Avoid gratitude clutter

Gratitude is natural and emergent. If we try too hard to be grateful, it becomes an obligation rather than genuine appreciation. Just as our sense of power increases when we are joyful, we genuinely feel grateful when we meet our aspirations rather than cater to expectations.

The Minimalists have a wonderful term for this sense of obligatory gratitude: Gratitude Clutter.

Unclench your palms and stop holding on too tightly. Set your gratitude free from obligations. Set yourself free to really feel grateful.

Stop listening to yourself, always. Instead try talking to yourself.

The mind often fabricates details to fill in the context and complete the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle, making memory inherently imperfect. In Stumbling on Happiness, Dan Gilbert illustrates this fallacy by recounting how people frequently misremember the past, believing in reconstructed memories that never actually occurred.

Be aware that not everything you think is true.

Therefore, if you listen to everything your mind tells you, you are likely to be misled. Both intentionally and unintentionally. Intentionally because the mind is pre-disposed to be risk averse and therefore only emphasizes those facts that are likely to keep us all safe and unexposed to dangers. Unintentionally, because the mind has to retrieve faulty memory and also create parts of it to present a full picture. An in doing so, it often ends up showing us things which we are familiar with.

But why is listening to all of one’s thoughts problematic? It is because, it is here that fixed mindset and the forces of ‘Resistance’ live and thrive. By ‘Resistance’ here I am referring to the force Steven Pressfield describes in War of Art as the internal barrier that prevents individuals from pursuing their creative and meaningful work.

Instead, if you can talk to yourself like you would a friend in need, it will help you overcome problems by challenging assumptions in a supportive and trusted manner. Have a conversation with yourself. 

Consider the following questions as prompts during an inward dialogue:

First to establish evidence or the lack of it:

• “Hey, is what you are thinking actually true?”
• “Can you be absolutely certain it is true?”
• “What evidence do you have for that?”
• “What if this was not true?”

Next, address preconceptions and explore uncertainties:

• “What are you going to think next about this?”
• “What assumptions are you making?”

Finally, affirm your agency to handle the situation:

• “What needs to happen if the thought is true?”
• “If true, how have other people you know dealt with this?”
• “If true, what have you tried in the past that might work to help resolve it for the better?”
• “What does not change if this is true?”

Courage beats confidence

Historically, we have always associated confidence with one’s abilities and the achievement of goals. This approach suggests that if we have the skills and abilities to do something, we will gain the expertise that leads to confidence. Similarly, if we have achieved our goals, it becomes a source of confidence.

There is nothing wrong with this. Experience that comes from skills and abilities is a natural source of confidence. You can channel your learning and past experiences to ensure that you do the right things in new challenges, thereby doing them better.

Similarly, if you have had past success in achieving some goals, it is only natural to draw from that and have confidence in doing it well the next time you face it. This is true in all domains of life: work, sport, relationships, mental, emotional, and physical.

However, I find it problematic when we look at it from a learner’s perspective. This approach does not enable a growth mindset.

In today’s world, where the pace of change has accelerated, skills and abilities are constantly on the verge of becoming obsolete. The contexts of our lives have changed, making it impossible to rely solely on past achievements.

In fact, even if we think of goals as forward plans for what we want to achieve and use them to gain confidence, it does not seem to work. Goals are constantly moving and changing, and plans need to adapt as well. Linking confidence to abilities and achievements is problematic because it creates a false sense of security that can be quickly undermined by changing circumstances.

So what is better? Firstly, courage is better than confidence. Confidence is overrated. If one waits to have confidence before taking action, it is usually too late. We should go ahead and have a bias for action. Confidence is an outcome of doing and learning, rather than learning everything before doing. Try more things to gain confidence. Courage makes us do things we might not know everything about and may not yet be good at. If we only do things we are already good at, we might not do anything at all. Prefer courage over confidence.

Secondly, instead of abilities and goals, link confidence to intent and process. This is a system for gaining confidence. If you have the right intent, but not all the abilities yet, that is enough to motivate you into action. If you focus on processes and systems, instead of goals and outcomes, you are setting yourself up for learning.

Confidence comes from falling in love with the process.

Consistency leads to creativity

"Be regular and orderly in your life so that you may be violent and original in your work." - Gustave Flaubert

An uncluttered mind leads to outcomes which are more thoughtful and more original.

Most of the times. The trick is not get stuck in the minutiae.

Creativity and creation requires focus. By being disciplined in our time and in the mental models that we apply to our daily lives, we can dedicate precious mental and physical resources to the creation of the unique and the wonderful.

