Life is brittle and fluid. One moment can change our lives. It could be a positive change, which transforms our lives like we never imagined. On the other hand, it could be a life shattering experience and could make us believe that there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

This ephemeral life ,is for all of us. Whether men are born in Mars or women in Venus, I do not know ,but life is the same for all of us. It is up to us ,to take this moment in our stride and manage to deal with it.

A great moment like admission in a great academic institution or the job offer from your dream company ,could change your life forever. However, it is important to believe, that this moment may change your life course ,but the after effects may not last forever.

Imagine getting into the best academic institution in your country. However, if we do not pursue our academic course to the best of our ability and come out in flying colours, we may have nobody else to blame.

The moment which catapulted us into a different space ,may not last our lifetime. If we fail in our academic pursuits and fail in our final exams, we may never get placed in any organisation of repute and this may lead to a moment of despair for us.

The lesson to be learnt here is that, such moments do not last forever. They could come and go and we need to deal with them accordingly. Our getting admission in the best institute of the country may be due to our hard work and perseverance. We get rewarded for our efforts. But then to come out in flying colours at the end of the course ,will be determined by our efforts ,after this moment.

If a moment of joy catapults us to the sky, it could also make us land abruptly afterwards ,if we do not take the necessary follow up efforts as given in the example of admission to the best academic institution.

On the other hand, a moment could impact our life negatively too. We may miss a promotion, when we think we deserve it most and others in the team too think the same way. This moment may shatter our confidence and self belief. However, it is our courage and resilience to deal with such moments, which may bring out the best in us. The greatest of human beings ,learn more from failures than successes.

We need to remember that such life changing moments may happen to us, at different stages of life. But they do not last forever. Our ability to be grounded in moments of joy as well as perseverance and resilience in moments of despair ,may help us to be a winner in life ,always.

These moments occur both in personal and professional lives. It could be a moment of joy ,at the birth of our first child. It could be the moment of tragedy, to lose a parent at a young age. An expected reward/recognition at work will delight us. On the other hand, losing a job during a pandemic or a restructuring of an organisation ,may shatter our hopes.

We need to remember that both joy and sorrow is transitory. If we learn to take both ,in our stride, we can manage both these moments resolutely ,without impacting our lives adversely.

Nothing is permanent ,including a moment in life.

All moments may help us improve and change.

S Ramesh Shankar

7th Dec 2023

All of us have ups and downs in life. We go through crests and troughs and have to own up both of these cycles in our lives. We are delighted when something good happens to us. But, when something unfortunate happens, we are down and out. It is human and there is nothing to feel bad about it.

It may be worthwhile to reflect at this point. Who is responsible for it ? While at the spur of the moment, we may conveniently blame others in our life, in reality the onus of responsibility for our behaviour and actions lies wholly and solely on us, as individuals.

Our past does not determine our future. But our actions determined our past and the same will craft our future. We also need to realise that our behaviour impacts people around us and we are responsible for the same. We are human and may make mistakes. It is important to realise our mistakes and seek forgiveness wholeheartedly and from the bottom of our hearts.

We need to realise that we cannot and will not succeed in this world all alone. We need family, friends and colleagues to succeed in work and in life. So whenever we make mistakes, we need to have the courage to stand up and own them and seek unconditional apology from the people whom we may have adversely impacted.

The sun rises the next day after every sunset everywhere in the world. Similarly, if we go through downs today, there would be ups in the future. This is the cycle of life and nature. We need to live on this hope always.

While we need to live on hope, we also need to take responsibility for all our actions and behaviour in life and at work. If we are willing to change and accept responsibility for our actions, tomorrow will always be better than today.

None of us want to live a life of misery. We would never like to hurt others or make life difficult for our near and dear ones in life. But if by any chance we do either, we need to stand up and own responsibility for our behaviour and actions.

“To err is human, to forgive divine” goes the saying. We need to learn to forget and forgive each other in such situations and move on in life. Forgiveness is Godliness. It may be difficult to forget and forgive others. But, if we have the courage to do it, we will discover the humanness in us.

I am a born optimist in life. I have always believed that the future is going to be better than the past. But we need to create the future of our choice by our own actions and behaviours in life.

The future will not dawn on us from the sky. We shape our future by our own actions. Let not the dark days of the past worry us too much as we need to live on hope and believe that the sunshine of tomorrow will wipe away all the tears from our past lives.

Let the journey begin today.

S Ramesh Shankar

5th Dec 2023

 

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.