ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Acknowledgement means an honest expression of tangible nature, being thankful or grateful towards something or somebody or many for what they have done to us directly or indirectly, for our comfort, happiness or prosperity in the past, present or future. It reflects our sensitivity, honesty and idealism towards many associated with us in our lives and professions. Most of us moved away from this notion. Our expectations and demands from this world are so high that we often criticize others for something or the other but fail to recognize and thank those that contributed to our comfort and happiness. I present a few examples below to let you know how insincere and insensitive we turned over the years.

Our lifespan increased because of the inventions and substantial contributions of various scientists and thinkers over the centuries but how many of us know their names and feel grateful towards them?

Farmers are growing different crops toiling hard in their farms across regions. They are providing us with vital foods needed for our survival. 

Agriculture is always a risky venture. Are we thankful to farmers?

Soldiers, sailors and airmen are safeguarding the borders of different countries from external attacks. They sacrifice many comforts in their personal lives in this process. How many of us are thanking them?

There are many poor and helpless workers around us doing so many such jobs which we dislike a lot. Boys cleaning dining tables, staff cleaning roads and toilets, nurses attending disgusting and stinky parts of human body as part of their job, those spending with dead bodies as doctors or guards in hospitals, cooks in hotels making a variety of dishes to satisfy us…we seldom have time to thank them personally!

There are innocent but great human beings who avoid occurrence of a train or bus accident informing the concerned in time about it. Which government or agency ever thanked them in a fitting manner? We pay compensation to the relatives of dead bodies only but not to those who stopped occurrences of such accidents, disasters or calamities in an industry, vehicle, on road or elsewhere?

Millions of beggars are living helplessly in many parts of this world. Our societies and governments made and kept them so. They are living pathetically on pavements and other places like orphans without becoming killers or rapists. They are allowing us to live comfortably and happily despite their agony daily. Did we ever thank them for the patience, idealism and vision they have? They are taking life as a highly valuable asset for them. They are prolonging it despite many pains and suffering. How many of us ever think seriously about their lives? How many of us help or guide them with love and kindness?

Though child labour is banned in many countries, millions of boys and girls are still working in various facets of simple and hard works. They are distributing dailies in India in the morning, cleaning tables in hotels, working in many cottage industries, begging in streets being forced by criminal gangs or out of poverty or helplessness as living entities…they are everywhere suffering in some way. We spend a lot of money to feed and beautify our children. How many of us express a little sense of love or care towards them giving them a banana, a 10-rupee note or a few clothes? Remember that no boy or girl ever chooses to work hard in his or her formative age. They want to play with others enjoying their innocent and carefree childhood. If they are working or suffering somewhere, some inevitable force pushed them into that mire of difficulties. Don’t criticize them at least. Love them. Feel their pain. It’s acknowledgment.

There are a number of artistes working in film industry. We never see them on screen. They contribute substantially in the making of a film. Be it a junior artist or light boy…everybody is a human being waiting for a little recognition and appreciation from others. If they ever come across you, thank them honestly.

God is the centre of cosmic energy. He is the most powerful director of this universe. Spiritualists understand Him from the standpoint of souls, Karma, sins, births, deaths, rebirths and salvation. Even scientists have to accept Him. They state that nothing happens in this world without a rationally explainable and believable truth behind it. Many things are happening in this universe so systematically and wonderfully that somebody must have planned it that way and implemented. No process works without overall regular supervision. Who is supervising the perfect rotation of earth around sun for centuries? Who configured mango and apple trees to bear fruit in a particular season only? Who energized the hearts in different creatures to beat so wonderfully for years together? Who filled the human body with a variety of extraordinary organs and their superb functioning system? Who is feeding millions of creatures in this world? Who is showering limitless love and mercy on all things and creatures in this universe every second of the day and night? Who is making clouds? Who is growing forests?

So, God is the ultimate answer for a multitude of questions and challenges man encounters daily in his rational and logical mind. All of us might not be able to see Him but there is God. He is so kind and generous that we cannot compare His qualities with anything in this universe. To understand that God does exist and we are feeling His love daily, let me give you a few more examples below.

