Wednesday, May 21, 2014

The Unicorn Chase

Unicorns.

The mythical, mystical, beautiful inhabitants of our fairy tale world who represent love, beauty, peace, passion, glory, happiness and the general attributes of everything good.

Unicorns are supposed to be pure, untouched, innocent. They represent everything that the human spirit can think of. Deep down within, we all wish to be in a state as the unicorns. Happy, contented, carefree, and masters of our selves.

This leads us to the unicorn chase. Unicorn chase represents the run after happiness that we are all engaged in. We try to get to a point where we can be happy in totality. Hence, we start running after 'Unicorns' or goals, then bigger goals, then even bigger goals.

While that is never a bad idea, one thing that we forget is that the path of life does not mandate us to seek happiness in all aspects of life. Happiness does not mean having the best in *all* parts of our life. We try to achieve a state where everything we think and do should be completed, achieved, and found in glory.

Sit back and think when was the last time you tried appreciating the beauty of the voice of your friend, notice the small sounds that occur outside your window, or just breath freely, openly, and in a carefree state?

Happiness is different for each one of us. We try to achieve happiness by the de facto standards, which isnt really a good idea. We must all find our own unicorns, then achieve them.

Our chases are different, and they arent really a chase. Its a path, where you tread, move, and reach the destination. You shall find your unicorn standing there.

Sometimes, we try to drive life beyond a point and forget that there are somethings that happen totally for our good, even if we dont realize that at this point of time.

For e.g., when I did not get into a top grade engineering college, I was a bit disappointed, like anyone else in that situation would be (although since my expectations were low, I was not that sad). I thought that the way I could be happiest or even happy is if I get to a top grade institution.

When I joined JIIT, I was happy but that pang of sadness hadnt really gone away. With time, what I  did realize was that JIIT was probably the best thing that happened to me. I could stay with my parents at home, and since my home is close by, I could have the fun of hostlers as well. This gave me the time to focus on my studies and work and achieve things that I felt were important. Also, JIIT gave me the freedom to work on things I liked, and passing wasnt such a hard task there, so I had ample time to go and chase my unicorn.

I am not saying that I wouldnt have been happy at some more prestigious institution. I would probably have more avenues and opportunities to do things there, but would I be upto the challenge? Would I really be at home in a bigger institution? Would my priorities, like freedom, autonomy, anytime access to anybody in the institution be present? Would my unicorn be waiting for me there?

We normally do not get all that we seek in a single opportunity. If we keep looking for the opportunity that gives us everything we want at once, we would probably get nowhere. What we need to do is identify what matters to us, who matters to us and what we are willing to sacrifice. Then, take the path to our destiny and achieve our unicorn.

Never be ashamed to be scared. Never be ashamed to be emotional. Never be scared to dream bigger. Never be scared to love passionately. Never be ashamed to recognize and identify your weakness.

Above all, never be scared to admit that your unicorn is imperfect. It may be imperfect, but it is yours.

Happy traveling down your path to achieve your unicorn.

Peace,

Atri