Tis the day.

No, I used to hate christmas, or rather was not a fan, I actually have been looking forward to it now. Now I realise how mean that was but I had my reasons. The way I saw it was that people were just disproportionately happy, unconditionally giving, striving to do the same routines they have always done , sing the same carols with the same people year in, year out. Well, now I know better and its the reason why I'm celebrating it(which is why I'll make this article as short as possible).

Here is what Christmas truly is, (at least accoding to Chrsitians), It is the day that marks the birth of Jesus Christ. There has been a debate about whether he was born on the 25th December, but who cares, he was born at some point and if we choose this date to celebrate his birthday today, there is nothing wrong with that. This basically marks the birth of hope and faith in humanity.(No wonder everyone is being so nice). Again, its weird that on his birthday we get presents (humaniy++). Now others will tell of a different story that involves gods or Santa Claus or elves but the theme is always the same; celebration, merry making.

Oh, and if we use the Julian calendar Isaac Newton was born on the Christmas of 1642 (explains his genius).

People may appear disproportionately happy but isn't that what we ultimately want. Unless you are a masochist, of course, but everything you do at work, at home , at school , in your community is to make it better whether for yourself or for others. So Christmas is that ideal world we strive to attain but we too soon forget it to face the 'real' world.
Chrsitmas is a time to reflect, you know a week to put things in perspective and make thoughtful new year's resolutions. strategically, a week before the  new year (speaking of perfect timing).
If that's not enough reason to celebrate then I don't know what is, so, have a merry christmas and all the very best with your new year's resoulutions.

How Newton really discovered gravity.

Legend has it that Newton discovered gravity when he was sitting under a tree. He saw a falling apple while he was thinking of the forces of nature. I also know of a slightly more interesting version of this story. An apple fell on his head which got him thinking of gravity. In other words, Newton's law of universal gravitation is revenge to the universe for the excruciating pain he felt as the apple landed on his head. It sounds crazy but its probably true. Contrary to what we think, it is pain not imagination that is the root of innovation. Okay maybe imagination is  important but we can't underestimate the power of pain.

We need the time, imagination and resources to move forward but the real push to innovate is deeply rooted in pain, failure and all those things we never want to talk about. On and on again we see it happening, Stephen Hawking was motivated to dive into the 'hard' questions after being diagnosed with the motor neurone disease. Michael Faraday discovered electricity not despite of poverty but because of poverty, William Kamkwamba harnessed the wind because of the hardships he experienced from lack of electricity, Eden Full made the sunsaluter after seeing how Kenyan people suffer from lack of pure water and electricity. Taylor Swift writes beautiful songs as a result of, as you  might guess, heartbreaks.

The list goes on and on. Show me a history maker and I'll give you their  motivation. We all experience pain, only some of us are courageous enough to face it. Almost always we try our best to avoid it, and when it does befall us we ignore it. Why not embrace it? Let it motivate you not to make the same mistakes or even better to create solutions. All inventions can be traced back to one source: discomfort/ agony/pain.

Life is amazing, but its not easy. Actually it is hard not a walk in the park ( yes I said that). We are faced with struggles everyday, and in most cases we think they are hindrances to moving forward. Well, sometimes they are the opposite, perhaps the next big thing lies in those struggles. Have an amazing week ahead.

What are your factors?

Some things are crystal clear, like the fact that 4 is an even number and 59 is odd number, 2+3i is a complex one and pi is irrational. We do know the exact factors of these numbers , they are transparent. But what of 29347? Is it prime? Divisible by 3? perhaps 7? It takes a while to know that, even the program I've written to work that out takes a while. A fact, which brings to one conclusion, we are numbers, or at least just like numbers.

Life is so much easier when you think mathematically(literally). Think of humans as really huge numbers and our mission is to identify their prime factors. Some, like 1,000,000 are easily factorised with 2 and 5, others like 5934760 have obvious factors of 2 and 5 plus some other factors which require some effort to pull, others like 2934749 require a lot more effort to get to their root factors (which in this case is just 1 and 2934749 ). Some are just plain right complex and others require a little effort to realise they are irrational. Just like numbers, we humans are infinitely many and different too.

Some call them talents, I call them factors , I believe our life mission is to find those factors and use them for the benefit of humanity. Some tasks require 7's , some require 2's, some require 53's. Some people like have more factors than others, some have less. Leonardo da Vinci was a  polymath, painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer,inventor,anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. He managed to realise his prime factors and used them, its safe to say he lived a life of purpose. 

So, what are your prime factors? Still don't know them yet? Don't despair, keep moving, one day they will be crystal clear and you will recite them like the alphabet. In the mean time, live an amazing life because , well, what's the alternative?

You might be wondering how exactly do we realise these factors, well, its simple, by living, that's it. Pursue your passion, try out bizarre things you have never thought of doing, help others, make friends, make mistakes, travel. In no time, you will figure out  those talents without even trying.  

Heisenberg was right

Lets talk quantum. I have never across a physics arena so vague and interesting as quantum mechanics yet it is the only theory that can explain our universe so perfectly. Lets talk about Werner Heisenberg who stated that 'It is impossible to determine the position and velocity of a particle simultaneously with certainity'. You will have to sacrifice one for the other but not both. In other words 'It is impossible to be completely certain'. No doubt, restating the theory makes it seem less like physics and more like reality because it is.

You start a project, you have to deal with the uncertainty of whether it will deliver or not, we go through tests unsure of whether or not we'll pass, most important of all we are faced with the uncertainity of whether or not we'll live to face the next day. No matter who we are, we cant help but deal with uncertainity. Sometimes it comes in the form of impostor syndrome, sometimes in the form of fear, sometimes it is simply not coated at all.