Don’t be a collector of resentments

Resentment is toxic. It is a negative feeling you hold about others, which slowly destroys you from the inside. Resentment is chronic anger, and just like chronic stress, it is worse than occasional stress.

Resentment is like holding a grudge against a waiter who spilled your coffee; it burns you more than it stains them.

Additionally, resentment is a form of intrusive thought that accumulates and destroys relationships, starting by decaying your relationship with yourself.

Resentments arise from unmet expectations and, more importantly, from excessive expectations. People pleasers among us have this unrealistic expectation that if we do everything right, and do it the right way, all will be well, and others will behave in the way we want and reciprocate with gratitude. However, striving for flawless approval only leads to endless disappointment. This disappointment is the seed for resentment to grow and take root.

Like a weed, resentment is hard to get rid of. Here are some of the reasons why:

• Letting go of resentment means you will have to confront the issue with the person directly, which is overwhelming for many. Instead, we end up pointing fingers at someone in our minds without ever vocalizing it, leaving us bitter and stagnant.
• Letting it go feels like a failure, a loss, as if we have surrendered without a fight, letting the other person off the hook.
• Letting it go does not give us closure. Instead, by holding on to it, we create a covert contract in our minds, building ‘if-this-then-that’ scenarios.
• Resentment is a powerful coping mechanism that reinforces a victimhood response. It is easier to be addicted to the cheap wine of bitterness.
• Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, letting go of resentment is hard because it means relinquishing the false sense of power and control it gives us.

The frantic mind is particularly susceptible to triggering and harboring resentment. Although it is not easy to let go of resentment, one can surely recover from it.

Recovery starts by acknowledging that you are choosing to be resentful to achieve some goal, and therefore, you can choose not to be resentful. We choose to be resentful because we believe it serves a purpose or gets us what we want. However, resentment, which is all in our head, does not even have the utility of an angry outburst, which at least informs the other person of your ill feelings.

Once we know that we can choose how to respond and that holding on to resentment is a choice, we can start to heal ourselves of it. Here is a useful tip: next time you realize you are being resentful, adopt some self-distancing.

Ask yourself the following question: “What will I think about this next?”

This question can take you away from the downward spiral of resentment, in the moment, and instead make you aware of the choice you have.

An antidote to being frantic

In today's frantic world, we find ourselves rushing from things to things. This leads us to become frantic. This frantic life is leading to a sense of overwhelm. We need to overcome this.

We are constantly trying to speak and get our points across. We do not listen to what others are saying, we just nod along to what people are saying without really paying any deep attention. We consume and see a lot of things. But none of it is retained because we are not observing. Not taking the time to make sense of what we see. We are drowning in so much noise. Even when we take notes, we end up just scribbling. It is unintelligible and right after taking notes, we can hardly understand what we have scribbled.

A change in perspective is needed. To reduce overwhelm, and to become less frantic consider SLOW.

SLOW stands for:

• Speak. Don’t just talk
• Listen. Don’t just hear
• Observe. Don’t just see
• Write. Don’t just scribble

The biggest gains for me come when I write slowly and legibly. It unlocks new insight and creativity. It provides clarity and contributes significantly to reducing the sense of overwhelm.

Psychological hungers make us seek certainty, stimulation and recognition. The need for stimulation might be the reason why we end up doom scrolling on our phones instead of engaging with some content that we enjoy. It is just seeing rather than observing. The need for recognition leads us to try to talk and make ourselves heard instead of speaking sparingly in a measured way and listening to others. The need for certainty, leads us to scribble down everything we hear and avoid missing anything. But we drown in the noise and miss the actual signal.

All these behaviours might satiate the short-term imbalance in our psychological hungers. But by implementing SLOW, by giving time and being present, we end up getting higher quality nutrients to satiate our psychological hungers.

Micromanaging how others experience you is unnecessary

People pleasers go to great extents to meet the needs of others, often without any expectations from others.

Perfectionism is a very common form of people pleasing. Perfectionism is about trying very hard to portray something about oneself, which is not true, but also mostly unnecessary. Perfectionists try to curate every element of how others view them, and in doing so put undue pressure on themselves.

This manifests in all parts of their interpersonal relationships. Professional and personal.

For example, in the professional context, being unsure to speak up and ask questions in a meeting, to avoid appearing as a foolish person. Or, on the flip side, asking too many questions because they want to be seen as engaging. It can be saying yes to new projects and commitments, just to signal that one is not a slacker. It is saying no to things, just because they want to be considered busy and important.

