Skip to main content

Onward and Forward.

It is amusing to me how more often than not, we are more invested in the future than the present. We keep thinking about the what next, planning ahead, measuring our steps today and working steadily towards that well-defined goal. We carve out a path in our head and we try to stick to it, avoid deviating from it. Eventually, we get there. We achieve what we strove for.

But, somewhere between that journey, there's this sweet spot when all the pieces fall into place and the vision that kept you captivated is within an arm's reach with no hurdle in between. And that is a beautiful feeling. The last few days have been such for me and the goals I had set for myself a couple of years back, now seem right here. It is an understated, subdued emotion of happiness and serenity. The bearing of fruit of months and years of hard-work and systematic, planned efforts, coupled with the excitement of the life that lays ahead.

I keep going back to the past, and realize how it all falls into place, in the end. The sadness of each failure seems unnecessary in hindsight. The apprehension and queasiness after each speed-bump seem naive. And I think of the numerous times I've been at crossroads and each decision I've taken, each choice I've made; and how each one of them has gone on to bring me here today.

The thing about decisions and choices is that they shape us. They shape our whites and blacks and in that process, our greys. They test our abilities to do the obvious thing, or to be creative and find a way out. Throughout, at each step, essentially carving our personality and creating the essence of who we become. It is also what drives us to do things we've never done and go where we've never gone. We don't take the time to feel those changes that have taken place over the months or years. Some for better, some for worse. Some deeply entrenched, some shallow.

And soon, I will be planning ahead of time and thinking about the next big leap that I want to make. I will be imagining the life that I want for myself and draw substantial diagrams of the path to the next milestone I want to scale. As I should and am happy to. But not now, not today. Today is for me. Today is the future I had dreamt of years ago. To admire the success of the time and energy I've spent in getting here. The struggles and the sacrifices, the joys and the achievements. To absorb the gravity of this leap and gently pat myself on the back for a job well done. And, at the end, smile to myself.

In the haste to know where we'll be and to achieve more than what we have set our eyes on, we sometimes forget to relish the little joys and the tranquil moments like these. I hope you do not skip this pleasure of the efficacy the next time you're at the point of inflection. Trust me, it is infectious.

Tomorrow, I get going. Onward and forward.

Comments

  1. As for the post, its a very clearly put forward idea. It's crisp and precise, with nothing left out.

    And for you, we've always known you to be a go-getter and I always believed in you. So never was it a doubt to me. Kudos! Cheers!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

May The Light Shine.

I have respected the need for 'Freedom of Speech' ever since I first understood what it meant, sometime during a Civics class in school. It is the necessity for a society to grow. Ideas and opinions need to flow from one side of the table to the other. As a proponent of free speech, this freedom is something I take very personally and seriously. But, today, almost 18 months after one of the most hallmark decisions taken by the Indian electorate, I wonder if such a freedom exists anymore. It does exist in the Constitution, technically, but on the ground? I'm skeptical. A democracy like ours is very complex for me to explain, but a few things that I believe are underlying to the very fabric of our country are the need for rules and laws that are common to everybody. That all people, all religions, all languages must be treated equally. Yes, the Constitution of India doesn't recognize a national religion or national language. Hinduism isn't the national religion...

Individuality.

Until a couple of years ago, my short temper was one of my biggest regrets and an understood weakness. A lot of times when I got angry over a difference of opinion, my mother would share with me a metaphor: "When the 5 fingers on our hands are different, why do we expect others in the world to be just like us?" That, or the daily recitation of the Indian National Pledge in school that reminded me how India's diversity is its strength and pride, instilled in me the value of every person's individuality, and the respect for the same. For quite a while now, I have seen people (and Indians in particular) struggle with their identities. Especially since a single opinion you have can come to define your identity among a group of people. Support a particular political outfit, and you get branded with a name that is supposed to be an insult. Support a particular idea, and the you will be labelled with an associated leader and interrogated about their mistakes. A lot of th...

Opinions Matter.

I have strong opinions.  But I also have weak opinions, and at times, no opinion. These opinions have defined actions I have taken at different times of life. Some pleasant, some terrible. The beauty, though, of these actions has been that they have been mine and I have lived with them, learnt from them and course-corrected. I have abandoned beliefs I have held for decades within minutes, and I have been reaffirmed of my opinions despite days of disagreements. Our lives may be the results of our actions, but our actions are certainly a result of our opinions. These opinions stem from a variety of places. They include things we have learnt while growing up, things we fear, things we have read, things we have heard, things we have endorsed to fit in, and things that we adopt to rebel. More often than not, these things are fleeting, but the opinions that form from them, are not. What bothers me the most, though, is the reluctance w...