Our lives consist of the beauty we fill them with, the more beauty we surround ourselves with, the richer our lives will be. But wanting everything more and more blocks us from enjoying the things we already have. It’s good to want things in life, but it’s also important not to be greedy.
Don’t obsess over what you don’t have, feel grateful for all that you do have. There’s a traditional Irish saying connecting to this thought of being grateful & practicing gratitude; May you live as long as you want and not want as long as you live.
My grandpa died before 4 years at the age of 97+. He lost memory during his last few days. But whenever he was able to recollect his thoughts & was able to understand what’s going on, he used to talk about his involvement in Mahatma Gandhi’s khadi movement during India’s freedom struggle. Khadi means hand woven cotton fabric. He used to preach few things till the day he was alive;
1. Saying/wishing/greeting RAM RAM is not a religious thing, even though LORD RAM is the highest celebrated deity in Hindu religion. It’s about seeing divine in other human life & exchanging equal amounts of respect for that reason.
2. The biggest sinners in this world go to church/temple/mosque very often. Because they have to keep reminding god to wash their sins.
3. 10% of your wealth/income must go towards DANA (in Sanskrit it means DONATION), donation towards helping underprivileged & upliftment of society.
Not a secret, i own a small health supplement business since September-2017. And now that business enjoys a loyal customer base because of good quality products & quick customer query resolution. With those fitness enthusiasts in mind, i started an athleisure clothing brand in August-2019.
Like every other human, i am not perfect & my business is also not perfect all the time. Especially the atheleisure clothing brand i am talking about, not talking about profit or loss. My operation is small and we never made a loss. I am talking about clothes not being perfect sometimes. While manufacturing/stitching/printing, in few cases there’s a misplaced logo or a packaging label mishap, a stitching at wrong part of the clothing material or short hoodie strings, so we reject few clothes while passing it through quality testing. But even those quality reject clothes are completely usable, sometimes even i use them as my layer-1 clothes during winter. Like previous year, this year too we will go to a nearby orphanage & a refugee shelter to donate some winter clothes/blanket/woolen socks. There’s an amazing feeling of fulfillment while giving it back. I am forever grateful to almighty for giving me little more than i can consume.
(In case anyone wants to join in Cardiff, i have updated the address in our CMU group. Please don’t try to overcrowd the place, 12-13 people are enough. It bums my mood to see people roaming around without mask, so please wear a mask while coming.)
My grandpa died before 4 years at the age of 97+. He lost memory during his last few days. But whenever he was able to recollect his thoughts & was able to understand what’s going on, he used to talk about his involvement in Mahatma Gandhi’s khadi movement during India’s freedom struggle. Khadi means hand woven cotton fabric. He used to preach few things till the day he was alive;
1. Saying/wishing/greeting RAM RAM is not a religious thing, even though LORD RAM is the highest celebrated deity in Hindu religion. It’s about seeing divine in other human life & exchanging equal amounts of respect for that reason.
2. The biggest sinners in this world go to church/temple/mosque very often. Because they have to keep reminding god to wash their sins.
3. 10% of your wealth/income must go towards DANA (in Sanskrit it means DONATION), donation towards helping underprivileged & upliftment of society.
Not a secret, i own a small health supplement business since September-2017. And now that business enjoys a loyal customer base because of good quality products & quick customer query resolution. With those fitness enthusiasts in mind, i started an athleisure clothing brand in August-2019.
Like every other human, i am not perfect & my business is also not perfect all the time. Especially the atheleisure clothing brand i am talking about, not talking about profit or loss. My operation is small and we never made a loss. I am talking about clothes not being perfect sometimes. While manufacturing/stitching/printing, in few cases there’s a misplaced logo or a packaging label mishap, a stitching at wrong part of the clothing material or short hoodie strings, so we reject few clothes while passing it through quality testing. But even those quality reject clothes are completely usable, sometimes even i use them as my layer-1 clothes during winter. Like previous year, this year too we will go to a nearby orphanage & a refugee shelter to donate some winter clothes/blanket/woolen socks. There’s an amazing feeling of fulfillment while giving it back. I am forever grateful to almighty for giving me little more than i can consume.
