Back to School

As many people wisely say many of life’s lessons are learnt beyond its four walls
As we evolve in life we develop self awareness and learn to heed our inner call
As we awaken from deep slumber after a peaceful night without any distraction
Many a time it sets the foundation for opening up a new chapter with self volition

It was one such morning that I felt refreshed and seemed to have a realization
I could feel a sense of emptiness and realized that I needed to work on my education
As many people wisely say that we need to be an eternal student in one’s exploration
Life’s moments are truly precious to be wasted on indulgences without any reflection

There was a distant past when earning a degree was the equivalent of education
The structure and boundaries were well defined and only required self application
It seemed immaterial whether the concepts learnt had any relevance in today’s world
The designers of content seemed to possess limited options to handle the diverse herd

In one’s attempt to generalize and bring together a sense of uniform standards
It seemed that the building blocks were pre-ordained to collapse like a pack of cards
One could only grin and bear with a weary sense of discomfort and recurrent pain
As one went about absorbing irrelevant inputs that did not live up to its tall claims

One still realizes that there are many gaps to prepare one for various stages in life
It is no wonder that people are found wanting when coping up with daily strife
There is less time that people spend on self introspection to identify what they stand for
Rarer the minority who consciously experiment to identify and aim to open the right door

As one draws inner strength from one’s experiences over time and chunks of inspiration
One develops self belief and conviction to evaluate and test their limited set of assumption
One need not fall prey and operate within boundaries set by the limited imagination of a few
One could go back to school, open up to new varied experiences and refine their world view!

Value Orientation

Different people espouse different values in their daily interaction
The core principles that people adopt provide them a sense of direction
The differentiation may be a function of beliefs transmitted across generation
Many people do attempt to change their inherited legacy and develop a new orientation

Some people believe they can dominate the environment to make it fit to their needs
Others believe that destiny guides life and they need to live in harmony for their daily feed
Some people are guided by the past and place a high value on continuity of tradition
Others are willing to make short term compromises and live beyond a life of result orientation

Some people demonstrate a strong task focus and believe in productivity enhancement
Others believe in developing depth of relationships and work towards experience enrichment
Some people prefer to operate within a defined hierarchy that strongly powers their motivation
Others believe in equality to minimize individualism and strongly encourage democratic inclusion

Some people strongly guard their privacy and prefer a distance in daily interaction
Others believe in essential socializing and open themselves to scrutiny in group interaction
Some people prefer shared experiences and do not need to always explicitly state their opinion
Others stress on oratory skills and prefer to highlight words with meaning in their daily expression

Some people demonstrate a strong individualistic streak and stress on independence
Others believe in teamwork and collaboration and strongly stress on inter-dependence
Some people demonstrate high achievement orientation and focus on self interest
Others believe in affiliation and are willing to subordinate their desires to group interest

Some people need a high level of structure and have a high need for rules and order
Others are willing to tolerate conflicts and ambiguity without losing focus on the radar
Some people strongly believe in being driven by pure theory and logical orientation
Others believe in reasoning out their life basis various experiences and experimentation

Each of the values that people espouse may be time tested and had a positive impact
Many a perspective that people demonstrate may also have outlived its existential pact
One may like to argue that value conflicts degenerates culture and reduce community cohesion
Trying to prove the superiority of a given set of values over others will only increase societal tension!

On a Tight Leash

As I stepped out into the Universe my umbilical cord was forever cut
It was my first experience of facing the knife when other doors were shut
I was on my own and all I could do was cry and howl about my pain
It was my way of communicating to the world calling attention to my condition

As I gradually settled down and adapted to the ways of the world
I observed that each one was busy trying to control their life flood
I would have liked if others spent more time providing love and affection
I realize that so does each one feel when he feels alone living a life of isolation

I had my share of challenges and it seemed an uphill task to fulfil
Many a time I seemed to be drained out and doing things against my will
There were times when I felt like closing out by taking the ill advised pill
I can’t fathom my reason to exist when all of life seemed to be on a stand still

And then came a day when I realized that all of it is a play of the mind
What we focus on becomes our reality as we live out the illusory grind
There can never be a situation that may be better or worse in the future
One lives a fruitful existence when he remains peaceful despite any rupture

It just opened up a new reality and gave me the strength and endurance
I could face up to my realities and all I had to was change my own lens
I no longer had any kind of expectations from any others outside of me
I knew that the divine was guiding me towards my ultimate goal of being free!