1. Females and males are feeling so attracted towards one another that it is continuously leading to a variety of relationships between them based on intuition, infatuation, love, admiration and so on. Why should they feel so attracted towards the creatures of opposite gender? There are the same kinds of organs in every female and male body. They do the same duties in every human body. It’s merely a set of bones, flesh, blood and tissues. It’s tasty food for some animals and cannibals. Why so many desires, passions, struggle and pains in this life to sustain this life? Everybody dies. Nobody takes anything with him or her after death. We know all of this. Still why are we thinking so deeply and working so hard for those that we love and care for? Is there no some divine force making us so passionate towards these material entities of life? We are all mere actors in this biggest and largest drama. We often feel great for cooking a new dish or creating a little piece for children to play. God created this universe and millions of wonders in it. He sent us into this magnificent world as human beings to allow us to see this much variety of beauty and life. He gave us everything we want to live comfortably and happily. How many of us are really thankful to God and scared of His overall supervision? We go to temples, mosques and churches to thank Him personally for a few seconds but are we leading ideal lives after coming out of those abodes of worship? We are cheating many every day for our business. We are telling many lies to attract others towards us. We are acting almost every day to make and break relationships just like that? We are committing many sins. God knows everything about us because He created us and He is the omnipresent director of our lives. He should kill us daily being disappointed and angry with what we are doing here daily. He is not doing it. He is allowing criminals and sinners also to live happily in his abode of wonders. He is allowing millions of babies to born again to make this world beautiful. He believes that we understand and reach Him slowly after understanding the beauty and painlessness of His world. He created us millions of years ago. We are taking hundreds of births and rebirths to understand and reach Him after being disgusted with the futility of this material world in comparison to the sphere of God. We cannot wait for a few minutes also happily for others to join us while we are on our way to a cinema or party. God is waiting for millions of years for our spiritual growth. Are we feeling thankful to Him really?

2. He created deer, pigeons, rabbits, parrots and so many other creatures. We should enjoy our lives listening to their sounds and seeing them from distance. What are we doing? We are killing almost every creature brutally going to their natural habitats and ruining that atmosphere created by God for them. We hunt for pleasure. We need meat. This is how we are acknowledging the magnanimity of God!  

Parents are those, who give birth to their children for no particular reason. In this world, if something is happening without any logic or common sense at all, it is giving birth to babies. The role of a father and mother is the most risky and futile one in this world. If you find answers to the following questions, you can understand how risky parenthood is. It is not great and blissful as we all suppose casually!

1. Do we know when a female conceives after the physical relationship with a male?

2. Can we believe that our baby grows cent percent perfectly in the womb of its mother for nine months?

3. Can we believe that our babies grow and remain happy according to our wishes and plans?

4. Do they grow up without our contribution in so many ways, sacrificing our time and comforts always?

5. Do they give us anything in return for what we did for years? Is there 1% guarantee in this deal?

6. How do they behave and live in the external world beyond our presence? Don’t they hurt us this way?

7. What if they throw us out of home when we are old and dependent? Who can change their attitude?

8. How do they respond and react after our death? Do they sacrifice anything for us after we depart?

These questions make you understand that parents never enjoy their lives because of begetting and bringing up their children. If we want to see greatness in human beings, it is possible to observe in the roles of parents across places. It is true in the case of 90% Indian parents at least, as I know. They invest their love, care, sacrifice, pain and suffering in development of their children, the most unreliable creatures and assets in this world. Is this not madness of parents? Is it not known high risk for them? Still parents render extraordinary service to their children throughout their lives. They forget them completely only after their death. What a strong, illogical and magical bond of humans in this world!

1. Politicians are ruining the places under their jurisdiction looting public money in different ways. They are acting before intelligent and innocent people daily telling lies and suppressing truths. They are amassing crores of rupees and setting up unbelievable luxuries for their families. Most of it is not just for their comforts and happiness but for their children. Their love and care for their children is pure. Sonia Gandhi, Karuna Nidhi, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Farooq Abdullah, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy....as parents, they are so selfish and ideal that they are very much concerned for the happiness and fame of their children only.

2. Businessmen are hard-core commercial entities. They must sell their products and services to different people and get profits continuously. All their thoughts, plans and vision are centered on this concept only. They may cheat their clients and customers but not their children. Observe the huge business world around you. In 90% of cases, parents keep their children in highly powerful positions at home and office.