In personal context, it is not acknowledging one's needs. Letting imbalance in the psychological hungers fester.  It leads to typical 'drama' behaviours - playing the victim, always being the helper, or being judgmental.

Trying to be perfect is a coping mechanism. Too much of it leads to a build-up of resentment. And get us to start fixating on the challenges one must deal with, instead of taking action to fix the issues.

If you find yourself micromanaging how other's experience you, take a pause and acknowledge it.

Then let it go. Stop curating and censuring yourself. Nobody is thinking about you as much as you are. Recognize problems can be opportunities in disguise.

Let go and breathe. Appreciate the imperfection and impermanence. 

Unclench.

Balancing Psychological Hungers is important

We all have physical needs. Food, shelter, desire etc.

But along with it, there is another set of needs which are equally important. They are psychological hungers.

Eric Berne of Transactional Analysis fame identified that human beings have three psychological hungers. They are the need for Certainty/Structure; the need for Stimulation; and the need for Recognition. 

And just like the distress we feel when our physical needs go unmet for a long time, when our psychological needs are not fulfilled, we feel disturbed.

More importantly, we need a certain degree of all the three to function properly. When there is an imbalance, it is not natural.

Certainty/Structure is representation of degree of control we have in life. It comes from the ability to predict the cause and effect of our actions, if not perfectly, to some extent. If we live in an environment when there is no structure, it can be very unnerving. This is why employment uncertainty can be such a debilitating situation to be in. This is why it is so hard to deal with unpredictable people. On the flip side, having too much certainty numbs us and makes us unreactive. Too much structure means we are not able to react with flexibility, and that makes us fragile.

Stimulation is the need for excitement. It is the inbuilt desire for curiosity and finding something interesting. Boredom is mostly intolerable. Without stimulation, the passion we feel for most things will not sustain. But again, too much stimulation is toxic. The most pertinent example I see of this overstimulation is our addiction to our phones and to scrolling. That is cheap stimulation and we have become addicted to it.

Recognition is the need to be heard, seen and acknowledged. This comes from our social nature. Our lives are lived in the intersection of our relationships with different people who inhabit our world. If we don't feel acknowledged, we feel adrift. This can happen in the workplace, in our intimate relationships and in our own spiritual journeys as well. Too much recognition, makes us vulnerable to becoming trapped in a need for external validation. 

These three hungers are present in every human being. So, as we look to fulfil these needs for ourselves, we should acknowledge that others need this as well for their efficient functioning.

And here is the wonderful part. Unlike our physical needs, where giving someone food does not ensure you receive food, or desiring someone does not ensure you are desired, the psychological hungers operate on a different pathway.

In the realm of interpersonal relationships, you get what you give. Let’s take the example of recognition. If you seek recognition, the best way to get it is to provide recognition to others. If you walk into a crowded party where people are all speaking to each other, and nobody has seen you, the best way to get acknowledged and included is to go and say "hi!" to a friend or acquaintance, or wave and call someone's name out, even if they are at the other end. 

Similarly, a co-worker who helps provide some structure to a new employee, by showing them some of the easy ways to do things around the office, will feel the reciprocation of the new colleague soon enough. 

If you are lacking stimulation in life, cultivate a sense of excitement and energy for the most mundane interactions. Smile and talk excitedly to the cashier at your local grocer. They will be obliged to reciprocate.

40 lessons from my 40 years

I turned 40 years of age on the 14th of August 2022. I began creating a mind map containing forty lessons I had learned over as many years. However, I did not publish them as I was being too wary about sharing them. I'm not sure why I was being so cautious, especially since one of the lessons I have learned is about valuing progress over perfection.

Therefore, following my own advice, I am publishing it even if the writing is not as polished as I want it to be. These lessons and my personal growth hold great value for me, and perhaps they will be valuable to others as well.

So, here I go.

#1 The master appears only when the student is ready. This is the first lesson. What it means is what I have to say in the following thirty-nine lessons may not resonate with you at all, and that is fine. The learning will only be relevant to you when you are ready. So ignore those that do not matter to you, even if it is all of them, and move on. Don’t try to force anything, it's futile. You will be ready when you are ready

#2 Deep breathing for 10 minutes a day is life-changing. This is no understatement. This wisdom might seem woo-woo as it is ancient and it is also new-age. I resisted it for these reasons for 34 years of my life. Then I started doing it. Now I cannot resist deep breathing. It is very possible also that it will not have any effect on you initially. You will be skeptical about its use and relevance. But then suddenly it will become transformative for your life. That change happens all of a sudden. This is one of those areas where you have to just do it to know it. The deep breathing I do is the Wim Hof method. It’s exactly 11 mins daily if you follow that popular YouTube video of Wim’s. But do whatever works for you. But ensure you breathe thru your nose deeply for 10 uninterrupted minutes daily.

