An anecdote from the past to keep moving forward

Calvin Harris "We'll be coming back" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHO3dE-IDWk

I've spent a great deal of my summer studying for the MCATs and I have about 3-4 weeks left until my exam. At times it seems that this experience has been more of a test of my tenacity to move forward than anything else (especially since I've postponed this exam so many times now it's  becoming embarrassing.) I had a few panic attacks today and the thing I keep in mind during times like these is actually an anecdote from when I was an engineer. During my second trip to the army base (shout out to the EOD!) I had to go by myself and part of the experience involved in these trips was the journey of getting there. I remember moments when I'd get tired or nervous or anxious and the only thing I had to keep me moving forward while I was alone was the fact that I didn't have choice. I had to move forward. Pulling over or abandoning ship (so-to-speak) was not an option becuase even if I did I still had to get back on board and continue. So I just kept going. I never stopped until I got there, accomplished what I wanted to accomplish, and went home. I think this MCAT thing and eventually med school, residency, and even life in general are similar in nature. The moment we think we have options or alternatives to what we're actually set out to accomplish is the moment we set ourselves up for retreat. Instead of ruminating on the time left until my exam I made the choice to consider that I don't have a choice. As painful as this process is, I've certainly been through worse and I just need to keep waking up everyday and moving forward. Better yet: Shut the heck up and Just. Do. It.

Also, here's a special shout-out to my cousins Ritwik and Rishi in Contai. I know you guys read my blog and I hope you find it entertaining! I miss you all!

Five more things to know about me

Rihanna "We Found Love" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GchEVSx9XEA

Haven't posted 5 things in a while, so here goes:

(1) I love the feel of reading a book. I'll probably eventually invest in an ipad but it will be very reluctantly. I like the feel of turning pages and visualizing the volume of text I've devoured.

(2) I have to fight my instincts of being a night-owl.

(3) I love meeting new people and making friends in random places.

(4) When I was little I wanted to be the Tooth Fairy when I grew up. My favorite book was "No Tooth No Quarter" and I aspired to be Queen Denteena (Queen of all the tooth fairies.)

(5) On occasion, I bleed maize and blue.

This week's lessons learned

MGMT "Kids" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9DQa2bexwM

(1) Not every day will be the same. Not every week will be the same.

(2) Sometimes people just want to be saved. Sometimes people need to be saved.

(3) Sometimes I miss the past and still wish I was a kid where I didn't fully understand things in life and things were much simpler.

(4) I should have a little faith in people.

(5) By the same token, I sometimes wish people did the right thing more often.

(6) Sometimes I don't know what I'm doing.

(7) Schopenhauer may have been on to something. (ie What's the point? We're all going to die soon.)

(8) Everyone has inner demons and everyone has inner beauty. At any given moment we always have a choice to express any particular side of ourselves.

(9) Sometimes I feel like Atlas.

(10) The world isn't very safe. I hate being a cynic, but my recent encounter with my stalker/criminal has taught me to be more careful. (I still can't believe I confronted him/attempted to befriend him until I realize he was stealing my things.)

Eight reasons I love the Olympics

US Olympic Swim Team rendition of "Call me Maybe": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxffBXIPOcg

(1) I think what I like most about these games is watching the athletes since they have such tremendous worth ethic.

(2) The British fanfare. Opening ceremony was brilliant.

(3) The Queen. Who doesn't love a monarch skydiving into the opening ceremony? Not to mention her outfit. She looks great no?

(4) Michael Phelps. I recall seeing him in bars when he was swimming at the Wolverine Club at the University of Michigan after Athens (Go Blue!) This guy is spectacular and a perfect example of someone doing what they were meant to do. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QB4irt7XotE

(5) The rest of the University of Michigan athletes (which includes a good deal of Olympic swim team.) Some facts from the umich webiste:
 -Michigan has had medal winners in every Summer Olympics except 1896 and gold medalists in all but four.
-If the University of Michigan were a country, it would qualify as the 19th most successful in Olympics medal history.

(6) The other hunky swimmer: Ryan Lochte, what a dreamboat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0e6q4vm4Rc

 (7) The US Gymnastics team. Yay for them for winning the team (first time since 1996) and all-round gold!

(8) My parents are huge fans. Especially my dad. When they were studying in Montreal my dad took my mum to the 1976 Montreal Olympics and saw Nadia Comaneci earn the first perfect ten in Olympic history. They have the routine on film strip which I think is pure awesome.

Trees of Boston

The Naked and Famous "Young Blood" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wng0bZaLhC8

Although I really need to sleep, I have been wanting to post for some time now a few pictures of some nice looking trees that I've seen here.

Tree in front of Cambridge Public Library (looks Maple no?)

Tree from my view outside my window (by Cambridge City Hall)

This one is a nice looking tree in Hyannis (Cape Cod)

Also, funny quote from today's texts:

Me: My eye is infected and there were too many kids in line in front of me for a doughnut, so I just left without my doughnut, I'm soo annoyed.

Maus: you and your donuts. Does your trainer know? [referring to Mike my 'e-trainer' from previous post.]

