Career, Seneca Essays - On the Shortness of Life, Self-Care
Welcome to Sridhar’s newsletter number # 10. Appreciate you being here, so we can connect weekly on interesting topics. Add your email id here to get this directly to your inbox (https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com).
About last week post on Career
Thanks for responses over last week article over Career. I have been sharing this over Facebook (Only for friends), Twitter (My handle @swamysri1 - https://twitter.com/swamysri1) and over Instagram (Sridhar Garikipati). Although over Instagram I have been posting few quotes, lines from the post and mentioned little more or additional thoughts over the post. So, you can have look at it, but as its private and few of the readers are not there, posting them over here, rest were already available on the Career Post or Its Podcast version.
During my write up process I mentioned few regrets of men and women not starting their career and once they are late by say 10 years or so, they scared to get into career mode as they think they didn’t had any work skills. I touched only little in my article but felt circumstances are same as career re launchers who move from one industry to another had to learn skills from scratch. So same template can be used by late career folks. What amazed me while hearing my podcast other day is why do they even have this as regret specially women. As I have never seen a women in my life who does not work, it is just that not all are paid. I need to ponder on this more and want to document my thoughts at least for my personal write up, so if I ever get into such conversations, I have my script ready to pump some motivation.
We all know being Mother is hardest job of all and more often its most thankless job. I have seen my mom and now my Wife as a Mother, clearly its visible that is its challenging grind day to day. This confidence should never go away.
Conversation about Aging needs to take place as its impacting late career folks for building career. Person applying for lower skill set with higher age is been discriminated as not having hands-on experience even before interview happens, just with first look at the resume the bias is there, and it exists very much at workplace. So, this is one more topic needs to be discussed and how our generation can learn about it and remove these biases from workplace.
There is enough material already written on it, but still it is not being addressed. It is like we are waiting for the Covid-19 vaccine but at the same time we would need to have strategy ahead in place, so once Vaccine is available, execute the plan to make sure every person gets it. So just like this, we would need more eyes, thoughts and conversations on these to be happen and broadcast the message so strongly to eradicate any biases impacting work culture. So as promised, I will come back with my viewpoint for sure on individual topic as last post I have talked about multiple topics as they all are interrelated.
Seneca Essays - On the Shortness of Life
Live a life through out, what is the point of living the life once you reach 60 years post retirement. There is no guarantee of living a life post that retirement, only very few live more years, the Life can end at any point of time even with so much of care. Post 60 years or average living life from the country one is from; we never know if we will die around 67 itself. So, it will be just 7 years of living the life. Read one old essays where one mentioned of not taking any holiday and have been at war throughout his life. Asked to look back and recall memories, it was just all war and deaths.
A person turning old, do we measure how long one existed or how long one lived. These were written around the year 49AD and I got this author by reference. Mostly he argued we waste so much time and spend effort in making money and planning for future, rather than living the current life. Although it was written way back, but it still resonates to current day situation. Past has occurred already, we can only learn from it does not hang around it, Future is something we cannot expect, so instead being exist and doing redundant things plan to live an intentional life throughout the living.
Neither past nor Future, the time is best used by living in the present moment in pursuit of the intentional, purposeful life.
Seneca says,
Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow the accomplishment of the very greatest things if the whole of it is well invested. But when it is squandered in luxury and carelessness, when it is devoted to no good end, forced at last by the ultimate necessity we perceive that it has passed away before we were aware that it was passing.
About the Author,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_the_Younger
Audible version in English,
https://www.amazon.com/On-the-Shortness-of-Life/dp/B01282379S
Or you can read the text on open source
http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/seneca_younger/brev_e.html
I am going to spend some time for sure next few weeks on Seneca essays, will share my notes.
Self-Care
Summer is officially done for year 2020 in United States and as we move into Fall and then Winter. This Summer and entire year 2020 was way different for everyone due Covid-19 situation around the world. I picked up a book by Dr. Jennifer Ashton on Self-Care Solution to give it a quick read. Although I have added many habits to my lifestyle in last decade, wanted to remind myself of my own habits & also see doctor take on self-care. As it is supported by science strongly, it is easier to add to my own schedule or recommend to my readers confidently as I am not a doctor by profession. For Science part you can pick the below highlights and search for yourself or give a book a read.
Note: Entire book can be a blog, I will not recommend for myself a buy. It has good science reference why they are important, that part in book is mentioned in bullet wise nicely. Also, you can simply google around to know, but list is good.
Here are my sketch notes on Self Care & Link to my own post which I have written earlier.
The reason for mentioning this book and Notes in this week newsletter is because, I also wanted to have documented list to remind myself. I have my sketch notes print out already and, on my phone, favorite images for quick access as a reminder and tasks in my To-Do app to remind. Yes, it is easier to skip sometimes, so I have added few things as tasks, so I never miss new habits until they become a routine. Like Plant based diet, Sleep, Cold Showers, Morning few quick push-ups are part of my routine but meditation is something I have done a lot in 2015 and then later on whenever I feel that calmness in morning to begin I will do it. So, making this list and book helped me to see science side of it as well, why these habits are must. Also main reason to look right now was, As weather will get cold, In north east of United States most of us will be at home and Covid-19 situation has limited outside activities { No more Mall walking during winter :-( } , So this year winter for sure I want this on my task schedule for Self-Care.
Self-Care Habits from Book & My notes or my take
Dry Month
No Alcohol (I have skipped this chapter and, I do not need it in my list, as I have read enough during my college days or career beginning or seen its abuse. As it is never part of me, so I do not need this in my list to remind. Just adding it here from book high lights for my readers if anyone must check it out and see science side of it why you should stop consuming for your better health.)
Push ups and Planks daily
Meditation Daily 🧘♂️
Exercising - sweat 20 mins
Plant based diet, salmon in seafood.
For sure no to Red Meat and eat meat in moderate
Stay Hydrated.
Drink water. Say no to soft drinks, sport drinks or juice bottles which are high in sugar.
Use a reminder app on phone if needed
Log water to make sure every day drinking 2.7 to 3.8 liters.
Walk 10,000 Steps per day, approximately 5 Miles of walking.
In Summer I easily touch 12 k steps daily, as getting to winter, charged my Fitbit again to track daily movements
Mindful Tech
I cannot avoid my Kindle or Laptop for work and for my writings. So, rest I am good at it already, but still it reminded me the facts I read 3 years ago which made me to remove apps from phone and go offline on many social media sites. You are seeing me now again on social media only for my blog posts. So, I am still away from tech, majorly because I have removed apps from phone and I now just login though my laptop when I needed to promote my post which hardly takes 5 minutes to post. So, do not mind if I am not following other posts.
Less Sugar (I Skipped it this chapter as my kitchen doesn’t even have sugar and i have enough info on this)
Stretching
Sleep
https://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Sleep-Unlocking-Dreams/dp/1501144316 - I’m sharing the best book which read 3 years ago as it made me to reflect on my own sleep. Do check this book for this topic
Laughter
This list looks basic but as suggested by science it has major impact on our bodies when we do these and when we do not. 8 Out of these 12 have been in my lifestyle more than a decade, so I can vouch for its impact. Also, if you see they are part of lifestyle and few of them does not even take few minutes to get them done during our day.
Self-care is not just taking care of your inner and outer self. It impacts our decision-making skills, behavior throughout the day and our interaction with others as well. So, if you see most from this list it is not just our individual care its impact can be seen with everyone around us due to us.
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