Kalpanakaranna – the overriding theme of my blog

I quote from a saying by Sir Winston Churchill – Prime Minister of England – when Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne on 6^th February 1952.

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

My contribution in my life is through this word “kalpanakaranna” a Sinhala word that says, “think”. A simple word, that goes a long way to explain how we live; what we do and why we do it. If we do not think about our words and deeds, we simply go through the motions of living in the first part of this passage. It is what we do by thinking that enables us to find meaning to this life and to in most part, get a lot of satisfaction by what we give. Interestingly we cannot take away what we get from this world, but what we give will last a lot longer, as in a legacy of what we leave behind. In that sense what we give is far more important than what we get, as it lasts. It is theoretically forever and rarely completely forgotten.

I spend a lot of time talking to young people to get them energized into being more focused and for them to find some meaning to their lives. It is interesting how they change their argument once this idea is introduced into their lives.

Often most of what is done (how they live and why they live) is because of what they are asked to do, through peer pressure and needs and desires, without an overall objective as to what it is that they are trying to achieve. A path to life is desired so that a rough idea of the route to map can be contemplated.

I then direct them to my blog and ask them to read some of my entries, as they are generally conceived of original thought and ideas I get from my readings, and life experiences. I write food for thought, some of which is debated and disagreed, but that is fine. I appreciate debate and questioning of what I write as it both hones my focus, and forces me to justify a position, further reinforcing my thought process.

It is a good idea to roughly map one’s day each morning to see how productive one can be to achieve one’s desired goals, so that one can at the end of the day determine the level of success. One thing this has taught me is that I am always pressed for time and short of time, and I am then forced to prioritize so that some of what I wish to do just cannot be done, and one has to be content with that outcome whilst at the same time appreciating the achievements.