What gear do you drive in ?
Those of you who drive will agree with me, that in most uncertain situations 2nd gear is the best to drive your car in. It gives you an opportunity to quickly slow down and if you have the luxury of a few extra unclaimed yards then you can quickly seize those too by accelerating just a little bit more. No real hassles, not much risk involved, a sense of complete control (just a sense) and smooth ride. OK! before a speed lover points out let me accept that indeed the ride is devoid of any thrill. So what? It is much safer, risk-free and with a higher probability of getting to where I am headed to. So unless you put me in a Volvo with at least six air bags, ABS, obstruction sensors and parachutes I will not speed -up on roads. But what about life?
Are we also living our lives in second gear? Trying to exercise that sense of control and making it hassle-free?
Are we forfeiting the right to thrilling successes just because we do not wish to run the risk of painful failures. Are we settling for that little bit of extra unclaimed yards and not speeding up too much? May be the real risk that we are running is to leave unclaimed that, which rightly belongs to us. May be we should judge ourselves not by that which has passed but by that which lies ahead, not by that which we could not achieve but by that which we could, not by our failures but our dreams, not by all that we could not become but by all that we can.
And here it might make more sense to put your life's car in third gear, may be fourth and sometimes even fifth. It will be much more thrilling, yes there will be risks but the ride will probably be worth it. And when we shall arrive we might be bruised even wounded but we would look back at the journey with a smile and say, "Man... that was something".
Are we also living our lives in second gear? Trying to exercise that sense of control and making it hassle-free?
Are we forfeiting the right to thrilling successes just because we do not wish to run the risk of painful failures. Are we settling for that little bit of extra unclaimed yards and not speeding up too much? May be the real risk that we are running is to leave unclaimed that, which rightly belongs to us. May be we should judge ourselves not by that which has passed but by that which lies ahead, not by that which we could not achieve but by that which we could, not by our failures but our dreams, not by all that we could not become but by all that we can.
And here it might make more sense to put your life's car in third gear, may be fourth and sometimes even fifth. It will be much more thrilling, yes there will be risks but the ride will probably be worth it. And when we shall arrive we might be bruised even wounded but we would look back at the journey with a smile and say, "Man... that was something".
So accelerate before you run out of fuel or before you reach where you never wanted to but always thought you had to. Release the unleashed potential of your car before it comes to a grinding halt at the will of nature's forces. Turn into those unchartered lanes. Fail we must and we will but let us not give up. Let's stop living our lives like guided tours and for once be our own GPS. We will in the end realise it is much better to have wished and not achieved than to never have wished at all.
And if you are waiting to find that Volvo with six airbags and ABS and parachutes before you accelerate then trust me, in life, it ain't coming.
And if you are waiting to find that Volvo with six airbags and ABS and parachutes before you accelerate then trust me, in life, it ain't coming.
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ReplyDeleteYes.. It is good to look at positive side of life. Nice one... Sometimes i feel that my life is going slow. I think at that time, I should give a thought about how can i put my life in 5th gear. :)
ReplyDeleteThe article pumps some enthusiasm to the lazy life of mine.. [:)]
ReplyDeleteOne observation on the change of tone somewhere in the end:
"Fail we must and we will but let us not give up. Let's stop living our lives like guided tours and for once be our own GPS. We will in the end realise it is much better to have wished and not achieved than to never have wished at all."
These lines seem to take a sudden turn towards the Obama style of speaking.. and then back to the normal one after these three lines.. [:)]
Shikha: I would urge everyone to take their cars in fifth gear.. especially because we have that engine within us.. we are the privileged ones with our education upbringing etc....
ReplyDeleteSaurabh: Good that it encourages you although you are probably already driving fast but could be that the fifth gear still remains undeiscovered. On Obama style - no comments but I have been surprised by what I have seen of him...Dont know yet whether he should be liked or disliked but he commands attention for sure....
ReplyDeleteJasmine: I agree reckless driving is always unacceptable and losing a sense of purpose is probably more disastrous in fifth gear than in 2nd... An on life being hard and common man being a hero, I have always wanted to write something on that too...
ReplyDeleteI wish we have some 6th , 7th and more gears in life as well :P.....
ReplyDeleteI would also like to add whatever gear the life runs.. it should keep running so that slowly you can increase the gear and bring it to the desired speed :)....
Good one!!!
Selva sir: As usual I should have expected this from you... yes consistency and perseverance will indeed lead to great successes no matter what else happens...
ReplyDeletegood post kunal.
ReplyDeletemakes one wonder which gear we are in. i drive an automatic car and in life, too, it seems life is going on in auto cruise mode - random roads, random ladders - bas chalthe raho.
now i want to drive in top gear. ;-)
Rangrajan - Thanks!!! Indeed sometimes it makes sense to just be gone with the winds at other times though exercising some cnotrol may not be such a bad option...
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you Kunal. No doubt second gear promises a longer life and sometimes a successful one too,however,it is surely devoid of the experience which one can encounter only in fifth gear. Its time to gear up guys:-)
ReplyDeleteHarsh Bhaiya - Indeed, the thrill is probably worth the effort...
ReplyDelete