A reminder to me on my recent achievement

Life has its ways of teaching you important lessons. Everything that happens in our existence strides its convoluted intersectionality with a purpose, a purpose that in its divinity has an impactful metamorphosis in our reality. How little do we know about what is about to come when we so confoundingly announce that I know this is how my life would turn out to be. In its own magnanimous and unexpected ways, you would get to what you deserve rather than what you want in most anomalies that our choices create. Whether we get what we want or face a delay or rejection, every event is a rendered outcome of the myriad of choices we chose and how divine intervention in its beauty shielded us from the things that could have destroyed us.

Striving towards what we want is the best we can do to have the life we dream of, but there are often times where life doesn't go as expected, it turns out in the way it has to. Trudging in the unknown has the fear and uncertainty of not achieving what we are toiling our blood and sweat for, the thought of being left in the same redundancy of failure is one of the most massive fears that we hold in our mind. But truth be told, if we live in the state of constant terror of what ifs, what if I don't become the one I am striving to be, what if everything does not turn out in my favor, what if everybody comes to know what I am doing and wishes me misfortune, what if everyone comes to know that I haven't been able to achieve the penultimate victory in my endeavor and I will be called a failure?

We all have found ourselves wondering about these outcomes, it is only human to err in the circumstance of not knowing what lies beyond the cosmic presence of today. But how would you breathe with ease even for a moment if all you care about is what is about to come and what others think or say about you? I wish life had a warning sign to ward off a specific path, destination or person who could hurt us or make us feel devastated in our stance. But there is none, as long as we are alive on this mortal bane of existence, the truth is we never have and never will know what our existence holds for us. The only way you are in absolute control of is you- your efforts, your mindset, the way you respond to people, situations, entities and your faith in yourself and the universe.

I was recently declared as one of the top 100 poets amongst 2000+ poets across India by S7 poetry and here is what I learn upon reflecting on this experience.

1) You are not always at the top of your game in every endeavor you stride on- In every competition or event, you are not the number one or the best in every situation. It is in these moments you realise that there is always room for improvement, and there is always a reason to celebrate no matter what your outcome is.

2)Your worth is not measured by your externality- As much I love to put myself out there, through working with different brands, to participate in national and international events and to be the best version of me, one thing I actively remind myself of is that my competence or my worth is not tied to something external of me. I am more than my work, my accomplishments and the milestones I stride on.

3) The only competition you have is you- I have said this before and I would say this again, your life is not meant to be a rat race of being better in comparison to another individual. If you are doing better than you were before, you are winning in your life.

4) Know your why - If being ambitious is what drives you, let your why be your inner need to achieve excellence in everything you do and not seek external validation of being worthy because of being an overachiever. Through the years I have learnt to have built my locus of control internally and not being swayed by what others think of me irrespective of my external perception of societal expectation.

While I hold pride in my recent accomplishment, I hold greater value in understanding the ebb and flow of life.

In the fluidity of embracing the adaptive glance,

The beauty of joy and excellence starts to dance.

-Hridya