There is some much of chaos everywhere. The few constant things I hear on this 90 acres campus of mine in Hyderabad is, "What did you do about the organization behavior project?" or "I am so exhausted!" or "I am missing home , I am so depressed, I don't want to stay here ". And so on and so forth. I am yet to come across someone who is happy. Peaceful. In love with life. And yes, I myself am far away from being all this. The worst of me – irritation, loneliness, depression and a 'poor me' attitude was becoming a part of me as I moved away from home in Chennai to work here. I often asked myself if this is the place I should be in – however, never the kinds to run away from a situation I stayed on. And reminded myself – if there is a problem, the solution too will be there.
My solution came one of those days when I was travelling by the share auto. I share it with 15 people and the commotion was really getting on to me. I was sitting besides the window and it suddenly hit me that if I just shift my focus from what is going on inside the auto to looking outside, I could instantly become much more peaceful. For, my drive to the city is through a scenic forest and a quiet road and it's for one and half hours.
As we entered the serene forest area, there was pin drop silence, just the wind blowing, the stars and the moon. Soon, as I lay myself in the lap of mother nature, the outside chaos, and even the one within just started fading. After days, I felt relaxed. At peace. Like everything was all right with the world.
I reached the hostel only at the end of dusk, but it didn't leave me tired, rather the journey had refreshed me, and I got down with a smile and a felling of fulfillment. It was a beautiful experience. This experience made me realize that all of us go through so much stress, and so much stress over stress that life in the urban world has truly become a hell. One thought led to another and soon I was wondering that how is it that our ancestors did so much, with such little technology and yet remained happy? What was their secret?
And then the answers came. People in our past always had a lot of time with nature. They had to walk hours in scenic places before they could even get water. They also had a lot of time with themselves and this gave them time to unwind, to get connected with their true selves which is essentially happy and feel good about our life. Somewhere in our rat race to achieve we have compromised on the simple pleasures of life – like watching a flower bloom, lying under a blanket of stars, watching in wonderment the amazing unfolding of a sunset.
I realize that each one of us, no matter how busy we are, need to find some time just for ourselves – some time with nature. It will heal us. It will help us. And ensure that we don't get stressed over stress. It's the little 'me – time' that each one of us should gift ourselves. Would you believe it, for the first time in days, I am sleeping with the excitement that tomorrow I have to go back to work?
