A
Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks was the book which was due to return in two
days. Hurrying with my chores, I occupied my favourite cozy corner in my house.
Of course, with a mug of coffee to help me cope with the chilling winter of
Kolkata. No sooner did I begin the read, I was absorbed in the narrative
introduction of the characters. One word on the 12th page that struck a chord
in me was ‘what if’. The protagonists in the novel had played the what if game,
neither of them had ever expected anything terrible to happen. But it had
happened.
The
impact of the word was so much that it made me lost in my world of what ifs.
Until I come up with my analysis, I just couldn’t proceed with the reading. And
here’s what I came up with.
As
kids, our world is too small and the innocent minds can never think about
negatives. But, as we grow into adults, experiences and life’s lessons bombard
us with questions for which we strive to find answers. Parallelly, our minds
are on the go playing the what-if games. But our busy schedule shoves off those
as negative thoughts. Weighing the extremes, we find our balance and keeping
moving. But, after reaching a certain phase in life, when life seems to be
aimless, we fall into the pattern of looking forward to those around us for our
happiness. It is precisely then, the terrible what if thoughts take over us
completely, thereby making us feel insecure about the future. Quite obviously,
unhealthy minds invite troubles.
What
if we take one moment to think about a small change in ourselves? What if we
choose to work on some changes in our lives?
The
very first impulse can be a denial. But if we allow ourselves to wallow in the
new thoughts, we can identify the opportunity that the little changes bring
into our lives. After all, life is short but full of fun. Life may not be good
many a time, but we can always see the good side of life.
For
me, the what if questions helped coming up with alternative plans. It brought a
new perspective to my life. Here I share with you, how and why the what-if
games are important to me.
•
Me, being in a phase of life where I do not have much to accomplish, rather
settled, would be apt to term, I needed something to keep me going. One
question that shaped me to be a writer is, what if I take up something to make
my life interesting. And it is then, I took up my writing.
•
That was the beginning. The next what-if question to myself that kept me on my
toes was, what if I stop here? It was when writing turned out to be tough.
•
Answering to the what-if questions further, I find satisfaction and peace in my
life. I now, look forward to each morning and have little goals set for my
days.
•
With the what-if questions, my plans for 2017 are intact. January is the month
of new begin, and my plans for the month is to keep going adhering to my plans
of blogging. In the month of February, I intend to explore new blogging
platforms. March, is for taking my writing up to a newer level. April, May, and
June are dedicated to a new project of writing. July would be a break. August
would be a promising month with completion of my project. August should be a
handful with little amendments of the project. September, October, and November
would be for the full and final presentation of the project. December would be
a month to wrap up my plans of 2017, tying the loose ends and completing other
parallel tasks undertaken.
•
Now, while I write these there is one what-if question threatening me, what if
I do not accomplish my plan? Can I ever face myself? The answer is a big No-No.
The answer in itself has an
inspiring note
to me. And here, I go to take up my task of planning short-term goals to
achieve my mammoth target of 2017.
Go
ahead and start questioning yourself with the what-if questions and come out
with answers. No matter how and what path we choose, all that matters is we,
for ourselves, so that in future, when we look back, we should be proud of
ourselves for having made it up all that we wanted
to achieve.
My lovely
readers, do wish me good luck.
