My random thoughts. Part 2

Talking to different people in the hotel industry, to my own batch mates and even my own family members has made me realise one thing. Everyone I’ve spoken to has a set of their own problems. Also, ultimately everyone thinks their issue is the biggest issue prevailing and that everyone they meet has to hear them out.
So, my take on this is that all of us are in different levels of hell. With each one of us battling a different level demon. This whole outlook is more like a video game if you see really. The stronger you are, the shorter the battles. The more fragile you are, the faster you succumb to the monster in front of you.
In case you are in the latter category, what should you do? Restart the game or run away for the time being, gather all your resources and level up some more and resume the fight? The options lie with you completely. However should you choose to run away, you’ll always be your weaker self with someone defending you from every blow all the time. You’ll feel good about it for a bit but you will soon tire out from depending on someone all the time. You’ll feel like a waste and miserable. But you should also realise that you have another option with you. That is, get stronger through hard work and dedication. When you start doing this, you’ll be the saviour instead of the one being saved. The weaker section will now start looking up to you. They will want to be like you.
Now, if you’re in the former, you’re halfway through my friend. You would have already started to inspire people to be like you. The folks will look up to you. They will want to learn to use the weapon they’ve all been endowed with but lacked the courage and the strength to wield it. But you also have to realise that the more people look up to you, the more the pressure increases on you to perform and deliver consistent results. This shouldn’t mean that you stop rescuing people. It just means you’ll have to grow stronger and stronger with every passing day.
The choice is ultimately yours. The kind of warrior you want to lies in your hands wholly. Should you prefer to run away and not face the problem is something that you decide. Would you rather live a life by being called a coward or do you want to be remembered as a hero when you are no more is in your hands completely. No one and nothing can change your mindset. It is you and only you responsible for the transformation.
Be the one that slays or gets slayed, be the one that is dependable or the dependent, be the hero or the coward, the ball will always be in your court.
The day you decide to come out of your shell and join the likes of people who had long abandoned their former selves and join hands is the day your demon will cower in fear and this time it’ll be him who will run like a dog with the tail between his legs and not you. You will be ready to face him, head on with your sword drawn and your shield ready.
Make a wise choice my dear because this is what will stay with you all your life.
Let’s all be our own saviours that need no saving.

A Human Resources professional, a writer in my spare time with an innate curiosity to understand the world and an insatiable desire to explore the world.

A letter to my past self

Dear me,
You remember the time when we were brats? When everyone and everything we saw scared us? Meeting new people, exploring new places alone and even the thought of going to school frightened us. When the thought of math classes and mental math tests scared us silly and when we would make up stupid excuses to not to go school on that very particular math exam, the very scary part about growing up was meeting new people because we were so very afraid as to what those people would think about us, what first impressions they would form about us, as a result of which we chose not to talk to people.
Do you recall when we were bullied, not physically but emotionally because none of our classmates would talk to us because we weren’t very good at academics? Remember how marks always created a good impression? Do you also remember how difficult it was to find a friend until we got to the 7th grade?
Before I forget, do you also remember the time when our parents tried everything in their capacity to get us to learn? To get us to pass every time? When everyone else in the class was always ahead of us, we were always good for nothing at whatever we attempted to do? The art and craft classes when everyone could stitch and all we could do was hold the needle and thread? The horror we faced every Friday because of such classes and when no one would even help us because they thought we were failures.
Dear past me, do you remember that one unkind, horrid remark from a batchmate who said that failing art and craft is no big deal because we fail all the time and one more subject wouldn’t make a difference? Do you recall the sleepless nights before the report card day? Dear me, this was in junior school. But you see we made it out alive.
Then came senior school where things improved a little because we started coming out of our shells, but we still didn’t have anyone we could call our own, but we were okay with it because we got used to staying alone. We also learnt that we were good at track and field events. Along with that, we picked up basketball too but we were still too timid and shy and awkward. When we took part in sports day, people started recognising us. It made us feel a little better but at the same time, we wanted to run away from the attention. We still have those trophies from all the races we participated in. It’s like a small victory dance for us every time we have a look at it and feel. This was back then. Things started going downhill in class 8 again because the academic pressure was too much. But we still survived and we didn’t particularly kick ass but we got out alive. We wrapped up our boards two years later and we scored pretty well compared to our standards.
Once we came to intermediate, we started opening a bit more because we got rid of our demons and slayed them. This proved that we indeed were our own knights in shining armour. But then again, life is never easy. This is when we started worrying about our career choices and what we would do, but we managed just fine even if it meant resurrecting our demons and fighting in the same hellish arena once more. But you see, dear past me, we came out victorious. We stumbled, crashed but what really mattered was we got up only to fight and slay again.
Then came college, the best one we always wanted to go to, here again, we lost faith because we became scared little girls once again and made mistakes that made us wiser and better as we grew up over the years, once more. It was like starting afresh, with a blank slate to rewrite our story with style.
When we got to our third year, we couldn’t go to the same place our friends went for their 6-month industrial training. You remember how heartbroken and depressed we were? But we still got over it. We did exceptionally well at our hotel too. The people from our department still remember us fondly.
In our final year, we had our careers to worry about because we had only one company coming for Human Resources. We nailed the interview and got the job. We still look back and smile when we recall the time that our name was called out to sign the offer letter.
Somewhere towards the end of our final year, our very own companion ditched us and we got it from our principal. We were suspended but not rusticated and that was that. But you see we made it out alive and laugh at the companion’s stupidity.
So you see, dear past me, you needn’t worry about the future because the present me knows that we will absolutely fine, like we always have been. We have always been very resilient without realising it. We have always fought our own battles and won. Maybe not all battles, but every battle that we lost we learnt something and won through a different strategy. That’s why you, the past me, can rest assured that we, my future self and my present will be absolutely fine and the future does look bright. Rest assured, I won’t let anything happen to me and that our future selves will outdo our past selves.

Yours sincerely,
The future me.