#3 There are seasons in life. And like seasons they are cyclical. For me, it is about the seasonality of how disciplined I can be in my life. Sometimes I need to hold a tight leash and be very disciplined and stick to every routine and habit. I have the mental strength to push thru. This leads to the leash becoming taut and tense. That’s OK. Because this is followed by a time when there is a general sense of looseness. Things are relaxed and you are missing your habit markers. The learning from this is to not beat yourself up about it. By design, life is cyclical this way. Trying to adhere religiously to one state or another, despite the internal change of seasons causes misalignments. I have learned that one needs to introduce the mind to a concept of flexible discipline. Another way to look at it is to have healthy addictions and obsessions. But remember to switch between the addictions and to cycle through between them. Don’t be addicted to being addicted.

#4 Incentives in life seem to be biased toward the fast and the agile. I believe it is a FALSE motivator to succumb to. I use the word succumb as it is easy to do so and in fact, society will incentivize you to succumb to it. It might be a good motivator in the short term and in some seasons surely one needs to go at it fast. But know that it is not useful in the long term and in fact, can affect you negatively. The true joy in life is found in slowing down, backing yourself, and in fact, getting bored. Mono-tasking is such a tremendous source of joy. In fact, it's a luxury. If you are able to mono-task, you are actually winning. It comes when you are able to resist the urge to get more done in the short term.

#5 Books in all forms make life worth living. Not much to elaborate on here, but I genuinely believe this to be true. Something about books makes learning from them, fun and life truly enjoyable. 

#6 Life changes from moment to moment. And it changes every instant. When the spotlight is on, say for example when a loved one is going thru a health challenge, you can feel the change. Everything seems to be different. Everything is noticeable. At other times when most of life is running smoothly, you don't see the changes. But change is happening. These imperceptible changes can be momentous or insignificant. Therefore resisting changes is sort of futile and makes no sense. It's easier to assume that because of the changes that are imperceptible, one's life can dramatically change at any given moment. But, I will be the first to concede that when you become mature enough to understand this, it sucks. It is not a pleasant insight. To appreciate it, one needs to also understand the paradox of control.

#7 Paradox of control is real. Because of the previous point, one obvious conclusion to come to is 'nothing is in your control'. Which is mostly true. But it's also mostly irrelevant, as there is one very important thing that is in our control, which is crucial. We can control how we react, and what we choose to think. That is the most important. The paradox is this - don't try to control change because you cannot; control your reactions to change i.e. be accepting of it, fully. Then the change will be under control.

#8 Acknowledge the separation of action and reaction. An extension of the paradox of control is that one cannot actually make someone else happy or sad or even angry. That is a reaction that is not in your control. Your actions can certainly evoke certain feelings in another, but what that feeling is, is never in your control. By understanding this you set yourself up for a life of less misery as you can live without having to overthink everything. Don't try to willingly hurt someone, or do hurtful things, but at the same time do not censure yourself.

#9 Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. Pain is the first arrow that is shot at you. But suffering is the second, third, and n-th arrow you shoot at yourself. 

#10 Beyond a certain threshold, there is more joy found in eliminating than in adding. Nothing feels as good as not having one more thing to be responsible for. Especially if you can eliminate the things which can cause niggling issues - pain, repeating setbacks. In fact, removing something that is an issue is more likely to bring you happiness than incremental improvements in some aspects of your life. One of life's purposes is to lower that threshold to the bare minimum so that not much is needed to find joy.

#11 Simplicity unlocks a power that can surmount the challenges that complexity imposes. We often underestimate the simple as we seem to think the complex is better. 

#12 Lowering one's expectations actually helps one enjoy things more. This is almost like a law of simple physics. Low expectations fulfilled consistently is more satisfying than high expectations which constantly fall short of being satisfactory. This can also help one mentally to simplify one's personal surroundings and more importantly, one's decision-making heuristics. It is beneficial in the short term and in the long term. 

#13 Consistency beats intensity. If one has low expectations, they can be met consistently without life interrupting them. This way you can reap the benefits of compounding. Intensity is good in short bursts, but cannot be maintained and therefore does not reap the rewards of compounding.

