“Handle situations, not people”. This was a dialogue my dad told the 6-year-old me, whose eyes were welled up in tears and anger towards the person who had lost my then-favourite eraser. He sat me down and explained the value of relationships and how one should not strain it by forming decisions based on a situational action/reaction.
It was one of the most powerful statements that shaped me and stuck with me. I realised the power in it to build resilience in dealing with any kind of uncertainty that life throws and beauty in it to build long-lasting relationships.
It was the very same statement that also helped me answer a question that a lot of people have been asking me recently “How was it to stay by yourself during a lockdown?”. Well, it’s yet another situation and how we handle it. Born into a culture of selfless love, blessed with nurturing families, we learn to build long-lasting relationships with loved ones, not knowing how to build one with ourselves.
But if we have to discover ourselves, we ask ourselves “Who am I when left by myself in my own company?” The answer to this helped me determine the relationships I chose, the courage I got to take the next bold choice, express my radical ideas, remove inhibitions due to fear of rejections, explore opportunities, and not let age be a limiting factor to pursue passions. It did build in me immense confidence to stand up for myself and be who I am, cause it’s the fear of being left out or fighting it alone that often makes us take a step back.
On self-reflection and identifying my high energy spots, I now have my instant energy booster kit too which consist of filter coffee, few fast beat songs, certain movies like Padayappa, childhood memories, dance, learning something new, running, unleashing that creative streak and aromatic fragrances to lift spirits if it dips.
A happily ever after boils down to handling situations and building a beautiful relationship with ourselves and around to truly energize the space we surround ourselves with. And I grew up to live that example for myself.”
#SelfReflection #AgainstAllodds #Decisions #Resilience #Relationship #Happiness #Energy #Culture #Passion #Confidence #Life #spirit #Motivation #Inspire #Madras #HumansofMadras