The most important questions that people ask today are invariably on their health or the direction of their life. Those in their early years focus on building a career whereas those in their senior years reflect upon how they led their lives. Very seldom do you find people who consciously go about defining or constructing their lives by balancing their necessities with a controlled and sustained ambition.
A gentleman (my best friend’s father) whose life I have had the opportunity to observe closely for the past 12 years is a good example of those who are driven to succeed but at a pace at which rejuvenation is factored in. A humble man who spent his younger years as a vedic student, he pursued a degree course in commerce through correspondence mode, rose to be the divisional manager of a public sector general insurance company, he now spends his retired life teaching vedic hymns and recitations. Every time I meet him, I learn a new nuance from his life reflecting a journey that is composed and measured in all respects. He is as comfortable with a crowd as he is with solitude.
How many of us feel comfortable being alone and cut off from the rest of the world for a sustained period of time? I believe very few will answer that question truthfully. The reason could be attributed to the imbalance associated with the decisions people take in building their careers. In a world where people change their buzzword constantly owing to changing trends, it is not too difficult to diagnose what hinders them the most in their progress. We consult astrologers, change names per numerology, wear coloured crystals and threads, spend a fortune rebuilding houses per vaastu or visiting counsellors but ignore the simple course corrections that nature demands.
How many of us play a musical instrument or engage in a sport or attend a session of exercise or watch a play or walk up to a garden or visit a place of worship to spend a few minutes in introspection? That we fulfil our creativity while being on the road to a blossoming career seems to be the need of the hour. An organisational or national civic health gives us a good measure of how efficient and balanced the employees or citizens are. The Nordic countries have the best corporate and civic health index across the world. They are a testament to happy people building stable countries. Thus, it should not come as a surprise that the Nobel Prize is bestowed by Swedish and Norwegian committees.
It is good to achieve, it is also good to despair if we fail to reach our objectives because the lessons propel us to greater heights but it is a crime not to find ways to be happy. Play a note, sing a song, write a story and smile.
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