You need to keep finding yourself, a little more each day, that real unlimited you. Look with your understanding, find out what you know and you’’ll see the way to fly.
These lines are written by Richard Bach in his bestseller book gifted to me by a friend on my birthday in 1992 during my internship program. I had read the book then and I read it now in 2021 after 29 years.
The perspectives have changed over a period of three decades and I enjoyed reading it and connecting it with a few incidents in my life .
1. There is so much to learn, he flew off by himself again, far out at sea, hungry, happy, learning.
After my post- graduation ,being one of the six female management graduates from a class of 40 , during a time when recession hit the world, it was tough getting that first dream job. That’s when I learnt my first lesson in the corporate world. Have a leap of faith and go with the flow. All my job changes were guided by the opportunity to learn and execute new things rather than the paycheck. This has kept me going for the next three decades.
2.Such promises are only for the ordinary, one who has touched excellence in his learning has no need of that kind of promise, proud that his fear was under control.
At 48 I ventured to go back to B school and do a formal professional degree in change management . Choose the best for yourself and trust your instinct . Surround yourself with bright young minds and keep learning. Discuss your experiences and failures and learn from them. Most important is to control your self- doubt and master the power of self- love and self -belief and most important never stop learning.
3.How much more there is now to living. There is a reason to life. We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can be free ! we can learn to fly. Who is more responsible than a gull who finds and follows a meaning, a higher purpose of life.
The corporate job and a young child at home made it difficult to find time to socialise with friends ,let alone read a book. So I found a way out to keep myself updated. All my weekends I started teaching my subjects at management schools , mingling with bright budding aspirants, which triggered a lot of self and peer learning. So if you want to master a subject ,start teaching it. Its been seventeen years and today when I discuss some of my mistakes I own them with pride, for they have been my stepping stones.
4.Boredom,fear and anger are the reasons that a gulls life is so short.one school is finished and the time has come for another to begin. Until we began to learn that there is such a thing as perfection.
There comes a time in your life that the designation, growth and paycheck cannot still contain the feeling of emptiness due to the meaningless rat race.Thats the time I started questioning myself and the very purpose of my existence and source of despair.
That’s when I learnt the three basic needs of all humans and decided to do something about it.
Inspite of reaching that stability in the corporate job, something within me just didn’t seem right. It was a lingering feeling of unhappiness and discontentment. Everything was there and still there was this nudge to reach out and do more.
Instead of being enfeebled by age, be empowered by it.
Age has always been a number and not a deterrent. I have never allowed my age to come in the way of exploring new possibilities, seeking adventure or trying a new assignment. In fact age has always empowered me to jump into the unknown and expand my window of opportunities .
If our friendship depends on things like space and time, then when we finally over come space and time, we have destroyed our own brotherhood. But overcome space and all we have left is here. Overcome time and all we have left is now. Everything that limits us we have to put it aside.
In your journey as you seek perfection or mastery through rigorous practice you will find yourself lonely at times and it is important to focus on the here and now so that your energy is directed towards seeking your goal. Each day I promise to be the better version of myself. Each year, I promise to study something new and raise my personal bar. Each time I converse with my friends, I speak about my experiences and failures with pride. Live your life as no one is watching. Most adults live their life with self-doubt and deprive themselves of love and happiness. Do not reach out to seek validation and appreciation from others instead find the fire and love within you and enjoy the power of self love.
“You think you are alive because you breathe air?
Shame on you, that you are alive in such a limited way.
Don’t be without Love, so you won’t feel dead.
Die in Love and stay alive forever.”
― Rumi
Suparna's Yugen 