4 Point Something

Warning- Slightly sarcastic, partly true, here is the most demotivating, yet slightly liberating post for you. Usually you would come across posts listing the things you should do before turning so and so age. This post may or may not (because I am not too confident about my influence on people) make you excessively laid back- I shall not take any responsibility for your dysfunctional behaviour. Frankly, you should not get influenced by me, if I were among the first humans to evolve, while all others would have been busy discovering fire, making solid shelter and weapons/tools, I would have been that Neanderthal who slept on a tree not bothering if a tiger hunted me down. I would have gone extinct long back, with my resistance to evolve refusing the idea of Darwinism. So it is all an idea- I have not conducted any tests on its practicality- quack quack (see image below- after reading the post) One of my closest friends once told me, “We live in an illusion of hurry” and frankly it was the revelation of the ultimate truth for me! We humans, first invent the concept of time and then continuously chase/race it all our lives. Since I am turning 26 in a couple of weeks, here is my tiny list of things you needn’t necessarily have done before turning my age. 1. Get married and have kids- Yes, the regular, the usual. I know the biological clocks are ticking and probably getting married and having kids is the right thing to do. To suggest not doing so, may be as wrong an advice as a 15year old me would give for not needing to study further and have a college degree. But at this point, I feel there’s no hurry, I cant desperately rush into falling in love with someone (and I cant imagine spending the rest of my life with a person otherwise) just because my baby-carrying capacity might be reducing with age. My mom had me when she was 39 and I turned out to be fine (well, almost). And there is no shortage of people in the world. I think the world can do pretty well if some of us don’t reproduce. 2. Have your financial life sorted and save 1/3rd of your salary- At 25, you have lived just 1/3rd of your life and worked for 1/10th of your work-life. Unless you plan to retire by 40, why waste the prime age of your life saving for a tired exhausted self, 15years from now. And if you have it all by 30, what will you do with all the earnings post-30? 3. Know your passion, have an active hobby- If you are as distracted as me, you would do well in short term projects but suck at things which require persistence and dedication. And to be a master at something, you really need persistence. If you are really good at something- Kudos to you. I don’t mind being the average jill of all trades, or even jill of few trades. They look really good in a matrimonial profile or if you pursue alternative careers but if you are stuck in a corporate life, making “serious” money, your skills will fade with time and you will be the same as the boring guy who didn’t dance/sing/write/create/read and probably he will be better than you because he focussed all his boring energies in his serious career while you were distracted by your “hobbies”. 4. Make your time memorable with small moments- I know friends who continuously seek to make small gatherings memorable but frankly that gets me more restless- to be chasing memories. It is okay to have no interesting response to “whats up”/”how was your weekend” if you are content and at peace “wasting” your time doing nothing, locked up alone in your room. As long as it doesn’t ride you up with guilt, you are fine doing nothing at all. It is so relaxing to not be taxed up about not doing anything- you have attained nirvana. You have attained the highest level in Maslow’s hierarchy! So stay in your blanket, don’t do anything productive while the world rushes into it. Once they are done with it, they will probably end up comforting their tired selves in a warm cozy blanket- and guess what, you are already there! PS- On a serious note, the only two advice a to-be 26year old has for you is: 1. Stay healthy, you have got only your body and mind that would remain with you- make them last. Because if you live like there is no tomorrow, you will love it so much, you would want to have two more tomorrows. So keep that in account when you live today and let your body sustain it. And a happy body and mind does help a lot in keeping one at peace. 2. You can do whatever you want with your life as long as it doesnt hurt someone else. A clear conscience= happy mind! Even your judgements about how someone else is living their life isnt required, it is in the end, their life, they can choose to waste it.