Notes to Thyself

Human languages. Learn English, Chinese, Spanish, Arabic. The more languages one can master in the morning of life, the better it gets. At least, be proficient in English. The AI only intensifies the need to command English well. Computer languages. One should at least learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the basics. Then pick up Python, Rust, Go, or any other they feel drawn to. Also know a little SQL at the base. Master Linux. That’s what I would do if I had to start over after high school.

Human languages. Learn English, Chinese, Spanish, Arabic. The more languages one can master in the morning of life, the better it gets. At least, be proficient in English. The AI era only intensifies the need to command English well. Computer languages. One should at least learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the basics. Then pick up Python, Rust, Go, or any other they feel drawn to. Also know a little SQL at the base. Master Linux. That’s what I would do if I had to start over after high school.

Here is the corrected version, keeping your tone and rhythm intact: --- Human languages. Learn English, Chinese, Spanish, Arabic. The more languages one can master in the morning of life, the better it gets. At least, be proficient in English. The AI era only intensifies the need to command English well. Computer languages. One should at least learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the basics. Then pick up Python, Rust, Go, or any other they feel drawn to. Also know a little SQL at the base. Master Linux. That’s what I would do if I had to start over after high school.

Languages each student should

Not there yet, but not dead.

Everyone goes the same way. People leave this world every day — some you never hear about, some you know well. Your own day is never certain; each breath is a wager you cannot control. You can’t halt what is written, but you can refuse to lose your life to careless choices. Rest when fatigue settles in. Eat when your strength needs fuel. There is no wisdom in pushing yourself into the ground. Work gives meaning, but it should not swallow you whole. A touch of stress keeps you sharp; constant strain only erodes you. Love is needed too — give it freely, accept what returns. Yet even love, taken beyond its measure, can weigh heavily on your path. So walk with awareness. Do not hurry toward mistakes. Keep enough work to feel purpose, enough challenge to stay alive, enough love to stay human. And guard your mind from the illusions you create for yourself.

Winning is good. Losing isn’t bad either. Losing forces you to see and experience what victory often hides. Winning gives you a taste of joy, maybe even a blissful moment, but it can also prepare the ground for a harder fall. Cycling uphill is hard. Every push burns, every breath feels heavy. Yet when you reach the top, there’s no more way to go up — only down. The downhill feels easy, the wind cool, the speed thrilling. But if you travel far, you will face both again and again — uphills and downhills, each with their own lesson. So, should you only enjoy the downhill? Or should you learn to find meaning in both directions of the journey? The uphill builds strength. It teaches patience, discipline, and endurance. It humbles you and makes you stronger for what lies ahead. The downhill, though easy, carries its own gift — it teaches flow, rest, and trust. It reminds you to recover, to breathe, to enjoy the ride while it lasts. If you push through the uphill and stay mindful on the downhill, the journey becomes whole. Each climb prepares you for the next descent, and each descent gives you the energy to face the next climb. Together, they make the road worth traveling.

Sleep is the work of nature. Do not resist it. When the mind leaps from one thought to another — from idea to idea, restless and unsatisfied — it believes it is doing great labor. But it only circles itself. Let sleep come. It is not weakness but order. The body obeys nature when it rests, and the mind continues its labor in silence. What you could not resolve awake, it may untangle in stillness. Do not demand from yourself what belongs to the night to complete. Do your part, then yield. Nature knows the rhythm — let her move through you as she moves through all things.

Remember: Be impeccable with your words. They hold pure magic, shaping reality with virtue. Misused, they turn to black magic, sowing discord and regret. Guard your speech as a sacred trust, for in it lies the power of the soul.

# On Truth Most of your life—lies. From now: cut the lies. Live truth. Speak truth. Be free. Free from fear, free from lies you invented, borrowed from society's dream.

Do not let one bad moment poison the rest of this day. You control your mind, not external events. Ask yourself: How long will you choose to remember this? Remember - you can drop it anytime. The power to move on is yours alone. Focus on what you can change, not what has already passed.

When the day is done, ask yourself not what you accomplished, but how you lived. Was there honesty? Courage? Kindness? Let these be your true measures of success.

The greatest obstacle we face is not the world around us, but the fears and frustrations we create within. When we cannot have what we desire, frustration arises. And from frustration, fear is born. But this fear is not real—merely an illusion we craft in our minds. Fear breeds more fear, and so we become captive to our own imaginings. To free ourselves, we must remember that the only true power lies in our response, not in the things that we cannot control.

Observe the movements of your own ego with the vigilance of a sentinel. Let not the boundaries of your current knowledge become prison walls that confine your vision or shackle your growth. Remember: To learn is to abandon the familiar ground where you now stand and venture toward unknown territory. Each day offers the choice—remain in the comfort of what you know, or embrace the discomfort of becoming. Ask yourself: What assumptions do I cling to? What certainties prevent me from seeing clearly? Where am I resisting the call to grow? The wise person knows that today's understanding is but tomorrow's stepping stone. Stay humble before the vastness of what remains unknown

Begin your day with the truth. When your body speaks through discomfort, listen not with resistance but with understanding. This vessel that carries your soul requires attention—not as a burden, but as a sacred trust. Remember—every faculty you possess—your limbs, your breath, your capacity for movement—exists to be employed with wisdom. The craftsman who leaves his tools untended finds them rusted when need arises. How much greater the folly to neglect the instruments of your own being. Move with purpose today. Use this body not from vanity, but from gratitude. For what the Nature has given freely, you must not squander through neglect. Rise, and honor what has been given to you. Breathe deeply three times. Hold the third breath. Understand how valuable it is to be able to breathe and move. Now set your intention for physical care today.

The harm is inside you. Always was. External events just show you what's already there. Fear points to your work. Don't retreat - go deeper. Your mind is telling you exactly where to look. Or it's your mind overdosing on thoughts. Truth doesn't change with time or circumstance. What's true now was true before you were born and will be true after you're gone. The world mirrors your inner state. Fix what's within and you fix your experience of everything else. Stop looking for comfort. Start looking for strength. Do the work.

Day 6 - Your phone is back. You're using it. You failed the challenge. But that's not what matters most. What matters is how you met the urge when it arose. Did you observe it? Did you choose consciously, or did old patterns choose for you? You're still whole. You lack nothing essential. A broken fast doesn't break the faster—only the fast itself ends. From here forward, let this device be your tool for efficiency, not your master. Not your escape from the present moment. The same hands that can serve distraction can serve purpose. The urge will return. When it does, pause. Remember: you are the one who chooses.

At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: "I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I'm going to do what I was born for — the things I was brought into the world to do?" But you prefer to lie there, consuming the fleeting distractions of others. Half the day already gone. Your body aches not from noble labor but from ignoble rest. You were not born to huddle under blankets and feel warm. Even if it feels pleasant — were you born for pleasure? For passivity? Or to exert yourself, to act? Look at the plants, the birds, the ants and spiders and bees going about their individual tasks, putting the world in order, as best they can. And you're not willing to do your job as a human being? Six hours for the body's restoration. The rest belongs to life. You know this, yet you steal from your waking self to pay a debt already satisfied. What you do today matters. Your future self — bent with age, weakened by years of neglect — will curse or thank you for this moment's choice. Get up. Do your work. Stop expecting to live forever.

No Smartphone for the Next 7 Days I lack nothing essential. What is absent frees me. The urge passes— I remain.

No Smartphone for the Next 7 Days "I lack nothing essential. What is absent frees me. The urge passes— I remain."