Negativity in everyday life

[Inspired by this post]

I always overlook the hidden negativity that creeps into our everyday life. To get beyond this negativity, we can't simply avoid these traits and do opposite things or go against our instincts. We have to focus on the action in the direction of our destination. These traits are like some land mines to watch out for when we tread our paths. These are probably influencing your journey. It's high time we start paying extra attention to these and go forward.


Making excuses:

Giving reasons for not doing. Justifying missed deadlines or inability to accomplish. Defending actions instead of being assertive about results.

Quitting easily: 

Not persuing enough till we really know it doesn't work. Being disappointed by initial setbacks. Fearing failure. Paranoid about avoiding embarassment.

Waiting for permission:

Am I stepping on the toes of another? May be it's not the area of my responsibility. I don't want others to be worried about my presence or my persona. I'm not authorized to do that. There are experts dealing with this already. I am not receiving anything anyway. In what way does it help anyone?

Seeking attention:

I may not be qualified enough but wait so are others. I want to take the centerstage no matter what. A little bit of attention won't spoil the plan. I drew a dot on that painting, I don't see my name in the acknowledgements! How mean! What motivation do I have?

Constant Engagement:

Have been slogging since past 20 mins, nobody bothered to pay attention to my laptop! I need to keep pinging all the time, why doesn't the other person ping? Can somebody take care of my cat? Hey you, I'm talking to you. Don't you go away like that!

Procrastination:

Will have to do it now! May be not today. May be tom. The next day, I have something more important. I need to stop doing this. Oh wait, why am I so bad at prioritizing? Will install an app for this. Oh gosh, am late already for a meeting.

Lack of resources:

I'm short of time. I'm short of money. There are not enough people. I'm not skilled enough. I need to focus more. I need to read more. I need to practice more.

Being in the comfort zone:

Wait, I don't need to do that. I'm fine here. Wait, that's too risky. What will happen to my finger nail if I type so hard? Why are you so upset unnecessarily? Chill!

Passing judgement without knowing the circumstances:

He's successful because he cheated or he got lucky or he's rich or she has looks. All government organizations are slow. All politicians are corrupt. Media needs catchy stories. Marketing campaigns have lies.

Plagiarism:

This comes in various forms. One common form being quoting ideas, concepts or results as our own instead of referring to resources. Or it can be showing others work as our own. Doesn't a code copy-paste need a license copy-paste as well? Doesn't the creator need due credit to their IP?

Are you dispelling negativity from your day?

Today?

[High five!]

Accessibility Awareness

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be not able to see the world? Or hear the world?

There are around 1b people with accessibility disorders globally. In India alone, there are 28m. 

Imagine doing one of your daily activities for instance walking from your bed to kitchen with eyes closed.  You get an idea of how much we take our senses for granted.

Global accessibility awareness day gave a glimpse of what members with physical challenges go through in their life.

They fight through most/all of these challenges

1. Mobility
2. Assistance
3. Guidance
4. Communication
5. Social stigma

We can collectively do a bit from our end to make their life better and make a small spark in their life.

Here are some ways which improve the inclusivity in things we do

1. Making the products we create/design/build, more expressive.  For eg., if you are building a pavement, slanting the edges so that a person travelling on wheel chair can descend. Making ATM kiosks, shops, apps, banks, ticket counters and other places include appropriate assitance technologies.
2. Having a member with physical limitation use/test/certify the things we use and understand how they would use it. For eg., engravings on keyboards, markings on pavements and so on.
3. Having explicit media extensions for those with disabilities. If we are building some web pages, making sure we support keyboard navigation or screen reader utility.
4. Having a political and social representation from the physically challenged group so we take into account the challenges they face in planning and administration.