What is Imp? Money or Joy?

I and few of my friends have this habit of having long threads of emails being exchanged about various topics. (Dude you still use emails???Why??Don’t you have any social networking accounts?? Yeah for some we might sound archaic for still using out of fashion emails). We have email threads running over hundred at times. Well, in college days we had 40 minutes of discussions in college canteen but since it’s not possible for all of us to meet often because of various problems (like distance & time), we make full utilization of our employer’s internet connection. (So enough for the background of this post)

So like innumerous email discussions it all started with a different topic and boiled down to something else. One of the friends (‘HeMa MataJi’ our very own melodramatic aunty) had seen the movie Zindagi Naa Milegi Dobara, and got nostalgic about the time our group spent during the 2 years of MBA (she wasn’t the only one though because I know at least half a dozen people who felt the exact same way after the movie). Anyways so the thread started. I and few others joined in and so on it went. Then one of our friends (we fondly call him ‘Tara Singh’ of Gaddar fame…don’t remember how the name stuck though), sent us a mail with the subject line “What is Imp? Money or Joy?” Although I replied to it yesterday noon only but the question still stuck in mind, and so I thought of writing this post.

It’s quite a simple question you might think, but is the answer to it really that simple? Often in life we have to make tough choices…choices where your mind and heart are in opposite teams and fighting for your acceptance. Whom should one listen to? The Practical mind or The Emotional heart? I for one, always have this eternal confusion about almost everything. And often I make wrong choices which I rue later. I guess almost all of us go through such situations in life. (At least I hope so I am not the only one). Anyways here’s what I replied back to Tara Singh:

“Wats Imp?Money or Joy?...well ans in most imp is thyself....so put urself first...choose wat u want Money joy or nethg else...cauz nethg cn b imp dependin on d situation!!!u tuk d rt decision cauz dats rt 4 u...evrythg else will fall in2 place if ur happy wid ur dec!!hai ki nahi..”

Life is as complex and as simple as you make it. Agreed we need to make tough choices many a times in life, but will these choices be so hard if you have put yourself first and decided what’s right for you. ‘It sounds so selfish’ many would say and being selfish is not a virtue is what our elders have always told us. But think about it again. Aren’t all living beings selfish? I feel we all are selfish and there’s nothing wrong in that. If we aren’t happy how can we make anyone else happy? Now don’t get me wrong it doesn’t mean you take a gun and ape Anders Breivik, and go on a killing spree. Absolutely not. What I mean to say is one should be happy to take a decision and not force self into taking a decision they don’t want to.

Now, it’s not a one solution fits all problem kind of strategy. Depending on the situation and what you want you should take your call. So you could be chasing money or joy/happiness depending on the situation and what you really want.

Another thing we might do, is weighing ourselves down. That is, carrying unnecessary baggage over our head. We all carry these baggages from our previous experiences. But we forget that experiences are meant to facilitate our judgment and not completely overtake it. I have seen people who are so engrossed in their past that they aren’t able to navigate through their present. So it’s important leave past in the past. That’s the best way I feel.

One more baggage that we carry is the baggage of expectations. Especially we Indians have that extra expectation pressure from our families, which again weighs us down. But family should be your pillar of strength and not the anchor of a free-flowing boat. In any decision in life, if you cannot convince your family to accept it, believe me no one will. So if tackled properly, one’s family can be convinced. And then again if you are happy and if your family sees your decision working for you, they will accept. Like I said earlier, one needs to make thyself happy before making anyone else happy.

So this is what I thought……..(till now that is). I know most of you might have their own view (same or opposite), so why not share it. Use the comments to put in your views. So till the next post Asta la vista.