"Figuring It Out"

 Hello everyone, Hope you’re all doing well. Back here after a year! I do try to write from time to time, but as they say, when it comes, it comes naturally. You can’t really force yourself to write. Sometimes you have things to say, and sometimes you simply don’t. 

 This is in continuation of my last blog, which was about some of my learnings from life so far. I love sharing these little learnings here because if something I write makes sense to even one person, that alone makes me happy.

 So, over the past few months or perhaps years, because “recent” is a rather relative term I’ve had a few more learnings. 

 Here they are. First: Don’t worry too much about opinions. Form your own. And once you do, stand by them. Even if it means upsetting a few people. Not every decision you make needs everyone’s approval. Sometimes, standing by what you believe in will help you sleep better at night. It also teaches people where your boundaries lie and teaches you where they should be. But there is a catch: don’t become so attached to your opinions that you stop listening. Be open enough to change your mind when you discover something new. Having an opinion is important; being willing to rethink it is even more important. 

 Second: Spend money. Yes, you read that right. Spend it. Don’t keep everything for “later.” We often spend freely on the people we love, but hesitate when it comes to ourselves. And somehow, we convince ourselves that there will always be a tomorrow for that trip, that watch, that dinner, that experience. There may be. But there may also come a time when you realise that you spent so much time saving for life that you forgot to actually live it. And please don’t take pride in being the person who spends on everyone except themselves. Because someday, when someone asks what you spent most of your life on, you don’t want the answer to be hospital bills.

 Third: Make happiness an ambition. I read a quote somewhere that said happiness should be the ambition, and it has stayed with me. You could be at the absolute peak of your career, have everything you once dreamed of, and still feel empty. And you could be going through one of the most difficult phases of your life, yet somehow wake up happy and find the strength to sail through it. Success can make life comfortable. But happiness is what makes it worth living. So perhaps, somewhere along the way, we need to stop treating happiness as a by product of success and start treating it as a goal in itself. 

 Fourth: Cultivate passions. Stay curious. Stay alive. Don’t become that person who, while still young, loses interest in everything. The kind of person who has nothing to look forward to, nothing to talk about, nothing to explore and eventually ends up sucking the life out of everyone around them. Life has so much to unravel. There are books to read, places to see, people to meet, things to learn, risks to take and countless experiences waiting to happen. So pursue them. Take the risk. Pick up that hobby. Go somewhere you’ve never been. Learn something you know nothing about. Do whatever it takes to get that spark back in your eyes. Because being alive and merely existing are two very different things. 

 And lastly, perhaps the most important one: Don’t keep everything in your heart. Talk about it. Write about it. Share it. Vent. Cry, if you have to. Do whatever helps you let it out. Don’t assume you can bear everything on your own. You simply cannot. We often underestimate how much lighter life feels when you stop carrying everything silently. So say what you feel. Tell people you love them. Tell them when they hurt you. Write down the things you cannot say. Let it out. Feel lighter. And slowly, get that natural smile back—the one that doesn’t have to be put on for anyone. 

 So, that was a short write up from my side. As always, I’d love to hear from you too. Share your learnings in the comments or drop me a message. I would genuinely love to read them.

And finally, I’ll leave you with this beautiful thought from Alain de Botton: “You normally have to be bashed about a bit by life to see the point of daffodils, sunsets and uneventful nice days.” Cheers, A.