Asking Forgiveness or Permission?

Image:PineForestAI

Most of us, either live our quiet moments in regret or in remorse. 

For the things we did not do, or should have done and for the things we did or shouldn't have. 

For most actions in life, permission is rarely the true barrier. Courage is. 

The lack of courage to do anything has resulted in more feelings of regret than remorse. The lack of permission also stems from the lack of courage. 

At the end of the day, it's not about remorse or regret, it's simply about YOU having the temerity to live a life you choose.

Is it easier to ask for permission or forgiveness? 

Forgiveness of course. 

Action is within our control. Permission is not. 

Actions always carry consequences - this is the price of experience. 

It is in our actions that we only ever truly experience anything. Life is meant to be lived not only contemplated. I truly want to experience this life, therefore I’d rather live with 'seeking forgiveness than regret.'

After all asking for permission is just talk not action. 

Seeking forgiveness is for an act already committed. 

Actions speak louder than words. 

Words once spoken cannot be retrieved. Actions once executed cannot be undone. 

Which is worse? 

The only caveat is to be able to discern that:

Courage without wisdom becomes recklessness.

Permission without courage becomes paralysis.

The challenge is knowing when life demands one and when it demands the other.

People often condemn us for our actions. Permission or forgiveness is never guaranteed, yet we only live with regret alone. 

You can’t please everyone, might as well please yourself. 

The moment chooses you. 

Will you choose it?  

Sri Shan. Chandran. Gan.

3 Men Walked into A Chettinad Restaurant...

Image: SideChef.com

Three kindred spirits gathered ritual-like, over tea on a Saturday afternoon like time travellers exchanging ancient data of past encounters, feats and conquests, reminiscing their relevance in the present era. 

To be able to spend a hot, sweltering lazy afternoon drinking teh tarek and eating nasi lemak, an assortment of Indian tea time delights with two of my oldest ex-colleagues, and teammates, who remain friends of almost 50 years, huddled around a table of  the Annapurnam restaurant in Bangsar bitching about the state of sports in our nation, particularly hockey. Mainly because no higher authority exists in our beloved nation on the sport of hockey than in our present company. Yes. It is fundamentally boring. 

But the bonds that we cemented yet again, only serves to remind me how blessed we are to still have each other and to be still hale and hearty in our physical and verbal banters. Meister Ekhart called this; The Noble Man or The Edel Mench. Nobly humans are naturally constituted. The divine state can come by one's own grace. Instead of putting down nobles and aristocrats, he makes the peasants into nobles. Instead of putting down anyone, he elevates all. 

That is apparently the key to A Good Life - a book published by Harvard University that began human happiness studies from 1938 on what makes a good life. 

It reveals that good, warm relationships are the single most powerful predictor of lifelong happiness, health, and longevity.

As noble men, we already know, believe and live in that. That's why we keep making these exquisite encounters happen regularly, even that at best is too infrequent but there is no but. 

It is what it is. As we traverse this ephemeral life as one must, invariably alone, it helps make the journey a lot less tedious and a lot more joyful. Because everything is impermanent. Everything changes. Nothing lasts forever. 

Life is truly a DIY journey and no matter what, nobody gets out alive so take life a little lighter and live while still alive. 

Enjoy yourself then die laughing. 

I love you guys. 

Footnote: The tea-time treats were so delectable that the youngest one of us bagged more goodies for home. Talk about hale, hearty and hungry.