#14 There is a fine line separating being disciplined and being hyper-intentional. The latter is just another form of perfectionism that is willingly inviting suffering. Trying to be hyper-intentional is like grasping at things that are outside your reach, for a reason. A deliberate life is better. There may be a season for hyper-intentionality, but it is something deliberately done, not because of the demands of society. In essence, hyper-intentionality and 'hustle' are unnatural.

#15 Life is meant for leisure. We have been fooled into thinking that work is everything. Work needs to organize around leisure, not the other way around. We are human BEINGS, not human DOINGS.

#16 Focus on the big things first. Don't sweat the small stuff, especially in the beginning. As Steven Covey said, put in the big rocks first, the other small stuff will organize itself around the important things. Also, you are what you give your attention to.

#17 Surmounting the fear of failure is pivotal in every endeavor. It is the number one thing holding most of us back from living a deliberate life. To overcome this it is useful to start from knowing that it is biological. So, one has to find ways to manage the biology of fear. Courage, as Lewis Carrol said is the form of every other virtue at its testing point.

#18 Incompetence is better than insecurity. I will go as much as to say that one of the lowest kinds of behavior is letting one's insecurity determine the interactions with others, especially those who are less fortunate. An incompetent, but kind person is better than a competent, insecure, and scheming person. 

#19 Consumption without creation can be addictive. One of the challenges of modern existence is a person can now easily survive by consuming more than creating. This can apply to almost all aspects of life including food, ideas, entertainment, relationships, work, etc. The antidote is to take breaks from consumption and create something, however trivial it is.

#20 Eat plants and food made from them. Avoid at all costs, animals and their secretions as your sustenance. Voluntarily putting parts of a carcass never appealed to me. I am now also convinced that consuming dairy taken from a mother, while depriving her child of it, is even more cruel.

#21 Overeating is worse than fasting. The after-effects of over-eating are a worse affliction than fasting for reasonably long periods of time. Occasionally skip meals. Fasting, done right, can be a panacea.

#22 Relationships can be hard but need not be. Given time every relationship, even the one with yourself becomes fraught with burdens. Do not kid yourself that some will be easier than others. But this does not mean you should not have those relationships. In fact, 'you' exist mostly in the intersection of the Venn diagram of the relationships and roles you play. There is no escaping it. Instead, make the intersection large enough by being consistent and interesting enough by being unique. This way, you can enjoy every relationship you choose to have.

#23 Identify who you give your time to in life. This may seem harsh, but identifying who you value in life (and give time to) and who you don't (and not give time to) is essential. Learning to do this deliberately and without drama will transform your mindset. Without prioritization, perfectionism will corrode your existence. 

#24 When in doubt, put pen to paper. If you are feeling frantic about anything, sit down with a pen and paper and write about it. This might give you insight which might solve the problem for you. If not, it will give you time. Either way, you will be better off.

#25 Iterate, Iterate, Iterate. Learning to do this, taking small risks, experimenting, and treating every day as an experiment is contra-intuitive. It is actively discouraged in life. But you must. It is transformative. This can be applied in most domains of life - mental, physical, emotional, professional, and even spiritual aspects.

#26 Live life with a gardener's mentality. Gardening requires persistence, delaying gratification enough, but not too much. It requires building systems and developing a craft. And above all, it values patience and a willingness to weed out the inessential. 

#27 Competitiveness is an overrated mindset. Like hustle, it is a false and dubious driver. We should treat competitiveness and the comparison it evokes as drugs. In small infrequent doses, they are helpful to alter your state and elevate performance. But they are highly addictive, and lead you towards a downward spiral. Beware while using competitiveness, to not end up abusing it. 

#28 Shame is self-imposed. It is not an emotion others can impose on you. Liberate oneself from shame and definitely don't feel a sense of it always. 

#29 Short sounds confident. Elaborate sounds nervous. Speak, write, and communicate with brevity as much as possible as it will make you appear confident. But do so with clarity and kindness. 

#30 Leading is making others feel that they are important. A boss casts the spotlight on him or herself. A leader, on the other hand, will make you feel important. Choose to be a leader most of the time and bossy only when necessary

#31 Solutions can be found when those looking for them feel valuable. Make oneself and others feel valuable and useful, the solutions to problems and issues will appear before you. It is indifference that blocks the obvious and makes us blind.

#32 Praise them even when someone is not worthy. Providing positive motivation rewards you as much as it helps others. Share the rewards, and acknowledge their contribution, vocally and publicly. It feels good and leads to better outcomes. Being stingy in positivity is of limited utility, and does not maximize potential. 

