Hope & Love

This is my 100th post... So yes, I did hit a century finally. And it is a special one :-)

As the quote goes - “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies”

Being optimistic is one of the best traits to have. But there are times when we find ourselves being absolutely hopeless. When we see the whole world moving ahead and you are still stuck with your old shoes! I have found ways to come out of such pessimism by involving myself in a complete diversion. For example, if I am annoyed with someone at work, I go and call my friend in the US with who I engage myself in a utterly rubbish and entirely different conversation. Ultimately, I know that we can’t afford to live sad and hapless life forever. There are number of instances where I found peace by talking to someone who has got ears for you.

First job: I joined a software firm soon after my engineering. I never had an inclination towards it. I used to feel totally dissatisfied going to work every day. But I always knew that I just can’t quit, ever! I spoke with couple of friends who were preparing to move to the US. Trust me, without even putting my concerns out I had an answer and felt extremely motivated. I studied hard and took early morning classes at 5am and finally entered IIFT!

France: I did an exchange program with a B-School near Nice, France, during my 3^rd trimester. This was my first time out of India and I was doing it all by myself. When I landed there it felt so beautiful and yet very empty without my family. I reached on a Sunday and the whole day passed thinking - how is it going to be tomorrow? But the next day when I went to the school, there were close to 100 foreign students. Just seeing the crowd, made me realise I took the right decision to explore outside. It is a very positive feeling and I am still in touch with quite a few and it truly feels nice. By the way, it also paved way to a new interest within myself – travel!

Marriage: Yes, I did marry the guy I dated for 5 years. So it’s all simple and easy, right? Noway! There were 1000s of new things that I discovered and trust me you will know a person well only when you live with the person (by the way, I don’t disrespect the live-in idea - of course with a note that only if the couples are matured enough to assess its true value). At one point, I faced changes all in one go – new family, new husband (old boy friend), new colleagues, new language and new place. It’s not easy to cope up with all at the same time while keeping your temperament levelled constantly. This gets tougher especially when you have strong values yourself. But eventually I got to them and surpassed. This was possible only by discussing with my husband thoroughly and regularly. I figured somethings will always be different and it’s ok to be different, really! There is no harm in it and gave me a bright optimism to talk to anyone without being an absolute bitch (lol!) and to appreciate what others have to say. Trust me this is a very very important lesson till date which made me go to places without an ounce of doubt on – “how will I survive?”

Hyderabad: I don’t share much of my professional life with my family. As such I get so less time with them these days that I just ask for updates from them and listen to them. Even with loads of pressure, when I talk to them I feel relieved to see how contended they are. This is a very natural way of being happy and hopeful for me these days.

There are many more situations where I have gained hope through these discussions. After all –

The love of family and the admiration of friends is much more important than wealth and privilege

On a last note – I thank Housing.com (https://housing.com/) for making me go back and ponder over the importance of the loved ones.