“More than ifs and buts in life, it is the mindset that counts and makes things possible”

Sudha Murthy

One of the greatest realizations of a morning walker surprisingly is not of the health benefits experienced, not even its calming effect on the senses but the clarity of thoughts one experiences in that hour. Unblemished by the negative voices (of our own and those of others)which we often succumb to, this time of the day lends a positive aura to every idea and every thought conceived. You will never find anyone returning morose and grouchy from a good morning walk.

My kids are aware the first hour in the morning “it is my time of the day, my time alone”. I am very particular about not letting housework or kids work, take up that time. It’s the time of the day where with great clarity I am able to plan my work, my studies, and my personal life

One thing I learned early on in life is that you and YOU alone are accountable for your life and the direction it takes. While we have no control over situations or what others say and do to us, we certainly can change ourselves, our attitude, our habits, and our choices. Time flies fast. If we desire change in any way in our personal lives now is the time to initiate it. You don’t want to be caught later saying I was busy and life just passed by.

Never catching up !

I used to often see myself  (metaphorically of course) racing against the hands of a clock, always running never really reaching anywhere. Oh! how many hours I have lamented on the workload which keeps piling;  work front.. home front and of course mommy front. Is there no way out? When will I take a break? when will I do the things I actually want for myself? Maybe next time…

So fast forward 20 yrs. Kids are settled, me retired from the job, and not much work at home. I am finally free. But alas my age and my health do not allow me to do all those things I yearned for, in my younger days. I realize with a numbing sadness, while I was busy… Life just passed by…

Dreams

How many of us have dreams the one we see with our eyes wide open? The one which allows us an escape from reality every once in a while. I guess most of us do. Now how many of us are able to fulfill them? Handful. Why so? Reasons could be million but, largely cause our present life situation has tied us down and we have given up on our dreams even before we made an honest attempt.

Most of us (men and women alike) get so caught up in the rut of life that we seldom realize how days become months and months become years. There is a reason why all of us see our childhood and college days as the best days of our lives. The unhurried self, which enjoyed its time, which was optimistic about the future which believed in dreams.

Do dreams come true? Are they just stuff of inspirational novels and books? Think about it, what sets man at the top of nature’s hierarchy? It’s his intelligence to assess situations,  plan and execute accordingly. Dreams do come true provided every single living moment is spent in pursuing it. I have come to realize that, no one will walk into your life and hand it (dream) over to you gift wrapped. Seldom do other people help you to realize your dreams. It’s you and you alone in the equation. Blaming others, life, family, office, etc for your failure is very easy. Getting caught up in self-pity is most damaging to one’s self-esteem. It snares you for sure. Beware!

Time draught

We each have 24hrs in a day. Still, we find ourselves often playing catch with the pending workload on the weekend. I myself have been often accused of not keeping in touch, not replying to messages, not committing to group activities, not returning house calls. My one-liner “I am busy”.  Ouch! guilty as charged.

The key is prioritization and sticking to a schedule. The choice is ours what we do with our time. We often tend to cram in too many activities and end up not doing any of them well. To squeeze in a drop of “me time” seems near impossible. Yet, without giving ourselves and our dreams the gift of time we will end up saying “life just passed by and I did nothing”. Recently for my daughter’s bday, I spent two whole days whipping up her dream cake. The smile on her face was worth it. For a novice like me, it was a lesson well learned if you need excellence you got to put in the hard work.

It’s  difficult but...

I tell my kids, to be mediocre or par excellence is a choice WE make. But what goes with hard choice is harder work. Patience and dedication, humility and zest. From losing a few kilos of weight to pursuing higher education, from starting your business to giving up smoking. All are small and big goals, nevertheless significant ones for that individual. Are you looking for excuses or are you looking for ways to fulfill.

To absolutely stop comparing ourselves and our lives with those of others is a great liberation of sorts. Aren’t we all on a unique path of our own? Why do we measure up our success against those of others? Our batchmates, our colleagues, our cousins, aren’t they having a life and upbringing, experiences and failures different from us. Isn’t that what molds our personality and ultimately our choices. Then why compare? Each star in the sky charters its own path.

A life lived in the pursuit of dreams is worthy of its weight in gold.

So time is now. Right now! Not next week or after this big project or after that family function. No excuse! Now my dear NOW.

Get up, plan and move. Inch by inch the worm made it to the apple. And what a delicious apple it was…

Adios

hey! drop in a message to me if you liked it and share with those who you believe will get inspired reading this.