I'll know when I get there...

For the past few months, things just have been moving at an uneven pace. Some days just whizzed by, some crawled on and some just stood at standstill waiting for me to kickstart the day. I had some highs and some lows but hardly a day that could be described as boringly quiet. Thankfully, since Newtonian laws do not apply to human emotions, I can safely say that such sudden drastic changes of direction, speed and momentum did not physically affect my limited grey matter. But there were some simple but valuable lessons learnt. I for one am not a preacher, but I definitely would want to note down the gist of these disparate but useful lessons for my future reference. Hence this post.

Hard work pays, but smart work pays better

All these days, I was being told that hard work pays. And pays well. But then the myth slowly started to crumble. Like an over baked cookie. Apparently, if you are a slave of your work then you get paid like a slave as well. History corroborates this fact. A valuable revelation indeed. Of course, there was this exception of the slave dynasty that ruled India for a while but still, not all slaves were that lucky. And as every slave toiled to survive, the only bonus he/she got was, you guessed it, more work. While I got more and more depressed with this thought, along came a wise man who  helped me tweak the saying a bit. Thus said the wise man, 'In reality, hard work might pay well, but smart work pays better. When you do the right thing at the right time, the rewards versus effort put in ratio is obscenely and disproportionately high.' But there is a slight catch here. And that is, figuring out what is the right thing to do at the right time? And sometimes, it takes a while figuring out if it is really the right time to do the right thing till the right moment passes by you. At other times, right things and right times just do not coincide. In short, the odds of the right thing and the right moment coming together and me grabbing that moment by the scuff of its neck seem to be astronomical. So if it is bound to happen, then it will be one darned lucky coincidence! I'd no longer be a hard worker but a smart one. So till I get all these things right, I have no option but to work like a slave. And get paid like one.

There are more important things in life than a nice view

Every morning I spend some time going through my twitter account checking out what's happening in the world. I particularly look forward to what beautiful picture of a beautiful place @ThatsEarth has posted for the day. Needless ot say, the views and landscapes in these pics are awesome. And so I look out of my window daydreaming about these places. But then there are more important things in life than dreaming about these views. Important things like, being there. Important things like saving for a ticket to travel to be there. And other important things like earning to save for a ticket to travel to be there. Till such important things occupy my mind, a nice view is well, just that. A nice view. Sigh! How much I wish right now I was at the 'Seven Sisters Waterfall' in Norway!

 

Courtesy: @ThatsEarth

People like to tell people about things they shouldn't be telling them

Such a profound observation. People (Doctors excluded) like to tell people about things they shouldn't be telling them. I first came across this phrase in one of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy books. It happens to you. It happens to me. It happens to everybody. Psychologists and anthropologists might have done a lot of study on this strange trait of humans but we are yet to find a cure for it. We just can't resist the urge of telling people things we shouldn't be telling them. Sometimes we don't realize the damage it does to the people we tell. For instance, I cannot digest someone discussing how their bad tummy ache finally resulted in a long drawn throwing up marathon while having my morning cup of tea.

 

There are better anti-depressants than anti-depressants

Finding what anti-depressant (not of the drugs variety) suits you is always a good thing. It not only makes you happy, but also helps you get back on to your feet when the odds are piled against you. You get up to fight another day. And that's not a bad thing. In one of my posts, I mentioned that I always enjoy reading 'If Tomorrow Comes' by Sidney Sheldon when I am feeling a bit low. I think it is one of the best anti-depressant in my medicine cabinet. But there are others too. The other important one being 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara', a Bollywood movie that rekindled my faith in light hearted Bollywood fare. Its been one of the important go-to movies in the past few years. For some reason, I always feel refreshed after watching it. And just today, a friend of mine recommended 'Golmaal', another great movie from yesteryears as happiness therapy. I wholeheartedly agree. And will add it to my 'medicine cabinet'/video collection.

Show the world how beautiful it is. Sometimes, it just doesn't know.

Sometimes, people and the world around you just don't know how beautiful they are. Its your responsibility to show them or remind them of that particular strength of theirs. And one of the best ways to express it is with your photography. This was the lesson I learnt from a photographer friend of mine. I wouldn't argue with that. Photography gives you a great opportunity to praise and compliment someone or something. Which is why, I think everyone should have a go at it. As long as they capture the moments and help letting the world around them know how beautiful it is, it will become more tolerant and enjoyable. The world as we know it, will be beautiful once again. Even if it does not know that it is beautiful.

So, from a slave in a dull world to a person who is able to tell the world how beautiful it is, there has been quite a change of thought process already. I think these five mantras should be good enough to help me tide over my daily journeys for now. The list is not exhaustive or contiguous but as I learn more lessons out of life, I will keep adding them to this list or maybe add them in separate posts. It is a work in progress but I'll know when I get there....