Inspiration & Paradox 38: Beginnings are Endings & Endings are Beginnings

I understand why people say "All beginnings are also endings."

The beginning of life is usually marked by celebrations and joyful thoughts, however every beginning will surely has its ending, and when life marks its ending, it is remembered by just the opposite -- only grief and hard-to-let-go feelings. Similarly, beginnings of trials, sickness or persecution will bring tears, pain and suffering, but all trials will eventually come to end, and their endings bring relief and a heart of restfulness.

So, beginnings are also endings, and endings are also beginnings.

Inspiration & Paradox 37: Trouble with recalling unforgetable dreams

I am a dreamer, I tend to dream a lot, I mean having frequent dreams and long dreams at nite while asleep. And there is one thing that I always find very unexplainable and bizzare -- whenever I am awoken from a dream in the middle of the night, every scene and detail of what I see and hear in my dream seems to so vivid and deeply etched in my mind that I am always so very sure that I could remember everything becasue it was so real and I tell myself that I will describe it to my husband the next day. However, strangely, whenever morning comes, I wake up with hardly any recollection of the contents of the dream no matter how hard I try to recall. And I get very frustrated and confused because I just could not remember it anymore.

Inspiration & Paradox 36: Confusion is Positive

Have you ever been told by others when you are confused that "confusion is good" or have you ever told someone who is confused that "confusion is good"? Probably. The rationale is confusion shows that you know enough to actually recognise conflicting ideas and unclarity and it could indicate the beginning of knowledge. And if you know nothing about the subject, there will absolutely be no ground for confusion and thus no chance for learning to take place.

Inspiration & Paradox 35: Wish to change the wish to change

A couple of days ago, this TV host contester was asked “if there is one thing that you could wish that you could change in your life, what would that be?” His answer was original and unexpected – “it would be the wish to change the wish that he could change something in his life.” The whole beauty and glory about life itself is that it could never be repeated. Yes, he felt that there would always be some regrets in life, but instead of wishing he could do it all over again, he would rather think of how to face the consequences of those regrets.
I thought the way this guy has put his response across was quite interesting.

Inspiration & Paradox 34: Office workspace and Creativity level

Probably you might hear this kind of argument before when people in the office start to debate over whether work space should be improved to crank up the creative tempo in the organisation -- If we already enjoy a thriving creative culture, we really don’t need to talk about wrecking our brains in giving special space for creative work. If, on the other hand, creativity is not an integral part of your culture, this sort of workspace will then not be needed to contribute to a more creative organization. Question to this paradox then is: So when do we really need creative work space?

Inspiration & Paradox 33: Can you ask what you do not know?

I am pretty sure that you can identify with me this problem-- whenever people blame us for not taking the iniative to ask or clarify with others about a matter and hence not being able to contribute to the final resolution of the issue, we sometimes can't help but to protest "how am I supposed to ask about anything when I do not know anything??!!"

Inspiration & Paradox 32: Have you ever had the feeling of being so finite in this infinite world?

When I was not even a teenager, I mused a lot over my existence in this world and state of my existence. The fact that I actually existed as part of this amazing universe then overwhelmed me a lot, so much so that I felt that that my being was so small, insignificant and even absurd. I was very sure that if I were to just disappear in a split second from the surface of this earth, it wouldn't mean anything at all to this world. Trying to put dimension to my existence in this universe made me feel trapped and imprisoned. The deep consciousness and the fullness related to the acknowledgment of my finite existence was overpowering and actually caused me to feel that I was but an empty shell that is just a micro bit part of the infinite universe.

Inspiration & Paradox 31: Motion is an illusion?

Have you heard of the famous Zeno's Paradoxes which have interesting arguments about motion?
The first one I know is called the Dichotomy Paradox. Basically it says that if you want to get to a point that is say, 100 meters away, you must first get to the 50-meter mark, and to reach that, the you have to complete 25 meters. But to do that, you must first finish 12.5 meters, and so on and so forth. Since space is infinitely divisible, we can repeat these 'requirements' forever. Thus you have to reach an infinite number of 'midpoints' in a finite time. This is impossible, so you can never reach his destination.
Another one is known as the Arrow Paradox: A flying arrow at any given time has a certain position, and so does a motionless arrow. The question then is: which arrow then is actually moving?

Inspiration & Paradox 30: Paradox Theory on Personality Traits

According to Jung and Freud, every individiual has two types of opposing personality traits, "passive" and "aggressive" traits. If our range of behavior is able to extend to both the aspects, we will have an exceptional capability and versatility. If our range of behavior extends only either of them, our behavior will have some "counter-productive tendencies" and have a "balanced deficiency" in our behaviour. Hence, these traits in actual fact can be argued as complementary rather than opposing.