3. Be it a doctor, lawyer, teacher, actor, farmer, artist, singer, musician, producer, director, dancer, scientist, social reformer, saint, prostitute, thief, police, priest, tailor, engineer, writer, professional …every parent is mostly concerned about the present and future of his or her children only. They are struggling to save and plan for their future. Nobody asked them to do it. How many children pay it back?

4. Parents are innocent businessmen. They invest in risky venture of bringing up their children and struggling for them always. They take their carelessness and cruelty towards them as a negligible point. They seek happiness in working and sacrificing many things for their unreliable children. Who injected this bond of pain and attachment into their genes and brain? How many children are thanking them?

Nature is the phenomena and creatures surrounding us. Brooks, ponds, lakes, seas, oceans, plants, trees, forests, mountains, rocks, boulders, stones, bushes, peaks, valleys, birds, animals, earth, sky, sunrise, sunset, moonlight, meadows, deserts, volcanoes, glaciers, rain, cyclone, sunshine, winter, winds, snow, mosquitoes, lizards, bacteria, viruses, fish, crabs, daylight, night, moon, stars in the sky, clouds, horizon. Nature may harm us at times in the form of natural calamities but it happens rarely. Mostly nature comforts and heals our body and psyche. It calls us affectionately but we don’t hear it because we are mad now in our thoughts and pursuits of artificial celebrations and lifestyles. We are self-made criminals.

1. Can’t we enjoy feeling the breezes by a lake, brook, sea, waterfall or valley silently?

2. Can’t we celebrate our life observing the acts of a pup or rabbit hiding in a nearby place?

3. Don’t we feel refreshed walking alone in a forest for some minutes for novelty sake?

4. Don’t we feel delighted spending in a remote village in a tent setting for some days?

5. Should we consider something special only if we spend a lot of money and go as a large group?

6. Should we spoil the beauty and originality of nature around us to believe that we are modern men?

7. How many creatures are dying regularly because of our greed and madness for something more?

8. How much natural beauty has been ruined over the years due to our selfishness and exploitation?

God knows that man is the most sensitive and vulnerable creature on this earth planet. He may lose or gain anything anytime. He may be happy or sad at any moment. There is no guarantee for anything happening in his life. He decided to equip him with different agents of consolation and comfort. Nature plays that role representing God. It hugs you warmly if you approach it lovingly. It lulls you to sleep when you are tired and broken. It is the property of all creatures on this earth. The role of a gentleman is to worship and delight in the existence and blessings of nature. It is nursery of God. He waters it through rains. He beautifies it adding butterflies, peacocks, doves, rabbits, tigers, cats, jackals, cuckoos to it. He is a visionary and ideal gardener. He planted useful shrubs for us. We can heal ourselves breathing that fortified and sanctified air. We can feel relieved bathing in those cold brooks flowing in forests. We can feel blissful walking through those mysterious and inspiring valleys like saints. Nature is omnipresent. Since man may turn moody and down at any time, God filled natural beauty in almost every part of this world. What can God do if foolish and stupid man does not rush to a nearby spot of nature to heal himself during times of stress, loss and pain? Our parents, relatives, friends, well-wishers, doctors, lawyers and other supporting agents may not be able to live with us forever to guide us ideally but nature does it always free of cost. How many of us are resorting to it gently and behaving there ideally?

Life means loss and pain. There can never be any man or woman in this world without these feelings and experiences. Since they are inevitable parts of our lives, we should know how to cope with them instead of struggling to run away from them or avoid them altogether. What is impossible can never be made possible? So, we must adjust with what is possible only and tune ourselves accordingly. Your present friends may become your enemies in future. Your today’s reliable attractions and assets might turn unreliable and worthless tomorrow. In this world of uncertainty and challenges, only nature stands as the ultimate doctor of our psyches. In every age, rabbits have the same qualities. In all seasons, lakes bless us with the same breezes. In every region, valleys are adorned with a variety of beautiful phenomena. Have we time and interest to surrender to such nature for our relief? Are we feeling thankful to it?

Relations are the bonds among human beings. They may be selfish or selfless, short or long, beautiful or ugly. They may start and end at any time. We all form and terminate relationships knowingly or unknowingly. Unfortunately most of the human beings struggle and crave the attention and care of those that are inaccessible and unaffordable, neglecting those available and enjoyable close by them. Let’s examine how we develop and end them just like that in many cases. We are mostly foolish and stupid!

