Karmanye Vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana

In today's fast paced life I often come across disheartened people. People whose future plans have taken a hit as their promotion was stalled or they did not receive a pay hike. In this world of Facebook showbiz people are willing to go that extra mile by sacrificing their personal life just to stay ahead in the rat race. Peer pressure is dictating an individual's morale these days & yes I am one of them. Bheed toh dekhi hogi na usi se ek aadmi chunlo main wo hu ;)

I am Sandeep Dubey; a 30 year old team lead of an IT company.  I am a person full of dreams and ambitions, cribbing every moment.  
Just like others around me I craved for all the luxuries in life and the very thought of not getting what I want made me disheartened. I was dejected and broken. Life did not make any sense to me until one of my friend suggested me to meet a person, a person who later changed my entire perspective of life. Dr. Shradha Sharma, Life counselor, one of the greatest philosophers of the modern times, a person who could cure you from all your anguish and pain. She was dubbed as the reincarnation of Swamy Vivekananda.

I sat down in a 20 * 30 clinic on a Monday morning. I got an appointment with Dr. Shradha Sharma after almost a week. The attendant called out my name and I was supposed to be the next subject of Dr. Shrada Sharma. As I entered her cabin she greeted me with a pleasant smile. There were some inspirational quotes framed in her cabin. Each quote suggesting, life is a present and how lucky we are to have it. However, nothing made sense to me at that time as I was dejected and severed by the pain inflicted upon me by life. She seemed to be a very nice lady with a contagious smile. She had a general conversation with me. She was trying to understand what was bothering me and what has caused my current misery. After a brief discussion she jotted down something on the paper.

She looked at me with a smile and said “Sandeep there is nothing to worry, you are absolutely fine. What you are undergoing is very common these days.”  She passed me the paper on which she had written down something after her conversation with me. There was a word written in bold letters.

"EXPECTATION"

I looked at the sheet confused. Wondering as to how did she deduce what I am undergoing for past couple of years in a matter of few minutes? She quickly cleared the air and said, "Sandeep, you are not my first patient with such a problem. I get around 10-12 patients in a day with the same disorder".

"I would not call it a disorder as it is just a state of mind". I still did not understand what she was trying to convey and sensing the confusion on my face she smiled again. "Sandeep, I know it may sound clichéd but let me tell you, Life is a beautiful present. We need to cherish what we already have and shouldn't crib over what we do not have"."People often take it for granted what they already have and crave for more and when they do not get that extra thing they get disappointed. And that is the exact thing that has happened to you. This disorder or state of mind is called expectation".  "These days people are influenced so much by materialistic luxuries that they have forgotten about the little things in life that bring happiness". "Spending a weekend in an exotic island is more important than spending the weekend with their children in a park, watching them play". Things started to make sense to me now. She continued "Sandeep, let me ask you one thing; when was the first time you felt disappointed in your professional life and what was the reason behind it?".

'Dr. it was few years back when I was working in one of the IT giants in Bangalore. I worked hard, burnt the midnight oil got appreciations for my hard work. However, my colleague was promoted instead of me. Not that he had worked harder than me or was more intelligent than me; he was promoted because he used was the favourite resource of my manager. He used to run errands for my manager and inform the manager what each person in the team  was up to and what was the latest gossip making rounds in the team'. 'That was when I was very disappointed. I could not even retaliate I was helpless'.

"Ok Sandeep. Now let me ask you another question. What if it was recession time and you did not get that promotion. Would you have been disappointed then?". 'Not at all Doctor.  My job security would have been of utmost importance during recession'.  "That is exactly my point Sandeep. People do not value what they already have and instead crib for what they do not have". What Sradha just said made perfect sense to me.I continued listening to her like a small kid. "In the first instance you took your job for granted and were disappointed about not getting that promotion and missing out on the 20-30% hike in your monthly salary. But what if you had lost your job?  You would have stayed payless for months together". She paused making the surrounding a little intense. "All I ask from you is to value what you have. People value things that they take for granted only when they lose it". "I am not saying do not dream. All I am saying is try your best to achieve your goals but do not have any expectations. Because if you have expectations and you fail to achieve your goals you will be disappointed and your life will go into depression mode like it has now. If you don't achieve your goals in life just remember that  things that are not meant to happen will never happen. As Lord Shri Krishna once told to Arjun "Karmanye vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana" Which means, you perform your duties, give your 100% in everything you do but do not expect anything in return. Things will come to you at the right time". "And Sandeep, if you follow these words sincerely in life your life will be full of joy".

With this Dr. Shradha had concluded. I was touched. Something inside me changed that day. I cursed myself as to why didn't I meet Dr. Shradha few years back? Why did I not follow this simple principle of life? But better late than never. I changed as a person after that one meeting and I owe my changed life to Dr. Shradha.