We live life every day as if we are running a 100 metre race. At most of the times, we are in a hurry and we do not have time for anything. If you ask anyone around, they say they are running against time. I sometimes wonder if it is worth living such a life.

We need to realise that life is a journey, not a race. We need to learn to enjoy life in our own way. We need to learn to take a pause or a break, whenever we need it. We need to learn that ,we are not competing with anyone else in life ,except ourself.

Sometimes people do not enjoy the journey of life. It is almost like taking a vista dome train through the green valleys of the western ghats and either sleeping all the way or working on your laptop. If we do not have time to look around and enjoy the beauty of nature ,around us, during our journeys, we are missing a lot in life.

Life teaches us valuable lessons ,every day of our lives. It gives us ample opportunities to celebrate life ,if we want to. But, if we are busy only comparing and competing with others, we are wasting our time. We can always learn from others ,without competing with them.

This is true ,both for our personal and professional lives. We need to learn to lead our personal life at our own pace and determine our own priorities. We tend to live for others ,all the time and sometimes even forget to enjoy ourselves.

I am not saying for a moment ,that we need not serve others in life. I am only saying that we need to take care of ourselves well before we take care for others. Caring for others should not be ,at the cost of our own lives.

I have met many working professionals in my career, who have no time to enjoy life. Everyone starts believing that the organisation they work for ,will come to a grinding halt, if they are not around. This is the first misnomer ,they need to shatter in their lives. There is not a single individual without whom, the organisation cannot survive.

I have also met people who say they have no time to take care of their health or to pursue their hobbies. We are the masters of our own destiny. If I don’t have time for anything in life, I cannot blame the world or my family, friends or colleagues, for it. I can only blame myself for the same.

We need to learn to manage our time and priorities in life . It may be a good idea to review and reset our priorities ,from time to time. We may realise that what was important yesterday to us, may not be relevant today and vice versa.

The day we realise ,that life is a beautiful journey and not a mad race, we may start enjoying life , in our own little ways. This realisation cannot come from heaven or from others in our lives. It has to come from within us.

We need to challenge ourselves and press the Ctrl+alt+delete button in our lives now and then. We may get new insights and discover the beauty of our life ,all over again.

The time to rediscover life is now.

S Ramesh Shankar

30th Nov 2023.