1. We run after many beautiful and ordinary girls before marriage as we are free birds then. We believe that girls are interested in unmarried guys only. In fact, they are interested in all kinds of attractive folks. We must have such qualities and features, which attract any girl or woman in any place, in any season. We must struggle for such love from the creatures of opposite gender, which is honest and original. Only extraordinary girls can offer such love for us. They may take months and years at times to give us such status in their minds. In many cases, they may never talk with us in person. They admire us. They think about us a lot but never express it for formality sake also. It means real love and admiration often lacks tangible expression. If our goal is such love from girls and women, why should we bother to impress one girl or woman only but all race as a whole? In that status of our lifestyle and thought process, certainly some love us more deeply and directly than others. It is tangible record of our real lovers. Be happy with that data instead of knowing everybody personally or expecting to be admired by all in this world. We are not greater than God. Many are not approving the existence of God also. In this crazy world of expectations and imaginations, we should not expect so much from others. So, have a small network of your folks and be content with it if you cannot impress all on a large scale. Be honest, ideal and reliable in your relationships with girls and women always. Never expect gratitude from them for what you did. If they express it on your deathbed at last, acknowledge it. They might have got time then only to see you and pass their feelings to you. You should not force them for anything. Remember that such sensitive, innocent, shy and reticent sort of girls and women are only admired by us a lot but not those who come to our house within a minute after our call. You wanted, made and kept them so for centuries. They are changing slowly to your expectations. Wait patiently. Don’t blame them. Feel the joy of their presence. Admire their beauty silently if they don’t like sound pollution generated by you. Accept their sensitivity. Forgive them if they committed mistakes. Pardon them if they are blunders. Acknowledge them always.

2. Of late, many girls and women became so selfish, commercial and visionary that some boys and men are scared of even thinking about them. A mother talks about standards and values on public platforms but sends her daughter/s to the beds of rich and influential folks for money or to get some things done. There are many such mothers in India now. You know in which fields they are spread much. Similarly girls are very selfish when it comes to the idea of their marriage. They are not considering boys as human beings if they don’t earn thousands of rupees through jobs or business or doing anything highly profitable. They want more money, comforts and luxuries but not the honesty and purity of relationship boys may offer them proactively if they are open-minded and receptive. Character is the ultimate asset of any man. Don’t aim at happiness and comforts only through a boy of your choice but difficulties, pain and struggle also. If you accustom and tune yourself to the hard facet of your life, you can enjoy the brighter side of life better later. Man is not God but a helpless creature. So, he cannot keep you comfortable and happy always. You can make it better than him. Improve your knowledge. Equip yourself with merits and strengths of different kinds. Don’t be a lazy parasite to him. You should be able to love and care for him even if he does not earn anything for some years. Embolden and adjust your thoughts, efforts and outlook in this direction. Then every boy and man looks like God to you! Pity him.

3. Build relationships with your parents, relatives, friends, well-wishers and others without expecting anything from them. Take something if they give you proactively and happily. Offer anything if it can please and comfort them. Value the relationship but not the status of the related. Offer love purely. Take it humbly always. Thank everybody that did/does something for you innocently, ideally or just like that. Their timely or casual contribution may be in a pilgrimage, train journey, on road, in a company or over phone…acknowledge their time and effort for you warmly. All relationships look great if you love them.

Art is created by man to impress, educate or entertain others with or without purpose. Every healthy human being is an artist because he or she deals with many people in his or her course of life to get different things done by them. Life itself is an art because it does not move ahead without regular contribution from others. However, most of us consider music, writing, dance, singing, sculpture, painting and many other skilled and special activities and pursuits performed by humans in different countries art.

Art inspires us a lot. Most of us did not see gods and goddesses. Printing technology was not there during the times of our ancestral deities. We are worshiping different religious figures today, based on various beliefs and traditions, seeing their statues and images. An artist painted or created them in a form of visibility once. We are following them now without questions and doubts. All this credit goes to those artists, who made the visible identity of our great figures and times memorable through their creative expression of art. They never craved identity and appreciation from others those days.

