of a rope ( rope rappelling ). You lose height pretty quickly and mostly come down by sliding on the snow. You reach your last campsite at manerang village and from there to barua to go back to your urban life.
The group that refused to give up
We were a group of 5 people ( me , my wife , one solo traveler and two men of 55 and 62 years of age) led by our trek leader and the staff of the company we hired. The weather was bad from the beginning due to western disturbance and we faced rainfall, hailstorm and snowfall throughout our trek .
There were nights when we thought that our tents will blow away due to angry winds of the storm. The winds did took away few tents. And the relentless snowfall haunted us at nights when we thought we might get buried in deep snow.
We were stuck at Dayara campsite ( first campsite) for more than a day due to bad weather. During this time, we saw trekkers coming back from higher campsites because of excessive snowfall which lowered our spirits. But thankfully we got 2 good days in between to become only the second group to cross pass this season untill then.
We walked in mud , climbed in hip deep snow, doubted ourselves several times and applied our full strength to finish this trek. This was the test i wasn’t prepare to take but when I saw 2 people in our group above 55 years fighting it out , it gave me a lot of confidence to continue.
There are times when you feel like giving up , you lose your breath, your entire body becomes stiff but when you see your fellow people or trekkers feeling the same heat , you are inspired by them to continue.
This is the power of connection. We humans most of the time depend on each other to thrive , we respect each other in difficult times when our survival is on the line and i believe we can learn this only when we are together in the wilderness like Himalayas .
The Perceptions Square 