Jab bachhe the toh bas bade banne chahte hai
Ab bade ban rahe hai toh bachhe rehna chahte hai
Life after school can be scary, y’know. You’re out of your cocoon and it can take some time to get accustomed to your wings and learn how to actually fly. Don’t be scared. Take your first flight.
Here are 10 things that will help you fly towards your dreams:
1. Listen to your own body:
In 11th and 12th, we neglect our bodies because “pure din padhege nahi toh Boards mein kuch kar nahi paayege”. While this irrational fear may not have scientific validity, most students hold tight to this belief and blow it up in proportions. If you’re feeling lethargic all the time, this is your body giving you signals. Listen. It’s time to give your body some attention.
2. Get back in shape:
This doesn’t mean joining a gym. Get out your bicycle from the garage and see what it feels like to cycle again. (It actually feels a lot like flying). Take up running if you wish to. (It feels a lot like flying too). Play your favorite sport again. Whatever you desire. As long as it makes you sweat, you’re on the right track. As a friend once said, “You’ll first see your body break down, and then you’ll see your body break down the obstacle”
3. Eat Well:
This doesn’t (necessarily) mean eat healthy. It means: eat the flavors you like. Give your taste buds a feast. If you like to do everything alone, learn to cook! When your stomach and taste buds are satisfied, you’ll start feeling happier. The happier you feel, the more you’ll like yourself, which brings us to our fourth point
4. Get acquainted with yourself:
You’ve been listening to the adults for far too long, taking their suggestions and not listening to your own heart. You’ve been running the rat race, but now’s the chance to get out. But, get out and go where? That’s the task. For that, you must get to know yourself all over again.
Every day, start doing one thing you REALLY wish to do. This might be surprising a friend you haven’t met in a long time, going hunting for the best tandoori momos in town, or even going out for a walk. Listen to your heart and do what it tells you.
5. Figure out what drives you:
Make a list of everything that you’ve done based on your heart’s suggestions and ask yourself WHY you wanted to do each thing. Ask yourself why you like going for walks, or why you choose to stay close to this particular girl you’ve known for a long time but only started talking to a few months back. Ask yourself why you are joining the college/job that you are going to. This way you’ll get to know a lot more about you. Beware: there will be some parts that you don’t like about yourself yet, but that’s alright, we’ll tackle it in the next part.
6. Learn to Like Yourself:
When you’ve started introspecting about all your behavior, you’ll realize that there are some parts of you that you like, and others that you don’t. You now have knowledge about yourself. Knowledge fuels Change. Change the parts of you that you don’t like, one by one. And do more of the parts that you like. Slowly, you’ll find your personality changing and you know what? This is what growing up actually feels like.
7. Learn to Love Yourself:
When you only do the things you want to and like, you’ll find your life filled with joy. The more joy there is the more satisfied you’ll be. People talk about Job Satisfaction, but Life Satisfaction is much more important. When you start to love yourself, you’ll feel motivated, confident, and resisting to outside influence. You’ll be an unstoppable force. And you’ll be magnificent in flight.
8. Follow your Passions (One by One):
If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! You know what drives you and what makes you happy you’re motivated to not let anybody force you into doing anything else. Our time on earth is limited and there’s only so much we can do, but don’t you go on trying to do everything at once. How to figure out what to do first? As Aaron Swartz said, “You literally ought to be asking yourself all the time what is the most important thing in the world I could be working on right now, and if you are not working on that why aren’t you?”.
9. Learn how to stay Committed:
As Swami Vivekanand said, “Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success. “ The last line rings true. The path to success has been illuminated. All you must do is walk on it now. And when you get a hang of it, run. Chase your dreams and someday you’ll realize that you’re not running anymore, but flying.
10. Spread the Word:
Tell your friends. Let them change their lives too. This is the ultimate test. If you’re going to keep these rules to yourselves, you have not really begun. You’re still trying to be better than everyone else, and in that sense, you haven’t gotten out of school. The real “adult” world is doing things you care about. Only overgrown school kids fight each other for the 1st rank in class. You will give your friends “an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun” (Man of Steel)
So, tell your friends and see them grow up with you. And it’s a wonderful thing: growing up together.