Too much information

 At some point we lived in the information age. Right now I'm not sure what age we live in but what's sure is that we are drowning in information. Too much information.

For everything there are experts hailing it and other experts saying the opposite.

Then there are 'influencers' who amass large followings sharing their ideologies and let's face it profiteering from them.

How many people did Sir Isaac Newton listen to or read from? How many people would you say influenced him. I don't know but I can bet you it's not up to 10. Yet he achieved great things our generation can't even touch.

In a world of noise, we need to actively protect our mind, reduce the sources that have the power to influence us. Go deeper on small topics, values and vocations instead of having thin surface knowledge on all the things.

The death of quality

Quick thought on what I've noticed with these AI tools.

Generative AI tools like Gemini, ChatGPT and others have made 'creating' content trivial for anyone. As a result people have been leveraging these tools to make all kinds of content.

There's a new trend to string these tools and end up in a product that is sold or offered in sites like YouTube to get money from them.

The way they are used and presented leaves very little room for quality. Basically they ship whatever their AI tools barf to people.

The more I see this, the more sick I get.

As a creative person, I care about quality. I care about the human effort that went into a piece of work. That is actually what makes the work valuable to me. When there is little human work, then the work lacks spirit power. It's just an empty shell, just chaff, just junk.

The focus is simply money making, nothing more. It disgusts me.

I'm not against using AI in the creative process, I also use it but there has to be a human labour involved in the process. That's what make it valuable.

The things we experience

You can't miss what you have never experienced.

There are some negative experiences you never want to experience again. That one time is enough for your lifetime. You definitely don't miss those. Like a bad breakup or when you were robbed or an embarrassing moment in your life. 

But there are positive experiences you want to re-live. Like being at the beach at sunset with your friends, telling stories. Or that time you went on a food trip with your buddies or your first kiss.

I think some experiences are better not to be had in the first place so that you don't even have the memory of them. Like, I've never been pregnant so I don't know what that's like. No matter how you explain the experience, I will never understand it.

Having lived experiences helps us have empathy for those going through the same things we have gone through. It also brings us together. You have someone who understands you because they have also lived through the same or similar experience. You have something in common with them, and it unites you.

When you are young, they tell you to live you life to the fullest, experience as much of what life has to offer. Many people take that advice literally and go all the way to 11, throwing caution to the wind. This is a recipe for multiple regrets later in life. How many dreams have been dashed because of one negative experience?

By all means live you life, experience all the things but remember that all actions have consequences. Weigh the consequences before you take the action. Don't let the moment rule your entire life. Don't let friends influence you to make a seriously bad choice in life. Have guardrails while you explore the world.

Hopefully when you're 40, you won't have many regrets.

How does it really work?

I've been thinking about how people choose whom to be married to.
As a Christian I've heard all kinds of views and opinions, they're as diverse as the colors of a rainbow. I don't know what to believe anymore.

How do you know?
Someone said, you'll know.
I know but, how? 
Are you going to hear a voice saying, this is the one?
How exactly.

From the Bible we saw that God brought all kinds of things to Adam to see what he would call them. He named them but none was found fitting for him. Only when God made a woman from the man, and brought her to him that he saw her and called her woman. And she was the one fit for him.

Some people say, that's how it's going to be. God will bring people around you and ask you to choose.
Some say, oh you must hear from God. Don't just marry anyone you see without hearing from God otherwise you will marry a Leopard or a Lion. And you'd be sorry.

Can I like someone and make my decision?
Will God be mad at me if I say, I want this one?

Will God stop me from marrying the wrong person or will he just watch?

Apart from the account of Adam, there is no where else in the Bible where God brings a wife for a man. The closest I can find is with Rebekah. The servant of Abraham prayed and asked God to lead him to the house of his master and make his journey to be successful. He called on the God of his master and God answered him. There is no other way to explain how he met Rebekah except that God arranged their meeting.

So God can do that. And he still does that today.
I know of people who say God spoke to them that, this is you wife, this is your husband.
I absolutely believe that.

So how does it work?

Where I stand now is that, it's important to have your desires and present them to God and allow God work out the circumstances and situations that lead to you meeting and knowing who your spouse is.
Be open to hearing from God, in the way that God speaks to you. He will not use a special way to speak to you that how he always has been speaking to you.
Then get other people's view on your choice, weight them carefully before going ahead.
If everyone you love and trust is saying don't go ahead, seriously consider their advice. It's very rare that they will all be wrong and you're the only one that is right.

One last thing though, don't feel pressured by age or comparison. Don't let the news of other people's wedding unsettle you. Everyone has their time and their person. Finally, waiting on God for this matter may require copious measures of patience and persistence. If you really want to hear from him you will have to wait until he speaks. But when he speaks you can run with that word.

-ONWARD!

Why you're stuck

Here's the thing; if you're not pushing yourself beyond the boundaries of your abilities and beyond what you can do comfortably, you're not growing. If you stay there long enough you will begin to resent it.

The feeling of being stuck comes because you have reached a local maxima. I remember those words when I was learning Machine Learning in University. We had to learn about hill climbing algorithms, and stuff. It sounds interesting now but it was not back then.

When you reach a plateau in your life, it comes with the feeling of being stuck. Being stuck comes with feelings of resentment, confusion, anger and irritation with everything around you. You can't explain it, you desire more but can't reach it.

How do you get unstuck?

Widen your sphere.

Do something you have never done before.

Meet new people.

Try new things.

Keep an open mind.

Join new communities and engage with all your heart.

When you open your heart to new experiences, you will find that without changing anything else, your outlook in life improves. 

Try it.

Do it, even if you have to do it scared.

-ONWARD!