"So Deepak, how do you compare your college life with this one? Which one you feel is better?"
It's been almost a year now for me working in this professional world. When dad asked me this question during a dinner conversation, frankly speaking, I didn't have any spontaneous answer. A perfect blend of pictures comprising my college life and this one scanned before my eyes and was running like a movie. I asked myself, "Why it's becoming so difficult to answer?”
I am sure, for most of you, it wouldn't be so difficult. You must have puked immediately, "Of course, its college life. What's there to think about?” Yes, in a sense, I completely agree. No worries, no responsibilities. Life was like a king. There were no meetings in which you need to answer someone about your daily work and convince them about your sincerity. Executions of things were on our own wish. Wake up early morning and you feel not going out of bed today, and there's your final decision within a second, “Oh! Screw the college and studies today. Let’s see them tomorrow.” Procrastination of things became a habit and why not? Who's there to raise questions on that? The count of “Me” kinda days used to be each day rather than each weekend as it is today. There were no mention of words like 'client calls', 'blockers', 'show-stoppers', 'priorities' and typical managerial terms which we hear today, everyday. And the most important thing, 'Appraisals'. Aah ! The most important reason for us indulging in the rat-race today. Few of us are blessed having managers who actually consider individual's performance and hard-work as a comparison factor but mostly, and unfortunately, we find managers, ending up making decisions based on their own ”interest” and will. Arrgh!! Going off the topic; that's another part of the story. My point is, there were no such kind of tough situations to deal with which directly impacted us on daily basis. Life used to be so cool, isn’t it?
But let’s just wait a minute and give a conscious thought. Are these days really inferior as compared to those? I personally feel, it isn't or rather I would say, these days’ holds special importance, at least to me. People have changed their perspective towards us. They now see us as a responsible, matured individual who is capable to earn his own bread and butter. People now say, “Why can’t he do it? He’s not a student anymore. Let him face the outside world”. Yes, the “fun” element is reduced a bit but let’s face it, life doesn’t depend upon kindness of the universe anymore. Probably, it’s high time we actually need to redefine the “fun” element now which is true and practical. Change from “To pay” to “Being paid” is huge, at least for me. We have started looking at this practical world independently. There’s something called as “professionalism” which has started to find its root within us. But yes, we are held solely responsible for our mistakes and have to the face the music alone now, unlike college days, where our friends or family used to patch it in up for us. But I guess, it’s good for us. How long we would be dependent on someone? Our parents raised us, looked after our needs, wants, problems and what not. Now, it’s time that we repay them in each and every possible way we could. We should be able now to at least deal with our own circumstances, problems, whatever you call them, alone. Life is indeed tough to live and we should be even tougher to survive here. You have to deliver your best here each and every moment. No matter whatever amount of prestige, awards you won in the past, its history. No one gives a rat’s ass to it anymore. What’s reality is this very moment what you deliver. Performance has to be consistently best each and every moment. Charles Darwin once said, “Survival of the fittest”. Ohh ya ! Now I get its actual meaning. Life indeed seems cruel now, but it has made us strong, very strong, mentally. We have started looking towards life as serious business now. We used to hate changes earlier, but now we have to deal with them every day and why not? They are inevitable. We now see so much learning around us, both professionally and personally. Earlier we were afraid of the word “exams” which probably we were supposed to face once or twice a year, but now its everyday and much more practical. And, with this kind of learning every day, we really are capable of giving our best today. Don’t we feel proud when we see ourselves today as responsible individuals now capable to face life’s challenges and earn his/her own living alone?
Well, this will be a continuous process but we shouldn’t forget one thing, and that’s “enjoyment”. Enjoying your work or circumstances makes them quite easy to deal with. No doubt, there will be challenges, we can’t escape from them, but we can change the way we deal with them, with a smile on our face and a joyful heart. Now that’s the “fun” element I was talking about before.
Let’s just accept this change and enjoy each and every moment of life delivering our best!
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