“Sometimes even to live, is an act of courage”- Seneca
When we are at some point of our lives where we are vulnerable, we start believing we have got life figured out. We start believing that we are now invincible and nobody can dare touch or harm us. We start believing there is nothing new left to learn. However, it is a fool’s errand to think like that. Life will never seize to inspire us. It will never seize to teach us. It is a lifelong teacher and we must stay a lifelong student. At every point of life we will have something new to learn.
That’s the rule!!
I have been on the journey of self development and self improvement for some time now. It was only after I went out of my comfort zone (my home) and saw the real world that I understood there was so much to life- challenges, improvements, knowledge, achievements, principles, etc. And it was only when I went out into the real world I learned some important life lessons- the lessons which can only be learnt better if experienced.
1. You have to be patient in your life. Things will come around if you’re patient.
We believe things often work out if we are in a hurry. It is true that we must be efficient and fast but sometimes we should not rush into anything. Patience is one of the keys to success and people who cannot afford to wait should not expect better results. There’s a beautiful quote that resembles exactly what I mean- “Greatness takes time. Just remember it takes 13 hours to build a Toyota but 6 months to build a Rolls Royce.” So do your work and be patient.
2. Trust the process. Whatever is happening (good/bad), just trust your life.
It is not easy to trust anything when nothing is happening in our favor. And it isn’t easy either to be optimistic about it. And that’s where people often fail- fail to accomplish what they are seeking. Trust is very important. Now, I don’t mean trust in any supernatural beliefs which are beyond scientific explanations. I also don’t mean merely trusting things to work out while you’re sitting comfortably doing nothing. That’s just you being lazy. What I mean is doing your best and not worrying too much about the future because in life we only have control over limited things. There is so much that we don’t control. Understanding this key difference eases our journey. Every event-good or bad is making you. Let it make you. Don’t interrupt the process.
3. Be kind and humble. But not with everybody.
One of the important factors responsible for success in people’s lives can be attributed to their kindness. Being kind is not some conventional mindset. It is very much a conventional wisdom that has many psychological benefits. Nowadays, people don’t believe in these moral values but no matter what the trend has become nothing can beat the power of kindness. Kindness is the essence of our existence and if we sustain it we can make huge impacts in the lives of other people. However, I believe not everybody deserves our kindness. Some philosophical minds are of the opine that we should be kind with everybody no matter what. For some cases it is true but for others it isn’t because it is not wise to make a fool of ourselves. People who can’t value our kindness should not be a part of our lives. This may sound very rude and cruel. But that is the best way to avoid any sort of emotional baggage.
4. Take your own decisions.
All decisions in life are not easy. They demand a lot of discomfort, cognitive bandwidth and what not. When it comes to critical decisions of life it is plausible to seek help of people we trust and who are more experienced than us. But there’s a fine line between taking our own decisions and seeking help for the same. We cannot always expect someone to save us- not all the time. Many things in life happen all of a sudden and in those moments we are alone. That’s when we must be bold enough to gather courage and make the call. It is because no one else knows what we really want in life better than us. Take help and guidance if you want but the final decision should always be yours.