Over the last four days, I have been observing the extremes of life. On the one hand, I met people who are quite privileged, and on the other hand, I also met those people who are in prison, or whose families have abandoned them, or who have been subjected to all types of brutalities of life. I wonder why so many privileged people become so narrow and adamant, while many who have undergone difficult times become so broad. Is it destily? Or is it a choice?
Would any person who has passed out of college like to go back to his nursery class and again study there? Would any person who has come out of his village, got the exposure of the whole world, like to be confined to that village? Would any person who has come out of the well to experience the open sky ever like to be confined to the well? Everybody would agree that none of these is a possibility. Once we are exposed to the wider world, we never want to be confined to that narrow world. But why do people resist coming out of that narrow world, in the very first instance?
Probably, because that narrow world is quite comfortable, or we are afraid to try. It's comfortable to keep sleeping, and that's why we decide to skip walking or exercise. We are afraid to try for a new job, and that's why we continue to do the same job, even if we are not very comfortable with it. Every moment, we are making choices. Not making a choice is itself a choice. Going for a walk is a choice, and not going for a walk and continuing to sleep is also a choice. What is destiny in that case? Destiny is like the stage on which we have to act. The director sets a stage where we are supposed to act. We have complete freedom to choose how to act. Someone gets a grand stage by being born into the family of a billionaire, while someone gets a very ordinary or poor setup. Some acts performed on an ordinary stage are extraordinary, while many acts performed on a grand stage are very ordinary.
I have made a few attempts to wake people up from their comforts and have failed miserably on almost all those occasions. On the other hand, people in the most challenging situations are just waiting for a ray of hope. When I go to visit these people living in some of the most challenging circumstances, they look forward eagerly to that guidance. I met a mother who had to pass through forced prostitution is determined to work hard to make her son an officer. I also met a young girl who has been dumped by their family is determined to work hard to study to become a police officer. I also met a boy in jail who is ready to teach meditation to all his fellow prisoners. On the other hand, the privileged people are just busy searching for an excuse for their failure. They just want to justify their inaction. The privileged people just want to give lectures to everybody around on the meaning of life.
When we do not use a house for a long time, all the iron items in that house rust. Termite makes the wooden furniture hollow from the inside. The water pipeline block. When we die, in a very short time, the body develops a foul smell because the small creatures start decomposing the body. That means we have to make constant efforts to even stay alive. We have to make much more effort to grow. We may use different chemicals to protect the wheat from getting spoiled. When we sow the seed into the soil, the seed has no option but to grow. If it does not grow, somebody will eat it away. But when it grows, it is no longer a seed and develops an altogether different identity. It becomes a plant. It is no longer insecure because it talks to the Sun and the winds now and produces food. It has the capacity to produce many more seeds. Of Course, the seeds will grow in the right season. Choice of season is not in our hands. But, unlike the seeds, we have a choice to get out of the comfort of staying comfortably inside the box in the kitchen, waiting to be cooked, or to take the pain of coming out of the comfortable box and choose a workplace and pursue our area of interest, and to grow into a tree. Fruits will come at their own time and the right season approaches. We just have to grow into a tree.
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