Hi,

While we go ahead in the blog, always remember Rule Number 6 (pro tip: it will be very useful in life too)

Don’t take yourself so damn seriously!

Rule Number 6: The Art of Possibility

Recently, we had some inevitable events in our family, and moments like these just remind us of the unpredictability of life, no matter how much we plan for them. We think that we can control what happens in our life, and actually, we do; however, there are a few things we can’t control. We can’t decide when someone comes into life, and when they go. We can care about them, we can spend time with them, or we might keep telling them how busy we are with our life, until the day when either of us has gone forever.

While we look back, we only see the moments that have passed together, some should-haves and would-have’s. However, in the present reality, we are always busy with our lives, either boasting about our efforts, victories, and achievements, or ranting about our trivial problems in life. We talk about humanity, spirituality, and charity, but only to look cool or in competition with others. There are people who, at one moment, will be telling a group about how highly respected they are, how much dignity and status they hold in society, while in the other, they themselves are acting in a way in order to lose their respect within the same group. Yet, there will be moments when all of us experience a quiet terror that settles deep in the gut, taking the soul away from us, where that boasted version of us disappears, where we are helpless to the situation, completely surrendered to the uncertainty of life. All that pride and dignity are of no use, and this is what life’s biggest reflection is.

In our busy lives, we are always in a rush to do something. We are working, traveling, vacationing, eating, drinking, walking, talking, posting our life on social media, everything like in a rush. The social networks are nowadays filled with people trekking, climbing mountains, attending concerts, or vacationing in world tourist places, only to post first among their group. As if it were a race, who does it first? How many of us really know what we like to do? Half of us are still unsure whether we like tea or coffee, yet we want to go to Paris and order a croissant with coffee, and post it on social media. But you know the reality?

"It's funny how the most beautiful places make you feel the most alone."

– The Big Bold Beautiful Journey

Perhaps that’s the reason why we post more than we experience. Maybe we try to fill that void within us with social media networks, so at least someone notices us and gives us attention, disregarding how little attention (the attention that we give to our emotions and soul, and not the body) we give to ourselves. If you are reading this, I presume that you know how much happiness the little things in life bring more than the big achievements. You spread some seeds and nuts and watch birds enjoying the feast. Isn’t it fascinating how joyful we feel in doing so?

You can make yourself crazy trying to be happy. Be content first, choose to be content and enjoy the moments of happiness that come from that.

– The Big Bold Beautiful Journey

However, we should not blame ourselves for becoming this version of ourselves. We live and have grown into a society where the parameter to evaluate happiness has always been based upon the monetary and status success we have achieved. The more the bank balance, the bigger the position, the more the person is presumed to be happy. We are wired to believe that a person in a car or a house bigger than ours is living a more comfortable and happy life. We are often made to believe that if a person is working in a company more renowned globally, is having a merrier life. And with all that upbringing, we are always in a downward spiral of self-talk, that what we are doing isn’t enough.

There is an egotistical voice within our heads that keeps raising questions on our merit, our achievements, self-worth, pride, and doubting our potential. We are consistently working to prove ourselves to that voice, making ourselves enslaved to our societal goals, egotistically attached to our materialistic achievements, and most often denying ourselves the possibilities we could have created in life to do something that makes us happy.

This is where we need to remind ourselves about Rule Number 6. Don’t take yourself, that voice within you, so damn seriously!

What has unfolded over the past few weeks has led me to a simple but profound realization about life, no matter how unsettling it may sound. We are merely tiny fragments of matter, briefly inhabiting this beautiful planet within a vast universe. However long life may feel, it takes only moments for our physical presence to disappear entirely. We move from having an identity here to dissolving back into matter, and that cycle is life itself. What matters most, then, is where we continue to exist once we are no longer physically here – perhaps in photographs, in the memories of others, or through a legacy we leave behind. That, ultimately, is what life comes down to.

Unlike when we leave this world, what we leave behind is, fortunately, in our hands. The memories people hold of us, the legacy we create – these are within our control. No matter how noisy our minds become, we can always quiet them with Rule Number 6 and focus on building that legacy.

Steal moments from your life and turn them into real possibilities. Pull out that childhood dream list and start making it real – because you can. Call the person you love and care about, even if years have passed. Tell them how you feel. Book the tickets for that dream vacation or finally do the thing you’ve been planning for so long. Make these moments count. Live the moments you truly long for.

Because most of the time, life is all about just living to see another sunrise – until it isn’t.

– Navneet