It’s Okay to be a Glow-Stick
In all these past years of my life, a lot of my students have asked me questions like How I handle my life? Is my life perfect? Didn’t I have any issues?
I would like to tell them that I’m not an exception. My life is similar to theirs, may be the level of ups and downs vary with each individual but that’s the only thing that makes us alive. A smooth and straight line is the sign of a dead body, right?
On the basis of my personal experiences, I have learnt that we all have to live the longest time with just one being and that is our own selves. So, the only person to whose expectations I should live upto is “Me”. People around us, family & friends for that matter, are important and should be taken care of for sure but still we have to learn to make a balance between our happiness and theirs too. Others will continue to judge you so you cant wait for their stamp of approval, else the wait will continue forever.
A friend of mine used to mock my skills of teaching as some of my students (medical aspirants) ended up becoming photographer, dancer, author, poet, singer, English scholar etc. I used to tell him that I’m rather glad to know that they have gathered the courage to fight against the odds and have taken the path less travelled by and have decided not to continue with the turmoil through medical studies (if they aren’t interested, anyway). The success will follow if you enjoy the work you do. On a lighter note, some have become doctors too.
As a child, I always wanted to become a teacher, so here I am! Trust me, it’s not easy as it may seem. This quote actually represents the life as a teacher,
“ A good teacher is like a candle, it consumes itself to light the way for others.”
A couple of years ago, I’ve got some viral infection (Planter Warts) on my sole and had to undergo a surgery. After the removal of these warts, (they were 11 in total including both feet), the wounds looked similar as the depressions made by a scoop on the ice-cream brick, and the sole of my feet looked like cheese.
Considering they were eleven in number, I could barely stand. I was on wheelchair for about 20 days post surgery and every day I felt like I won’t be able to walk ever again and every night I dreamt of my students, my classes, my lectures and its then when I realised that ‘Teaching has become my passion.’
I remembered a saying,
“ A dream is not which is seen while sleeping, a dream is something that doesn’t let you sleep”.
This feeling was so overwhelming that it took me back to the classes within the next 2 days. I couldn’t stand for long but I really enjoyed taking the classes. The love showered by the students, the tears in their eyes after knowing about my surgery, boosted me up and helped me incredibly in neglecting all the pain I had.
Now, I feel that we all spend most of our life in grumbling for every other thing, but we fail to realise that life itself is a blessing.
Life is a journey and the journey will end some day. Important thing to understand is whether we are loving our journey? Are we happy walking on its path?
If you wake up everyday with a thought, what I am going to do today is what I would do if today is the last day of my life. Then you are following your passion. You are doing something you love.
If you are doing something that you love, you will be able to enjoy the success a lot and failure a little less. All the miserable times can be dealt with a smile because you are following your instincts and doing something productive.
:) :)
