Driving in Delhi traffic may actually be quite frustrating. Sometimes, we want to reach fast to a destination, but it appears as if all the red lights are somehow conspiring to make us late. We get irritated at every light. Then we meet the bike riders riding zig-zag as if they want to show us their skills for free. Some bikers will suddenly come from the left side to overtake and leave us in horror because if the bike touches the car, first of all car gets damaged and then there is always a chance that he will fight and start shouting. After crossing the bikers and many red lights comes a speed board hiding behind the tree, as if playing hide and seek game with us by the time we notice the speed board, we have already been caught by the camera and feel like looking at our mobile for the message regarding fine and as we look at the camera, we are suddenly caught by the Policeman to look at mobile.
This is our normal life, wherein we keep living routine life. We try to move ahead and get stopped by different rules and regulations, social customs, traditions, and conventions. We do not want to marry and move ahead in our careers, but we need to marry and have kids. We feel like going abroad, but there are so many responsibilities back home. We feel like getting stuck at the traffic light. If try to cross the traffic lights and then come social bullies like the bikers riding zig-zag. They try to bully us and make us feel that we are not good enough. They keep giving unsolicited advice to make us feel small. When we somehow cross the bullies, but in the process lose our cool and end up annoying some crucial person in the organization or family and end up paying the price for the same. In an irritated mode, we somehow try to continue and end up being caught by the boss for misbehaving with our colleagues, or end up spoiling our relationships with the people around us. That's the daily routine of most of us.
Some of us like to drive on a track racing with the other cars. We speed up, trying to overtake the other cars and in the process, sometimes lose control of the car and end up meeting an accident. Sometimes, we get frightened and the other cars take over. Sometimes, we lead initially and in the end, some other car suddenly takes over and we lose the game and become sad. Sometimes, some car drivers violate the rules to take over and sometimes we violate the rules to take over.
It so happens with us when we are quite ambitious. We try to put in more time and energy to come first in the game, be it studies, business, or the race for promotions. In the process, we ignore our health and relationships and end up losing close friends and relatives or falling ill and being a regular visitor to the hospitals. We develop many stress-related illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, Blood Pressure, and heart diseases. Sometimes, we join the race but get frightened by the consequences and therefore end up losing the game. Sometimes, we lead initially and then some competitor takes over. It so happens often in the preparation for civil services. In the first year, somebody clears pre and mains and becomes very confident of getting selected in the next attempt, while in the next attempt, somebody who could not clear pre in the last exam becomes a topper and the overconfident candidate fails even pre. Sometimes, in a hurry to win, we end up breaking the rules of the game. Some students cheat, some employees try to bribe their bosses in different fashions, and some bureaucrats become sycophants.
Sometimes we drive on the highway. We get chilled and drive without stress. Even on the highways sometimes we tend to cross the speed in order to reach the destination fast or to enjoy the freedom to drive the way we want, or out of curiosity to check how far the needle in the speedometer can go. Similarly, in life, we get a clean field sometimes where we get the work of our choice and functional freedom. Some of us go into overdrive and end up having an accident. While some of us drive happily in such situations.
I wonder, why we get stressed in any situation, be it a city traffic, race track, or highway. Probably, in a hurry to reach home. That is understandable in the case of driving home. But what about life? We all have been given a limited life wherein we have certain moments. Living each moment is driving the car. Till the time we are alive, we will keep driving the car. We are not like hobby drivers, rather we are like the taxi drivers who have to drive taxis in different situations. Sometimes, we will have city traffic, sometimes there will be a race track, and sometimes we will have highways. The moment we take the destination out of our minds and think of life as spending time or driving a taxi, the entire stress disappears. It is because we have a direction but not any goal in terms of time to reach the destination. In fact, we do not have any fixed destination as well in our mind and the destination is decided by the passenger we get. When our entire attention is on driving well, it actually does not matter whether we are driving in city traffic, race track, or highway. We know very well that after reaching the immediate destination, we do have another destination to go and therefore little delay here and there does not matter actually what matters is that we give 100% attention to driving, and once we give 100% attention to driving, driving in fun whether we drive in a city traffic, race track, or highways. Thus, a change of mindset changes our lives.
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