I am pretty old in the sense that I have crossed sixties and I have realised that the sooner you accept life for what it is, the happier you will be. As I am rather old, and I have learned a few things from life. I have listed them and called them Eight Point Zen and I have grouped them into four pairs like "Here and Now" "Small and Simple" "Slow and Steady" "Mindful and Grateful"

First and foremost 'Here and Now' means just what it says: do not spend your life regretting the past or worrying about the future. If you do, you will miss the only part of it that is yours, here now: the present

The 'Small and Simple' means do not be arrogant, do not seek to control, do not live beyond your means. Do not imitate the fashionable. Just be yourself.

Also 'Slow and Steady'. Do things one step at a time, and do not seek to omit steps. Going slow and steady, you will not lose your steam, and you will be able to finally arrive at your goal. Think of famous The Tortoise and the Hare story.

Finally, 'Mindful and Grateful'. Be mindful. Pay attention. If you are not awake and aware, you will miss much. The beauty of nature will be lost on you, and you will be the poorer for it. And most of all, be grateful, for all you have, for all you are, for all you have received. Things could be much worse! Indeed, even if your circumstances are apparently difficult or even “bad”, there are many, many others who are worse off than you.

Accepting life as it is means, well first of all, what do you want to achieve from life, how do you live now and what do you actually want from life? Your life is primarily dictated by your decisions and your surrounding - to every decision there is a consequence. These are the questions that you will probably ask yourself hundreds of times over your whole life because you won’t be able to find the correct answer - there is no correct answer; what you choose is, what is correct in the present, but it might be wrong decision in the future. After all we can only regret past and future in my opinion.

And on a more scientific level, we are just animals who are control freaks: we want to live longer, we want to live comfortable, we want to find the ‘love’. We can do all these things by following facts and figures. However we will never find the true love, as there is no one definition of true love, the definition is only an explanation, but what does love mean to you?

Find what really interests you? Grab that interest and try to gain the most out of it. I like mathematics and since this year I am doing advance and for my age stated above because I wasn’t willing to give up on my interest, because I liked it - I liked the idea of this challenge. And just as a warning, don’t go too deep into your thoughts because you will quickly realize how much of the present you are closing your eyes to. You are young, enjoy the simplicity of life while you can, do lots of stupid things, because you won’t be able to do them the older you get. Try to make very close friends, don’t be a lone wolf because you will need that social aspect in your life to not go depressed over how life can be cruel and bright at the same time. Stay blessed! #kishoreshintre #possessedbywritingspirit #ks1000articles #proudtobeindian