Perspectives...

"Everyday may not be good but there is something good in everyday" One of the biggest struggles of growing up for me was getting used to the concept of "everyday life". Age 12-22 is sort of a goal oriented life and everyday counts towards this big kaboom!(or not!) When everything in life will be beautiful and you wake up in the morning jubilant with so much money to spend and so much happiness to be had. When we wont have to strive or struggle anymore and we can just relax in peace. Getting through undergrad, grad school, getting a job - we are on the goal drug. Drug that keeps us focused on this future goal. When we open our eyes in the morning to moment we hit the bed , we are overcome by this drive to get to that end goal.  Right about the time when I got my first job, I felt on the top of the world. The new people, the money in my account magically appearing every month, the laptop that a stranger just handed to me, the feeling of being of value - that...

Article published in www.successstory.com  Success Story Article 1.   Defining phase: Indecision, frustration, worry, anxiety, adventure, - every emotion you are feeling, has been felt by others. The road to arriving at a career can be a potpourri but people have travelled the road before. They may have bruises but each one symbolizes a shift that makes life meaningful. Unless we are couch potatoes – any reasonable person striving for a dream or an aspiration feels the pangs of rejection and fear. We are better off for it. For every struggle we boldly face, there is one more ethic we build that is going to serve us for the rest of our lives. Don’t be resistant to this phase; embrace it with all your heart, because it’s here to change you for the better. 2. Define success for yourself: What does success mean to you? Not the societal definitions but your own. The quick responses at this age are usually – money, a fancy car, a fun relationship, great parties, etc. Cha...

Most of my early adulthood has gone into discovering what i want to 'do' in my life. Quotes like 'find out what you want to do", "what do you love to do?", "find your calling through your work"  did nothing to help the uproar inside of me. It only made it worse. Destiny, calling, etc. just seemed like buzz words that were incredulous.  The growing awareness that one might be here to do something very specific can be utterly frustration, because it comes without a map or directions. But this awareness is special and it does not come to everyone. In many ways, the source of this frustration is the germination of spiritual journey, as it was for me. A by-product of this phenomenon is restlessness and a restlessness so severe that it would make me cry. This very feeling pushed me to dabble in multiple jobs. I was keenly aware when a job didn't line up with me. I was labeled a job hopper and was...

Do you like stuff? Oh yeah, you do! The more the merrier. Lets break it down, shall we? You see the stuff on the shelf, on TV, on this popular girl in school, and you know having it will change everything. You will more complete than you currently are. People will love the stuff, think greatly of you which will change the way they have always thought of you but it will also change the way you think about yourself. And after a span of thirty or so minutes after buying the stuff, you go back to your original state of mind. GONE! The respite to this undesirable outcome is that there is always,always another stuff to take you through those steps again, and again. Its our way to measure ourselves and others. Sounds familiar? Its not your and my story. I hope to be wrong but its a story of everyone The process will continue till one day you come to the realization that you are in in fact going through those steps of "want-buy-want more" continuously. This awareness provides the ...

Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges. Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!  The Explorer Rudyard Kipling  You are a homebody. You like staying grounded at one place, not in a spiritual sense, literally speaking!  But deep inside, all of us remain an explorer, and you are no different. Your disinterest with traveling in your initial years has its roots in laziness, but its not just your story. It's always easier to stay at home and live vicariously through other people than pack your bags and explore unknown territories. But once the bug bites, it itches forever... Traveling is not about the laurels you collect to upload on your Facebook account to garner likes, it's more rooted in its benefits than that. New surroundings, people, cultures, food, sceneries open our mind and heart to a newer pattern of thinking. Our minds prefer a myopic view of the world, that way it has a more manageable set of pat...

The only reason I was absolutely sure about writing notes to my 15 year old self was because I saw no reason why anyone should wait, especially teens, to start their spiritual journey. Absolutely none. I disagree that spiritual teachings are too deep for teens or they still have some 'growing up' to do. Because of the exhaustive list of external and internal changes teens go through, most of them are much deeper in their thoughts than apparent( sometimes way too much!). Comprehension is high because it needs to be, otherwise the race is difficult to survive. I know exactly what you re going through right now because I was there. You are going through the flow of everyday life, with a blanket of gloom. There are days that bring us joy and there are ones that make you distraught. Life seems to be oscillate between these two polarities by virtue of things happening in the world external to us. Things happen and you react, positively or not. It's like you are on a boat and...

Some humans are born great and others achieve greatness, But contrary to what Tony Robbins will tell you, Most of us are perfectly content to have slightly above - averageness thrust upon us... Turn right at Machu Pichu Mark Adams We all aspire to live great lives. Yes we aspire. That's all what most people do. There is something romantic about aspirations. Struggles and challenges make for an interesting story. You have and will harbor many aspirations as well. It's going to be the thing to do! The trouble comes when aspirations never hit the road. I believe that every aspiration that dawns upon us, provided its not just the I want to be like her story, is a calling. It represents a certain possibility that you are capable of manifesting. Your means and resources don't mean a thing, the resources appear if you take the aspiration seriously. And the scary part is that you, the true you knows that with absolute certainty.  The irony of this story is the  i...

