The Path

There is always a path to follow. It doesn't matter where you are and where you wish to go. There will always be a clear, well trodden path. It will be simple, straight forward and will lead you to your goal. Or what you would consider your goal. Because there hasn't been a single person that knew what their goal was. All they know is they need to get somewhere in the vicinity of what they think is their goal. That's about it. It would be enough for them to consider themselves successful.

The truth is, no path is ever going to get you satisfaction. There will always be that longing for having done something different; something better. Being a better man takes the will and determination to break the path. Success isn't ever a title held by the followers. This sounds clichéd but that's only because it takes experience to realize it, and by the time you have that experience, you're too far gone from the choice to break free of that path.

There is always an idiot that will choose to break the path just for the sake of saying 'I did it'. They may or may not, in their adrenaline-fueled frenzy to break free of the norms, achieve success. That's mighty lucky and an accidental case, not to be mistaken as well-deserved fruits of labor, or worse -  destiny. It is highly short-lived and pretty much like giving a box of cigarettes to a monkey. He won't know what to do with them, and by the time he tries everything and realizes, there won't be a cigarette left in a condition worth lighting. Pardon the complicated analogy, I'm in a state of semi-conscious torpor.

The point I'm trying to make is it's not always necessary to break the path. You need to realize when it calls for keeping your head down and pushing onward and when to break free to Forge your own path, unsure of where the destination lies. More importantly one needs to have their priorities clear on why they would break the path otherwise it is all in vain. Simply a waste of time, efforts, and a life. So feel free to walk off the path. Jump, duck, run and fall. Learn as much as you can because experience is the best teacher. Break the path when you know in your gut that it's the right thing to do. At the end of the day, if nothing else, the experience will make it worth it.

A life, well, lived

The fundamental difference lies in the comma.
One might live a life well. But is it really worth it if, it follows the same droll pattern of - here I'd like to quote a line from one of my favourite films, Yeh Jawaani hain Deewani - 

"Baaees tak padhai, pacchees pe naukri, chhabbees pe chhokri, tees pe bacche, saath pe retirement aur phir maut ka intezaar."

(Study till you're twenty-two, get a job at twenty-five, girl at twenty-six, kids at thirty, retire at sixty and await the end of your life)

There's very few movies that I actually bear to sit through, even fewer I'd watch again. This movie is one of the few that sort of just struck a chord with me. The wonderfully picturesque locations and aesthetically soothing lyrics in the music that was rather detached from the commonplace policy of having a stoned barbarian break guitars and scream for his "generation" to rise and demand their rights, helped make watching it a memorable experience. But I digress.

Most of us lead rather insignificant lives in the greater scheme of things. We hardly ever "live up to our potential", which is largely a result of our own misconceptions as to what we are capable of achieving. We have had misgivings plague the essence of our very existence right from the first remark in our books from school to appraisals from the boss. I speak for not only myself, I'd like to believe, when I say I've always wondered what it'd be like if I'd done things differently, avoided a few critical mistakes and ended up in a better place than I am right now. Well, too bad. Life is too short for pondering the past. We have very little time as it is, why waste it over could-have's and should-have's. I realize I'm perpetrating a cliche but the entire reason behind this is simple. I'm not doing this for anyone but me. I realize the importance of time. I've realized it is essentially the key to success at any level. Time.

Time Management is valued greatly as it happens to be, already. But the successful know that in spite of all that, it isn't given the respect it deserves. The reason behind it is very simple. It is one of those obscure talents that cannot be showcased on stage, will not be apparent to anyone you meet and yet will continue to affect your life in ways far beyond your comprehension. Man has conquered the Space, or is most certainly along the path to do so (read Elon Musk, SpaceX reusable rockets, Mars Colonization, NASA's second manned mission to the moon) but Time is the one concept elusive to man. Time is all a man needs to become God on this Earth. 

Our lives center around the fact that we need to do a lot but are given very little time. It is the direct or indirect reason behind every decision ever taken, every justification ever given, and every challenge ever completed. Time is the master of all and the master of none. All a man has ever done in order to be successful is to understand and thereby respect Time.And that, my dear friend, is all you need to do to turn a life, well, lived into a life well lived.