2007 turned out to be a mixed bag for me. Earlier in the year, I had to take a very important decision — to stop working for somebody and do something on my own. And I did after working 12 years full-time for somebody or the other. Not because I didn’t like working under someone, but because the job didn’t allow me to make the most of my versatility. Now, I can write for publications, and find time to do photography, pen short stories and memoirs, be part of new ventures… the possibilities are endless.
Ofcourse, the beginning wasn’t easy. It took me almost two months to get to grips with my new way of life. But the result was sweet. Before I could settle down in my ‘self employed’ avatar, I travelled to Bangkok and Pattaya with a group of 10 people and stayed there for nine days. The experience opened up my mind to a more international experience. Not that I hadn’t travelled outside India before. The last time was a few years ago when I had to visit Dubai for a few days as part of my job with Star Network.
Today, I am happy to say that 2007 was actually the most liberating year for me, as it gave me a handle on my career and life itself. I got to meditate a lot more during my morning walks that I have been religiously doing for the last one-and-a-half years.
But why am I saying all this to you? Because I guess, you might want to do the same. Throw away your stable, secure job and become an entrepreneur. But remember, I did it after being part of a team, and then leading a team… these skills are invaluable and need to be learnt before you start something on your own. People skills are ‘the’ most important tools in this world. Not your bachelors and masters degrees. They are only good technically. But holistically, you need to have this innate sense of calm and the belief in ‘give-and-take’. Only then, will you be happy at what you are doing, and slowly understand the real meaning of your existence: to be happy and make others happy.
Talking of happiness, every individual have their own way of interpreting it. To me, watching and playing with children, being with nature, taking a lukewarm shower, sleeping when I am really tired… all these make me very happy. Similarly, when I give alms to the disabled who cannot earn to make a living, I am most happy that they gave me the opportunity to serve them in whatever way I could. And I don’t consider this as charity. I think I am only helping my brethren.
On the same lines, when I watch the sun set in front of my house, when I watch the white clouds make an interesting pattern against the blue sky, it makes you feel blessed that you are living under their shadow. I am also very happy when I am reading a very good book, which is quite rare to find. The other day, I was reading Deepak Chopra‘s The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, and I could sense the change within me almost immediately. It was as if my thinking was being fine-tuned and my soul was being liberated by these thoughts. Just reading this book made me happy and relieved. Now I have never read Deepak Chopra before. But what he said rang so true. He says, practice the art of ‘give and take’. Whenever you meet someone, always give them a gift. And it needn’t even be physical. It can just be a prayer. His underlying message is that so long as we keep giving and receiving life’s most precious gifts (tender, loving, care), wealth (both material and spiritual) will keep circulating in our lives. Isn’t that such a wonderful thought?
The best advice I received from Chopra is to be “non-judgemental“. I think that’s so true. As we all know, ‘assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups’. And this applies to life in more ways than one. If only we hadn’t thought of a race as being ‘inferior’, a person as being ‘evil’, a thing as being ‘must-have’, we would have none of the baggages occupying our mind space and clogging our very existence. If only we practiced to be non-judgemental and just took life as it came to us, we would have learned the art of forgiving and forgetting. High philosophy, but told very succinctly.
Therefore, I wish that 2008 awakens, energises and catalyses the spiritual awakening amongst us all, so we live in harmony across the globe. After all, eradicating poverty will not make us happy. But infusing love and goodwill surely will. So, are you ready for 2008? I surely am.
Wish you all a rocking 2008!
May all your dreams become a reality (and if you haven’t dreamt yet, start now!)
