Aur khud se milne ki saari liney vyast hai...

A few days back I received an SMS from a friend which included these lines -

"Duniya se milne mein hum sab mast hai,

Aur khud se milne ki saari liney vyast hai"

Somehow these lines stuck in my mind and I spent sometime going over these. And I realized that these carry a deeper meaning than what catches the eye; especially the last line - "Aur khud se milne ki saari liney vyast hai" (a translation in English would mean something like 'all roads leading to meeting you are busy'). This line sums up pretty well the way people are today - they have time for everything except for themselves. People are very busy tending their jobs, meeting deadlines, obliging the social commitments, catering to family needs, etc, etc. But when it comes to their hobbies they don't have time; when it comes to doing what they want they don't have time; when it comes to fulfilling their dreams, they don't have time. In fact many people don't even find time to dream, set their goals, tend to their health, relax.

Its strange that people know all along that they need to relax, take a break before resuming their daily chores. But they postpone it to grow further in their career. They feel that a few steps more and then they will be able to be in a better position to enjoy. Once they take those steps they go for a few more steps and the cycle continues taking them to a point of no return. And by the time they realize this they go too far which takes a toll on their body, on their mind, on their relations, on their heart, and they cannot undo it. Some end up being very successful while others don't but the end result in terms of their personal life is same. And then they regret neglecting all the things that should have been a priority rather than postponement.

It brings up the question that what should one do? On one hand you need to find time to spend with yourself but on the other hand you need to be spending extra time in your job to go past your competition which is immense these days. So can one blame you for not spending time on things you like instead of doing things that you must in order to grow in your career. Tricky question. But I guess the answer is simple. Extra hours of work doesn't necessarily mean more output. Efficiency is the key. If you look at the definition of efficiency it is output/input. The more input you put in the lesser is your efficiency. And why would you need to put in extra effort? Because you are not sharp mentally, because you have lots of things on your mind, because you are tired, because you are not happy. And why is it so? Because you are not looking after the most important person that is YOU. And if you don't look after you then your efficiency is going to decrease. And there is a extent to which you can push yourself with the possibility of reviving yourself; post which you will not be able to go back.

So you will have to take it as a priority to look after yourself, pamper yourself, indulge yourself in activities you like without caring about others. No matter what take sometime out everyday for yourself and do what you like. This will not only make you feel good but also help you do well in other things because a well-oiled machine will always give a better performance (here I am taking the liberty of calling you a machine - the best one ever created by the almighty himself).

Go and meet yourself, spend time with yourself and make sure you have a good time :)