#33 Strive to be worthy of what you receive. Taking more than your worth and getting the praise that is not yours to take, will make them feel less rewarding. Greed deadens the senses and very soon even what you deserve will feel bitter and unfulfilling.

#34 Fortune favors those who are prepared to receive it. If you are getting some benefit while not being intentional, know that it is accidental. Enjoy it briefly, but it is not sustainable. One starts becoming lucky when he has started cultivating luck. 

#35 Work based on time goals, not completion goals. Work expands to meet the time you give it. 

#36 Make the criteria for saying YES broad enough. But beyond that boundary automatically say NO. There is more to be lost by saying yes to everything, than by saying no to some things. Make the decision simple and automatic. Make it clear so as to not have to spend precious energy deliberating it.

#37 Pay twice as much, but for half as many items. That way you will get quality and you will save money. Also, merchants who sell at higher prices will also give you more quality attention than those who sell less valuable items. 

#38 Having energy and enthusiasm for a task will help you get closer to completing it than having the expertise to do it. Same for an idea. An idea's chance of coming to life is higher when the person having the idea is energized and enthusiastic about it. Even more than if the person is well qualified but lacks enthusiasm for it. Relatedly, giving too much feedback to a person's idea which can dampen their enthusiasm for it, will lead to worse outcomes than what the feedback intends to improve. 

#39 Action relieves anxiety. If you are feeling anxious, get moving. If you are worrying about the outcome of something, just start doing the task, and the anxiety will melt away. If you don't have the motivation to do something, just mechanically start doing a part of the task, and motivation will emerge. As Rich Roll says, mood follows action. 

#40 Trying too hard is a sure-shot way of failing. Life is too short for wasting it away setting yourself up to fail. 

And finally a bonus one,

#41 We only have the rights to our labor, not its fruits. As Lord Krishna said in the Mahabharata, do not be bothered about the fruits of your actions. Do your duty and things will fall into place.

This collection of lessons represents only a fraction of the wisdom I hold dear. There are many other valuable insights that didn't make it into this list, but I plan to compile an honorable mentions list in the future and incorporate them accordingly. Additionally, I acknowledge that certain quotes I have included in this compilation were borrowed from others, and I haven't altered them as their original framing holds a certain beauty and power. Crediting the sources appropriately will be a priority in future iterations.

However, for now, embracing the principle of progress over perfection, I am choosing to publish this compilation

A story about a green boy who saw beauty in everything - A children's tale

Green Boy was on his way to school, where he would learn about the important things in life. Along the way, he had to go through the forest. Green Boy was a happy child and eager to learn, so he set out on the journey with a keen sense of adventure.

The evening on the first day of his journey, as he walked in the forest, he came upon a tree full of fruits. Green Boy looked up, hungry after an afternoon full of walking. And in the tree, he found many juicy fruits. Green Boy eagerly climbed up and ate a few of them.

As he was munching on one of the fruits, up higher in the tree, what did he see?

A shiny juicy fruit nestled amidst the leaves, all the way on the top of the tree. Shinier than any other, and bigger also. Green Boy was intrigued. He climbed up to get to that fruit and as he reached the top, he realized that it was actually the moon!

"Oh, such a wonderful thing!", Green Boy exclaimed "It would have been such a juicy shiny fruit!"

Hearing this exclamation, Mr. Merry Moon was amazed.

He said to Green Boy, "Wow! Green Boy, you are the only one who looks at me and sees a shiny juicy fruit, everyone else thinks I am a stinky old piece of cheese." Green Boy smiled sheepishly.

"Thanks to you, Green Boy, I feel happier today. You are a good friend", said Mr. Moon. Green Boy tipped his hat and went on walking.

It was dark by now and the forest was very silent, except for the rustling of the leaves. As Green Boy was turning into a path, what did he see in the bushes ahead of him? A pair of angry yellow eyes, shining from amidst the bushes.

Then came a growl and a roar and out came a large Grey Devil with its fangs! Grey Devil started chasing Green Boy, who ran for his life.

Grey Devil shouted behind him, "Stop you small little inconsequential little fellow. Ha.. ha.. you cannot run away. I am going to trouble you!"

Around the trees, amidst the bushes, on top of the stone path, the Grey Devil chased poor Green Boy. But Green Boy kept running. It was almost dawn by the time Green Boy managed to escape the Grey Devil.

Green Boy was tired. He had been running. He was tired, thirsty, and hungry. He came upon a green lake, filled with glassy green water and lots of leaves and plants floating on it.

