“Expect nothing and everything becomes a gift. Disappointment is the tax on unrealistic hopes.” – Vintage prudence.

I saw this quote accidentally and it taught me ,a great life lesson. Another beautiful quote, which has always inspired me is “Frustration is the gap between achievement and hope”.

If we are able to live life without expecting anything, we may be happy, with whatever we get in life. In my life book, life is all about contentment and gratitude. We need to be content with whatever we have and we need to be ever grateful to the people in our lives, who have made it possible, for us.

We tend to expect a lot of things in life ,even before we set our foot forward. So, when we do not realise most of them, we are disappointed. Is it realistic to expect nothing in life ? May not be. But, to expect things realistically, it may be possible.

We give our exams in school and college and we know realistically ,how we have fared. So, we may not get disappointed with results if we get what we expect, whenever they are announced. But if we are sure, we have not done well and still expect to top the class, we are thoroughly disappointed.

Life is no different. Our expectations have to be grounded in reality. Our realistic goals embeded with our hard work and focussed efforts, will lead us to ,what we want to achieve. However, in reality, our dreams are generally ambitious. Our efforts are mediocre and hence when we do not achieve our set goals, we get frustrated.

A sportsperson preparing for the olympics ,works for years, to achieve her goal. She works ,day in and night out ,to represent her country and stand on the podium with a medal. Her efforts will determine the colour of her medal. She does her best and if she wins , she is happy but if she loses, she is aware that she could not match ,the best in the world.

We need to live life ,that way. The less we expect, the lesser will be our disappointment. The recent pandemic of Covid across the world , taught us great life lessons. We realised how privileged we are. We could survive months ,without going to the workplace. Many of us did not lose our jobs. We could eat and live healthily and our family and friends supported us.

On the other hand, many daily wage earners lost their job and their livelihoods. Many lost their lives ,as they could not sustain ,on the onslaught of the virus. We need to realise that gratitude is critical for happiness in life. We have to be grateful for what we have ,rather than worry about what we do not.

Life is a zero sum game. We get what we deserve. We get what we work for. Nothing appears from thin air. We need to struggle today ,for a better tomorrow. No sportsperson wins a championship by luck. He has to work hard, day and night and with sweat and blood ,to be the best in their sport and win a championship.

Let us learn to expect nothing in life and we may rejoice everything we get. This does not mean ,we do not strive and give our best ,to achieve our goals. This only means ,that effort is in our hands and not the results.

Let us focus on our efforts from today ,without worrying about the results.

S Ramesh Shankar

8th June 2025

One of the best things I admire about sportspersons is that they never give up. They will try and try again and again ,till they succeed. Like we say ,class is permanent, form may be temporary. So is life. We need to at least try ,before we quit.

Many of us tend to give up ,even before we try. All of us ,are not born to conquer Mount Everest. But, if we do not try, we may not really know our full potential. I have heard of many real life stories, where people have shown that they have made the seemingly impossible, possible, just by trying.

Let me illustrate this point ,with some real life examples. One of things we used to do in our annual conferences at work ,was to invite people from different spheres, who have excelled in life. We once invited a marathon runner ,for our conference. This gentleman was in his mid fifties.

When he narrated his story of life, all of us felt, that if we are willing to try, we possibly could achieve ,what we want in life. This gentleman who was in his late forties ,was keen to run a marathon. So, he went to his physician and checked with him if he could practise for the same.

He hailed from a business family and belonged to a state, which is known for connoisseurs of food. He was over weight for his age and the doctor ,as expected ,advised to refrain from this misadventure ,at this stage of his life , so that he does harm his legs. But this friend was not going to give up so easily.

So he went to a sports doctor and asked ,if he could still try. The sports physician told him that he could try ,if he is willing to transform his physical health with diet control and supplement with regular exercises. So he started on the prescribed diet and started short runs on the sea shore, yoga and other physical conditioning exercises in the gym.

The truth is that, within a year ,he ran the half marathon successfully and then the full marathon in Mumbai and now runs around the world and has qualified to become a “Iron man”. So, this story can inspire all of us to try ,before we give up. If anyone is interested, do let me know and I can share a book, he has authored on his life story.

I know of an Olympian. She lost in the first few rounds of Badminton, in her first appearance . But the very next Olympics ,after four years of hard work and diligent efforts ,won a bronze medal for her country. This story is common amongst many sports persons and hence they inspire many youngsters to excel ,in whatever vocation they are in.

As they say, sky is limit for those who dare to dream and then are willing to toil to make that dream a reality. Many of us are great at dreaming but are not willing to put in those hard days and nights of toil, before we succeed and realise our dreams. Either we are not willing to put in that effort or give up even before we try ,stating that it is not meant for us.

Let us learn to try before we quit from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

19th May 2025

One of the things my spouse enjoys the most ,is to dance in the first rains, after the summer. This give her relief from the heat and instant child like joy. If we look at it metaphorically, it is to enjoy every moment of life, as and when it occurs and whenever we feel like.

We tend to postpone almost everything in life. When we are young, we have the excuse that we do not have money or we cannot afford it. Then we are busy with our children or at work and hence no time to enjoy life. Then we are not physically fit enough in our sunset years ,to enjoy life this way.

In my view, this is more of our doing, rather than anyone else. We cannot blame the world for not dancing in the rain. If we look at it literally, we do not dance – may be because ,we do not want to get wet. It may be because, we are worried what others will think.

The reality is that, nobody is bothered about our behaviour. The best thing about our childhood is that we behave the way we want to, without worrying about what others would think. As we grow older, we are conscious of what others will think and how the society will react and so on and hence suppress our instinctive behaviour.

This is true in every aspect of life. As children, we climb a tree or jump from heights and willing to take all risks ,without much worry about the consequences. But, as we grow older, our risk taking ability diminishes and we are conservative, in whatever we do in life. I am not for one saying that we need to jump from trees as a senior citizen but live life, as if tomorrow does not exist . It is more an attitude to life and living ,rather than a particular action of ours.

As youngsters, we are willing to try out new things and learn from everyone around us. As we grow older, we are self-conscious and are reluctant to learn from youngsters or people less educated than us since we start believing ,as if we have conquered the world of knowledge ,with our qualifications and experience.

The reality is otherwise. We need to unlearn, learn and relearn right through our lives and this is the axiom of life. We cannot be exceptions. The day we realise ,this basic premise of life ,we may learn to live and enjoy every moment of life.

Let me illustrate this through a simple example ,from my life experience. I always enjoyed travelling and visiting new places in my life. As a kid, I used to cycle around and explore places I could go to. Then as I started working, I had a scooter and hence went on short trips on weekends, whenever I could afford. As I graduated to buy a car, it evolved into family trips once in a few months. Today, I can afford to drive around and fly around my country and the world.

So my limitation of resources ,need not limit me to explore the world or do anything else, which I want to. If I am passionate about reading, I could borrow books and read or visit public libraries ,before I could afford to buy my own books of choice or digital content. If we are not able to read, it is more of our own limitation, rather than our inability to buy books at the early stages of our career.

Life gives us moments to enjoy ,every day. Either we can learn to dance in the rain or sit inside and crib that we are not able to go out and play and spend the rest of our lives, only crying foul.

Let us learn to dance in the rain from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

19th May 2025