Change, we can!

All it takes to bring about a change is a different perspective. Are we all leading the lives we dreamt of once? Can we ever lead such lives?

Change.

A long time ago, when I was a little yearling, my parents would put in Herculean efforts to feed me even the smallest slice of mango. To this day, I don’t understand what made me hate mangoes so much without even having eaten them (at that time). Such was my resistance that three adults put together chasing me, holding my face and opening my mouth failed to put that tiny bit of yellow fruit in it!

One fine day, two years (or so I think) later, I vaguely remember my father telling me in a cool and composed voice, ‘Son, look at this mango, so tasty it is! I am going to have a bite. I suggest you try one little piece. If you like it, let’s eat it together!’ With a sullen face, I hesitantly tried it. Then something happened. A taste lit up my mouth and it felt just great! I had never tasted such a soft and sweet thing before! I longed for more.

It is said that my parents got very few mangoes to eat after that experience.

This example has driven me many times in the years to complete my chores, finish my homework, or studies, and many other things. What message does this convey?

Many a time I have seen—and I am sure all of us would have seen—that approaching things from a different ‘angle’ makes the difference between possible and impossible. Yes, change, we can.

I recently got a video from a close friend which very elegantly showed how people respond to the same old things when shown from a different point of view or with a slight touch up. This was an ad from Volkswagen and showed all the traffic in the subway station in Odenplan, Stockholm, Sweden shifting to the new touched up escalator, while no single soul used the good old staircase next to it. It follows with snippets of some technicians and painters working on the staircase for a few days, during which the staircase is made into a giant keyboard. It was seen that about two out of three people used the stairs instead of the escalator just for want of that pure joy of bouncing on a keyboard!

Ironically, the world is currently going adverse to this logic. (What logic? The fact that humans can do anything if they are interested in that particular task.) To make something happen, a person needs to be genuinely interested in that ‘something’. One either shows the same old job from a new viewpoint or the person eventually grows interested in it.


How this applies to people today

Now we come to the central theme of today’s article.

Having established the logic described above, let’s look at how this applies to people today. Nowadays, people go about their lives doing nothing but routine jobs. The brain is becoming slower and slower. All activity is centering on making a lot of money and eating good food. What happened to all our physical talents? I see around my own self that colleagues are getting more and more digitized with every passing day. Remember that you and I are also immediately enclosed in that group.

How many of us actually observe a regular physical fitness regimen? How many of us let our hobbies flow out just for the pure joy of it? How many of us actually voluntarily take our minds off work to do something pleasing, at least once in a while?

Everyone of us has 24 long hours each day. Let us make the most of these moments! Let us change our ‘angle of view’ of life, let us turn a new page.

Let us rekindle a childhood hobby and brighten our lives a little bit every day, or whenever possible. Let us not make excuses about jobs and obligations. Let us follow our heart. Let us take up at least one hobby and devote our time regularly in its pursuit. Let our routine life become a small part of the big picture that is our own self. Let us strive towards personal excellence and happiness.

Big talk, you would say, isn’t it? How am I, a commoner/busybody/(VIP with many responsibilities), supposed to do it, you would ask. Here’s how…

Go on, complete that novel you had begun reading last week; work on that painting which you so heartily longed to do; play around with all those intricate machine parts to make that robot you dreamt of in college; do something that you wanted to do and never did! Experience the joy! Rejuvenate yourself! Unlock the door to infinite enthusiasm and energy! Do something every day that brings a smile on your face or calms your mind or elates you or just makes you feel lighter and brighter!

Man thinks technological and financial development has taken him a step closer to what many people would call God! But it definitely stands far from the truth! Today, humans are straining themselves to survive. Let us go a step ahead. We are the highest beings on the planet, aren’t we? Let us live life to its fullest, and not just the barest. Let us not just survive, let’s THRIVE!

Will you bring about a change today?