Being Ordinary by Choice

One of the most delightful things of all time is to walk down the memory lane. Irrespective of which stage of life you are into, reviving into incidents, people, situations, times, etc. recharges your mood and day, without a doubt J

I genuinely feel that this attraction towards old and especially childhood memories is because of its authenticity. Childhood times are unalloyed for each one of us. The innocence that we carry into our behavior, our physical or mental state of being is unmatched, solely because it is super concentrated by purity and absolutely undiluted.

If things, people and time would have been the same today, we might not have valued these old memories as much as we do today. Things change, people change and so time for betterment, as Change is the only constant. But I guess we have misinterpreted its intended meaning. Reference to context of a saying or a quotation is equally important as its meaning. This “Change” is for our adaptability, technology, processes, mind-set, attitude, thought process and the way we see our life and people. It has nothing to do with our individuality.

The result of our misconception is, we have changed ourselves from roots and our DO’s and DONT’s lists. Nowadays, being introvert is considered as less-confident, if we don’t like to be surrounded by people then most opinionated people label us as victim of boredom, only rich people are considered successful in life and many more. These verdicts by people are just because they consider themselves superior, different or extraordinary (by choice) than the rest. We consider ourselves as an elite member of a community who holds a dictatorship on everybody and everything. We have forgotten that only ‘WE’ can make things happen and never ‘I’. Honestly, current situation of global pandemic very well explains the difference between WE and I.

I recall an incident I read in a Gujarati short story book recently,

In ancient days, there was a very famous sculptor named Raghu. He could design and shape idols of Gods, humans, animals and what not. He was a single point of contact for everyone who was in need of an idol. In short, he was the Master of this art.

One day, he had a nightmare of his death. He was a middle-aged man so obviously this was scary. Success and fame at one point, can lead to devastation in no time if not digested properly, so was the case with this sculptor. He thought himself superior than the almighty and tried to defy his destiny. He planned to make his three identical idols to confuse death. As he was a Master of this art, he replicated himself with almost zero error.

The death day had to commence and Lord Yaamraj was at his place. He was shocked and terrified to see four identical individuals. He was completely blanked and wondered how can God commit such a mistake of not making his every creature unique? He understood the game played by the sculptor but it was mere impossible for him to pick the correct one.

He went straight to Lord Vishnu, narrated the scene and asked for his advice. Lord Vishnu conveyed his wish to see this man and headed towards his place.

On reaching his place, Lord Vishnu too was amazed by sculptor’s piece of work. He said to Lord Yaamraj “I have never seen such a supernatural and marvelous piece of art like this. I wish to congratulate this artist for his extraordinary talent”.

The sculptor was overwhelmed by this praise and could not resist his ego to overrule his alertness. In excitement, he took a step forward towards Lord Vishnu and said, “I am the creator of this art. Please bless me”. Lord Vishnu gently smiled and said, “Here you are my son, we were waiting for you. Please come with us”.

This story is a perfect example of how we operate. We always like to be on the center-stage, with the microphone and on the display. We are lifting ourselves continuously in trying to be high-ranked and greater than others which automatically gets reflected into our behavior.

Money does not win hearts; it is kindness that can win even battles.

Position and Designation can give you power, but it cannot guarantee respect.

Self-appreciation can help you to be in limelight, but it cannot win trust.

You have to earn these intangible things and not just get it.

It is indeed extraordinary to be ordinary and live the life as is.

It is okay to cry, to be sad, to laugh, to be quiet, to be natural and to be normal you.