Hannah S. Chacko

Life… or whatever you feel like :p http://www.formspring.me/hannahschacko

Thought of the day: something you would change about the world.

Ok… this took me ages to think about - hence why this post is so late compared to the one before. What would I change about the world, if I could? I suppose there are a lot of things people would change about the world, but the question is where to begin…

So I started to think, a little like Sheldon Cooper (been watching far too much BBT), as to what would have the largest effect and potentially solve everything else at the same time.

So here is what I would change about the world:

Greed

Greed is the one thing that I think all the world’s problems stem from. People are greedy. Full stop. We crave more and we crave what we don’t have. Face it - everyone is guilty of this.

If people weren’t greedy, and ever looking for “what’s in it for me?”, I think we’d find that more people would help others. More people could afford homes to live in, rather than ending up on the streets. People could get to and from work without breaking the bank and food would be obtainable by all. And since at home, things are that much easier, we could help the rest of the world into the same standard of living - not worrying about the cost.

On the other hand - just think…. Imagine if greed had NEVER existed. No war… no-one would have invaded anyone… Although, as I think about it, we may never have existed at all.

Without greed, we would never have had the evolutionary motivation. Greed is essential for survival, giving us the power to compete with other species to “get ahead”… Without greed, this world could be populated with single-celled amoebas…. Now that would be an interesting thought.

So maybe not “no greed”… but greed should be dampened. A little less greed and a little more love and the world will hopefully be a better place.

Now - I am actually exhausted, so I am gonna head to bed… though this is an issue that is on my mind a lot… There may be another post about it in the near future. Btw - love this song!!!

S Club 7 - Gonna Change The World

So today’s challenge is to stop judging people. Now everyone makes judgements when they meet new people. Or even when you see someone… like that guy walking down the street who looks a little different.

I guess I could have used one of yesterday’s songs for this - poor planning on my part I suppose. I do love that song, and it is currently stuck in my head (When You Look at Me)… Oh dear >.<

So, I do try not to judge people. I usually try and keep my mind open for as long as possible. I don’t make judgements based on what people tell me or on looks alone. however, I am as guilty as anyone about making a judgement.

It all comes down to first impressions. Personally, I don’t care what people think of me as I walk down the street in grubby trousers from baking/cooking/chemistry with hand streaks, normally caused by flour going everywhere once again. I don’t care that I don’t wear anything in fashion, or that half of the time it seems to baggy, and the other half too tight… Ok, I do care personally about that - but I can’t get clothes to fit right so I don’t care what anyone else thinks about it.

However, when actually meeting someone, or applying for work, or anything along those lines, I am conscious about first impressions. We all know about them. We all get told that first impressions mean everything…. So my issue is, when people don’t put the effort into that first impression, it tells you something about that person.

There is a lot of truth in how you look reflecting yourself. I am laid-back and whatnot, but always keeping busy (don’t tell me it’s not possible) and my clothes reflect that - they are comfortable, yet show signs of whatever I have been up to. My hair is tied back half the time and I fidget when I have nothing to do… so not just my clothes, but my mannerisms. I keep focussed on things, but need to be doing something all the time.

There are a lot of thing that can tell you about a person, and first impressions are our way of determining those we are likely to get along with. However, what if someone is having a particularly bad day and feels awful. Their clothing and mannerisms are going to reflect that rather than their true selves… And who wants to get judged on a bad day?

So I try to ignore any negative judgements my mind makes. If they are positive, they stay, but negative, I give people a chance. If, over an undefined period of time, there is no change, then that will be my impression of that person - but until then, I treat every time I meet them as though I were meeting them for the first time.

So I can’t eliminate a judgement altogether, but I can make the effort to prevent those judgements from affecting my behaviour. And if I do get overall negative views, I decide on indifference, rather than avoidance or behaving negatively in return. You never know - people change :-)

Hoobastank - Don’t Tell Me

Ok, I realise this is becoming a rather post-heavy day…. I have a few more things I want to write about, but I will be scheduling them I reckon… 4 posts is a lot by my standards.

This post is arising due to the growing problem I have with Facebook and world awareness… It’s been brought to the front of my mind by the Kony 2012 campaign, but is something I have thought about for some time now.

I have supported Invisible Children for a few years. I love what they do in raising awareness and trying to help the children in Africa. Child soldiers are deprived of a childhood…. Their documentaries really are amazing and I will continue to support them so long as they keep the same vision.

Now, the problem I have right now is to do with people damaging good campaigns by being so over-zealous… I’m not sure how else to put it. Once upon a time, you would hear mention of a cause, or see an advert and get involved. You’d tell a couple of people, they’d tell a couple of people and eventually, the word got out to everyone who would support it.

