I think this festive season is a curse for my blog. I seem to get dormant in this period. Don’t know if it’s good or not! But it’s definitely not a habit I want to continue. So anyway, I was thinking to post something and luckily enough, I found this article which I had written three years ago! Back then in 2013, I was mingling with the idea of starting a blog. So I had started writing. But it was put on the back burner and so was this article. I had completely forgotten about it. It was there in my folder. I opened it today after three years. And when I was done reading, I decided to put it up here as it is. I have purposely not edited or deleted anything, just to present to you, a younger version of me, my writing. A younger version of my grey matter. I hope you like the younger me as much as you appreciate my current scribbles! Don’t forget to give your comments! 🙂

Life is a Battlefield! Well the line speaks for itself. You may not feel it around you, you may not know of its existence, you may not feel like a warrior, but every breath you take, every step you put on this earth, every moment you live, your life is a Kurukshetra! It’s like Matrix. Since your birth, you have been taught over and over again how beautiful life is. But at the very moment of your birth, you are fighting with an unknown force, so that you can take your first breath. For nine long months, you prepare yourself inside the mother’s womb, so that you, like billions of others, can find a place on this planet. Through all the fairytales and nursery rhymes, they make you believe in things which are not true. But as you grow up, and you become alert of your surroundings, you start to realize that it’s far from easy to survive. When you go to school it’s a battle of your brain with a 100 others just as stupid as you. And you realize that life is never a straight path. As a child you don’t have much choice in any of your decisions because the society thinks a child is not capable of making wise decisions.

But as you become an adult, suddenly you get pushed under the massive pressure of making your own decisions, choosing your own ways. And believe me, there are a million ways you can live your life. It’s a never ending maze of infinite possibilities and you are sure to get lost in it. The main crisis in today’s so called modern society is making money. At one point, the human race used to judge a person, not by the strength of his bank account, but by his wisdom and virtues. It’s a different picture now. It doesn’t matter if you are clever, unless you can make money. But even when you make a good amount of money, it never stops there. A person can’t live alone in his life. So he has to make friends, meet someone special, get married, earn for the whole family and think about their future as well. The battle which was singular at the start grows many branches around itself and the tree keeps on spreading. It’s funny because we all started off as a single cell inside our mother’s body. But through our interdependent existence, we get connected to people. It’s finally up to us, with whom we want to keep in our lives. Some people have a positive effect wherever they go. Others have an aura of negativity.

But if you are strong from within, no amount of positivity or negativity can affect you. You must understand that life is about making your mark. The world must remember that someone with your name ever existed on this planet. Because we never live by our age, we live by what we leave behind. The words of advice which you share with your younger generation, the people you help in whichever way possible, these are the things which are going to matter when you die. People will not remember how much money you made per year. But they will remember what gifts you bought them for their birthdays, whether you shared the same taste in music with them, the way you speak to people, rudely or politely. The way you smile. The way you eat. The way you think. They way you made them feel.

And when I say life is a battle, it’s not against death or god or your fellow humans. Your battle is always against the person you were yesterday. Each day, you will get a hundred different ways by which you can change your life. It may not amount for a substantial change for that particular day. But it’s like a butterfly effect. The things you think about get stored in your mind without you noticing it. And through these little thoughts, building up over a period of time, we change. Isn’t it funny when you check your own facebook wall from a year ago and think how stupid you were then? Or those who keep a diary, they must be feeling the change in their own writing style and content. I believe that people start keeping a diary because they like someone and they can’t share it with anyone else. I myself kept a diary for two weeks. For all the fourteen days, all I could scribble about was the girl I liked at that time and what all things I did. But now when I read those entries again, I laugh at myself for being such a loser. But that’s when I realize I have changed. I no longer talk about things related to myself to anyone now. There was a time when I shared everything with my best friend. But as I said earlier, it’s a battle, remember. And people, how much ever they say or think that they live for each other or will do anything for each other. At the end they have their own demons to calm. And we just can’t share everything. And they may even honestly try to help you, but it is all up to you. You can’t get out of a pit, even if someone gives you their hand, unless you push yourself up.

So how does one bounce back when depressed? Depression is like dust. It’s everywhere! Seriously, under our happy faces, there is a hidden face of depression which only comes out when you are either drunk/stoned or really angry. Think about it, even a small kid has his depressions. As we grow up, our depressions keep on growing. And it’s just again an endless labyrinth.

The answer to all battles, all depressions, and all questions lies within. Inner peace! Don’t believe in god, don’t believe in any of the religious books, don’t believe in any of your masters or teachers, but if you believe that you have the strength to overcome any difficulty, then you don’t need to find any outside source of inspiration. Stop running behind money making schemes. It will help you live your life in a happier way. Don’t share everything, but share things which are worth it. Be open to change. And don’t jump to conclusions too early. When you are in doubt, slow down and give it a thought. Your best friend, wife, mother, father may advice you something, but unless your mind is absolutely clear about it, don’t go for it. Or act on intuitions! Believe! It’s all there in the small mass of cells resting in the cavity in your head. Trust it. Follow its instincts. Believe in yourself! Peace!!

– Abhijeet Jog