A Lesson Learned

When i was in my 7th or 8th grade i was given a task of saying the morning 'thought of the day' for my school assembly.. The previous day i was running around frantic, trying to search a good thought so i looked awesome as i say it (lol)!!... School was real fun. Everyone wanted to look awesome, everyone wanted to be better than the other, there was a sense of competition...!! I tried searching the newspapers..I got none... I went through books and everything else, i got none that compelled me. In the heat of the moment i almost overlooked a book my mum bought me some years back.. She knew I had a knack for reading, but something short that didn't over saturate me, something that wasn't arid.. So she bought me something called 'The Book of Quotations by Oxford' from a bookseller who came to sell at my house. See, book sellers at that time, mostly when i was growing up, used to come by our houses to sell books.. The companies would send their representatives to make sales from one household to the other... So one fine day my mom brought me one... I tell you I was enchanted!!  

The extremity of my love for this book is so much that I carried it with me when I moved to a different city and I still fancy reading it from time to time. So anyway, I went through the book and I got a quote by Mother Teresa.. It was short but it had so much meaning to it that I knew I had to say it. Mother Teresa said 'do small things with great love'. I'd say about 60 percent of the people in that assembly may not have even paid attention to what I said that day, but for me it was a huge thing, speaking up in front of everyone and so I remember that phrase very clearly and even now I live by it..  

Amidst 'living by it', there were times when I had forgotten the value of this phrase, for example, there are some people who like to be thanked.. not only for their hard work but for something as little as, giving food to a beggar. I was one of them but not anymore.. I'll tell you why, I was at a church on a Sunday morning and normally many beggars accumulate there because Sunday mornings a huge number of people come for their morning prayer and many beggars get food to eat.. So, I was there and I gave food to a beggar. I was surprised when he didn't return a smile back at me or say thank you. I felt bad, because there I was helping him and he didn't appreciate me for what I did.. That day I got back home and thought about it. I even discussed it with my friends... After some thinking I actually realized, while other people are in need of basic amenities like food selfish people like us are in need of appreciation. I don't necessarily have to get appreciated for helping someone who needs help. God knows what they go through each day just to sustain. I was very naive but realization came to me and I realized that doing good should come from the heart and it should be unconditional even if its the smallest thing. From then on, in most of the cases, i do things that i love doing and don't expect anything in return. Besides when you get something good unexpectedly you become twice as happy. 

The reason why i'm telling you all these today is because yesterday i was faced with options. I had got a chance to make some career choices that could make me or break me.. I was actually very happy that i was going to get a job where in i was expected to write not one but many books in partnership with someone else but i didn't take it.. When i talked about my dreams i was belittled saying you could do that later. What you tell yourself everyday will either lift you up or tear you down. If you want it than you want it. Period. You can't let anyone take that away from you. No matter how small or how big your dream, your dreams are your dreams. I have heard people saying, 'my dreams are so small, i can't imagine anyone being a better loser than i am'. That is absolutely non sense.. no seriously, it doesn't make any sense.. People!! small things do make a difference if you do them with love, if you do them unconditionally.

Me and the other person could have mutually benefited but i am really sorry i cannot work with someone who disrespects my dreams. It might be something as small as that but i am sorry i have too big of an ego. Guys, ego is not anyways bad, especially when you have to make decisions for yourself or place your priorities right.. I may be provocative right now but, i took this experience as a lesson learned and it was important for me to share it so other people understand that life is about living your dream not somebody else s'. Don't take it when someone tries to belittle you or distract you or say you should be doing this not that. Not only love but live life unconditionally. 

                                    

Do the things that your heart says is right. No questions asked. Sometimes people are manipulative and delusional and i don't mean to disrespect but, be firm enough to say 'no' when you must. Don't let someone who gave up on their dreams talk you out of yours.