(In case anyone wants to join, i have updated the address in our CMU university group. Please don’t try to overcrowd the place, 12-13 people are enough. It bums my mood to see people roaming around without mask, so please wear a mask while coming.)
This post/story is about basic human decency. Yesterday i came across a horrible person, who misbehaved a small restaurant owner while paying for some eggy bread, pork pie & tea. He was short of some cash even though he came with entire family in a BMW X5. His argument started escalating over Apple pay, that too in a small & new cash only eatery. Later he went to ATM, withdrew some cash & paid for his food. According to his words; if you aren’t accepting Apple pay, you should go back to country side & he was some corporate employee for BAE systems. The words he used against that restaurant owner made me question his upbringing & it also made me realise what an highly educated asshole looks like. We live in a materialistic world where we literally judge someone looking at their clothes/house/car/phone/financial status, the last comes EDUCATION, QUALIFICATION, PERSONALITY & BEHAVIOUR, that too only if we enjoy a healthy interaction. So, Why these so-called few corporate employees belittle street food truck or small restaurant owners in their head!!
Because i mentioned these words “Materialistic world” & “Corporate Employee”, let’s talk about the money part first. Any engineer/banker/software developer/analyst with 3-5 years of job experience makes easy 95-130k salary per annum, no matter it’s Dollars/Euros/Pounds. Social security+Insurance+Tax, combined all are around 38-42% of entire income in most developed countries. Now monthly in hand salary comes close to 5200-6700 Dollars/Euros/Pounds.
Let’s talk about the small scale business owner who runs a food truck or a street food restaurant, here an easy quick meal costs 7-10 Dollars/Euros/Pounds. It can be a Full English breakfast/Tacos/Pastrami Sandwich/Doner kebab or a salad with tea/coffee/any kind of drink. They receive 80-90 such orders during lunch hour, mostly regular customers during a rush hour. And casually another 80-90 orders at evening because that’s the preferable time to cater tourists/students/kids/young people/couples. Total around 170 orders of 7-10 bucks food product, gross 1500 bucks everyday. Sunday everything is closed. So it comes to 1500×26=39000 worth of sales in a month, not the profit amount. If you deduct the raw ingredients+gas+rent+electricity+3-4 employees salary from that 39000, that small scale business owner is still left with easy 9000-12000 Dollars/Euros/Pounds in his hands every month.
Tried to show you an easy estimation in both scenarios. I am saying it from my experience. I know a half Indian brit who lives in Berlin, he started a ghost kichen sourdough pizzeria in Alexanderplatz in the middle of pandemic. Now it’s a small yet busy full blown cafe. His cafe is open only 4 hours every evening, but he makes way more than my salary. Even in terms of money, a small scale business owner enjoys a better financial stability compared to any employee. The good part is, EVERY BUSINESS OWNER IS HIS OWN BOSS. They work their ass off for their family, so that family can enjoy a life worth calling LIFE. I have studied 4 years bachelor’s in engineering, then MBA, now i am a PhD research scholar (still a student), i also have 4+ years of job experience as a data/research analyst & software developer. I bet that person who started a small mediocre petty drama must have studied something like i did. And most of the time people who work at multinational companies imagine they enjoy the best lifestyle compared to rest, which can be true. But does that allow anyone to be a jackass on streets? We can’t cure certain issues by cursing & shouting. Education is not just there for earning a qualification. If education isn’t making you humble, grateful & a better human, then you are simply a waste of time & waste of energy for society.
(Forgot to schedule this post on Sunday. When i mentioned yesterday above, i am talking about an incident from Saturday. The restaurant owner i mentioned is one of my friends from A-level days.)