You think you are alone in this but you are not. Not even Albert Einstein was sure he would change the world. For 2 good years he had to deal with the uncertainty

of whether or not he would get a job. The founders of Google Larry Page and Segrey Brin admit that they didn't have a mega company in mind when they started. Stephen Hawking has been dealing with uncertainity of living ever since he was diagnosed with the motor neurone disease in 1963. Uncertainity is almost part of human nature.

Richard Feynman, who by the way  came up with some quantum theories,  once wrote, "I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics" .He was wrong, well, sort of. Quantum mechanics is just the reality we choose to ignore because a lot of noise comes disguised as reality. Uncertainity shows up the moment we enter planet earth, is it a reason to stop us  from reaching our potential? No, it is actually a reason to strive on since that's how life becomes amazing. In short, whatever you do, you will either pass or fail but do it anyway.

The big secret.

So, I went hiking last week, which I normally do but this time I would like to share this experience because I learnt some lessons that just reminded me as you might guess, that life is amazing. So  there is this building on top of the Rhodes memorial, Table Mountain national park very high up called the King's blockhouse , I've always wanted to reach there since I see it everyday from school , plus it sounded like a challenge. So I grabbed me, some sneakers,  a bottle of water and off I went. After a couple of hours, I was back to planet earth with a couple of lessons.


It all starts with that first step.
Just like everything in life, considering we were all born knowing nothing. I didn't how to get to the top, I just knew that I had to go up that was all I needed. To accomplish anything all you need is the commitment to do it and to take that first step.

Never give up, ever.
Life isn't perfect, nobody is perfect. That should be enough reason not to give up. Once you have a clearly defined goal, you will be tested as to how badly you need it. But that is no reason to give up. As long as you are still alive there is something for you,so hang in there.

Enjoy the journey.
You can't really tolerate the hard blowing wind against your face or the fatigue and muscle soreness that comes from hiking unless you really enjoy it. You wont live through the disappointments and failures in your way unless you enjoy what you do. So yeah, enjoy what you do, it might be the only string keeping you alive.

Take risks.
Who knows what will unfold from it? The world not to mention the universe is too big to stay comfortable. As Nelson Mandela, put it, "It always seems impossible until it is done."

That's it folks, I just uncovered the secrets of the universe from 3 hours of hiking. Definitely worth it. Maybe you should try it too!Go make life more amazing.

Hey ,what you do matters!

   

Newton was a genius, but he had no social life. He did good for humanity but he couldn't make a family. She's good but she isn't charming enough. He's smart but he can't do this or that.  Sounds familiar? Welcome to the real world, a world where people are constantly looking for the 'buts'. It could be for the right reasons or just for conversation starters, but truth is we don't want to be reminded of these buts especially if we already know about them. We all have them , the buts , they are called weaknesses, and when you get so good at something, people will go looking for them. I'm here to tell you something else. What you do matters.It doesn't matter whether you can't you can't do tight jump or you make coffee for a living. Whatever it is that you do for the better, it matters , even when no one appreciates it.

      If you don't know who Carl Sagan is, I'm gonna fill you in. He was a research scientist in the field of astronomy and he wrote one of my favourite books, The Pale Blue Dot. His mission was to show  how astronomy can make us better people by considering how small we are in the universe. He knew best how to explain physics in layman's terms. Carl Sagan was actually dubbed  the world’s best known scientist in the late 20th century.  With every great introduction, comes a 'but', so here it is. The pursuit of his intellectual interests left him no time for other activities, you know the things normal people do, Sports, Photography, Musical instruments, movies, family, none of it. He got that pre-occupied with research that nothing else mattered.  Some would say he had so much ego, some would say he lacked discipline, but I don't think there is anything wrong with that. Ambition is good, afterall ,we all want to leave a mark on this world.

     We all know the story of Sonya Carson, the woman who raised the world's best neurosurgeon ( Ben Carson)and one of the best mechanical engineers (Curtis Carson) as a divorcee and housekeeper. Well, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to make a difference. Maybe you'll need resources , the brain and all, but these things come naturally after you make it clear to the universe that you have a mission. Like I always say, the Universe responds to that.


The 'buts' we hear from all around us, makes us feel small. So we  start concentrating on what we are not than what we are. Well here is the moral of my story, you don't have to be superhuman to do great things, and extra ordinary things come from ordinary people who make extraordinary decisions. You just have to be good at what you love and apply it to the fullest potential. Stop worrying about what people will say. We have a tendency to think that the next achievement will somehow erase the 'buts'. Sorry to say this but it won't. As long as you are still alive, there will always be challenges and with life comes opportunities to improve. So whatever you do, just do it for you and humanity. You know why? Because what you do matters. Keep making life amazing.

Hold on..

This is probably shortest post I have ever written. It is short not because I have nothing to say but because what I have to say today is better said in fewer words. It is simple, hold on. Life isn't always turn out what you want it to be. Sometimes it gives you what you want, sometimes it just shows you alternatives. Either way it is amazing. Hold on because it is your right. You have the right to live, the right to access to resources, the right to speak among many others. Underneath all this is simply the right to optimism; the right to hope. If you have ever missed a deadline then you know what its like to be denied that right. We all need hope , it is what moves us forward. Take risks, make mistakes, fail, start afresh because that is what living means. Pay attention but listen to no one , no one escaped failure, not even Isaac Newton, Socrates or Nelson Mandela. Hang in there, somewhere amidst the confusion lies answers.That being said have a amazing week ahead.