Which Path to Choose?

Sonia Mannotra
We all go through our struggles, difficulties and periods of hard decision making in life .In my experience the decision making process is the one that’s the  most frustrating. Gauging the choices we have in hand, constant evaluations in mind, thinking about other people’s reactions, worrying about the risks, and all such kind of things keep bothering us from time to time. But what I am concerned about here is that, when we make decisions do we actually follow the right process? And who decides what’s right and what’s wrong? There are some questions that keep bugging me. Questions like, if we are doing right by making decisions and choices based on how we are taught to live in this world? Why we want to stick to what is considered moral and apt according to our society? Why we are so scared to make mistakes? Aren’t we missing something here?
From the time we are born to the time we die, we live a life which has its rules predetermined by the world or the people who don’t even know us. We never realise that we are living in kind of an automated mode, like machines and we never take a moment to think that who we actually are and what we actually want from life. And it’s not our fault, we are all brought up like this, made to adapt habits and behaviours already set for us. If we do something unusual or different from what’s considered right we become the target of society’s criticism and pestering. I’m not saying that all the people are living like this (according to the rules). There are many who have realised the true worth of their lives and are doing what they actually want to do. They have the courage to face the society’s harsh criticism and they are not afraid of failure. There are many people who lived life on their own terms and faced rebuke and mockery in the beginning. But when they succeeded in their pursuit, the people reproving them were tongue-tied and those who mocked them became the object of mockery themselves. But the rest of us who are afraid to break the norms, I don’t think we are actually living. We are just dragging along, living the same routine everyday. Whether it’s a choice of what we study in college or which job we do or clothes we wear or the place to live in, we don’t really look into the deeper perspective. It’s all superficial.
So, what should we do? Should we go on living our life like this? Or should we break the barriers and find ourselves? Well, it all depends on us. The main point to remember is “Do whatever makes you Happy” .This “happy” part is very important to remember. The life is very short and unless you believe in reincarnation, we don’t get a chance to live again. So we should value what we have and should understand that we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. Life is uncertain. So live in the moment. Do what you actually want to do. Don’t live like a machine. Don’t feel afraid of the failure or making mistakes. Failure and mistakes only help you grow and besides, you can try as many times as you want. You should have perseverance and the willingness to work hard. If you love your dream and are passionate about it, you will find a way to achieve it. It may sound clichéd but in short “Listen to your Heart”. 🙂