At the breakneck pace at which our daily lives travel,
Monday mornings are simply a magnified version of the turmoil in us. Being patient
on a Monday morning, therefore, may seem like a feat. In reality though,
whether it is a Monday or any other day, patience is the only way to connect
with Life’s beauty and magic!
A business associate who leads HR in a large client company called
me unusually some time back. It was around lunchtime here in India. I was
perplexed. Normally this gentleman would text me or write me a mail. I did not
pick up his call as I was at lunch. After lunch I found a message from him that
said he was just calling to say hello! I called him back!
Answering his phone he said: “Sir, this Monday morning when
I came to work, our server crashed. I had tons of work planned for completion
today. We also had to work on hundreds of appraisals and issue increment
letters. The IT folks told me it will take all day today to restore operations
to normal. I was first very angry. Because I wanted to finish all that we had
planned. Besides, I have to travel on work from tonight. Then I said to myself ‘What’s
the point in getting angry? Let me just take it easy!’ So, I said, let me call
and connect with people who I had not spoken to in six months. I decided to
call just so that I reach out. If they are available great. If not, they would
know I tried connecting! After just a few calls, a feeling of calm overtook me.
My anger disappeared. And I felt great joy in re-connecting with people.”
My friend here has
just stumbled upon Life’s greatest secret: that taking Life as it comes is
better than expecting it to go to clockwork precision. There really is no point
in fighting Life. Because it is a zero-sum game: you can’t win against Life and
Life was never playing to win! Life’s beauty lies in things as they are, in
people as they are, in events as they happen. When things don’t go your way, accept
them for the way they are going! This attitude will ensure that you practice
patience in each situation__however stupid or serious it may be. We all go
through mad, manic Mondays or simply, some bad-hair days! The traffic snarls.
The heat, especially at this time of the year, in India can be cruel.
Everything, everyone can be driving you crazy. Patience then is the secret to
experience peace. It is in fact the only way to live intelligently.
A cool song composed by A.R.Rahman from the 1994 movie ‘Kadhalan’ (‘Hum Sai Hai Muqabala’ in Hindi) comes to mind. The catchy lyrics
had this inspirational line – ‘To win in Life you need a Take It Easy policy’! And
whatever is driving you nuts or not going your way this Monday, get inspired by
this song, and my friend’s experience, and simply ‘Take It Easy!’….
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