Skip to main content

Live the life, not the lifestyle....

I read a simple little sentence recently : Live the life, not the lifestyle. Outwardly, this is a very simple sentence that sounds very intelligent and all, but really, it seems to have so much of meaning hidden that I just couldn't stop myself from jotting down my thoughts on its manifold deep ramifications.

How many times have we heard our elders say "such was not the case in our times..." Why, even we tell our kids so many times, "you are lucky, you know; things were much different when we were young..." What does this tell us? Times change....so do circumstances. What is there today may not be tomorrow, and what was yesterday, might have disappeared somewhere down the line...without us even noticing what happened...
Now, if you are moving to better times from trying ones, then your journey is always a happpy one; but unfortunately, if you are moving from good times to bad (this has nothing to do with the king of good times, mind you) then things can get tricky for you. Take the story of Cinderella, for example. A true blue, rags to riches story. The girl must have been only too happy to jump into the palace life with Prince Charming. But look at Snow White, how much of cooking and cleaning she had to do staying with the dwarfs! Why go abroad, look at our own Sita, from the Ramayana, or Draupadi from the Mahabharata.....Or take the case of Ram and Laxmana, the princes of Ayodhya, or the Pandavas of Hastinapur....Kings and Queens and princes and princesses....all of them used to all the riches of the world. But circumstances threw them a curve ball that would've been difficult for anyone to manage. But they did, and how!    

This is what intrigues me, the ability to sustain, no matter what. Stand like a rock, solid, be it high tide or low tide. There is a saying, 'when the going gets tough, the tough get going' and this is what is a sign of perseverance. Not all can do this. Most fail. But what is it that does not make those others fail? What was special about these people who could stand tall despite the circumstances surrounding them..? They were all good at heart, courageous....but most of all, they lived their lives...as wives...mothers.....husbands, kings......good people.....and not their lifestyles as princesses and queens and kings......
They lived the life, not their lifestyle! 

How many people we see in real life today who are not able to take their down fall; while so many others, who stand up each and every time they are knocked down? It is not possible for us to ask that life never knock us down; but what we can ask for is that we have enough strength to stand up again...and again....and again! So pray ask for life.....lifestyles will change with time...what matters is your life, as you know it.  
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Dream

“Hello,” said the voice on the phone. “My name is Roald Dahl. I know you never expected a call from me, as famous as I am, but I’ve been given your name as someone who can help me with my next book…” That was how it all started. With that one dream. Of course, I knew it even before I had opened my eyes, that it was a dream. I mean, who in their right mind would say I know you never expected a call from me, as famous as I am… ?! Not to mention the fact that Dahl has been dead for the past twenty-eight years. But that didn’t matter. Not at that time. Because that dream gave me clarity. That dream propelled me into action after ages of inactivity. Well, I say ages, but it was merely months, really. Months spent going in and out of courtrooms. Months spent climbing up and down that horrid staircase of the family court building. Horrible, awful months. Excruciating months, when I preferred oblivion, and possibly even contemplated death. Months when I didn’t want to exis...
37 comments
Read more

A Break In The Pattern

The train stops. She looks around. It is a big station, large and open, nothing like the big city railway stations that she has seen. This station is surrounded by lush greenery as far as the eye can see. There is a chill in the air. And a sense of belonging. She breathes it in, deeply.  She walks towards the end of the platform to the foot-overbridge that will take her out of the station. A few taxis and auto rickshaws are lined up near the exit, and she hires one at random. The driver helps her stow her one bag near her feet, while she sits to one side of the wide seat, as if she is sharing space with someone. Because she is used to taking up only so much space – always in a corner, trying not to make her presence felt. Now as she thinks this, she moves a little towards the centre of the seat, as if to affirm to herself that she is now travelling all by herself, for the first time in her life. You wouldn’t really know it now, to look at her, but she is scared out of h...
33 comments
Read more

Of life lessons and listening to one’s heart - Mrs. B speaks

Small pleasures matter in life. Really small, everyday pleasures. Like, being able to smell the garden in full bloom on a hot summer day, or being able to have a hot water bath in cold weather. Or even being able to drink a hot cup of coffee first thing in the morning. Or, for that matter, being able to eat junk food to one’s heart’s content! Ah, bliss! Oh, I almost forgot, for those of you who haven’t met me before , myself, Mrs. Bhagirathi. The kids in my building call me Mrs. B. I am a housewife. Or better still – a homemaker. I work from home and generally spend time reading and surfing the internet when the kids and my husband are away for the day. I also cook and clean, and wash and iron clothes – but I guess all that is included in the title of “homemaker.” So no special mention needed. So, like I was saying, life is a sum total of small pleasures. And what I said about junk food, is absolutely true. Especially when you think of the cheeseburger. Or the veggie bur...
31 comments
Read more