Two cents on Life- Never giving up: 'The Attitude'

Dear Life,

You took me up, you brought me down,
When the ship broke up, you said- “Don’t drown”;

I carried on, I swam along,
Evinced tenacity, made up an imbuing song;

I won’t give up ‘Life’, I won’t let go,
You taught me so, and for that, I do bow;

You may again raze my ship ‘Life’, or becloud every dawn,
All I would say is- “Sh*t happens and Life goes on”.

I penned down these lines some time back during my MBA days at IIM A (one of the blogs below), when my ‘ship’ was on the upper wave of the sine curve. From the days of training during the dark hours at the National Defence Academy, to leading men in operations in the Army, to lying on the hospital bed badly mutilated after coming back from the dead, to joining a premier league B-school; this ship has ‘been there-done that’. The one thing that has fuelled this ship all along is the attitude towards life. We have heard this phrase so many times in our daily lives- ‘Never give up’, or going up a further level- ‘Never Never Never - Ever Give Up’. It so happens that many of us don’t get a chance to say this often, and these lines mean nothing more than a very powerful phrase. Some people test the waters flowing in their system by going through strenuous experiences like mountain climbing, and the likes. It does not matter when and how you get to test this attitude, what matters is- having the attitude of not letting go. Experiences might vary in terms of degree of intensity, duration or importance vis-à-vis the big picture. The big test comes when one encounters the unexpected and needs to live out the word- ‘perseverance’. All said and done, ‘Life’ is iffy. It starts by welcoming you onboard the ship with other passengers and your journey of life begins. At times, all of you go through a tempestuous weather, wherein you think that this is it and things cannot get worse than this. Next day things are back to normal and you sail along the journey, happy as (you) can be. Life then takes you up a level further and throws you overboard. You may know how to swim or you may not, whatever be the case you keep struggling. At this juncture there are some of us, who think that- I don’t know how to swim; I’m far away from the ship; I’m totally fatigued and there’s no use of trying any further. This is where people who have the attitude of ‘Never say die’, keep trying. They might have similar thoughts- I don’t know how to swim; I’m far away from the ship and I’m totally fatigued. However, their next thought is- I am still alive and as long as I have the last drop of energy in me, I’ll keep trying. These are the people who live the never give up attitude for as long as, and as much as they can. Life then throws a lifeboat for both categories of people, but both the lifeboats lead you to different ships that are on different routes of life. The journey begins again, and some time down the line, ‘life’ rocks the boat again, and the cycle goes on until you get to the end of the journey. One’s attitude defines the actions and the thought process defines the attitude – It's ALL in the mind. What matters is the way you handle the situation when everything seems to be going wrong, and it looks as though the universe has turned against you. This is where one needs to keep holding on to that log of wood (if you find one), say to yourself- “This too shall pass...”, and carry on. There is no limit to human endurance; it’s all in the mind.....

Ciao ppl..
Ciao Life..

The Lifeboats: 'Hope' and 'Determination'

After a really long time, returned today to pen down a few thoughts here. I was just looking back at those times yesterday; trying to understand what saw me through the storm and brought me to where I am today. There were many factors that I can attribute this to. I’d penned down a few lines on this blog sometime back (Link)- ‘When the ship broke down, you said don’t drown; I carried on…’. The fact is that when I survived that ship wreck (figuratively speaking) and decided to swim along, it wasn’t just the will power or luck, or blessings alone; it was in mathematical terms, a ‘union’ of all the factors. The two key factors that constitute ‘will power’, when things all around you are going wrong, are: ‘hope’ and ‘determination’. All other factors either depend on these, or contribute to strengthen these.

‘Hope’ per se is not sufficient for anyone to sail through, because for all you know, one can hope for anything and everything. It has to be supported by ‘determination’ to actually believe in it. This determination might come from one’s understanding of the situation (what went wrong/ what next), the options available, mental and psychological support one has, etc. and most importantly the faith one has in his/ her own capability. In those days while I was on the hospital bed, there were several thoughts of ‘what next, where do I go from here’. I was totally new to the world outside the green uniform and it was the environment around me (sister, mother, friends...) that showed me the choices I had. The route I decided to take had a high element of risk; and was one of the toughest ones to take. This was where the ‘determination’ came in. It didn’t come JLT as they say (Just Like That), but after a lot of due diligence on what was required out of me and knowing that come what may,- ‘I could and have to do it’.

It is the combined force of these two factors that can help one sail through troubled waters. It’s the ‘Hope’ that you will ‘get’ through and ‘determination’ that you ‘will’ get through, that combine and make sure that you ‘will get’ through...

Ciao ppl !!
Ciao Life !!

Married...and on Cloud 9

Coming back to blog on the blog after a long time, really long time…. Had my one month anniversary recently and life couldn’t have been better….. The entire ‘marriage process’ was exciting and interesting.… From the pre-pre marriage preparations to pre-marriage…. to the ‘marriage’ and post marriage celebrations…. Very tiring yes, but it was something we’d been waiting for a long time….It’s a great feeling to know that that someone is there and will be there for you, no matter what; just as you will be there for her…..These days no one blinks an eye the moment I leave office (dot on time or even before), even if that means taking calls from home…home has got altogether a new meaning now :) …. So many things have changed…for the good that is…

All married men keep saying that this is only the beginning, slowly things fade away… I don’t plan to walk that road though…. I still believe that keeping a relationship alive and fresh is in the hands of the people holding it…..Thanks everyone for the good wishes. Here are some of my marriage pics:

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/rajat.the.one/ReceptionMrgPics#

Intangible happiness…

There is an odd sense of belonging in dis cyberspace. Few months back, I was a neophyte in this arena, and now I have an identity of my own. I googled “Rajat Mishra” d other day and right on d first page there were two entries of mine :) ... It gave an intangible sense of beatitude and contentment. Then I googled another keyword “rajat_nda” (my pseudo name everywhere) and there were 10 full pages dedicated to me, mainly on www.pagalguy.com (my mentor)…

I think there are two kinds of ‘small things’ in life:
1. Small things in life…,hardly matter !!
2. Small things in life…, that matter !!

As of now, this comes in the second category...Maybe three years from now it would fall back to the first...But the point is: This supposedly ‘small thing’ made me happy!! Yesterday one of my (newly-made) friends working in Google told me to google “Rajat Mishra” or “Rajat’s life”…
Lo and behold!!
There my blog was... “sponsored by google”...the very first link...My very own ‘30 secs of fame’ (actually 24hrs!!)

Life is iffy, agreed and we may not write our own destiny, but materializing it is in our own hands. That being the case, and the kind of pressure all of us work in, if a small incident gets that innocent unconscious smile on our face…nothing like it !!

Ciao life!!