We are what we are…

The other day Debajit and I were talking about how some people will always appear happier than us with whatever they have while we shall always keep striving for more; how some people will go ahead and just do what they wanna do while we’ll keep evaluating our risk profiles before taking a decision; how some people will always come across as cool and fun loving while we’ll be dubbed as the “serious” guys wherever we go.

Debajit says it has a lot to do with the kind of environment we grew up in – he says we were always brought up being told that we have to achieve something in our lives, we were always told that someday, we should be proud of ourselves and we internalized all this gyan and equated it to being a serious kid with a goal in life (the Indian education system doesn’t give much space to be cool and successful at the same time though exceptions are always there). At all points of time, the goal was only a short term one - even today I’m not clear as to what I’m gonna do after twenty years, but yeah… as always, I know what my immediate goals are and I’m pretty much on track. The obsession with being focused probably took a toll on our flamboyance.

But after every such discussion, I am always left wondering whether I really would have been a different person in a different setting. I am what I am and others are what they are. Some are cool, some are serious. Some are studs, some are duds. Some are flamboyant while some are shy romantics. Some people sing and dance well, Big deal! I sketch well. It’s not that we don’t have our simple pleasures in life. I love to read and I love to write on this blog. We “serious” guys also have our treasured moments when the momentary happiness rose almost to the level of bliss.

Yes... there are times when we choose the boring option of hard work above the more tempting option of having fun in life but then, it all has a purpose and it all adds up to the tremendous amount of pride that we take in being ourselves. And yeah… there are times when you look around to see everyone but a few “serious” guys like you chilling out bigtime and for a moment, there’s this thought that creeps in “What the hell am I running after?” but then everyone makes his/her own choices in life and we’ve made ours to run after our self set individual finishing lines and come to think of it, I don’t regret me being just me – A runner.