"WHAT GROWS ROOTS IN THE HEART NEVER GOES AWAY..."

Pic.: Aparna Khanolkar Sheth

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”

-Neale Donald Walsch

“It is so difficult to get a job, but it is even more difficult to leave one. It, really, needs guts my dear... Enjoy life the way you like!”

This was how Indrani  responded to her near-and-dear Tandra, on reading what Tandra had just written on her FB status:

“YES,  I am on a job sabbatical... and here's what its like:

My house gets all the sunlight for most part of the day... because, I am there to draw the curtains when needed...

My culinary skills seem to have come out of the dormancy or weekend mode...

My voice [speaking/singing] is no more embarrassing.....in fact, my karaokes are splendid...

Most gadgets and things are fixed and are not waiting for a weekend

Mom and dad - and, for that matter, my spouse - can call me anytime....esp in need to speak

Some old friendships have got a new life...

Vacations needn't be planned in peak seasons now...

Domestic helps have, somehow, become more efficient...

Can't believe what I set out to tackle with a strong will power has empowered me more...
I, now, look forward to my next innings in the job front, with my eye happily on my retirement (someday)...

Honestly, there's no hurry.... [I guess what my dad tried to imbibe in me... has done its bit... and what ‘mom’s presence’ meant has, now, been noted well... I am unaware when]

... Feeling content.”

Tandra replied to Indrani: “We, sometimes, become prisoners of our own comfort zone...Unless we step out, there cannot be change... I believe so.”

Preeti, another dear friend of Tandra responded: “I have, always, maintained that a job is merely a 'means' to an end... which should, ideally, be your happiness and comfort... The day the 'means' becomes the 'end' and eats into your comfort and happiness, it needs to be shown its proper place with a kick on its backside... Forced or voluntary, it’s another opportunity to rediscover you, your capabilities and, more importantly, your JOY and PEACE. Change is the ONLY constant in life... Embrace it!”

 “You just did it and I am so proud of you dear,” wrote Shailaja, another well-wisher to Tandra, “Because, what grows roots in the heart never goes away...”

And, I froze, literally!

Every soul on this planet battles, at some point in his or her life, over this issue, which, Late Stephen Covey would describe as ‘Trading in life the better for the best.” In his famous book, ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’, he had rightly placed ‘Sharpen the Saw’ as the seventh habit...

Renew, or you will go blunt... Wasted...

The conversation between Tandra and her well-wishers reminded me, also, of another classic fable – ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’...

Smell your ‘cheese’, time to time, to see if it stinks... Your ‘cheese’, also, may disappear one morning when you open your fridge... Go out into the ‘unknown’ world – the maze - in search of ‘new cheese’.... It’s scary, yes... but, that’s the only way to find a ‘new cheese station’in life...

I and you are no exception to this phase in our lives... We all get caught-up in our respective safety-nets – and literally get juiced out and robbed off our zest – all because, we are scared to step out into the ‘maze’ – the unknown world out there... And, then, we also know, deep in our hearts, that, unless we step out – leave our comfort zones – the ‘best’ will never come to us...

I have been battling with this issue for quite some time now...

We all do, I hope...

So, when I chanced upon this piece of conversation between Tandra and her well-wishers, I wrote to her saying how timely it was for me... I, also, requested her if I could reproduce the conversation so that it might benefit many others, too...

Tandra said, "Yes... My good luck, totally.”

No Tandra, it is my good luck... Thank-you.

GERALD D’CUNHA