CONNECTING THE DOTS

“You cannot connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards” Steve Jobs

During my growing up years I was quite independent, as my mother was a single parent. She was running a school, so she could not be with us everywhere. So, we used to travel all by ourselves, locally and even out of station. We used to do our own shopping, consulted the doctor when we were sick and even went for our own admissions, applied for my passport and visa! It was all alright as it was our way of life. It didn’t matter to us so long as things happened our way. I felt my dad’s absence when I had to make the arrangements for my wedding. Though I was the one who made the arrangements when my sisters got married, for my own, I felt that it would have been nice if somebody was there to shoulder the responsibilities and made me feel like a bride-to-be. But life made me independent and a decision maker.

This came very handy for me when I became an educationist and started running the school. Every moment I need to take decisions, and some of them would be vital. I cannot depend on anyone. It became easy for me as life itself was a training ground. That was when I realized that life took me through certain experiences to prepare me for what was to come. When I was young, I had no clue, what was in store for me and what kind of work I would do. There were days I bitterly cried for all the testing times. Least did I know that God was only preparing me for what was to come. So, today, a setback is seen differently. I only ask God, “What are you preparing me for?” and not, “Why me God for all the troubles?”

Life may not give us what we want, but definitely what we need. That is the design of life. Every experience takes us one notch higher in maturity.  Sometimes we would have prepared very well, or worked very hard, and would wait in anticipation. There will be times that we desire something in life. To our dismay, we will find that we cannot get what we desire or succeed in spite of our hard work. We may certainly get upset, as our expectations would have been very high. As mahatria would say, “God upsets our plans so that He can implement His plan, and His plans are always better for us.” Sometimes we cannot explain why something did not work in our favour, even though we tried hard. There is a reason. We don’t know the bigger picture. So, in all humility, let’s wait. So many times, I have seen that I have been denied what I wanted. But later on, I have realized that, it was all for my good. So, today, when things don’t go my way, I don’t get upset. Rather, I am in total surrender, and whisper to myself, “Thy will be done.” This is because, looking back, I am able to connect the dots. 

 #Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting