THE INSECT WHO COULD NOT CRAWL

I love rains! I celebrate rains by going on monsoon treks, reading books sitting in the balcony listening to the rain drops falling from the sky, driving and splashing around the watery roads, or even go to a place (perhaps another district) where there is prediction for rains and the list gets creative with all the love for rains. This time I decided to spend a rainy weekend at an ashram in Mulshi. I was enchanted by the greenery, its landscapes, I was totally head over heels in love with it. It was misty, drizzling throughout the day with incessant rains and walking with an umbrella was a delight to my soul.

I walked to a pyramid shaped meditation centre to discover that I was the only human in there with a stack of chairs, and a slightly wet floor with colourful warm woolen mats. This was a perfect opportunity for me to spend good time with myself amidst the serenity! I placed the mat on the floor and sat on it along with my notebook and pen reflecting deeply within. In the process of reflection, I also noticed a tiny brown insect (I don’t know the name scientific name of this insect) lying on the floor few centimetres away from me. He did not seem to move and considering it dead I continued making notes. An hour had gone by but this insect was still lying there. I went closer, tried moving it with my pen, its tiny little legs showed sign of movement and I sighed “Ah it’s not entirely dead but almost at the verge of it.”

Another forty minutes had gone by with this insect constantly calling for my attention. I noticed that he was trying really hard to make slightest of the movement and with all enthusiasm for the quest of his survival I tore a piece of paper from my note book, and kept it very close to him. To my surprise even before I could roll him on the paper with the support of my pen, he was already walking on the paper yet again landing on the floor standstill.

This amused me to such an extent that for next few minutes I kept placing the paper in front of him while he walked nonstop until he landed on the floor. I chuckled and then carried him out on the same paper, and placed him on the surface of the earth. This time he was not just walking but was faster and was running, he seemed to know where he is going , neither the rain nor the wind could stop him, it appeared like he had mastered the skills to conquer this tough terrain and he was just perfect.

I beamed with a smile on realizing that he was flawless! He struggled because he did not have the aptitude to walk on the wet floor. “Whoaaa”, I exclaimed. ‘This is what most of us struggle with in life, not knowing what we love to do or what we are skilled at. This needs to go hand in hand and not in silos. Have you ever questioned yourself whether you love what you are doing or you just spent a chunk of life to acquire skills that you don’t even love. You did that because everyone else was doing it or just to make a career that earns a lavish living? In my opinion this is what leads us to disillusionment on later part of life raising questions such as “why am I doing what I am doing? Am I  happy with my job? I don’t even enjoy my work, I hate this company, I hate people in here but I have to do this for my living, to support my family, my commitments! I have all the money and designation and yet why am I not happy? What is missing in my life?”

Maybe we all struggle with the flock syndrome! We unconsciously start following the success patterns laid out which is primarily focused on accumulation of money and survival but not necessarily based on love & happiness. I recently met an acquaintance who quit a high paid IT job to do what he loves. According to him it took him 10 years to realize what he actually loved and after that, he quit his job to start farming. His concept is to provide fresh organic vegetables to all for a healthy lifestyle. He not only earns good margin but also lives a happy & quality life with his family. He does not feel any stress rather he enjoys his new work and its unique challenges. He is consistently on innovation mode with expansion, diversification as well as growth. Similarly, a lady in her mid-30’s quit the mundane job to do story telling. It was not easy because no one accepted that as a career that could fetch her money or success and now she travels the world with her stories. What seems off beat to others is true happiness for the ones who discovered their love!

No doubt there will be stepping stones but where there is love, determination and focus, irrespective of all challenges or any circumstances you will find ways to upgrade your skills to excel. Only you are your own limitation! So, what we need to question ourselves constantly is “Do I just want to survive or live to excel beyond? Do I want to be that insect who could not crawl on the surface which was not his area of expertise or do I want to be the insect who knew his strength, who knew what he loved, and who knew what he is?”

As Albert Einstein says “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that its stupid". So find your uniqueness !