Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Taking my chances

"Sometimes we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today's possibility under tomorrow's rug until we can't anymore. Until we finally understand for ourselves...that even the biggest failure, even the worst, beat the hell out of never trying."

These are lines from one of my favorite shows - Grey's Anatomy. I have always believed that each one of us needs to make our own mistakes in life. That is the best & most effective way to learn. For this very reason, I never gave my little sister, and later my cousin sister, any advice on the do's & don'ts of living on their own - when they left home for college. My parents, aunts & uncles urged me to do so on numerous occasions (since I'd already lived on my own for a few years by then & had apparently managed quite well) but I refrained from doing so. Sure, I gave them advice when they asked for it but the final decision was always theirs.

One thing is for sure - we can't live borrowed lives. We have to sculpt our own lives, make our own mistakes, carve our own victories, battle our own failures. The above mentioned quote aptly summarizes this. There are some people who never take chances in life, and some who take their chance but give up the moment they hit rough weather. My point is, sometimes it's not enough to simply take your chance. You need to stick it out as well. Most good things in life require a lot of perseverance, hard work & patience, and we will never get them if we quit at the slightest sign of trouble.

Billy Jean King, a six time Wimbledon winner, says "Champions take chances, and pressue is a privilege".

The future looks bleak from where I'm standing right now - fraught with uncertainties. It's going to be a long-winded difficult journey that would require tons of patience, maturity & emotional restraint, but I'm hopeful & optimistic.I am taking my chance in life & am willing to stick it out...because I believe what I'll get in the end would be worth every bit of effort. At least I stand a chance....because I'm choosing not to walk away.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Of beginnings and ends

I am one of those people who wants to do a lot of different things in life. Thanks to my lack of inertia, it takes me forever to get started on them. Once I start, I take it on with full gusto but somewhere down the line the enthusiasm fades. This is a rule of life I've always tried to fight. It applies to everything....hobbies, new skills I try to acquire, gymming, and more recently, blogging.

Blogging....Ah! That's another story. I took a very long time to start blogging. It it was one of those things I was curious about but never had time for. When I did start, I made sure the ENTIRE world knew I had my own blog site. I was into it completely at first. However, the demands of life and keeping a job slowly caught up, and now I blog as and when I get the time (It's a different matter that no one reads my blogs, but that's okay! I read them over and over again :)

Thursday, January 3, 2008

2007 Diaries

Another year has come to an end & a new one has started. A leap year at that! It's been long since we've had a February 29th :-)

I'm trying to look back at the good things I gained over the last year. Professionally, I grew alot - the biggest achievement being that I learnt how to handle a team. What a task it is to be able to divide your limited time & attention among a bunch of people, manage everyone's expectations, and make sure everyone is delivering their best while staying motivated! I feel that leading a team is a quality you either have in you or you don't. Kinda like lycra :-)

At a personal level, it was quite an eventful year as well. I got to travel to Delhi during the winter & spend time with a couple of my closest friends. What a blast we had eating ice-cream at 2 am on a freezing night at India Gate! The year ended on such a high! My sister got married to her love of five years. I learnt to balance my personal & professional lives. I feel I have a clearer idea of what I want to do & in what direction I want my life to be headed both personally & professionally.

2007 was quite a year of self-discovery, and I hope the high continues through 2008.