Taking the time...

As we all know, success and failure are two best buddies who hang on to our shoulders day after day, year after year since the time when we began our journey of life on the face of this world. From the moment that an infant gulps a breath of fresh air as he untangles himself from a mother's womb, to the point where for the same oxygen that was available free of cost years and years ago, is now squeezed through his nostrils, thanks to medical history for the monstrous gadgets that keeps you afloat when you are crippled, old and immobile, men especially those who fall under the “working middle class” category, have enough pleasured troubles to deal with.

Life poses enormous challenges whether or not you ask for it. There has always been a cozy part inside the human that wants to lean and bask, while there is this other half that wouldnt let you to. It is an amazing coincidence that while hard work and perseverance almost always seem to reward success, it doesn’t necessarily redeem happiness as the reason why we work hard and sweat out is conveniently forgotten in the realms of routine and monotonous day to day, hour to hour schedule of activities that need immediate but not worth while attention.

So what is worth while? A talented house wife constantly dancing to the needs of her children and husband, let alone the burden of emotional distress due to nagging inlaws, society and friends, having absolutely no time for herself discovers the fact that society not only cages animals but also those who accept to be treated like one . A 9 to 6 software engineer slogging his pants off to impress his boss and rake up a few bucks finding himself fired from the company due to budget cuts is another fish out of water case . While the house wife and the engineer seem to be discharging their duties to the sincerest possible extent, not either of them would be truly willing to continue their services after a certain period of time. I recall my mother commenting at the age of 50, “Just make me rest for a while, and serve me”, when asked what was the one thing that she would want in life then. My father gave up government service 2 years before his retirement was due, and was more than happy to declare that he had conscientiously performed his duties, to the satisfaction of society and friends, and that he can now float in smugness, sans the pressure of hoarding money for the family.

While one cannot smother the significance of raising kids, working hard and earning, planning for the future and all other life sustaining chores for which we perceive that the return on investment factor is high, there is no denying the fact that they take rob your present life the very happiness that you have been seeking all along. Like a woodpecker chaffing the log of woods, the tides eroding the surface of rocks, they slowly seize your current moment, stifle your creativity and assume complete control of your life,like a cancerous tissue multiplying its strength, exhibiting its omnipotence when it is too late to treat your body and mind for a piece of joy. My father resents the fact that it is too late for him to practice violin, and it is too much of a work for my mother who is already burnt in the kitchen, to go watch a dance show.

Thus, when the body and the mind are so tuned to walking on a mountainous trail for the most of your life, the idea of strolling on a normal road at a later point seems so unnecessary. A handful of people come to terms with the fact that “toiling hard” does not have to be stressful. It need not And infact should not be an exhausting,gruelling, painful or burdensome gush of wave in the sea of life for one has to swim through it every moment. On the contrary, the experience of Working hard has to be extremely fulfilling, satisfying, leaving you with a sense of accomplishment, and inner peace. Not many of us would ever have had such an experience as our success measures always stem from a scale of relative comparison. Two school children sit through the same class with the same mentor and yet their scores are not alike, by virtue of their family’s educational background, social awareness and nevertheless their own mental acumen. A simple fact? Maybe,but one that entails much thought and attention to the flock of budding birds heading towards engineering colleges, medical colleges and universities abroad with the sole aim of an esteemed social status, a consequence of the so called prestigious degrees.

Following a majority trend or family tradition would keep you afloat, but not sweep you ashore. Reaching out to the shore, placing the heart instead of the mind ahead needs that extra leap which many of us would not be willing to take, given the enormous quantity of social risks and commitments in vogue. True enough, but buffering some time out of our monotonous agenda for feeding the heart is bound to reap benefits of some kind, though not monetary ones immediately. Thus, take your time to do what you feel like doing, for such moments sweep away in front of our eyes, before it turns too late to realize what was worth while doing.