Your world is as big as you make it

Dec 1, 2023

Suddenly the year seems almost gone and its time for the usual annual reflections - how did it all go for me? did I move the dial in any way? 

I have been blessed to have yet another year - pretty much the way I wanted it to be, so personally, no regrets and a lot of gratitude! 

This year I also did a few things I had not done before - and each of these experiences have been an opportunity to learn, to grow and to expand my horizons.

Courtesy them, I have realized once again that your world can expand and contract just the way you want it to. - if you are mindful enough. 

Recently I was in Bengaluru and a dear friend, whilst clicking this picture below, told me about an art installation that she had seen depicting that we can, using our hands, expand or contract our world. It struck a chord! 



Till about a year ago, I was busy purging all that I felt no longer served me in my current chapter - old unused belongings, some relationships that had run its course, a bit of luggage that had tended to cling on, etc. I was then on what I called my "Marie Kondo" mode! And I was satisfied with the results. I cleansed. I made a lot more space in my life. 

This year, I carefully began to fill those spaces - I curated almost unconsciously, what I wanted to attract to my life now. And I expanded again after the period of contraction. 

I pushed those walls to enlarge my life once again - and I brought in new experiences, new people, new ties, new learnings. All that served what I wished to do now. I did things I have never done before - I traveled to new exotic places, I even tried online dating, for God's sake!!! I connected with a lot of new people throughout the year - some family members I had never met before, some wonderful souls from worlds very different to mine - I even got a marriage proposal from a most unlikely suitor during one of my travels!! I met almost all my friends during the year - irrespective of where they lived - and was able to spend some quality time with them. 

I realized through it all, that Life is pretty much what we make of it. It could be beautiful and it could be daunting; it could be an opportunity to discover or it could be mundane. It depends on us and us alone. It depends on how you hold your arms vis-a-vis those walls that surround you. Are you pushing to explore, to stretch yourself out of your comfort zones, to grow more? Or all you allowing the walls to push you , to stifle you, to take up your space and leave you overwhelmed and feeling weak.? 

And to be fair, it is ok to feel you are succumbing to circumstances that are beyond your control - it is ok to feel the walls come pushing in at times. Life happens and not all is in our control. As long as we remember that we can find the strength in us to push back after a while and to claim as much of space as is rightfully yours. You always have a choice to make - to decide how your life is going to be, going forward - what colors will you surround yourself with, which kind of people do you want in your inner sanctum , what kind of work will keep you growing and fulfilled, where do you see yourself flourishing most, where are the boundaries you want to set for yourself and for those around you? 

So, my motto for the next year is going to be to push those walls again, not too hard, but just enough to let me stretch into some new and some unknown whilst savoring, each and every day, the blessings I already have. 


Your World

Your world is as big as you make it. 
I know, for I used to abide
In the narrowest nest in a corner, 
My wings pressing close to my side. 
 
But I sighted the distant horizon 
Where the skyline encircled the sea 
And I throbbed with a burning desire 
To travel this immensity. 
 
I battered the cordons around me 
And cradled my wings on the breeze, 
Then soared to the uttermost reaches 
With rapture, with power, with ease!


#HappyEndOfYear to all <3 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Those lazy, hazy days of summer

Image
Today marks the end of my summer of 2024. Not because it's any special day in the calendar but simply because I have marked it so. ( These days, I mostly do as I please! )  Today I do nothing but simply look back.... I am not a fan of summers normally - especially given that I have been based in a sandpit for the last 20 odd years. Like most of us expats who live here in the Middle East, I have always found summers a good time to escape - either travel  back to India or to visit other countries that have, or used to have, cooler temperatures.  This year, I stayed put, mostly :) And it was different.  Yes, it was very hot and one had to stay indoors almost all the time but there was a sense of quiet and peace in and around Dubai that I quite enjoyed. Over the last 2 months, almost every expat had left the country, there were less cars, less traffic, less noise, empty malls and restaurants and generally a sense of slowing down every where. Even less socializing! So one...
Read more

About drawing lines

Image
As the years pass by, I realize, more and more, the importance of drawing lines. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The world is divisive enough on its own - some may say do we really need more boundaries between us?  The answer to this question could be debated. Yet, I have always been a fan of personal spaces - a concept alien to most Asians, definitely Indians! For me, it's linked to giving another human being the respect he/she deserves and ensuring that I have the same - the space to breathe free, to think without any pressures, to decide on my own. I tend to feel claustrophobic and uncomfortable, otherwise.  However, growing up - especially in my twenties and thirties, I did prioritize on "belonging" - to many groups and communities, for both personal and professional reasons. My circles grew so large that by the time I was in my mid forties, I again felt the need to set some controls once again - ...
Read more

I hope you are doing fine, Ma!

Image
Ma, It's been a while since I have heard from you .... You have gone too far, I guess. Life has taken over, generally, pulling me along with its usual ups and downs. Truth be said, I am not really sad - you lived a full life and I have let go... But I still think of you a lot, almost every day. I think of you and your opinions on all that is going on in my life - and I know a lot of those opinions may have even been disapproving....yet, I miss them - sorely. I wonder how you are doing....  How is this place you have gone too?  Is it as peaceful as they say it should be.... have you found "eternal peace'? Have you met those who had left before you? Has there been some kind of a happy reunion of sorts up there? Knowing you, are you settling scores? Are you ruffling feathers there as you often did here? Do you miss me? Do you miss my daughter? Can you see us? Do you sometimes feel like coming back just to say one more thing, hug us one more time? Or even repr...
Read more