The Wishing Well

"How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd." ~ Alexander Pope

Wishes are terrible things! They can make you create wonderful things which might change the world around you, they can make you strive and take your abilities to their limits, they can push you out of your bed early each day. At the same time, they can make you jealous of others, corrupt your mind and make you run after mirages you never can get close to.

They are harbingers of joy as well as sorrow.

Why do we wish? Big question with many answers. Wanting things is an essential part of our lives as it is the driving force which makes things happen. It is something very vital to evolution as well as to make life beautiful and meaningful. Still we see people wanting a lot of things they never quite seem to achieve and get sad and frustrated about it. Of course, the prime reason, as many would concur, is that people do not work in the right direction and not as hard enough or may be smartly enough to get what they want. But this is not what I wish to bring out.

I see this very common trend, that many of us have a pre-set plan for our lives, a big list of wishes. For example, get to the top rank in school, try getting into the IITs, get a girl-friend in college, get a high paying job, appear in the coolest of the parties, get a good house, get a big car, become the boss in office etc. You would ask someone about his/her future aspirations and the person has the plan set already for the rest of the life, from the next job shift to right up to the retirement plans. “I would like to become that, then get one of those, then move to that place, then take that, then I want to be like that” …and it goes on. Some of these get fulfilled, some not. Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd. Apparently, most of the reasonable wishes materialize and all the superfluous ones don’t. Of course, not all of us are similar.

I read this book, ‘Connecting the Dots’ by Rashmi Bansal, which has stories of many entrepreneurs who made a ‘rags to riches’ journey to construct businesses of crores of worth. One striking similarity that I found among all the stories is that these guys cashed on the opportunities that fell in their way. They felt which way the market was heading and prepared for it. They only had a vision to excel and worked towards tackling their situations one day at a time. So this is what seems logical to me, that having a wish list does not seem to be the right way to live. Our wishes inspire us to stride towards betterment but at the same time confine us into our own shell. The real way to glory is through breaking the walls and see reality as it exists. To set achievable goals and get them and to make the best use of the moment in hand, simple enough.

Let our dreams give us hope and confidence to go and strive every day to make our life worthwhile, but at the same time, let reality be entirely consistent with it. Let us not leave our real future malnourished in the pursuit to feed the perceived future.

“We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” ~ E M Forster