His face lit up with a smile and he sat on the bank and started drinking water from the lake.

But soon, he heard a loud croaking noise. "Ribbittt. Ribbittt. Ribbittttttt".

Two eyes popped up from below the water. Green Boy was nervous and about to run away when he heard a voice call out.

"Who drinks the water from my lake without my permission?", Mr. Warty Frog said.

Green Boy was relieved it was not the Grey Devil.

He said, "Oh hello Mr. Frog. Sorry, I did not ask your permission. I am Green Boy. I was thirsty and this water looked so nice and refreshing. It was also the same color as mine. So, I took a sip"

Mr. Frog looked surprised.

He said, "Oh, what a wonderful thing to hear. Everyone else thinks this is a dirty swamp with stale icky water. You, Green Boy are the only person to think that this water looked nice and refreshing!"

Green Boy smiled sheepishly. Mr. Frog said, "You are surely a friend, Green Boy". Mr.Frog continued, "Come, let me take you to my home under the water and give you some breakfast".

So Mr. Frog took Green Boy into his lake and to his underwater home. There, Mr. Frog introduced him to Mrs. Frog and their two hundred children, all called Tadpola or Tadpolee. They all sat down and had a scrumptious breakfast.

After breakfast and after resting for some time, Green Boy bid farewell to Mr. Frog and his family and off he went. Along the way, in the forest in the late morning, he observed the beautiful things with happy eager eyes.

He was wandering through the green forest lost in its beauty. So lost was he that when he turned a corner he missed the large spider web and landed smack in the middle of the web.

Madam Itsy Bitsy Spider sat watching as Green Boy tried to jiggle away trying to free himself. But as she approached him, to see what to do with him, she was pleasantly surprised. Instead of being scared, Green Boy was actually in awe of the web.

He was saying, "Wow, look at this. Such a beautiful silver design, it catches the light so amazingly. Look at the intricate patterns and designs. Surely, whoever wove this web must be an artist"

As he gushed over its beauty, Madam Spider felt amazing about the web she had woven.

She went up to Green Boy and said to him, "Green Boy, you are amazing. Everyone else just gets scared when they get caught in my web. But you, you called me an artist. Made me appreciate my own creation!".

Green Boy looked sheepishly and smiled.

"Come, let me show you how to free yourself." Madam Spider said as she showed him the way to free himself from the enormous web.

Green Boy thanked Madam Spider and went on his way.

Along the way, he came across a giant anthill, built like a large castle rising from the ground. All around the anthill were busy ants marching in and out, carrying their food and other necessities. It was really a hive of activity, and there were so many things going on everywhere that it seemed like complete chaos.

Green Boy stood there looking absolutely amazed at this sight. His eyes were big as an owl's and he was genuinely amazed.

He exclaimed, "Wow. Such an amazing display. So organized these ants are. And so hardworking. Look how wonderfully they are going about their work!".

Hearing this, General Order Anticus the Third, or GOAT as he was known amongst his friends, stopped directing his battalion of soldier ants and looked incredulously towards Green Boy. He was so happy that a big teardrop formed in his ant eyes.

He came running towards Green Boy and kissed his hand and said, "Green Boy, you are so kind. Everyone else thinks we are pesky pests and calls us busybodies who are running around all over the forest floor."

He said, wiping away the tears of joy, "You, Green Boy are the only one who has said we are something good! You must surely be a friend."

Green Boy blushed again.

General Anticus said, "Come, I must take you to meet our Queen. She will be very happy to see you".

And off they went into the anthill. In there, General Anticus introduced Green Boy to the royal family and they all had tea with the Queen. It was a very fancy affair with many amazing intricate pieces of cutlery and grand paintings on the walls. Green Boy really enjoyed himself.

After Tea, Green Boy, bid farewell to the Queen and to General Anticus and his ant friends and headed onwards on his journey.

It was late evening again, and Green Boy was nervous about having to encounter the Grey Devil again. But, he wanted to make his way forward, so on he went.

As he was walking, he came across a quiet part of the forest. There were more hills and stones than trees, and the trees that were there did not have many leaves. He came upon one such barren tree, old and majestic, but without many leaves and pockmarked with age. But it was tall and sturdy.

Green Boy looked up in awe and even though it did not give any shade or a cool breeze, he was amazed by its tallness and strength.

He said, "What an amazing tree. And how many years it must have seen and how many people it must have provided shade and a cool breeze too!"

From way above the tree, from an eyrie up in the high branches of the tree, came a high-pitched whistle. A happy high-pitched whistle.