Almost every man-made gadget, building and facility we are seeing today is the creation of an artist in its initial stages of evolution. Who taught us how to build a temple with those rules? Who taught us how to stitch clothes in different styles and fashions? Who made TVs and radios in that shape? Who taught us how to make buses, trains, ships and aeroplanes? These beautiful shapes and structures were dreams and expressions of artists once. As such, we cannot imagine this culture and civilization without art at all. Art is part of human life. Art beautifies life differently. It adds novelty and craziness to our thoughts and acts. Art is the guide of a race. It teaches all how to live beautifully, skillfully and meaningfully. We all love art but many of us do not focus much on artists and their lives. Practicing an art and continuing in it for lifetime demands a lot of commitment, hard work, passion and vision from individuals engaged in an art field. We enjoy art but seldom think about the creators and promoters of those art forms. Art is an abstract idea but artist is a living entity aspiring to receive more and more recognition and appreciation from all those that admire an art form. Don’t stop admiring an art form only. Reach that artist also.

If there is an artist in your locality, spend with him or her for some time. All artists are not commercial. Generally we develop an impression about an art field based on our experiences with one or two artists. Artists create different things uniquely with passion for life on earth and to take it to the hearts of art lovers and common people. Others seldom decide what an artist should do for them but an artist thinks a lot and creates such creative elements for others, which please them in some manner. Delighting and relieving others from the stress and pain of their regular lives and professions is the primary objective of many art forms. Can’t we live without books, music, dance, films, dramas, songs and paintings? We can live normally without any of these art forms also because they are not vital needs of human life on this earth. Art is like an ornament to humanity. Those awakened, educated, sensitized and reoriented towards an ideal path of human life make a civilization or culture bearable and memorable.

Artists think that they are the honorable guides of contemporary societies. They wish and struggle to change all to their set of ideal thoughts and pursuits slowly. Universal fraternity, prosperity, peace, development and happiness are their goals. They use their respective art forms to move all races of a generation towards this end. As such, they are the greatest assets of our times. If you like an art form created or promoted by an artist, in your locality or elsewhere, share those feelings of admiration and appreciation with those artists, if possible. Artists love you more than you love them. Thank them always.

It is almost impossible to decide what inspires one towards doing something good or bad. Some get inspired observing the lifestyles of great achievers, reading classics, watching extraordinary films, spending with thinkers and idealists, following a religious path, music, dance, silence, forests, sky, sea…a variety of people, things and places inspire us uniquely always.

Mahatma Gandhi and Gautama Buddha might be a source of inspiration for a few but some criticize them pointing out some mistakes or demerits in the lives of these personalities. Gadgets like cellphone, costly furniture, exquisite buildings, impressive monuments, resorts, temples, splendid valleys and deserts may inspire many. We cannot share much of our appreciation or sense of gratitude with most of these achievers, objects or places because they are inaccessible to us or lifeless. How can we express our sense of gratitude towards a car that served us for years? We should preserve and conserve the beauty of things and places we admire and which inspire us. Perhaps this is the best tribute we can pay to hundreds of sources of inspiration we have around us in this world. The value of a thing, place or person depends on how much we value them personally or collectively for some reasons. If we value something or somebody, we must treat it or him or her in the same fashion. We should hand over that extraordinary asset of our region or nation to our next generation carefully because some inspire many for decades and centuries together. Negligence and stupidity are our dangerous drawbacks. Avoid them at once.

The photos and memories of our dearest ones, who might look ordinary or negligible to others, inspire us in many occasions. Some may be known and particular to us only and to nobody else.

Some places inspire us tremendously. The source of inspiration, which we associate with it or inherent in it may not be perceived or complimented by others at all. We must save them as long as we can.

Some books and sayings of a few thinkers and philosophers inspire us a lot. They may not be achievers or celebrities from the standpoints of others. It may be a pauper, thief, politician, musician, singer or farmer. There are no yardsticks to assess some things or people as sources of inspiration at all. Others may not be able to see it or him or her as you can do it. Cherish those memories. Thank, encourage and guide them as much as you can. You must save those that inspire you. Inspiration and hope are fuel to existence. If we think that there is no purpose in our life or existence at all, our thoughts and imaginations push us into fatal zones of depression, self-pity and self-denial. Our sources of inspiration are our guides of life. Sometimes they inspire us. Sometimes we must inspire them to live and celebrate life. Whom we admire deeply may fall into a trap of pain and loss at times. If we know about it, we must try to bring them out from that plight, if we can. Where there is admiration, there must be our sincere efforts also to sustain the existence of that object or creature. Many times we recognize the value of something invaluable to us, when we lose it suddenly. Avoid such things as far as possible. Visualize your life beyond their presence or existence. Treat and preserve them always in time.

