Three years ago, someone gifted me Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean
In. I could relate to most of the examples she mentioned in the book. I
realized how I had lived 21 years of my life just trying to live up to the
expectations of everyone around me – family, friends, and colleagues.
I remember, after I finished the book, I sat in my room and prepared a list of things
that make me happy. I spent time to think about thing(s) that will bring a
smile on my face irrespective of how I feel. Back then I came up with two
answers: 1. Taking photographs. 2. Helping those in need.
I’ve spent hours in the sun to take pictures of squirrels,
birds or just to find that one best shot. And all those hours I’ve been in a
world of my own, I wouldn’t remember anything but my passion to take that one
picture that will make me sleep with a smile on my face.
One year later I started teaching the kids of Saraswati
school and I remember how I’d listen to their stories, encourage them to stay
positive, help them learn new things and let them express themselves. For those
six hours of my day, my life would only revolve around those kids and their
lives. I’ve always failed to describe the feeling of happiness to see them
happy because of any of my efforts. The only way I can explain what I felt was
– I was eager to wake up every single day to spend time with the kids. Working
with them so closely only made me realize what I thought were problems in my
life didn’t even qualify as problems. I had a lot going on in my personal life
back then but I describe that period of my life as the most positive period
I’ve lived.
Given women’s nature in general, we tend to live our lives
meeting the expectations of those who love us and we forget to introspect what
is it that makes us happy (irrespective of the presence or absence of our loved ones). I’ve lived both sides of the story and I feel amazed
by the difference ‘knowing and living my happiness’ has made to my life.
Every woman (every human for that matter) deserves to know
what makes her happy and live that happiness for herself irrespective of any
other factor. I don’t promise that you’ll only experience happy times if you do
so, but I promise that no matter what difficulty you are in, if you control
your happiness you will only come out of the difficulty sooner.
Wishing all the amazing women out there a very Happy Women’s
Day!
A special thanks to my mother who has always encouraged me
to do whatever I found fulfilling and in fact, helped me with it by being a
part of it; to my father who has believed in me and my dreams and always helped
me take the first step towards experimenting with those dreams; to my brother who
has always made me believe what I am capable of achieving and never let me
dream small; and to my friends who always took out the time to listen to my plans and offer their feedback.
This women's day, I urge all the women out there to spend some time to find out out what makes you happy. When in doubt, just pursue that happiness.
Below are few of the pictures I've clicked over the past three years:
