Every year on the night of 31st, just a couple of
hours from New Year, we retrospect, reflect and declare- 2014 has been such
a waste…I am going to make sure that 2015 is a better year without any mistakes
of the incumbent year; life will be better as I will exercise regularly, eat healthy,
party less; well, then what happens? How many of our plans and strategies have
favoured us affirmatively till the end? Why don’t we allow life to be a pleasant
surprise but an official strategic plan? Why does coffee intake have to be
at 11 pm, lunch at 1 pm and evening tea at 4 pm every day?
Why is every minute of life a meticulous corporate agenda?
In this instance, I remember an uncle of mine who never got
tired of telling me his love story, and I never got tired listening to it. Now
his story plays a perfect example of my perspective. He keeps telling me how he
missed his regular tea break at 3.30 pm outside his work premises and
had to once go at 4.45 for his tea. And that was when he saw his mate coming
out of a tutorial room. He fell in love and chose the 4.45pm tea
break session ever since. He would keep
telling me that if he had stuck to his regular 3.30 pm tea break
session, he wouldn’t have ever met his love and even after 40 years of
matrimony, life wouldn’t have been so beautiful .He says “ Life is beautiful
when one fine day you leave your office early and take a different route home
and walk by the beach you meet different people, see different activities,
experience a different atmosphere….”
I have friend, who I won’t name but she is known to be a great
planner of life. She spends hours and hours making presentations on her plans
and resolutions for the year; and everyday depending on new developments in her
life, she alters her plan. On questioning her about this insanity, she says “ I
want every minute to be productive, I hate wasting time unnecessarily”. I asked
her “ When was the last time you chilled out with your folks and talked about
stuffs apart from work, walked on the footpath without apprehensions of a
future activity, tasted and absorbed your favourite ice cream to your soul,
laughed till your jaws ached, played with little kids, spoke to a distant
favourite relative on phone, cooked your favourite meal to placate yourself ?”
She had no answer; she was so busy giving a structure to her uncertain future
that she forgot to smell the present.
Resolutions might never fall in place, plans might not work so
stop wasting time deciding a future and instead, work out a today. Mix your
desires, dreams, wishes, wants, hobbies, cravings into the bowl of present and
work out a delicious meal of “today”, everyday. Let every moment be about
impulse, about you, about what you love. Don’t bother doing the same thing
everyday, instead take a different route home and decide what works the best
for you. Don’t listen to people because they have no idea what your life and
journey is about. You are special, you are beautiful…. So paint a different
picture everyday, cook a different meal everyday and learn a different language
everyday.
People plan every step of their life in their early 20s or 30s
to live a comfortable life at 50s; but what if you don’t reach your 50s, what
if you die? All that struggle and sacrifice for what? What you need my
ladies, is to breathe irrespective of your age; I don’t care if you are 15, or
35 or 75…..you need to breathe and start living, not sacrificing. People who
suffer from cancer and are on their deathbeds feel upset about a life they can
never have. So let’s stop worrying about plans and strategies and start living.
Let nothing stop you. Take your bags, put on your boots and walk a long way,
walk till you are tired...walk till you meet your soul-mate….walk till you have
discovered your favourite ice cream flavour….walk till you finally soak your
hair with sweat…walk till you finally discover the difference between living a
life and dealing with life.
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