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If I were to walk up to you and ask you what you’ve achieved so far, what is the first thing you’d think of?

A large number of us will instantly think of the money we’ve made. Or the possessions we, err, possess because of the money we’ve made. I’ve not achieved anything financially. Sure, I made money. I’ve been working for four years and I spent it all, blindly. I still live paycheck to paycheck (when I get a paycheck that is). I have no savings, literally, not a rupee. Like I said in my earlier post, I started my own company recently, and we’ve started making some money NOW! So I can stop taking money from my parents NOW! After a full year. This month. Yes, I’m 27 and I take money from home. But that, for me, has little to do with my achievements.

There are little achievements all around us that we forget to celebrate. Instead, we spend so much time focusing on the end product that we ignore our everyday little wins. My lesson essentially is, acknowledge and celebrate the little, everyday wins.

Let me tell you about what I have achieved.

I’ve achieved a great set of friends who I can laugh with and who don’t judge me for who I am (They make fun of me sure, but err, I ask for it). I’ve achieved having a family that’s extremely supportive of all my quirks, and treat me like I’m their friend and not their son. I’ve achieved having people who’ll stick their necks out for me and similarly, I for them. I’ve achieved the ability to run, to leap (rather stupidly into a shallow pool), and to fall (refer to said pool story, it didn’t end well). I’ve achieved the ability to have discussions with an open mind. I’ve achieved being able to accept that there are things that are beyond my understanding.

I’ve achieved the ability to read good books, and to learn from each of them. Some have even changed the way I look at the world. I’ve achieved letting music calm me down. I’ve achieved an understanding of the positive effects music has on our lives, and how it is far more powerful than we can fathom.

I’ve achieved the ability to feel love, happiness, anger, rage, sorrow, fear, laughter, and to cry (I cry, yes). I’ve achieved an understanding of the fact that we’re all flawed. It’s our flaws that make us a beautiful species, and it’s our emotions, which give birth to some spectacular art, music and culture. I’ve achieved the ability to let people make their own decisions, the most you can do is give them advice. I’ve achieved the ability to be happy for a large part of the day. I’ve achieved the ability to believe in positivity and the effects it has on people. And I’ve achieved the understanding that anger is nothing but detrimental.

I’ve achieved an acceptance for failure and an understanding that my failures are what make me better. I’ve achieved the ability to learn from my mistakes.

I’ve achieved the ability to think and look at the world like a child; to delete the malice and greed we’ve grown to learn as part of everyday life, to look in amazement at the world, and to learn each day from everything and everyone around me. I’ve achieved the ability to understand that I will not be able to learn everything, but I can never stop learning and being amazed by something as silly as even say, a lava lamp (Ooooh, can I touch the lava? It spins??? WHAAAT?? :O). I’ve achieved realizing that, sometimes, I’m a complete idiot.

I’ve achieved the ability to understand that I will feel lost from time to time, I will feel like there isn’t a point to it all, I will feel defeated. I’ve achieved the ability to know that I need to lift myself up. I’ve achieved the ability to look at a person and treat him based on his personality and not his religion. I’ve achieved the ability to understand that some people need saving. I’ve achieved the ability to not stop trying to help these people; no one is beyond saving.

I’ve achieved the ability to accept that the world isn’t as bad as we think it is. We’ve just lost our way a bit. I’ve achieved the ability to stop living my life in comparison; it’s a downhill slope. I’ve achieved the ability to understand that we’re all hypocritical, but that doesn’t make us bad people. I’ve achieved the ability to understand that if I can pick up traits from the world around me, I can unlearn them too.

I’ve achieved the ability to observe genuine joy in the faces of people. I’ve achieved the ability to make (almost) everyone around me laugh.  I’ve achieved the ability to attempt to dance (poorly), to sing (poorly), and to play an instrument (fairly decently) but, more importantly, I’ve achieved the ability to have fun irrespective of whether I succeed or not.

I’ve achieved the ability to celebrate each tiny victory.

I don’t know about you but I feel like I’ve achieved quite a bit and I’m working on achieving a whole lot more. I believe we achieve something every day; let’s not lose sight of the smaller achievements in our quest for something bigger.

Now, tell me, what did you achieve today?

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About The Author

Kedar usually tells his friends and readers not to listen to anything he says. Why? Because he jumped into a shallow pool once and busted his head open. Who does that? He cautioned you already: you're officially taking advice from a stupid person, who, for now, is starting up his own company in Bombay and is (shockingly) doing a good job of it. He's a documentary film maker, writer, runner and a panda when he is not busy being silly.

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