Dream On

Before starting, I want you to do me a favour.
Close your eyes. Clear your mind. Think of one person in your life, just one, who changed it all for you. Think of one memory which changed the course of your life. Think of one thing you can give your life for. Think!

I am just another girl and the only word that really suits me is a DREAMER.
Yes, you read it correctly, dreamer it is. Now don't get all judgy as to what kind of a person would call herself a "dreamer". "Is she some kind of recluse? Or probably some junky writing while on drugs?"
Well am none. Am just a normal girl who loves dreaming. Fantasizing.

I have spent the past couple of days whining about how my life could have been better without a few people in my life. I keep rewinding the incidents in my life and thinking of better endings to it. Is that bad? Well I've been doing this since childhood but I never gave this a serious thought. Its a way to relax my mind. I like thinking. I like using my imagination to relive what has already happened. Its a way to release all my stress and tensions.

Now coming back to what I asked you to think about. Imagine that person standing infront of you. Think about the incident that involves him or her. You know it didn't go right. You wanted things to be right. To be perfect. Then what went wrong? Think. Imagine. Think what made it go wrong. Is there an alternate way out? Is there anything you could have done back then to change the course of events? Yes! There always is. You just need to think about it. Did you find one? Do it! Yes. You have it in mind. Now think about the course of events that might have happened had you chosen this path. Close your eyes. Give this a minute.

Had a better ending? Feeling relaxed?

My point here is that imagination is a part of our life. By imagining and dreaming things, we tend to wish that someday we want to be like this. Someday things are going to as perfect as we thought they will be. But let us always remember that life doesn't have a fairytale ending. We need to accept that sometimes. We have trials, temptations and failures. In real life, all people experience problems and we need to make decisions on our own on how to solve it. We don't need to be guilty of imagining. Its just another way of encouraging ourslves to do things correctly. We want to work hard because we are motivated to be like our idol, because we want every part of our life to be perfect. Let us just accept that things change and plans fail sometimes and we need to do things to recover our own mistakes and not thinking about them is just an escapists' attitude. We need to face every failure bravely.

I have regrets in my life. Everyone has a few. I chose not to think about them but it just cuts you out from the world. I didn't want to think about what happened. But it took away something precious from me, my peace of mind. Then I realized that courage is not just the absence of fear. It is about facing not just the challenges the world throws at us but also what goes on inside us.

Even great psychologists from all over the world agree on the fact that dreaming, imagining or fantasizing are greatest gifts living beings have got and it can be used as a cure to a lot of problems. One must know the power it posses.

It helped me and many others like me. I am sure it'll help you too.
So go on guys. Dream on! ;)

Turning 20

Just as every other student around me had dreamt about the perfect life after twenty, I too had a great picture in mind. A college I'd love, some awesome friends, a great life, a successful career and the most important of all, the satisfaction of following my passion, doing something I love, something I can die for.

My five friends and me, all from in and around Delhi had the same thoughts when we first entered the college campus. And after 3 years of successful struggle through B.Tech, here I sit at the same place where my friends and I first imagined what our turning twenty would be like. All twenty, ask them, is their life anywhere close to the perfect one they imagined, there are nothing but blank looks I get.

So what went wrong? Did they imagine something extremely superficial or something that can never be achieved or did they not work hard enough to deserve the life they dreamt of?

The answer is No. Like every other youngster in the world, my friends and me have strived to achieve what we wanted. Then why aren't we happy and satisfied? Its because we have been taught never to be satisfied with what we have achieved. I remember my parents saying "You did well sweety, but there is still scope of improvement." "You are capable of doing much better." "This is good, try getting even better at it." These words have sunk in so deeply over the years that most of us have forgotten the meaning of complacency or gratification. Moreover, the cut throat competition around us has snatched away the sense of contentment from us. We are always thirsty for more. Not that its a bad thing, after all you can only progress when you strive for more. But as someone very rightly pointed out, we have become a part of the rat race, and even if we win it, we still are rats.

So what do we do about it? Should we stop working to get more or should we stop wanting more or should we stop imagining the perfect life altogether? Is this what we get on our turning twenty?