VijVen

On the eve of yet another new year, I wanted to revisit some teachings, old and new, that life tried to teach me so far.

• Life is uncertain. Don’t take your existence, or the existence of your near and dear ones, for granted. Being alive and being useful to others is the biggest blessing in life. Celebrate life and be thankful for all that you have.

• You are solely responsible for your life. The buck finally stops with you. Your life is your responsibility, not your parent’s or your spouse’s or your children’s or anyone else’s.

• Mind your thoughts. Your thoughts make you, your thoughts break you. Cultivate progressive thoughts that fuel growth. Consciously strike down thoughts that are detrimental. 

• Communicate – Most of our problems (not all, but certainly most) would not exist or could be solved if we had an open communication with everyone involved. Communicate clearly (and kindly, if possible). Ask questions to understand. Listen to what the other person is saying. Be aware that some people, by their own nature, can’t have an open communication or misinterpret every conversation or manipulate every interaction to their advantage. Work on improving your communication skills and patience to better handle such people, and don’t get frustrated when things don’t go your way. Also remember, communication need not always be in the form of spoken words.

• Your actions impact others. Your mistakes affect your loved ones. Be conscious of your actions and behaviours to ensure they do not adversely impact anyone, especially your family and people whom you care about. 

• Don’t take relationships for granted. “Maya” is all powerful. We have all seen siblings fight, couples getting divorced, partners litigating, friends parting ways, and even parents and children getting estranged. Respect relationships; be aware that you cannot be complacent, but need to stay committed and keep contributing for relationships to survive – even relationships that you think are well established.

• Make it easy for others to help you. The world is full of kind and able people who are glad to help you. When you come across any of them, make sure to reach out. Many times, knowingly or unknowingly, through our words or actions, out of our ignorance, immaturity and limitations, we make it hard for others to help us. Become conscious and avoid such behaviours.

• Life is like an innings in a game of Test Cricket. Every new day is a new delivery that life bowls at you. Batting is easy in some sessions, conditions are challenging in some sessions. Sometimes you are timing the ball well, but sometimes you are all at sea. You need to take risks sometimes, and you just look to survive sometimes. All the glorious boundaries you hit in the previous deliveries, and all the troubles that the bowlers caused you in previous deliveries, may not mean much. Life may give you a loose delivery next, score off it. It may also be an unplayable, wicket-taking delivery, accept it. Don’t be overwhelmed by the pressure of scoreboard. Respect the conditions, play each delivery on its merit and you have a better chance of scoring. Remember, it’s not all over till the game is finished.      

I realize that as much as I “know” the above, my daily actions hardly reflect an understanding of or adherence to the above. I take things and people for granted, I say what is unnecessary and don’t express what is essential, and act reckless most of the time.

It’s time to change. It’s late, but better now than never.

I hope I will make an earnest effort to become a better person in the new year, and the years to come.

Happy New Year!