Adding life to your years!

Hello, Hi, Namaste, Aadaab n whatever other "hello" greetings exist!!!!!!

So people, how are all of you doing?????? All's rocking with me!!!! College begins tomorrow and I can't wait!!!! Yea yea I know I'd said 12th...but it got postponed!!!! What the heck??!!!!!!

K so considering I'd written about reservations, I'd surely expected a better response....where are all of u??? Thanks Avrosh..prompt as ever!!!

The other day, I was reading an old, tattered issue of Readers' Digest and chanced upon a quote by Abraham Lincoln......Pretty commonly used one it is but all the same, I thought it really inspired me! It goes like this:

"It's not the years in your life that count, but the life in your years........so add more life to your years and make your life that much more worthwhile!!!!"

How true, how profound!!!!! Somehow, we are all so caught up in the trials and tribulations of modern-day living and our hectic lives that somewhere down the line, we've forgotten what we are really here for. All we care for is work (never mind whether its office or school or home....work is work irrespective of the prefix!). We've engrossed ourselves so completely in the mindless hassles of everyday living that we don't have the time.....or rather we are unable to make the time to take in the little pleasures of life.

The complaint is always the same......."Who has the time???" Well, time is a lame excuse.........after all every person has exactly the same number of hours each day........no person is blessed with a day of 30 hours, neither is anybody compelled to live a day of 20 hours.....24 hours is what each one of us gets........not a second less and not a second more....so what's this about not having the time??!!!!!!!! Ok, so let's interpret it this way........what we mean by don't-have-time is that we are just so freaked and worn out that all we want to do is sleep!!!!!!

But then what is a life where each day is the same?? Wake up, shower, eat, leave home (work/school/college or wherever), eat, work again, leave for home, shower, watch TV, eat and sleep..............imagine a day like this.....horrible! Now imagine everyday like this........Gosh!! That's terrific! And now think of your life........does it ring a bell??? Strike a Chord?? OMIGOSH!!!!!!!! That;s my life you say........

Exactly........so back to square one....where's the time to add life to years??!!!!!! Well, believe me, its not really so tough! You all must have surely received those emails that list the 50 most enjoyable yet under-rated things in the world....like stopping to smell the flowers, taking in the aroma of freshly baked bread, playing with a kid, helping an elderly person, spending a few light moments with your loved one, getting crazy with friends.........if you thought these were just mails......think again!!!!!! And if you still think they are just mails, try doing them and you'll realize they're much more........they're true.......

Adding life to your years can have many more dimensions.........you don't just have to grow in age every birthday.........you can develop your faculties year after year, age no bar! So, its never too late to start. If there's something you've wanted to do all your life, go all out and do it........at least, it'll save you the regret of having never tried....at most, it'll give you a lifetime of joy....you choose!

If you feel you're overworked and stressed, take a break, go on a holiday, spend a few moments with yourself and explore your life.....what you've done, where you're headed, what you want to accomplish and how distant or near is the goal????? And then when you get back all rejuvenated, you'll find the journey a lot less cumbersome.....and a lot more fun!!!! If you can't do what you like, teach yourself to like what you do!!!!!!! An oft-repeated advice, yet seldom followed..........

If you find yourself lonely and with no one to talk to.......find out what's wrong........you'll probably realize that somewhere along your journey in life, in your mad chase for the baser pleasures of life, you've let behind the more valuable ones......you've probably left your friends far behind......you've probably not given your family their due.......you've probably never told people how much they meant to you and so now, suddenly, you find yourself all lost and alone.......Revive old friendships, reach out to your family and show your concern, tell them how much you love them and tell them you still consider them an integral part of you..........watch the change........and revel in it!!!!!!

These little things go a long way in bringing about great joys, immense happiness and untold satisfaction.........After all, it is less important to make a living, more important to make a life!!!! And always remember that while you're blindly part of the mad rat race.....even if you win, you're still a rat!!!!!!!!

So, let's follow Abe Lincoln's valuable advice and add life to our years......it'll probably help us accept the years in our life better and with increased grace.....coz if you're a satisfied octagenerian or, to be more optimistic, a happy centenerian, then you've made a life......a stressed middle-ager has only made a living....not a life!!!!!!

Later now......Till next time............Tally-ho!