Living Without Masks

Consider this: You are chatting in a group, and discussion veers towards a certain person X. Specifically, towards his attitude towards money.

The group thinks that X is a miser, stingy with his money. He doesn’t buy things that he should, and that he can easily afford. But, in your heart, you think that X’s behavior is more cautionary than stingy, that he is careful with his money, which is a totally fine thing to do. And let’s assume that you think so because you have a similar attitude towards money as X; you would do the same in his place.

At this point, suppose the group asks for your opinion on the topic of X and his money; what you would do if you were in his place. What do you say now?

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Belief, In The Face Of Experience

Recently, something happened, and it brought to mind (again!) an old conflict that I’ve never fully been able to resolve. So, I thought I’d talk about it here, in case someone comes across it, and can provide some additional insights into it.

I think we all have some beliefs about life – how things are, how they should be, how one should react to and approach life, etc. And the thought that I’m struggling with is this: What happens when your beliefs conflict with what you observe around yourself? Do you change your beliefs and approach to life? More importantly, should you?

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Little White Lies

A friend asks for your opinion on his new hairstyle, or blog, which you don’t like. But you tell him, it’s nice. He asks if you’d go watch a movie with him this weekend, but you’d rather just lie around the house. You tell him, you have relatives coming over.

Why do we tell these little white lies? Probably, the most popular answer would be to spare someone’s feelings. After all, a white lie isn’t doing any harm to anyone, and if it helps avoid hurting someone, then why not? You’ve probably done this, and probably, will again in the future.

I’m no saint; I have done this too. Not that I’m proud of it. But, I have been trying to avoid this as much as possible. And it’s not without reason.

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