23 Sunflowers I planted at 23(part-3)

14.Comparison is the actual enemy.

Hmm! Whenever I think of life I wonder why is it so complex or am I making it complex? As a genz kid with old schooled emotions I always dreamt of life as a garden of roses. But the reality is different. After my graduation I wanted to do my masters abroad but due to some reasons I couldn’t do it. During those days I saw my friends figuring out life, starting new job, travelling and partying. I felt I’m loosing this race. This started demotivating me a lot. People around me started questioning me, they taunted, they considered me like a looser. One day my mom cried seeing me in this helpless situation, and that day I decided to change my thinking. I started freelancing, gave myself a new chance and started to heal slowly. This journey made me understand everyone’s lives are different, everyone’s ambitions, situations are different. This is not a race , it is just everyone trying their best to achieve something. But comparing our lives with others is not at all necessary. Let’s get inspired from people if they are doing better than us instead of comparing. Let’s make sure to forgive us if we didn’t do that well, let’s give ourselves a new chance and hope for the best.

15.LET GO

Whenever I talk to people about emotions always the point comes to either ‘hold on’ or ‘let go’. But most probably it will always be about the importance to hold on. I do agree holding on to something that gives us no trauma or opportunities for personal growth or value our emotions is great. But what about the situations or emotions that demand us to move on but we are not ready for it? Is it alright to still hold on to it? I feel ‘the art of let go is so difficult to define yet so important to understand.’ I always care about people’s opinion, I hold on to it and analyze myself, is it good? Definitely not. The art of let go is not easy. I’m here just talking to let go of an opinion but there are times when we have to let go of our emotions, situations, people, it is painful. But is it impossible? Definitely not. The baggage we hold on  pulls us back every time we try to move on or try to keep a step ahead. The world is beautiful out there. Let’s let go of the baggage(emotions, situations, people) that is hindering our growth. Sometimes letting go opens a door to Sunflower field. Now the question is ‘how to let go?’ when you can find reasons and ways to hold on don’t you think it is possible to find ways to let go? My way to let go things is to pen down my emotions, forgive, forget and move on. None of this is easy but it is possible. 

16.Travelling and its silent lessons.

There is a famous saying in Kannada “Desha sutti nodu, Kosha odhi nodu” I completely agree with this. The biggest life lessons are learnt through either travelling the world or by reading books. What is travelling to you all? For me travelling is one of the ways to understand myself. Travelling alone or with friends are two completely different experiences. Whenever I travel alone I’m the one who plans everything, this helps me take decisions independently, not only this as I research about the places to visit I also get information about the historical values, traditions and food. Travelling alone helps me understand how important it is to enjoy own company. It also helps to find calm in chaos, any situations I try to handle it alone and sometimes it also makes me understand how important it is to be surrounded by people whom you want to make memories with. It gives a fresh breeze of air  to life, which makes us feel more grateful and value whatever we have. 

How can I not mention about the life time memories that we create whenever we travel with friends and family. The late night talks, sharing life experiences, dreams, sorrows, gossiping, star gazing and what not. The togetherness automatically gives a sense of joy and makes the bond much stronger. Travelling with friends isn’t just a journey it’s an unsaid experience in itself. Travelling connects us to nature and what better therapy can you wish for?  

17.It is okay to take time and not rush.

Have you ever wondered what life is? I wonder about it and every time I find different answers or maybe different perspectives. But one thing I have understood over the years is that life isn’t a race and we can take it slowly. There is certain pressure built around us to achieve certain things within certain time. There’s a timeline drawn to everything, getting a degree, doing masters, job, marriage, buying home I mean literally everything. If we cannot keep up with the timeline it is like loosing the race.  Is it right to live life based on timelines? I understand there are situations or conditions that demand us to keep the track of time but is it necessary to apply it to every aspect of life? Whenever we see our peers doing better in their lives we immediately start comparing our lives with theirs, and feel we are not ahead. When I finished my Engineering most of my friends were sorted, they had high paying jobs, plans to move abroad, starting a new venture and so on. But I was still figuring out what I want in life. This did put me into dilemma and I started to have self-doubt. I felt I’m lagging. But I also understood this is not gonna help me or take me anywhere. I gave myself time to understand what I want to actually do. I started freelancing, nothing happened in the beginning but I never gave up I continued doing it. In this process I understood it is okay to take things slowly, give time and live the life we actual want to live. I started embracing little things in life, analyzed many things that we rarely pay attention to, started being grateful. Universe knows the right time to give the right results. Why to rush? But let’s not stop working hard and dreaming big to achieve greater things in the same way let’s trust the process and keep the hope.

18.Success and your definition

What is success? 

I believe there are two answers, one-that is fixed by the society, two- our own definition of success. 

I feel this is the topic that is meant for debate or the best topic to build a conversation.  I feel we must define success on basis of what we actually believe in. For me satisfaction is success. If I’m satisfied with my work for the day that reason is more than enough for me to feel good about myself. I believe if I’m doing better than yesterday that might be mentally, physically or at my work it is a reason to feel successful in the journey. I work for an NGO, I’m around people, listen to their problems, help them and finally see them smile, this is my way of being successful in life. I feel we all consider only the end results, but consider the journey we are travelling and the way we are evolving in the journey. Success is all about perspectives and have your own theory and you’ll understand the joy of life.

 Excited to meet you all in the last part!