We aspire for bigger and greater things. All thing big is the mantra of the crowd and we live by it. We measure people by it and our own little lives. Needless to say, the mantra affects the teens especially- the biggest motivation is the ownership of all things big. It's the always looming carrot. You will be seduced by the red carrot hung in front of you as well- a big palatial house, a big modern kitchen, the patio, the garden, the car, the walking closet...I do want to underline that there is absolutely nothing around with desiring. It keeps one going and incentives have been proven to enhance results. There are two issues with it - attachment to results and the perennial feeling of lack. When you are attached to your results, as you will be, life will either bring great disappointment or a tremendous high of achievement. Both of these feelings end up in the same alley- the alley of perennial lack. The egoic mind will use the disappointment to add more to the negative stor...

Have you heard silence yet? Its been the single biggest transformation in my life - appreciation of silence. I have always been the quieter one, so the love affair started earlier. Seeking calmer surroundings and people became such a big part of my life that I lost out on much of late night parties that young adults are synonymous with. Once in a while I did land up in a pub but my challenge with those nights was palpable to people who would accompany me. I would try hard to fit in, I would really try but fail miserably. Authenticity or the lack thereof is easy to catch and I would be red just cheating on myself. After 12 years of trying to fit in, at the ripe old age of 29, I felt comfortable declaring to my friends that loud places, people and stuff are not my thing and I would appreciate if they understood. The BORING tag was more pleasant to deal with than trying to groove to ear deafeningly loud music in a sweaty, dingy place. All the while wishing that I be on my couch with my ...

"God can dream a bigger dream for me, for you, than you could ever dream for yourself. When you've worked as hard and done as much and striven and tried and given and plead and bargained and hoped...surrender. When you have done all that you can do, and there's nothing left for you to do, give it up. Give it up to that thing that is greater than you, and let it then become a part of the flow." — Oprah Winfrey There will be plenty of times when you will feel that lives not turning out well. As teens, there are many society induced success charts or a memorandum of how life ought to be. Your peers will constantly strive for this man made dictum and your elders will say no different, I am not talking about exceptions here. Needless to say, the plague will catch on to you as well and you spend the rest of the living moments upholding societal dogmas. There will be days when you will heart out because you tried your best and failed, words didn't come o...

On this path effort never goes to waste, and there is no failure.  Even a little effort towards spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear.                                                                  The Bhagavad Gita(2:40) The vagaries of life are splendid. There will be numerous people to please, expectations to be met, successes to be had, money to be earned, house to be built, the greatest car  to be bought...I could go on and on but I will still miss out on the expansive but extremely superficial outer world. The Gita calls it  maya  and it has no less splendor than a grand opera. The more twists and turns, the more emotions it conjures, the more interesting the show is for the audience. So why did I venture outside of the show?...because I was not having fun anymore....

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature -- trees, flowers, grass -- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence. We need silence to be able to touch souls.                                                                                                        - Mother Teresa You are inherently a fiery one. You are always ready to take it head on, irrespective of who i...

The world hit you with a blow pretty early in life. Self esteem issues, pressure to be an academic star- from family and friends, standing up to the image that the society wants from your parents and they from you, the list just seemed endless. And you, you are lost in the midst of this rigmarole  What is this? Am I here to just stand up to expectations from different quarters? Will I ever be successful or worse, will I ever be "deemed" successful by these prying eyes. And I am not even sixteen yet!  Its hard to be where you are right now. From where I stand, its probably the hardest time of your life. Its also the most pivotal. Because sadly, this is where your self image is forming, your ego is strengthening and the saddest of all, fear is rising. These three together will ensure that you carry a baggage, a baggage so heavy that choosing happiness will be a distant dream. You will always feel less than. Even when you are perfectly abl...

You are quick respond. You brought yourself up that way. Through the years, you will encounter many moments where people will hurt you, diminish you with their words. Oh there will be so many of those that's its not even funny! And you will quickly establish that this is the way the world works. People are hurtful, ungrateful and you have to give it back to them. Otherwise they will not learn. No response to slights is an indication of weakness and to keep your standing in the universe(read the society) as a powerful girl, i need to come back with a vengeance  Yes, I am not a violent person by nature but I cannot stand someone look down upon me and the least I can do is stand up for myself.  Over the years, you will execute many such back handed responses with elan! And for a second, the moment feels very powerful. You feel your chest rising and then... diminishing. The feeling is quick to fade. Every time you i...

My teens were less than easy...actually pretty difficult. A lot of adults, especially in India, feel that young teens should have very less to worry about. We don't pay rent, get three great tasting meals on the table, we run, play and study. Pretty innocuous eh? Not. Its the stage in our lives when we are the least sure of ourselves. We are self conscious,  feel awful about our acne and everything else and who can forget the infamous periods for the womankind. There is so much going on, inside our bodies and outside of it, we just never pause. Until we realize that in the midst of the frenzy, we didn't really enjoy this phase of our lives. As I approach my 3-0, I think of the 15 year old me ever so often. It makes me appreciate the journey of life but I empathize so much with that gal. She has so much potential but she has so many doubts. There is no reason for her to hate herself but she does. And she is alone...so alone, or does sh...