Another fresh and happy morning and few more thoughts to share with you my readers. Actually to be honest, I have started liking this idea of our daily tete-a-tete with you guys and sharing my thoughts and ideas with you in hope that you shall also agree with the same and maybe I may possibly be able to change things for the better for some of you or at least inspire a few to bring about positive changes in your personal lives and make them more happier. I know that Rome wasn’t built in a day and I don’t think miracles like these happen overnight, but if we keep chipping away at the mountain continuously, one small piece at a time, I am sure that the mountain can also be broken.
Yesterday I had a dinner meet with a few of my friends who had gone on a back-packing trip to Europe for about a month. They wanted to share their experiences and it made a good opportunity to catch up over dinner. Guys the first thing that hit me on greeting them was the enthusiasm they were all filled with regarding their trip. They all were talking non-stop a dime to a dozen, each excitedly narrating interesting places and sites visited and the fun time they had.
They shared beautiful memories by way of pictures and videos and had interesting anecdotes to share of their experiences in different places with different cultures, different languages and different climatic conditions. Coming from a background like India, these differences do come out very starkly. Also the visual beauty of the places they visited was worth seeing and the pictures and videos were mesmerizing.
As I said earlier, the best part of our dinner meet was their enthusiasm. All were brimming with positive vibes and appeared to have had a lovely, money’s worth kind of time during their trip. I asked them the idea behind undertaking this trip, taking leave from their respective jobs and leaving family behind. The response from all five was a simple one in unison – We need to make the most of the time we have because now we know we can, but who knows what tomorrow holds in store for us. This was more or less the gist of what they were trying to convey.
That set me thinking. How true was that simple thought. We often go on with our lives and are always in the race to achieve something or the other. Admission to a good college, then admission to an MBA, then running after a good job, then trying to settle down, start a family, buy a house, buy a car and basically all our lives, one after the other, we have never ending list of things which we want to pursue and in the attempt to do all of these, we forget to give ourselves time. We always keep thinking that I will take that vacation next year once my increment is done or I will do it next winter as by the time the children’s schooling will be all set and they will have vacations as well.
We keep postponing our own enjoyment thinking that we have ample of time, in fact we think we have all our remainder of life to do all the things we want to do. Travel, see places, visiting relatives & families, going for a pilgrimage or whatever. It is always “I have time, I will do it next month, or after 6 months or next year, etc”. We always assume that we have lots of time on hand and therefore we push back all these things to some such time when we will be able to be in a place and situation to fulfil our dreams.
Tell me honestly, when was the last time you just took the day off simply unplanned and went for a long drive with your family or friends and did simply nothing? I am sure most of you have answered in the negative to this question. I also cannot remember the last time I did this. But looking at my group of friends and hearing their stories filled with enthusiasm and fun, I did start feeling that YES, I have been missing out on life.
In the race to live a better life, more money, more progress, we have taken our life & the time we have left in in for granted. We are under the impression that all these things we can pursue whenever we want as there is a lot of life left for us. But nothing is confirmed in this world as we all know. Things can happen and lives perish in a second. Without even realizing, this soul may leave to the next destination and with it, all our unfulfilled dreams and aspirations may be left incomplete.
God has made a beautiful world, and all this beauty is there to admire and cherish. We have; but one world and we have been given this one life – we do not know what happens once we pass on. But at least we must learn to value this one life we have been given. Let us start living a little for ourselves also. We keep doing everything for everyone – our families, our children, our organizations, our friends. But when will we start being a little selfish and start doing things for ourselves?
So as I have put the title to this blog – We have one world and only one life – So let us cherish it and make the most of it while we still have it, because as the famous Hindi movies goes, “Zindagi Na Milegi Doobara”
Dr. Rajesh Mankani
