Are You Treating Your Life Like A Temporary Phase?

While most kids are enjoying their summer holidays right now, a good portion of them is face to face with the one thing that decides every Indian kid’s life path – CBSE Boards.

This contrast between those enjoying and those who are toiling can also be seen in my home. While my sister is taking baking courses and preparing for her school trip to Nainital, I can be seen daydreaming about my life after boards and 12th standard with bursts of studying. And spotting me outside the home is as rare as spotting a Bengal Tiger right now. It’s not even the fact that I can’t go out because I have to study, but it’s more because I’ve built so much reluctance to step out of the home since April, pretty much how some of us felt after we weren’t in lockdown anymore but didn’t feel like going out either.

Knowing all of this, my Mumma dragged me to drop my younger sister off at the baking class with her. The class was somewhat nearby to where we lived and it was only an hour long. So dropping my sister off, coming back home and going back again to pick her up would be a foolish idea.

We decided to drop her off and roam around the market area (gedi marna if you will). The market area was the locality where my school is. That locality to UPSC aspirants is basically what Kota is to IIT aspirants, so there was no dearth of cafes or street food.

Mumma and I had some adventures, but that’s a story for another time 😂

All in all, we had a good time inquiring about all sorts of memberships – gyms, libraries (aka study groups) – and what not.

And I’m very happy that I did that. Know why?

Because I came to know that the days after my exams I had set my expectations on for actually enjoying myself, will now have to be devoted to college entrances. 

I did expect my entrances but I just thought there would be some time between boards and them to take a breather. CUET is supposed to be in July, and I thought that other universities would follow the suit.

Apparently not. My exams get over on 7th June and my entrance is on 18th June, and I have to prepare entirely new subjects for it. This means no time to slow down for me (or my friends for that matter).

If I relied entirely on waiting for my exams to get over and have fun (which to be fair I would if Mumma hadn’t forced me to come with her), I’d be pretty bummed.

I’m not convincing you to go out and have the time of your life during your exam season.

What I’m saying is – “please make sure that wherever you’re at in life, you don’t treat it like a transitory period. Don’t waste your college years wishing to already be graduated & have a job, don’t waste your single years wishing for someone to be in love with. If/when those things come, they will come in due time and they will be good. But there is nothing like looking back and feeling empty because you wasted literal years ignoring what you had because you were hoping for something better. While it’s important to better yourself and reach for your goals, don’t neglect the present because that’s where you are now and it’s your now that determines your future.”

Expecting good things from the future is the same as expecting someone else to do stuff for you – often results in disappointment. What we need to be is self-reliant and self-soothing and get the good things from the present.

As Naina from YJHD would say, “Life mein jitna bhi try karo, kuch na kuch toh chootega hi. Isliye yahin, isi pal ka mazza lete hain.”

What are some of the plans you have kept for the next phase of life? Whatever they are, find a way to do them now.