Inspiration & Paradox 29: Simplicity is not at all simple

Whether it is about making a product that is simplest in terms of its user interface, or providing a service that as far as possible does not require the customer to lift his/her finger, or present an argument that is simple for anybody of any level to appreciate, or simplifying our lifestyle or our rules in living in this busy and complex world, it all takes a great feat of mustering effort, lots of energy, a serious bout of creativity, an enormous amount of resources, big deal of time and money, and much hard work in trial and error. And this is how I always like to put it -- "Simplicity is not the same as being simplistic".

Inspiration & Paradox 28: Standing is more tiring than walking.

I recently came across a fact -- standing is more tiring than walking.

This paradox leads me to think about our life -- that when we choose to move on in life, when there is progress and achievement in what we do, we find refreshment, liberation in our spirit and great purpose and meaning in our living. The effect is an energising one. However, when we stay put in one place and become complacent and all, we can only ourselves in a state of stagnation and inertness, which will bring us a sense of lethargy and idleness in everything we do.

Inspiration & Paradox 27: Contradictory Phrases

Here are some interesting paradoxical statements:

Fight For Peace.

Do Not Read This Sentence.

God, Give Me Patience Right Now!

Inspiration & Paradox 26: What is improbable is extremely probable

What is improbable is extremely probable. — Aristotle

What Aristotle is saying is that if some statement is wildly improbable, it is more improbable still that anyone should have formed it; that is, it would never have been made, unless there had been some evidence for it, and hence such evidence must be compellingly strong!

Inspiration & Paradox 25: Being Serpent and Dove at the Same Time

The bible teaches us to be wise as serpents; harmless as doves...Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves ...
— Matthew 10:16
The two animals are apparently different in nature and characteristics and we are told to learn from the serpent to be watchful and and discerning in this world where dangers and wickedness strive and from the doves to be gentle and peaceable amongst people. The two attributes derived from two extreme animals seem so opposing yet so precious at the same time.

Inspiration & Paradox 24: Embracing two opposing truths at the same time can be liberating

I struggle with understanding and coming to terms with paradoxes because I have apparent difficulties coping with the complexities in life, but as I talk and think about them, I am beginning to love paradoxes more and more.
Reconciliation with life paradoxes has amazingly helped me to put things into a proper perspective and catalyze my moving forward. Being able to feel comfortable with holding two valuable truths at the same time and handle the duality of things with grace has become a very positive and powerful way of relating to contradicting issues in life for me.

Inspiration & Paradox 23: Angry but kind people

I am sure you often hear people say, “this person is short tempered but surely she/he has a good heart.”
I guess people who are short-fused and temperamental are usually intensely passionately about things and people and so generally exhibit a great depth of emotions, which are partly driving them to react to unpleasant people and situations too quickly. Hence oddly or even ironically, though they seem to have a lack of self-control, they can be rather sensitive creatures, warm, generous and kind to others.

Inspiration & Paradox 22: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

I came across this fascinating proposition -- intuitive decisions that are made in a slice of time are often quite accurate and taking more time to gather information and come up with conclusions rarely improves the accuracy. That is, snap judgements can be more valid and valuable than carefully considered, well-thought and researched conclusions. I am sure there are many examples to counter this argument, such as "love at first sight is not enduring", "impulse buying leads to regrets", but nevertheless it is food for thought and an interesting perspective.

Inspiration & Paradox 21: Paradoxes are neither good nor bad.

Paradoxes permeate every bit of our life. There are countless of these opposing forces that we do not have to reject or accept the other, for instance, liberty is good and so is authority; outspokenness and silence; having and giving; boldness and humility; abundance and emptiness; courage and fear; familiarity and freshness, etc, etc, etc. One doesn't have to override the other; both can co-exist. Both in fact are very much entwined, each drawing out the precious, intimate truth in the other.

Inspiration & Paradox 20: We listen while asleep

WE LISTEN WHILE ASLEEP

This sounds almost too ridiculous and contradictory, isn’t it? But it’s true; our ears practise selective listening all the time, even when we are sleeping. We basically listen to what we want to hear. Our mind can focus attentively on the softest background noise of the running washing machine, the ticking of the clock, the murmuring of two persons, but can also shut off and not hear the most important point in a lecture, the most ferocious scolding, or the most irritating nagging. Just think for a moment, don’t some of us get awoken suddenly by the slightest noise in the middle of the night, whereas, others could continue to sleep like a log. Precisely - because our ears do selective hearing.

Inspiration & Paradox 19: More is Less, Less is More.

We normally think that more options in life will make us happier, but a staggering array of options can actually bewilder, flood and tire our brains, causing stress in decision-making. And in a world of abundant choices, this could be about the goods we buy, jobs we apply, places to live, things to play, etc, etc, etc. When all the time we have to contend with “Was it a really a right choice? Did I make the best choice? How can I make the best possible choice out of these?”, we are suffering from what they call “choice anxiety”. Choice then becomes debilitating rather than liberating. It becomes a burden. Hence, just enough is good enough.