All of us have come in to this world as a gift of God, to learn, explore, and to try and understand the million things unknown to us. An opportunity given equally to all human beings, to live every moment to the best of your ability and in such a way that it is also beneficial to other human beings, your society, country, world and yourself! When you live your life only for yourself and your family, you encircle yourself like a frog in a well, with limited opportunity to grow beyond. In the process you don’t get to realize and grow to your full potential.
When you begin to think of others, closely related and connected to your present, then you will begin to realize something else, which is the truth in a totally different dimension. This is the God with whose grace you are born, your parents and family members who have helped your growth and development, your teachers and guides who have shaped your career, the organizations and the country who have given you the opportunities and the list goes on. Suddenly a question will come to your mind as to how and in what way you are going to return the help, show your gratitude and give back to all of them. You then will begin to see the truth and will prepare a plan of action to give back, reach out and help. While doing so you will experience a unique and special feeling which can not be put in words. That becomes your path of Dharma. In the process you will elevate yourself to a higher plane, a feeling of bliss, joy and happiness experienced by the great Saints and devotees.
The will to win should become our secondary nature. Dream big, stretch your abilities and capacities and discover your hidden potential. Never be daunted by failures, accept every minus as a stepping stone for achieving a plus and see the difference. Life is full of opportunities, there are enough treasures to fill everyone’s pocket. Seek and fill your pocket, leave a pathway and legacy for others to follow. Life is an opportunity (you only live once and not twice!) and its up to you to make good use of it for time and tide gone will not come back for you. If we analyze the “what we can” achievements we will find that they have been achieved with a courage to imagine and a boldness to dream.
All proposals for success depend on unreasonable men, unreasonable not in terms of mindless rebellion, but in terms of continuously trying to adapt the world to their vision. In the process one must strive for excellence or even perfection in any task, however small, and never be satisfied with the second best. Always remember we should be opportunity seekers and never become opportunists!
We all generally have three distinct phases in our lives. The most enjoyed childhood and formative years: joyful moments and experiences, days of joy and happiness and day’s unhappiness and pain-a phase of vigor and vibrant days. Having enjoyed this, it is our duty to provide the needed opportunity and support for our children also to get these experiences, something which all treasure, so as to recall and live back. This will give us the recharge to go on with the present.
In the middle years we channel all our resources and energy to reach our goal and direction in our chosen career and field, to provide the basics for the family, to help the growth and development of our kin and in the process create opportunities for others. This can be a help to meet their basic needs of food, health, education, work/employment and housing. Being married to a person with a similar approach, understanding, faith and direction gets us a life partner, friend, philosopher and guide. We will establish a close bondage with another soul who will be with us as we enter the next phase.
I do not like to call this a “retired phase”, for there is no such thing as retirement, this is a period of more opportunities. To do all the things which one could not do earlier for reasons of time or opportunity. So we have to plan ourselves for this phase. This is also the time to live very well, for you owe it to your wife and the wife owes it to her husband! Life after retirement is worth living and there is plenty to do. Unwind with your hobbies, be a gardener, an educationist, a social worker, a writer (all your experiences), a social activist to support the causes of the downtrodden, a painter, learn a new language, travel to all the places you have wanted to, visit orphanages, senior citizen homes, understand their problems and extend whatever help possible and be a supportive senior (may be a grandpa or grandma) who has the time and resources to solve the problems of the young. There is no limit to what you can do for happiness in old age depends on your own mental make up. Never be worried about health problems, get your health check ups regularly, take your regular medicines, do your daily reading, walking, meditation, spend time with family and above all be smiling and cheerful- create a welcome home for all. Even in your “retirement”!
We all love to be remembered. As we remember our elders, so we like ourselves to be remembered. The experiences and memories we leave behind are the ones which will stay a long time to guide and cheer our following generations, now and in the days to come.
