Vinny Khinda
August 25, 2020
“We grew up on the same street,
You and me.
We went to the same schools,
Rode the same bus,
Had the same friends.
And though our roots belong to
The same tree,
Our branches have grown
In different directions.
Our tree,
Now resembles a thousand
Other trees
With parallel destinies
And similar dreams.
You cannot envy the branch
That grows bigger
From the same seed,
And you cannot
Blame it on the sun’s direction.
But you still compare us,
As if we’re still those two
Kids at the park
Slurping down slushies and
Eating ice cream.”
Source: Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun (2010)
Everyone has their own unique journey. Every journey is different. Every journey is special!
And it’s these differences that set you apart. It is the uniqueness of your trip that makes you who you are. It adds to the beauty and diversity of life. Your journey isn’t meant to look like anyone else’s because you aren’t like anyone else. A path that’s right for someone else won’t necessarily be a path that’s right for you. Your path isn’t right or wrong either, or good or bad. You’re a person all your own with a life all your own.
It’s important to remember that life isn’t a race in true sense, especially a race between individuals. There’s no such thing as falling behind because there’s no set destination. Where you are and the rate at which you’re progressing is not something that can be compared.
Many times when you pause and reflect, you realize that you may not have ended where you intended to go. But trust, for once, that you have ended up where you needed to be. Trust that you are in the right place at the right time. Trust that nothing is missing. Trust that your life is enough. Trust that you are enough.
The garden of life has flowers of different fragrances. If there are child prodigies, it is the late bloomers who give us hope and inspiration to dream big even at ages no-so-young. Ray Kroc was 53 years old when he started working with restaurant owners and 59 when he bought his first McDonald’s. Although he’d owned a small chain of discount stores, Sam Walton opened the first true Wal-Mart in 1962, when he was 44. Colonel Harland David Sanders, the founder of KFC, after a lifetime of struggle and failures, became a billionaire at age 88. After being an engineer for most of his adult life, Henry Ford finally found success with the Model T Ford, released in 1908, when he was 45 years old. Charles Darwin was 50 years old when he published “On the Origin of the Species”, which shaped the subject of evolution forever. Most of us know and love Alan Rickman as he famously played the role of Snape in the Harry Potter films, but it wasn’t until he was 41 when he landed the role in his first movie Die Hard with Bruce Willis. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the Hare Krishna movement was 69 years old before he started the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). In the twelve years from his arrival in New York until his final days, he circled the globe fourteen times on lecture tours, initiated thousands of disciples, founded the religious colony New Vrindavan in West Virginia, authored more than eighty books, watched ISKCON grow to a confederation of more than 550 centres, including 60 farm communities, some aiming for self-sufficiency, 50 schools and other activities around the world.
Soichiro Honda — Founder of the Honda Motor Company, without any formal education, left home at age 15 and headed to Tokyo to look for work. He obtained an apprenticeship at a garage in 1922, working as a car mechanic before returning home to start his own auto repair business in 1928 at the age of 22. In 1940s, he created a motorbike by attaching a small engine to a bicycle. This success led him to designing a small motorcycle. He was 42 years old when he formed the Honda Motor Company in 1948, and within 10 years of starting Honda, he was the leading motorcycle manufacturer in the world. By 1988, at the age of 82, he and his company entered in the world’s Automobile Hall of Fame.
Anna Mary Robertson Moses, one of the most celebrated name in American fine arts and folk arts, didn’t even pick up a brush until she was well into her late seventh decade. Grandma Moses as she was fondly referred to, was originally a big fan of embroidery, but once her arthritis grew too painful for her to hold a needle, she decided to give painting a try in the mid-1930s. She was 76 when she cranked out her first canvas, and went on to live for another 25 years as a painter. Her works have been shown and sold in the United States and abroad and have been marketed on greeting cards and other merchandise. Moses’ paintings are among the collections of many museums. The Sugaring Off was sold for US$1.2 million in 2006.
The world is full of examples of journeys that are unique and move at their own distinct pace. There are people who graduated at 22 but struggled to find a job till they were 27. There are others who graduate at 26 but land up with a great job straight out of college. There are those who married at 24, became parents at 25 and ended up raising awful children. Others, married around the same age, had to wait for a good 10 years before they could have children but then had the best, most disciplined children there could ever be. We have the recent and often quoted example of Barack Obama retiring at 56 while Donald Trump starting off as President of the United States at 71. There are examples of people inheriting billions, having been born to rich parents, but loosing it all within their lifetimes.
The Covid-19 pandemic is proving to be a great leveler as far as the life journeys are concerned. Trades which had been enjoying an unprecedented success all these years are now on shaky grounds whereas there are people in certain vocations for whom the pandemic has come as blessing, their businesses are flourishing.
My point is, everything in life happens according to our time, our clock. You may look at your friends and some may seem to be ahead or behind you, but they’re not, they’re living according to the pace of their clock, so be patient.
You’re not falling behind, its just not your time!!
Beautiful. Informative. Motivating.
Very nicely expressed. Inspiring 👍
Awesome, I can relate to it!
Very inspiring & assuring👌👌 This write up gives me another affirmation to what I believed and lived all through my journey. Very clear & positive outlook to ones journey conveyed through apt examples. You just hit the bulls eye 👍🙌.
A must read for all.
Very well written as usual, i can sense the trademark optimism while reading every line of it. If one can understand this basic principal of believing in his/her own journey, life would become a lot easier. Comparisons often lead to envy and jealousy resulting in negative consequence. One can avoid all this pessimism by following this simple rule of being content and patient with his journey.
Awesome Paa jee, i can understand that it takes a lot time to write articles of such quality, however, keep writing, it feels lovely to read and absorb positive vibes simultaneously 🙂
A truthful write up…we must all take a deep breath to accept the real fact..ITS MY OWN PATH AND PACE..THERE IS NO RELATIVE COMPARISON ALSO….