"Failure is never permanent"

Just when I think I've had it with everything I've had to deal with this week I get an amazing email from my app for an ab workout trainer:

Hey, I just wanted you to know that there are always going to be obstacles in life. Obstacles to getting your dream body. That six pack. Losing weight. Getting a job. Falling in love. The list is endless. You CAN’T avoid these obstacles... BUT you can choose how you react to them. When life knocks you down, do you stay down or do you rise to fight again?

Success in fitness, and life, is dependent on persistence, tenacity and determination. There is a great saying in martial arts - “a black belt is a white belt who never quit”. If you never quit, you will achieve your goal. It’s just a matter of time.

You went and gorged yourself on cake. This could easily lead into a week of binge eating or more...

You were supposed to do a workout today. Did you miss it because of other commitments? Do you miss the rest of your workouts for the week out of a sense of failure? Do you stay down?

Hell no! Get back up, do it now! A year from now you’ll wish you started today.

Failure is never permanent... when you get back up. Pretty soon you will string together a few days of success, then a few more. Soon you’ve lost a few inches. Your muscles are beginning to show. You fall down, you get up. You lose a little more weight. You fall, you get up. You will soon reach your goal.

As you exercise, work and play this week, remember - “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

-Mike e-trainer

Another (quick) lesson in Stoicism: The pathology of the human psyche

Florence + the Machine: "Dog Days" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsr8oXxzFEI
 
This Stoic lesson stems from an issue that I have been struggling with during the past few weeks and I believe I am close to a resolution. Sometimes individuals display a multitude of pathological behaviours that others (including myself) cannot reason. The Stoic philosophy as a response to this is the belief that people are fated to behave a certain way. This behaviour is not something that we can control (obviously) nor is it something they can control either; it is set by the three fate that have predetermined the past, present, and future. Furthermore, upon an encounter with such a behaviour it is always easy to put the behaviour, your reaction, and your impact in cosmic context. Basically, we will all be dead eventually and none of this will matter. See! Now I feel a little bit better already that my problem has no real impact on the universe.

Incipit Vita Nova

Listen to: will.i.am "This is Love" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I9Ar6upx34

"In that book which is my memory, On the first page of the chapter that is the day when I first met you,
Appear the words, 'Here begins a new life'."

Dante "La Vita Nuova" (Italian for "The New Life")

For some reason I was thinking about this excerpt today. While I've been agitated about my potential move, I think I am more frustrated with my current stance in life in general. I feel like I am still awaiting the day I can start the rest of my life. A while back I read a small part of the Divine Comedy (didn't finish it though, I got stuck in Purgatorio--Pun intended) but I do think it's necessary for one to proceed through the obstacles of the Inferno to eventually get to where you want to be. (Although, allegorically speaking, the end for Dante was an ecclesiastical Paradise free from sin/repentance.) I just wonder how far along in the journey I really am. I guess the point is to just keep moving forward and eventually you'll make it (hopefully.)

If memory serves me correctly, I think the quote from above are the first few sentences of La Vita Nuova which I believe was a collection of mainly love poems that Dante wrote about his eternal love Beatrice. I would like to publish my poetry collection one day too and I feel compelled to draw whatever minute parallels I can between his life and mine mainly because I have poetry that was written over the course of ten years that collectively work as a unit and should be published before I proceed to the next chapter of my life. What I find so endearing about Dante's La Vita Nuova is the everlasting devotion/love for Beatrice (I forget the backstory but I think he only met her once or something.) Over the past year or so I've realized the importance of having an enduring source of happiness and love in one's life. I hope anyone who reads this stops and thinks about what that is for them. (Perhaps one achieves that through work or through the people in one's life.)

Lastly,  an interesting factoid about Dante's writings is that they were among the first texts written in Italian instead of Latin. This renders significant because it allowed literature to be accessible to the masses by virtue of the language it was published in (Italian was the major language spoken amongst citizens during the early renaissance.) Back before the 13th century Latin was the primary language of literature, thus written texts (and essentially education) were usually only accessible to the upper class or clergy. Oh yea, the title of the post means "here begins a new life" in Italian.

Ships of Boston

Listen to Pentatonix (a cappella group) "Starships": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FjJhPVu2Bg
 
In honor of this blog and my penchant for large ships, I am posting a few pictures of the giant ships I've seen around here so far. How amazing are they?

Ship from Freedom Trail

 Ship from Navy Yard adjacent to Freedom Trail

Not exactly a ship, but a nice sailboat inside MIT dome. Go MIT!

Hard to see, but ship from fleetweek. (Darned iPhone camera at night)

Most likely a supply ship. Taken off the rooftop patio of Legal Seafoods on the waterfront.

**Stay Tuned for yacht pics from the U-Mich yacht party next week!**

Five more things to know about me

Listen to Modest Mouse "Float On" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWvh85Qd8us

(1) I love it when it rains.
(2) I have dark humor and sarcastic humor.
(3) I love getting paper mail. Even more so, I love the art of handwriting letters and sending them (something I don't get to do at all.) Because of this I work hard to have nice penmanship. (Cursive and print.)
(4) I do not like to get material presents. I've been lucky enough to basically get anything I ask for or want which makes getting anything material a lot less special for me. I do, however, love getting books that I would like to read. No one has been able to do this for me, but if you can know me well enough to anticipate what I'd like to read then you know me better than anyone.
(5) It's important for me to serve/give back.