Sitting with school buddies and re-living “those” moments are often extraordinary. A few days back, I was fortunate enough to meet my schoolmates and boy what an evening it was! We laughed, argued, agreed, sympathized, empathized and what not. “Wish I could re-live those days”, was the only take away of our meeting.
Hang on, I have had such reunions before with my ex-colleagues and the feelings were almost the same. And yes, with my college buddies as well and surprisingly the feelings were the same. I am sure everyone reading this article should have definitely gone through these feelings. Be it anytime in the past – School, College, Post Grad, Ex-company or an Ex-team within a company, we often cherish our time when we come across or meet anyone from the past. Why does this happen? Have we ever thought about that?
Well, maybe we did not have that perfect past and hence always want to go back and change things. And in the process what we lose is our present, which is definitely going to ruin our future and make us think about this same day in the future wanting to comeback right here and relish it to the fullest.
Before penning down this article, I spent days going down the memories of my matriculation days getting into the granularity of that one year, considering each and everything – the everyday experiences, expectations etc. After a lot of thought, I realized that the time was not that different from now. “It was actually the same as it is now”. The similarity being I was cherishing the moments of class VI or Class VII when I was in Class X and not living in the present or being aware of the situations. There you go, I got that word “Present”. And let me tell you, I seriously think about my previous company and “those days” now and I am sure I would miss my current one when I am in my next job. The saga goes on and on. It’s a chain that might not take us anywhere but the past that is gone. I wonder if any of us gets a boon to re-live those days of the past and are not allowed to change anything but only live the same experience, in this case how many of us are willing to go back? Count me out, I would surely not be interested. After maybe five years or so, I would cherish today for sure and say what a good time it was and I could have done better. This clearly means that I want to go back and change things and not re-live the same life again. By changing things, I mean to relish the life to fullest, be alive every moment, think of all the possibilities and opportunities that can be created at that very moment.
Anyway, the past is dead and gone and there is no point in wasting our energies just about brooding over them. I wish I could have enjoyed the beer and the food completely than getting into these dead topics that have no end of craving.
Coming to another example, I had heard these words “when the time is right” many times before especially in the last twenty years of my life. Whenever I had to take an initiative, there was a voice from within saying may be this is not the right time, let me wait for some more time. Oh, how can I go for a walk in the morning it’s too cold out there, I would be sick, let the winter pass by may be after a month. This is not the right time to change my job…This is not the right time to try something new…
And then the following words – “This is the best time for you to enjoy”. When I was in school, people said “Student life is the best life, enjoy as much as you can”. These words came from the same ones who would tell me that you would get a lot of time for your hobbies after finishing your schooling, so concentrate on your studies now. When I was single, they said, this is the best time enjoy as much as you can – “Bachelors life is invaluable”. Then after getting married – this is the best time for you both until you have a baby. Then later on – this is the best time until you have the next kid. When in college – this is the best time enjoy before you start working and lose all yourself to the employers. Well, well, well….So there is always a “best time” amongst “Not the right time”. The time was and will always be the same, just that we don’t get it and get lost somewhere in psychological jumble within our minds. It all boils down to being in the present and being aware of the wonderful life that everyone of us has been blessed with.
The key to happiness is understanding. Understanding every essence of our life. Understanding the very basics of our existence. Understanding how life has been over the past years right from our school days till today. Nothing is permanent, everything is temporary be it the problems or the success no matter how big they are, they aren’t here to stay for long. So, just stay there for a few moments and experience your own breath. Try to feel your palms, feel your skin, feel the pulse. You would definitely be astonished to realize what a beautiful creation we all are. Be Present, Be Aware and Be Grateful!
