You are more blessed than you know!

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ever get intimidated or demotivated by the pretty highlights of people's lives. Reality will often make you realize you are more blessed than you know.

The story goes long back to when I was searching for the best journalism colleges in the city. Some of my poor decisions in the past had landed me in a horrible situation. So, instead of giving up on life or carrying on with the bulls#$t, I decided to pursue college again after a gap of 2 years. I had lost hope, and confidence and become too negative about myself. 

One such visit made me stop my search. This campus was absolutely breathtaking. Imagine a picturesque campus with trees and green lawns spread across 200 acres. A building resembling an alluring palace actually being a girl's hostel. One could get the best view of the sunset from the rooms. It felt like being in a foreign land, an exotic country. I was overwhelmed, but what I saw next was not normal. There were little huts with a verandah for meditation and yoga and a river was flowing adjacent to it! Anyone could mistake it for a movie set. And yeah! Later the college revealed, it was indeed a film city in the past, that belonged to the great actor Raj Kapoor!

I had to be a fool not to join this experience. After shifting to the hostel I was still adapting to people and maybe stuck with the people that I had left behind. It was surprising to see how confident my classmates were. As most of them were from other states, away from home. Whereas, I was totally shy and afraid, even though it was my hometown. Gradually, I came out of my shell after getting along with everyone. Each person was so distinctly different. There was, an RJ from Kashmir, a dancer from Himachal, to a bibliophile girl gang from Goa. A singer from Kerala, an actor from Orissa, and so on. It was a parade of colorful personalities, of course with exciting life stories.

Several months of group bonding, secret sharing, swimming, gymming, canteen chats, and yeah lectures too! By now, each one of us had a piece of everyone's life. And as surprising it may sound, it was nothing remotely similar to what I had imagined. Everyone was drowned in their own tragedies.

A live-in couple I was most friendly with, were alcohol addicts. Their addiction sometimes led them to steal from their own friends. They were too young and couldn’t handle the sudden freedom they got after joining college.

My short-term roommate was a schizophrenic. She use to furiously talk to herself whenever she lost her temper. Later, I realised that was because of the disturbing childhood she went through.

Suhani, an extremely gorgeous girl had a decade-long abusive relationship. She was too weak to confront her partner and desperately looking for a way out.

Mili was blessed with a loving and rich family but ignored and body shamed for being overweight by all. To get accepted, she often tried pleasing people by bearing their expenses.

An extremely talented Rehan always chose to be alone. He couldn’t put up with people around him due to extreme anxiety. He was bipolar.

There was this one person though, a little different; Nayna, a great dancer and fitness freak! Initially, I always envied how confident she is. Always surrounded by friends, and always busy on the phone, day and night. Later she shared that she was coping with a recent breakup. It was difficult for her to be alone; she always needed people around to feel better.

After an insight into their lives, I was startled yet inspired. In spite of such grave problems, all these people are facing life courageously.

Apparently, gauging grief behind polished faces is hard. Everyone is fighting a psychological war. Meeting these strangers taught me that, life cannot be perfect. It is a constant journey to make it better with each new day. I know it's cliché but brutally true!

A lot of people will have privileges that you are not blessed with. Likewise, you will have advantages that are enviable by many. We learn plenty of life lessons from people who are way ahead of us. Instead of complaining, why not learn from their journeys, and improve ours. 

People, who are less fortunate than us, give us an opportunity to teach them our life lessons. There is a constant feeling of gratitude towards life when we meet such people. They are the ones who make you realize, you are more blessed than you know!

I am happy that I am more sorted than many people around me. I have wasted a lot of precious years of my life, blaming people and crying over the spilled milk. A few years ago, I started over my life, and today I am at a much better place! Not just by changing my approach towards my problems, but by taking simple actions! Financial, emotional, mental, social, spiritual, and practical actions!

Become so independent in every way that people dissing you wouldn't matter ever. Work on that idea that has been lingering in your thoughts over the years. If you don't know how things work, just start walking on the path. Every mile will have directions waiting for you. The darkness will keep fading, paving a clearer road with each step of yours. Make it a point to meet new people, people that make you feel uncomfortable in your position. Nothing will inspire you to keep walking on your path more than these people. No matter good or bad people, they will always push you towards your goals. In fact, people who pull you down are indirectly provoking you to go ahead, people who give you pain can be the biggest contributors to your success.

No one is coming to tell you what to do. It is your duty to find the areas you are more blessed with. Your instincts will alert you about the opportunities, your actions will feed and energize your instincts further. YOU have to take action. One simple action at a time.