Life never waits for anyone..

“Life will never wait for you to be okay. Get up, carry your burden and keep going.”

We may go through highs and lows in life, but we need to learn to move on ,as life does not stop for us ,at any stage. Both at work and in our personal life, just learn to move on.

Some of us may have missed a train or a flight in our life. It really disappoints us ,but the reality is that ,no train or bus or flight ,waits for any passenger, who is late. If you miss the bus, you have to catch another bus and your program may need an alteration.

Life is no different. We think, life will wait for us ,to be okay . It never happens. One may have missed a first division in school by a mark. You feel dejected ,but we need to learn from this experience and move on, determined to do better in college and in our future life.

We do face a lot of hurdles in life. Sometimes it could be personal tragedies ,like losing a near or dear one. At other times it could be missing a promotion at work. We need to learn ,to move on in life. We need to realise, that everyone faces some hurdle or the other ,and we have to learn from this and move on.

We sometimes put a brake in our lives ,due to some mishap. This can only derail ,our progress in life. Every derailment can teach us some lesson in life. We need to learn a lesson from that incident and move on.

If an athlete sprains a leg and stops while running a 400 metre race, she may not be able to make up with the others and thus may lose the race. The other athletes may not wait for her to get up, get treatment and then continue the race. This is the reality of life too.

Life never waits for us. It is like a running clock. Time never stops and if we waste our time, we are responsible for it and nobody else. We may lose the race of life and cannot blame anyone else.

Life is like climbing a mountain. If we reach the base camp and feel tired and take a break, we may temporarily feel good but the other mountaineers will move on and we may not be able to reach the peak, along with others.

We may also need to realise ,that there are some things in life, which we cannot delegate or give it to others and move on. Our disappointments, our failures are mostly due to our own limited efforts and hence we need to take responsibility and cannot blame anyone. The earlier we get over it and move on, the better it is for us.

We may sometimes think ,that we could catch the next flight or train but may realise , with disappointment that what we missed was the last flight or train on that day. The train or flight does not stop for us and that day will not come back for us in life.

Let us learn to move on in life from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

22nd June 2025

With love, you can get anything done

I was recently enjoying a break at a hill station, along with my spouse. When I was about to take a e rickshaw on the Mall Road for a drop, there was only one seat left and we were two of us. We were willing to take the next rickshaw in the queue. But the rickshaw driver requested one of the seated passengers to take the next rickshaw since he was single and advised us to take our seats in the rickshaw.

We thanked that passenger and also the rickshaw driver and took the vacant seats. On observing this act of kindness on behalf of the rickshaw driver and the passenger, one of the co passengers remarked – “ With love you can get, anything done in this world.” I found this remark of hers, very profound.

I reflected on the same for a long time ,along with my spouse and realised that, isn’t it true that you can get anything done in this world, with love. I recall many instances in my life, where I could get many things done ,because of love.

It could be as simple as requesting a seat in a bus, train or plane to be seated next to your partner or as challenging ,as seeking help of a stranger ,in repairing a stranded car on the highway. Whenever, we speak with love and sincerity and are authentic in our conversation, we generally achieve our goal.

On the other hand, a simple issue can get complicated ,when we tend to use a raised voice or try to show our superiority or dominance. A typical scene could be ,when someone parks his car in your allotted space ,in your gated community. Many a time, we witness a street brawl just to get a neighbour to shift his car out of your parking lot.

One senior colleague of mine always says – “only love is real” – which is so true. When we spread love, we get back love. When we spread hatred, we are responded with disdain. This has a spiralling effect and invariably ends up in an avoidable brawl.

I have met many people in my life, who will always speak with love and affection. When they request for anything, you will never say no, although sometimes their request may even be difficult to fulfil. The reason for saying yes ,is not because you like them, but because of the way they made the request to you.

In life, in everything we do, there are only two things – “What” and “How”. What is the thing we do and how is the way ,we do it. We need Intelligence Quotient (IQ) to do the what and Emotional Intelligence(EQ) to the do the how.

If we recall all our pleasant experiences in life ,right from our parents, siblings, friends, classmates or colleagues at work, we generally forget the what ,but always remember, the way we were treated by them. Just recall the best doctor ,you have met in your life. She may not be the best doctor in her field of medicine, but you still want to consult her only since she listens to you actively and always treats you well.

If we have to enrich all our relationships in life, we have to always realise how we behave and impact others. Our ability to be aware of our emotions and how it impacts others and our ability to manage others and their behaviour ,will make all relationships effective.

Let us learn to live with love ,from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

5th July 2025

Live before you die

I am a born optimist. I always believe , that tomorrow is going to be better than today. I believe that there is always a sunrise ,after a sunset. We need to live, before we die. All of us have to die some day, somewhere. But, why do we need to die every day ,as if today is our last day on earth. Why not live and enjoy life ,as if today is our last day.

I remember reading a book on cancer, by a professional . This gentleman was working in a senior position in India. He got selected for a good role in the Middle East with excellent package and benefits. So, he packed up his bags and left. When he landed in Dubai, he was declared unfit for the job ,due to cancer ,during a routine pre-employment medical examination.

The choice before him was to give up in life and die every day for the rest of his life. But he chose to live ,before he died. Yes, he was disappointed of how an unknown disease ,has negatively impacted his life and career. He came back to India and converted this crisis, into an opportunity.

He wrote a book on cancer . His journey of dealing with this disease from detection ,till he was treated and returned to India ,and made this a new phase of his life. His book is inspiring ,to say the least. Many of us with this experience ,would have given up and died every day for the rest of our lives. But, he decided to live every day of the rest of his life, although he knew, death was knocking his doors every day.

Another story ,is that of a teacher I met in my neighbourhood, about twenty five years back, in the city I was working. . This teacher also got impacted by a life threatening disease. She could not afford the treatment but went through this crisis and decided to to live life every day. She lived on hope and inspired hope in the minds of her students and well wishers. She is hale and hearty today and living a contended life ,with her family.

There are innumerable stories in the public domain of men and women, who fight back and face life ,with their backs to the walls. They make the impossible, possible, by their hard work and dogged determination. They do not give up ,against all odds.

I know of children, who lost both their parents ,at a very young age and grew up in orphanages. They dreamt of accomplishing something in their life and they achieved it in spite of ,all possible limitations in their lives. We hear of children of martyrs in the defence forces, who join the defence even after losing their mother or father, in the battlefield.

These stories need to inspire us. We need to learn to live ,before we die. In my book, only the cowards would die before living. There is nothing in this world, which cannot be accomplished ,by individuals with a dream and an ability to “never give up”.

Let us learn to live before we die.

S Ramesh Shankar

19th May 2025