Life’s way of teaching Lessons.
A few years ago, back in India, when I was pursuing my bachelor's, I used to come home, to Hyderabad during the summer vacation. Now, during the summertime, the city’s temperature could get as high as 35 degrees Celsius! you can literally boil eggs in the sand or make dosas on a two-wheeler's seat(not sure about the taste).
During the vacation, I usually wake up late and just continue to do what I usually do. i.e., annoy my parents till I hit the bed at night. However, like any other responsible son, once in a while I used to go to the general store to get necessary groceries. Fun fact: I don't know if it is only with me or anyone else, there wasn't a time in my life when my mother was satisfied with whatever I had bought from the store. There is always something lacking, always!
One such day, when I was heading back home from a store in the afternoon, I came across a woman who was selling mangoes. She was a middle-aged woman wearing a saree, carrying a huge basket of mangoes over her head. She was trying to gain people’s attention by shouting out the fruit and its price. I couldn't stop noticing that she was hobbling. I realized that her left ankle was sprained. She had wrapped it with a compression wrap and kept hobbling anyways. The sight of a middle-aged woman selling mangoes in the scorching heat despite her sprained leg shook me to my core!
I made a lot of excuses and found reasons to avoid doing tasks in the past. because I had never really realized how conveniently I could make an excuse. The very fact that I was able to find reasons to avoid a task implied that I had a ‘choice’. Of course, there are consequences for every choice that we make but at least, the majority of them do not threaten our survival, right? However, that poor woman didn't have a choice, her survival was dependent on her efforts to sell the fruits. The pain in her ankle didn’t stop her from selling the mangoes, and neither did the scorching heat of the sun! like any other day, she just showed up!
I was completely overwhelmed with a farrago of emotions! seeing her, tears rolled down my face, I froze like a deer in headlights, I couldn't help but ask to myself — “WHY?!” Why this disparity? is this the fault of the society that we live in? Is it because we humans are not generous enough to help each other? is it Darwin’s survival of the fittest? Whatever could be the reason, it just didn’t seem fair! If she doesn't complain about her situation? why should I? At that moment, my pride was shattered!
On that day, I have learned two important lessons —
1. Count your blessings: Instead of lamenting on things that we don't have, One should be grateful for whatever one has and try to achieve the best out of it.
2. Nothing can stop you: It's all about our attitude towards our goals. believe in your abilities, believe that you will accomplish your tasks, visualize that you are succeeding in achieving your goals, and have faith in yourself. if you can win the fight against yourself, you can win the whole world! Nothing can stop you!
The mango-selling woman will be forever etched in my memory. She has taught me some important life lessons and inspired me to be a better human being. I for one believe that life will continue to teach such valuable lessons to us in a variety of ways. However, it is impossible to perceive them without ‘humility’.