Enter the growing popularity of Facebook events. Either I just never had this problem before, or it really is a recent thing (about four or five years). Now, instead of telling a few people who tell a few people, every individual seems to think it is their duty to tell the entire world what is going on, and they talk about little else. Kony 2012 has already invaded Facebook to the extent of almost every feed item is about it… In fact, I think about 1 in 5 things in my feed are NOT related to Kony 2012.

Now, I am probably going to get a lot of hate for this blog post, and I am well prepared for that, but people need to think about what they are doing. When people overtalk a subject, other people become more and more indifferent as others become too wrapped up in it. The overall effect is to harm the campaign. The tide of awareness is short-lived as more and more people get sick of hearing about it and turn their attention elsewhere.

So a little here and there. Don’t shove it in everyone’s face. Don’t force it on them. It will only cause more damage. Support it your way, and spread the word to a few and a few. Posters are great and a comment when you hear about it won’t do any harm. But if it is all you are going to talk about, or if I get twenty event invites to various locations in the country (or the few that were even overseas) that are impossible for me to attend, I am going to get annoyed. I will resent the campaign for destroying the pool of information you can get from others. In the end, I will become indifferent.

As a long term supporter of Invisible Children, I am shutting out the things I see on Facebook and the things people are saying. I know it is only a tide that will pass soon, and I do not want it to tear me away from a campaign that does so much. But if you think about it, right now you are treating an awareness campaign as a fad. That is not what we want. We want constant awareness over a long period of time. Not flash-awareness that maybe lasts a couple of weeks. And most of these people won’t think twice about it after the fad has passed…

This goes for all campaigns. Hate me all you want from this, but if you want to do some real good, become a long-term supporter. Don’t shove it in face because Facebook allows you to do that. And think, before you send out event invites.

Bruno Mars - When You’re Lonely

Thought of the day: how do you think your life would change if your dream came true.

This is another tricky one for me… Not an easy day I guess.

So I refer back to the dreams I posted on the first day of my challenge. Some dreams are just too personal and I would rather they weren’t out there.

My life if I lost weight. Probably not all that different to be honest. As much as I dream it will happen, my weight doesn’t affect my life, just my confidence. So I suppose I would be more confident in myself and not focussed on how all clothes give me a fat neck and fat arms… especially in photos. If any comes off my boobs, I’ll also find bra buying a lot easier, and probably a little cheaper.

The job… working on that. My life would be much better. I wouldn’t stress about money. I wouldn’t get ticked off about every little cost. T and I wouldn’t be living in a house share and would actually have some privacy… which would be the best part.

Winning the lottery - own house, more time to focus on uni. I wouldn’t stop working, but wouldn’t worry about it so much. I would definitely do a Masters and PhD (I’m undecided right now). Money doesn’t solve everything, but will help me out a lot… I would be able to go on a holiday for once as well - which I really want to do… The rest will go into savings, so I’d feel secure whatever happened in life.

Finding something I can commit to…. maybe not the best one. I reckon I would stress more over getting it done, whatever it is… >.>

No pleasing me, is there :p

Disney Pinocchio - When You Wish Upon a Star

So today’s personal development challenge is to do one thing at a time. I fail miserably at this all the time >.>

So I got a planner a little while back, and a calendar. I am using it - kinda, but I feel it will help me loads now that. It’s maybe not the best of planners - but I love it so far. Here are some piccies.

 So yeah… it’s the procrastinator’s planner. I thought it was pretty apt, and there are some lovely quotes each week that make me smile. Plus, every month there is a mini challenge to complete. This week’s quote is “Studies have shown that visualising doing tasks can be as powerful as actually performing them. I like that… It is so completely true :p

This is the inside of the planner - this weeks as well. All my lovely lectures written in and a meeting pencilled in on today’s slot… I nearly forgot about that - but I went and was very interesting. Notice the left hand page is empty… This is the space I am going to start doing to complete one task at a time.

Right now, I am just writing this blog. Nothing else. Then I am going to do some biology work from today’s practical. I plan to fill in the 5 pages with better drawings and understand the plant structure better.

So - one thing at a time. This really is my downfall normally. I am prone to ignoring my screaming head and taking on far too much. There are a million things I want to be doing at any one time, and as a result, I get absolutely nothing done.

I am going to start prioritising my tasks and taking them one step at a time. Though, if I get trumped on one piece of work, I will move on to the next to give my brain a break from whatever is hurting it so… Hopefully I will find I am much more productive, since at the moment I spend hours of the day trying to decide what I should be doing, over actually doing anything.

Maybe I’ll even take my own advice - if it isn’t necessary, leave it for now and get the important things done… I stress out too much over things I don’t even have to do….

Linkin Park - One Step Closer