Friday, August 12, 2011

Connect the dots


It’s being a month and half since I blogged. And just last month, I said to myself that I will blog once a week. Life has its own way of making us realize our folly of assuming to be in control of a situation. Well, few updates from my work place. It’s being 2 months in my job and the experience has been good until now. Except that as being in corporate, one gets very little time for oneself.  The reason why iam stating all this is because there have been numerous times when I have got many ideas for writing articles. But I didn’t get the time, rather I didn’t make the time for it. Hence, the lull for more than 45 days. Fortunately, the jinx has been broken now.  

Iam sure you have heard the famous speech by Steve Jobs at Stanford University during the Graduation ceremony. If no, I strongly suggest you spend some time watching it, his speech is very inspiring & insightful. For those who have seen the video, Steve Job shares 3 lessons from his life. This article is on the 2nd lesson which he shared “Connecting the dots”. (For those, who havent seen the video, the 2nd lessons tell about how Steve during his graduation time, attended a course on calligraphy. At that time, it didn’t make sense for him to take that course. However, after he founded Apple, due to his calligraphy knowledge, Apple was able to bring in different fonts which we use today. If he hadn’t attended that course, there wouldn’t have been this variety in the fonts. Steve says ‘Connecting the dots at a later point of time makes us realize that whatever had happened, happened for a reason’)

I was discussing about life with one of my friends, (Don’t be scared. We don’t do that kind of talking often. Still, being human we are bound to commit mistakes sometimes ;) ) We were reminiscing on the turn of events from our times of graduation. We have had some dreams, aspirations as we were grew. Few dreams got fulfilled, few never materialized yet at this point of time, we are in a place and situation perfectly suited for us. Few of us call it destiny, like things have already being pre-ordained and things are bound to happen in a certain way.  If we look at the journey we undertake each day in our life , the journey towards our dreams, aspirations , the aspiration for a Big home, the aspiration of earning 6 digit salaries , the aspiration for a promotion etc.  But sometimes, we may end up not achieving it. The causes may be intrinsic or extrinsic. Whatever be the cause, the fact of not achieving our aspirations hurts us to a large extent and we lose hope in ourselves & resign ourselves to fate. Or, we end up blaming Tom, Dick and Harry for our misfortune and continue to live our life cribbing on our bad luck. Now guess what the surprising part is. Some years later, we feel that somehow things have got in place. The things which we had aspired have materialized and we feel probably that’s the best way it could have taken place. Unfortunately, in the interim time which we had spent cribbing or regretting has gone away. If only we had known that things would turn out to be better later, we could have spent the interim time in a much more effective & happier manner. 

Just imagine the possibilities of things, activities you could do by being a little more positive minded during the hard times. So do we have a secret of being happy no matter what happens? Guess what, we just heard the secret.  Simply by connecting the dots. Yes, connecting the dots in REAL TIME. When we live our daily life, whenever we face failures, challenges and obstacles, all we need to do is to happily maneuver them & to say “Gosh, I know how this is gonna turn up. Things are happening in a way, which helps me reach my goal. Just that I need to be prepared and this situation prepares me for my future.” 

Connecting the dots when the unexpected things happen enables us not only to stay pleasant but also helps us retain a positive mindset which ensures we strive towards our goals in a healthy, effective manner. Moreover, we wouldn’t be blaming anyone, or blaming our misfortune for any happening. Because we know that what’s happening today is happening for our future benefit. If things go our way, we are Happy. If things don’t go our way, we are still Happy. We don’t have a choice but to lead a Happy life, as long as we connect up the dots in REAL TIME. 

Happy Living J

12 comments:

Destination Infinity said...

We realize the connections between the dots sooner than we think.

Destination Infinity

Uday Sankar Yerramilli said...

We don’t do that kind of talking often. Still, being human we are bound to commit mistakes sometimes ;)

Awesome line da.. anyway, nice writing after ages...

Prashant Sree said...

@DI: Is that so. The quicker the better :) So how have u been. Long time...

Prashant Sree said...

@Uday: With all respect, out of the entire article,you found that line as t 'Awesome' part :-! Somebody get me a hammer plz !

On a serious note, good to have ur comment :)

Stranger in a Strange Land said...

Hello PS:

Life is what happens between the dots. Yes, if we reflect upon our lives we will see that each event or meeting of a person led to another event & meeting and what we label as good or bad or positive or negative was just a lesson along the way to prepare us for the next dot.

Take care my friend,
Mike

K.CHINTHNIDHI said...

yes very true anna,but most ofeten wisdom tends to be retrospective!!

Pree said...

“If things go our way, we are Happy. If things don’t go our way, we are still Happy. We don’t have a choice but to lead a Happy life, as long as we connect up the dots in REAL TIME” Best lines of the post.
Connecting the dots and making the future is a rare quality indeed.. !!
Nice writing Prashant.. !!

Prashant Sree said...

@Mike: Very true mike. Our life is indeed between the dots. All the happening are nothing but lessons. Wise words ! Thanks for your comment :)

Prashant Sree said...

@Chinth & Pree: Thank you for the comment. Glad that you liked it :)

Destination Infinity said...

Good to see that you have taken up a job and are happy about it, Prashant. I am doing just fine... I think you need to keep up that once in a week blogging schedule.

Destination Infinity

sm said...

connection dots is important but difficult task

Prashant Sree said...

@DI: Thanks Rajesh. Iam trying to break myself of the clasp and return to weekly blogging. We should catch up sometime. Being long, since we met :)

@sm: Indeed it is, but not impossible. With due time and practice, one can certainly achieve it.