Most people are so stuck in their egos that everything revolves around me, me, and more me. But if you want to be rich in the truest sense of the word, it can't only be about you. It has to include adding value to other people's lives.     T. Harv Eker

Some people just love things! Simply , genuinely , truly love them. And there is absolutely no wrong in this . However when this love becomes obsessive, there is beginning of problem. When they think that it is actually the things that add value to their life. Many youngsters today are blessed to have highly priced gadgets because the parents have highly disposable income which was not the case earlier. Sometimes it is the peer pressure of the child and sometimes it is the peer pressure of the parents to provide the items that seemingly add value to the lifestyle if not anything else ! The times are such that, in order to be in the game , everyone just blindly follows the trend. And truly not many have the patience to take a path that is different.

We all make mistakes and learn. But there are some who do not because they think may be being wrong is not a part of their dictionary. Being right might seem their only option. But is life only about being right and wrong ? Is it always about black and white? As per me , it is not . It is so much more! Things that seemed indispensable lose their significance if life takes an unprecedent turn ! The brands that once seemed like the only option might seem a luxury when we realize a bigger picture of life. I have had many interactions where I had noticed that people often look down upon someone who does not keep track of the trends of fashion or does not adhere to the norms of the so called Fashion Brigade. When I had spent years outside my home state for my higher education and my job, I had experienced a lot of this myself . ” The small town girl ” was often what I would hear them calling me at my back. And I had slowly taken a lot of effort to groom myself, to become one among them, till one day I felt suffocated enough to see that I was losing my own individualism slowly. It felt like a prison. And it surely took some courage in me to get accumulated, when I would attend a get together and be myself. There were of course many who raised eye brows and tried to pull me down. Sometimes it was difficult to afford the forced fashion and sometimes I myself questioned the norm. But then slowly, I gained acceptance and I too understood people better.

My case is nothing different from any small town girl, who hails from a middle class to dream big and carve their own path. Many so called affluent ones try to pull you down and people who judge you from your financial capabilities should actually inhabit a different planet altogether. Not all of us are born with a silver spoon in our mouth, not all of us have everything easy in life. An unprecedented medical expense can drain a lot of us and may be change the entire lifestyle pattern for a majority. Still a lot think it is the things that add value in their life. I beg to differ, we need things, no doubt but more than that we need experiences and the right people in life to live a life that is meaningful in true sense. There are those who use you like a parasite not because you are a fool, but because giving might be the very nature of many. And by the time this realization dawns , you would know how much time one has lost. And there are some who come in your life with a new sunshine and may be to rekindle the light of faith to believe in goodness, to do one’s duty without worrying about results or how much to gain personally.

Hence, more than worrying about how much value can we just accumulate, if the focus is how much value can we contribute, we will live not only enriched lives but also lives that are worthwhile and significant and most certainly, it will never be a easy one ! I think that when we put in the best in our creative pursuit, or when a parent gives his best for his offspring, when the siblings sacrifice personal interest for the benefit of other sibling, when a stranger gives his best for that one smile on a face of an unfortunate, we all add value. Cheers to this spirit !

This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon.’ 

Love ,

Chinmayee