Living Life your Way !!!
“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” —Seneca
Our life of last couple of decades was running the way we thought we wanted or one which thrived on aspirations for a better day ! & just as we were in that continuous turmoil, here comes 2020 – A BOOOOOM….an absolute RESET !
I am sure by now you are all aware of how it has changed the way we live, interact, work, study, eat and even breathe – so I will not spend much of time repeating what the internet, world of news and never-ending think tanks have already filled you in with. Over the next couple of paras, I am going to simply talk about ‘Apne pairon par khada hona seekho’. Oh, haven’t we heard this line from our parents, grand-parents, movies, politicians & ofcourse the recent propagation of ‘Atma Nirbharta’ by our Honorable Prime Minister – I think there is no better time than year of 2020 which allowed the statement to unfold in front of our very eyes.
Yes, people had to walk miles for a decent roof, search for food, struggle for medicines and many such stories have been out there. However, if you look closely it all boiled down to livelihood – some lost it, some retained it, some lived in fear of losing it, some compromised to earn it by undertaking alternates way below their caliber …but some used this as an opportunity to chart their own paths and found what they call ‘every cloud has a silver lining’.
Yes, it wasn’t easy but if you were to look at papers itself there will be plethora of stories and some that I can recollect was a real estate person laid off but to start his own financial service venture, a construction person starting turmeric business and list can go on and on. But these are all in paper stories and can they really happen? – one may ask. Look around – I know of at least 10 women who took charge of their lives in these times – a classic example is a lady started with home delivery of fruits and veggies – in 10 months, has a website and thriving ecommerce business supplying household need items at large localities level. Another case I know went into online education , leveraged situation and expanded footprints faster than ever. The next in line is a manufacturing set-up which struggled but changed faster than ever to adapt to online platform and create a hybrid model. I don’t know whether this change came from pandemic or looking for survival or they always had it in them but were too scared to experiment!
Finally, I who was an airline professional – had I been working, chances are that I would have been laid off. Today, I see a world of opportunities in education, training, online programs, online learning connects at local, country and global levels – truly there is no stopping to my dreams, reach, growth and impact I can create locally, in state, country or across the globe – just the baby steps of last 5 years brought me here.
So what is it that I am trying to propagate – no its not about leave your jobs and go on your own for one and all – Entrepreneurship is never easy and not for all !
All I am saying is look deeper and find your calling. Is it job, is it art, is it social service, is it entrepreneurship – what is it that you think means everything to you. Start looking within and build on that. You may be surprised as to how you create something sustainable as primary way of living or secondary way which will be a thriving option for you to fall back upon. Do not wait for another such pandemic or a shocker of life to make you rush towards your calling.
I will conclude by saying – we are enlightened beings, to let our thinking and potential be boxed and wait for a life shocker to free up yourself, may actually be demeaning to the wonderful creation the ‘YOU’ – Unleash the ‘YOU’ and give wings to ‘YOU’ – you will surprise ‘YOU’rself and the World on the impact ‘YOU’ can create.