It was Grandma Glory Eagle. Down she came from her eyrie to meet Green Boy.
She took him under her wing and said, "Hello there Green Boy. Welcome to my home. Thanks for calling my home tree amazing. It is an amazing tree. My eyrie up there has been on this tree for so long. Nowadays, people just want to cut down this old tree, but you called it amazing and recognized its long strong history"

Green Boy felt happy listening to Grandma Eagle. He smiled sheepishly.
Grandma Eagle then took him up to her eyrie and she gave him cookies and an assortment of snacks to eat. They talked all about Green Boy's adventures and all the new friends he had made.

Then, when it was time to leave, and Green Boy was about to get down from the tree, he heard loud rustling from below the tree. There below the tree stood the sneaky, Grey Devil, looking up with its sharp teeth. It was looking up right at Green Boy.

Grey Devil was prowling, waiting for Green Boy to make his way down.
"It's trouble time for you Green Boy!" sneered Grey Devil, "I have got you now!".

Green Boy was worried. He asked for Grandma Eagle's advice on what to do. She suggested that he call all his friends and make a plan. So, Green Boy used Grandma Eagle's phone and called all his friends.

He called Mr. Merry Moon, Mr. Warty Frog, Madam Itsy Bitsy Spider, and General Order Anticus the Third. On a conference call, they all heard Green Boy's predicament, and together with Grandma Glory Eagle, they hatched a plan to put an end to the trouble Grey Devil was planning for Green Boy.

And what a lovely plan it was!

Soon, it was night, and Grey Devil was getting agitated. He was taunting Green Boy to come down.

The friends started putting their plans into action.

First, Mr. Moon turned off the lights completely.

It was pitch dark black and Grey Devil had trouble seeing himself, let alone the surroundings. He got nervous. What was happening?

Then, Mr. Frog started making loud and fierce croaking noises.

"RIBBITTTT, RIBBITTTT, RIBBBBBBIIIIITTTTTT", Mr. Frog croaked.

It was so loud and eerie in the darkness, that Grey Devil started shivering.

Then Madam Spider threw a huge web onto Grey Devil and trapped him where he stood. He could move just a bit, but could not get himself loose.

He was really nervous now. He was in the dark, hearing scary sounds and now he was trapped. He began sweating and shivering.

But the friends were not done. General Anticus had come with his battalion of soldier ants and they charged Grey Devil and started biting his legs.

"Awww, Awww, Awww", Grey Devil screamed as the stings of the soldier ant's bites ran up his legs. He was in trouble and he knew it.

Then Grandma Eagle swooshed down from high above with her powerful wings and sharp talons making a screeching sound.

Grey Devil could not see, but he knew that something big was rushing fast towards him. Left completely in the dark, with scary sounds, combined with feeling trapped from the web, stinging bites on his legs, and the screeching approaching monster from above, he finally had it. He started wailing.

He was so afraid by now, that when Green Boy said, "Hey, Grey Devil, will you trouble me again? Do you see what I can do?", Grey Devil immediately begged him to let him go.

Grey Devil said, "Oh, Green Boy, I am sorry to even think of troubling you. I saw you were small and inconsequential, so I thought of troubling you. But, you are so much more powerful and magnificent."

He shivered and continued, "I will leave you alone, and from now on, I won't trouble anyone because they are small or inconsequential. Please let me go."

Hearing his honest plea, the friends decided to end his misery.

Grandma Eagle went back to her eyrie. General Anticus asked his soldiers to stand down. Madam Spider withdrew her web and Mr. Frog stopped making the horrible croaking noise. And finally, when Mr. Moon turned on the lights, Grey Devil ran away so fast it was a funny sight to see.

All the friends had a hearty laugh. They all joined Green Boy in Grandma Eagle's eyrie and they had fun discussing the events of the evening. They told jokes about how they met Green Boy, and also about Grey Devil.

Grandma Eagle kept them supplied with cookies, cakes, and tasty juices. What a wonderful evening it was.

The next morning, Green Boy bid farewell to his friends. He had to head over to his school. He was eager to learn about the important things in life.

Grandma Eagle offered to show him the way so that he could reach there faster. So she flew above and Green Boy followed her down on the forest floor, observing the many things around him.

Soon, they reached the school and Green Boy said thanks to Grandma Eagle and bid her farewell. He had arrived at his school and was eager to go and learn new things.

It was a bright new morning. Green Boy felt happy in his heart. He had learned so much along the way, and he was eager to learn so much more!