The nature of sources of inspiration of some folks may be bizarre and absurd. Horror films, skulls, stories of tragedy, pain, loss, bloody fights among creatures of different species and races, undersea life, ghosts, cannibals, carcasses, murders…we have no right to blame anybody as long their interests and pursuits are not disturbing or harming the lives of others in any manner. This world is a circus where anybody can do anything. It is enough if we allow others also to play their favourite and sensible roles satisfactorily.

We should mention the names of books and other sources of references depending on which we wrote a book or other creative piece for a purpose. We should thank all those who enabled us to finish a project or complete a task in time comfortably and happily. Many do it in their books as a formality. Otherwise it would be tagged as piracy or copyright violation. We should avoid such thefts of intellectual property.

How, where, when and why should we inculcate the practice of acknowledgement at all? How to acknowledge mostly depends on the nature of work or person at hand. We can do it orally or in written form depending on the context or situation. Written acknowledgements have historical value. I may thank a thousand workers who built a great building in my region but there won’t be record of it. Time erases all kinds of oral communication and proofs rapidly. Written acknowledgements have more worth and durability compared to spoken words of gratitude. So, make it a written acknowledgment as far as possible. It may be a few words or a long letter discussing many things. What we consider insignificant today might assume great value and historical importance in near or distant future. Standard expression of what we felt because of something that happened to us or due to the contribution of somebody is all that we can do. Who, when, where and how others use it in course of time is not in our control at all.

We cannot acknowledge to everybody in the same place where it happened. All your students may give you a hug on your last day as a teacher or professor in some institution. Only one of them might appear very special for you. If you talk with him or her only in that place immediately, others might feel offended. Meet them later and thank personally. Write to them if possible. Many times we cannot reach our sense of gratitude to the desired ones because we don’t know where they are. They remain as miracles and mysteries in our lives. Somebody might have saved you from a disaster or calamity. He or she or they may not appear to you later at all. How do you acknowledge in this scenario? We feel it strongly but there is no way to communicate to those to whom we owe a lot for what they did to us!

In short meetings and occasions of achievements by others, we can immediately acknowledge the greatness of others in a few spoken words. That set of people may not meet again in that context. It is a unique or once in a lifetime occasion in your family, business unit or religious abode. Express your feelings of gratitude immediately in such contexts. We cannot repeat many events in our lives!

The sense of acknowledgment must be a part of our attitude to improve our image as an individual and in our culture to enhance our status as a race. It is celebrating our life in collaboration with others.

Millions of rich people are there around us but how many of them lend us money when we are in problems. Perhaps our close relatives, friends or well-wishers. So, as far as our life is concerned, they are more important to us than those millionaires. They helped us face a crisis and normalize our life. They are ordinary human beings bringing extraordinary improvement into our life in that situation. We talk and write a lot daily for different occasions. Most of them might be quite casual or purposeless. Should not we talk and write to those also who saved us during times of stress or crisis? They should feel happy and proud for helping and guiding us. They feel it when we acknowledge sincerely in time. Many feel satisfied with our kind and inspiring words only in this world. They don’t expect our money, time or assets. They know that we are also very busy like them. In this complex scenario of busy lifestyles, it is worthy to practice the culture of acknowledgement as a rule. Similarly, we must be ready to help them when they resort to us in near or distant future. We primarily owe to those, who helped us some way sometime. Gratitude must be part of our character. If it is not there, inculcate it by practice.

Life is short. Our relationships and needs are varied and volatile. We don’t know when we meet one and why? We may not see some people again in our lifetime. It means every person that pleases, helps or inspires us directly or indirectly is an important person for us. We should thank such persons immediately. We are clearing our debt of gratitude this way at once. We don’t regret later if we do thoughts and expressions of acknowledgment punctually throughout our life. We owe to God, all creatures, objects and phenomena in this world because we cannot live without them. Feeling gratitude for them is just not enough. Expression is vital in this web of relationships and material bonds. Learn to be a great human being. Thank all those that you feel strongly about. It heals and relieves you a lot.