How much "black money" is out there...?

Here, I define black money as that where there is no EQUAL trade of value.
Eg. If I buy a car, and pay 5 lakhs, and think I have got value for 5 lakhs, then it is a WHITE/PURE transaction.
If I feel value is less than 5 lakhs, then the difference is BLACK MONEY. Alternatively, if the car-dealer sold it for less value than it was worth (!!), then again the difference is BLACK MONEY.

Now, money was initially born as a medium of exchange for trading in items of the same VALUE. This replaced barter trade, where again, it was supposed to be exchanging goods of the same value.

Now, how much BLACK MONEY is out there? And what's my definition of VALUE? It's a personal call. So, this question can never have a unique answer. Ok.

There's no such thing as settling down

Phew. This sudden thought occurred in my mind today, and made me feel much at ease! The age of 28 is tricky, because my gang is all married and "settled". And parents dont know why I'm not in the same status as my pals. And for the past year, I too have been thinking why I'm not in the same status as my pals.

Now, suddenly, I see it. For me, there's no such thing as settling down. There's a lot to do - some of which I know of, some of which I dont know of - and will discover only with time and travel.

So, the next time someone asks me - why I'm not settling down - well, there's no such thing.

It's the Quality

I want each moment to be of the highest quality. Either engrossed in work that stretches my limits. Or reading books that stretch my imagination. Or playing/trekking that stretches my physical endurance. Or talking to people that stretches my boundaries of knowledge. Or laughing so loud that it gives me a terrible stomach-ache. Or listening to music that carries me into another world. Or sleeping so soundly that I stop existing for a while. Or meditation so deep, that the mind goes completely blank and I cannot feel myself think.

I dont want impure moments. I want pure moments of the highest quality for a lifetime. Where can I get those?

Suddenly famous... what if?

What if I suddenly become famous?
The phone will keep ringing. Postage will flow. Won't be able to walk on the street. Will be invited to zillions of artificial-people parties. Life will be scrutinized. Orkut profile will get spam. Email will be flooded. Ego will inflate. Mannerisms will be rude.

I don't want to be famous. I need to believe that.

When all else fails, Ignore it

It's happened before. I've tried too hard, pushed too hard, put in too much effort to get something going. And the outcome has not been pretty.

Following this, I've adopted two approaches in the past - not planned - but whatever made sense at the time.
1) Keep trying, pushing, putting in more effort - Now, this has at times, worked. But mostly, it has failed. Which basically means - dont try too hard - screw it, forget it, move on.
2) Ignore it - Now, this approach, surprisingly has worked in more ways than one. Either what I was after starts coming around. Or, I realize that I just dont want it anymore. Both of which lift a huge load off my back.

So, since the second approach has worked better, I think I'm just gonna ignore what doesnt seem to be budging. Maybe I'm after the wrong thing. The key is to keep myself busy with other things - which I will try to do.