I pray we see this too.

Yet, another usual morning and the loud irritating buzzing sound of the alarm successfully ruin my dreamworld and fill my screen with a bunch of notifications as it automatically connects to the Wi-Fi. I somehow manage to turn it off with one eye open and start scrolling through the notifications. After switching among a few Instagram stories, I keep my phone aside and start staring the ceiling as my head is filled with numerous distracting thoughts.

Why have we all become, the way we have become? Why is it all about showing off and proving ourselves better than everyone else? Is there any fruitful purpose behind it? Or it’s always been the same and has become detectable only because of the so-called distance breaker social media?

Willingly or unwillingly, knowingly or unknowingly, at some point, we find ourselves surrounded by or in the middle of this unwanted and worthless race. The race of comparison and winning it by proving ourselves better than anyone else we know in every possible way. Let it be grades, attire, appearance, profession, lifestyle, loved-ones or as if this was not enough, it’s even spread to Facebook or Instagram posts, stories, selfies and what not! Sure, there’s no harm in having goals or aiming for something great, but only when it’s done for ourselves. As said in the well-known poem – the light in the heart – "never stop dreaming" and quoted by Walt Disney – "if you can dream it, you can do it", dreams are fulfilled by hard work and determination, not by sharing it on meaningless social media.

So what if he spends more on clothes and you on food? So what if somebody’s Instagram is more interesting than yours? So what if she has a bigger car than yours? So what if he’s pursuing medicine but you’re in arts? So what if she prefers perfections but you like staying naturally imperfect? Humans are meant to be the perfectly distinctive and imperfect creatures. For instance, a math teacher asked the students to get the result of 9 by summation of any two one-digit numbers. Many students answered it the different way. The teacher wrote all the possibilities on the blackboard. Then, she asked them to figure out which is the correct one. All of them were shouting, ‘mine is correct! ’At last, she explained not only the sum but the golden rule of life. She quoted that it does not matter what you do in life, how you do it, what is the purpose of doing it. But your journey and the destination should be the ultimate one. Everyone was amazed how is it possible. How can be that number 9 is the exact answer for everyone? She beautifully summed it up in the single sentence that we all must work to contribute to the society. That must be the only purpose of human existence.

The point is, every one of us is seeking that same bliss which we think will come from the materialistic achievements and bragging about them. But guess what? Though the ultimate destination for all of us is the same, the ways to reach there for all of us are different. We truly are not obligated of following any of those so-called standards, rather choose what pleases us. The priorities may vary and so may the choices we make, all that needed is to be proud of them without comparing them and moving forward. We all need to free ourselves from the invisible cage where we do things just for the sake of letting somebody else down, we spend our efforts, opportunities and even the whole lives in there but don’t reach anywhere. Just live your life as if no one is judging you. It is completely acceptable to make mistakes. But do not forget to learn from it. That’s what human race does.

It’s completely all right choosing those comfy pajamas over that fancy short dress. It’s okay if you have fewer followers but a bunch of real friends. All that’s required is that sense of acceptance towards our own lives, priorities and the pride for the decisions we take for the sake of making our own lives better. Those fake validations which we seek aren’t taking us anywhere.

We all were created differently and were left in different kind of our own worlds with brains, not to imitate each-other but to shape our worlds as we want by and for ourselves. Let's try and start looking at the world through our own lens and admire how different but beautiful our journeys can be. :)

The treasure

"It's a girl.. It's a girl".. the nurse shouted and every member of the family was overwhelmed by joy. She was taken care as a princess and was provided every single thing she wished for. The girl was no less. Sheer talent and no such task that she can not accomplish. Years passed and she grew older. As she was in her teenage, she was forced to try her hands on household chores. Later, she was forced to learn them properly and soon her life became household oriented. Before she could understand anything, her life had become those virtual in-laws and husband oriented who did not even exist yet. The age, where she should be encouraged toward establishment of her goals, she was trapped in the training of pleasing some unknown people. She could have become anything, but all she was taught to become a "people pleaser". She was forced to have a goal of becoming an ideal wife and an ideal daughter-in-law. And that's all she had taken the birth for!

The mentality of our society says, if she's born being a female, no matter what all her capabilities are, no matter how talented she is, she is instructed to shape her life up to live up to her in-laws' expectations. She should sit, speak, think in a certain way because those are the measures of the so called decency! And if she doesn't get married till a certain age, she's being judged. And even after getting married, no matter how successful professional she is, she's judged on the basis of a petty mistake regarding household chores.

We all pretend to be modern but the fact is, wearing big brands or eating mediterranean cuisines doesn't make us modern. We need to change our perceptions. Getting married shouldn't be the only motto in life. There's a lot lot to be explored about life, grab the opportunities and build ourselves.

Dear society, we're not against marriage, household or having the life you expect us to live.. But let us accomplish our own life goals first. Let us try and fail and succeed. Give us a chance. Because, nobody is bothered how good Sunita Williams, Lata Mangeshkar, Hema Malini, Saina Nehwal, Kiran Bedi are at household chores. We too can be one such extraordinary name whom we all have respect for. We too have it in us.

"Let her spread the wings and fly away in her own kind of sky,

 if you let her live her dreams, you will never need to tame her, she will return to you".