It’s the little things in life. It’s the people who don’t just text you, but take the time out of their day to put you in their schedule; no matter how busy they are. It’s the friends that are authentic and don’t fake what they feel. The people who are straight with you and accept you for who you are; down to the raw scars and burns. It’s the pure feeling of happiness while driving your AMG when you’re listening to music with people you love and there is absolutely no where else in the entire world you would rather be. It’s the feeling like we’ll live forever, like we’re young forever. It’s the love that soothes our heart which makes life feel happy to die for. It’s the love that breaks our hearts but knowing the feeling of pain and feeling the pain, but getting through the pain; only to be grateful for the feel of life, the feel of living.
Moments and little things, acts that make every breathe so incredibly amazing. That’s what I live for; these moments that make us feel infinite. Life is fun. Let it be.
In LOVE, I have been elated and brokenhearted and felt every emotion in between. As I’ve gotten older I’ve learned to embrace the painful parts, because I realize they make me stronger and they are just parts of life. It hurts to power through the rough times but just like a muscle, it must be exercised before it’s able to become stronger.
Think about a specific painful moment in your life, and then think about how that feeling didn’t last forever even though you thought it would. Remember that life will continue to go on and time really does heal all wounds. I’m grateful for all the love and all the heartache I’ve experienced in my life. Both have been equally wonderful.
Remember you are not promised tomorrow. So how are you going to ensure that you crash your heart into your life? How are you going to ensure that you leave this world, whenever it happens for you, with a soul that is tender and full and weathered in the best way? With a soul that was never asked to make itself smaller, with a soul that was never waiting for the day it was skinnier, or prettier, or cooler, or more successful, in order to take advantage of the time it was given?
We cannot wait to be the people we have always dreamed of being. We cannot wait for life to perfect itself. There is no right time, there is no perfect circumstance. We have to leap, even when our legs are shaking. We have to show up for ourselves not in 3 months, or 5 years, or 10 years, but now. In this moment. Because every single day is a blessing. Every single day is a gift. Do not lose sight of that.
Life can be so beautiful. Five years ago i never would’ve pictured myself where i am right now. I may not have everything i want. I may not have found all the happiness in this world. But almighty has blessed me in certain areas with way more than i ever imagined. In my journey of growth & becoming who i am today, i wish not to hurt anyone. All i hope is to be truthful, busy & productive. Efficient & effective with the way i am, you know, i’m content, i’m content right now. And that gives me immense amount of fulfillment to my soul. I am grateful to be alive & to be breathing. I never imagined i would get this far but i did & if i can do it, then you can too.
Happiness may feel like a far fetched dream. But happiness is not a destination. Chasing it will only ever push you further away from it. The more you chase things or people, the further they run from you. Just acknowledge your own being, your own existence, everything you seek for on the outside has always resided within you. Delve deep within, you’ll realise living is beautiful. Life is a gift. (Not my words).
Every morning when the sun rises, I am a changed person. There is no use looking back at yesterday. I am no longer the person I was back then. Changed by the experiences I’ve had, the lessons I have learnt, and the love I have received. It’s time to move forward and embrace the life that I’ve been given. Be grateful for the many blessings that have been bestowed upon me. And start living a life of passion. There will always be ups and downs, good times and bad, losses and gains.
Life is about learning lessons, showing love in the process, and growing into the beautiful souls we are meant to become. Don’t let yesterday rob you of your happiness today. Every time the sun rises, it’s a new opportunity to make your life the best of your life. Enjoy every moment.
I am happy when I eat fresh fruit, when I burst out laughing, when I discover a new song, when I finish a good book, when I wake up and feel relaxed. I’m glad to have friends, family, a home, food when I’m hungry, hot water when I shower. I love being able to live and see the seasons change, to have gifts at christmas and at my birthday, to travel sometimes, to have a good education and a great access to culture. I’m flattered when people compliment me, when people smile at me, when people are polite to me.
There are so many things that make life so simple and easy and I will always think about them more than all the bad things that will happen to me. I do not have time to be sad every day and ungrateful. I have every reason in the world to be happy. Take life day by day and be grateful for the little things. Don’t get caught up in what you can’t control. Focus on the positive.
Tap ON (Tapan) 
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