Author: Anju Darshini

Ready to bid adieu

The golden leaves,

Eager to fall

To let go

Days decrease

Count down they say

 

Every leaf

Has a story to tell

Of experiences

Real & harsh

Of love

Of hatred

Of betrayal

And, those of bliss

Still green & fresh

In the mind

 

Beyond the gates

Called life

Blessed you are

If it is a life, well lived

 

Leaves wither away

You travel again

Another universe you see

One more time,

End and begin

A 5 minute video that I recently saw caught my attention. A postgraduate student, as a part of her college project, had shot a series of of interviews in an old age home. Some of the elders there were almost dying, due to old age and sickness. When asked, what is it that they could have done better – the following responses came:

Here is the summary of what they spoke!

1. I could have spent more time with myself

2. I could have done things that make me happy

3. I could have spent more time with my friends

4. I should have learnt better to balance work and life. I think I missed out more on life

5. I should have laughed a little more!

6. I should have spent time to learn all that I loved from my heart

These are some of the common regrets, people have when they are about to die. When they reflect, these are the stuff that strike them the most. In the hustle-bustle called life, do we really take out few hours for ourselves? Most of us don’t.

One of my senior co-workers once told me, allot one hour in a week just for yourselves. Do anything you like in that one hour – use it either for your development, or to think over something, or just read. This was a very useful tip. I allotted one hour, just for myself and I could do all that I wished to do. Things that make me happy.

1. I could read and finish off some of the books that were in my list

2. I completed writing my own book, which is due release Oct 2019

3. I visited some of the shops, all by myself, that I hadn’t for a long time

4. Few days, I didn’t do anything – but looked through some wonderful videos in “SkillShare”, to learn a new skill

5. One day, that one hour was spent strolling in the park

The more consistent I’m with the “One-Hour” routine, the more productive and peaceful I get.

Blessed you are, if it is a life well lived.

Destiny: Games and Players

You roll the dice and laugh

Random games

You play

There is no plan

There are no rules

You’re fair

And not fair

You give in abundance

Or you don’t give at all

I can’t quit

I can’t play on

I stay in the game, if you wish to

If I quit without a trace, it’s you again

Why are you this way?

Why can’t you be predictable?

If you turn out to be one,

Then it is not life, is it?

A planned game

Is never a game

But why is it, when you play

You always win

And I, a mere player

 

I have always imagined ‘Destiny’ as the king, ruling a vast kingdom. Dice is his only weapon, but a powerful one. He plays as per his moods, and chooses his victims. But, it is not necessary that he victimizes us each time. In his happy moods, he gives us abundantly too!

Destiny may really be the king. But, it is so unfair to blame it all the time. He may have unimaginable powers, but he lets us decide for ourselves. Rather wallowing in self-pity, we can slowly move on and take control over our current affairs. Do a quick check on what we are doing right, and where we are going wrong. It can be in the ways in which we conduct our lives, how we run our families and how we bring up our children. Being open to failures of the past, is the first step to take control over the ‘blame game’.

In contrary to what I have said here, we also can win over destiny. He may not mind losing sometimes, I’m sure!

As there are ace players too in this world, isn’t it?

 

Picture Credits: <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/background”>Background photo created by freepik – http://www.freepik.com</a&gt;