Two different lives

Life can be crafted into a beautiful story. What you need to do is take those small but important decisions, make those simple but critical choices, prefer those unpopular (maybe) but healthy selections. I made one such choice a few years back... Rewards are overwhelming today...Read for yourself...

Getting ready for my workplace
Then: 

Black polished shoes are just being galloped in wet feat. Time is a scarcity. Irritation, fuss & chaos rules these 30 minutes of the day - not only because of the impending traffic snarls but also because of the thought of morning workplace meeting.  I might get late for this meeting, and who is not familiar with bosses and colleagues who want to pounce on every single opportunity to prove you down.

Now: 
Its sports shoes & sports water bottle. Life is slower and relaxed - perhaps the way it should always have been. I have time to listen to the last few gossip talks from my lovely wife, and the urgent request by my mom to drop her on the way, to the temple. Time is a luxury, traffic snarls a scarcity - all this regained with a lot of planning. Meetings are rare. If at all they are, they can be pushed at my will. Freedom is a beautiful feeling.

What I carry in my bag?

Then: 
Its a trolley bag with wheels and an extendable handle to drag it along. The bags contents are typical IT professional's. A laptop, laptop lock, a notepad which reminds me of client meetings, and unfulfilled & impossible client commitments that we made to make the sales happen, bills that need to be claimed, travel plans for the upcoming client visits, papers to apply for my next promotion. And then there is this tiffin box - packed since morning. I will have to microwave the food to make it eatable enough.

Now: 
The bag is the same. Contents all changed. It has a lovely tab that has my latest work in progress book that I am writing, a water bottle, a Sony music player walkman, 3 packs of biscuits and 1 winter wear sweater for those needy children, which I might just find on the way to my new workplace, and a bestselling book which i always wished I had the time to read. No tiffin - for i deserve to eat freshly prepared food, prepared by none other than my life partner.

The Drive to my workplace

Then : 
It is 7:30AM. The drive to my workplace is chaotic, in spite of trying to leave early. Everyone around me is in a hurry, ear blasting car horns, cheeks, squeaks, curving bikes moving ahead from everywhere, traffic jams, snarls, bumper touches, frustrated faces all around - many eating their breakfast or finishing off their early morning calls while driving..ooff... Not to forget that I must grab the parking space at my workplace before others do. Never realised that the size of parking space started defining our driving speed. Reaching my workplace is tantamount to conquering the Battle of Panipat. Half of the day's energy reserves are lost in this morning drive itself, rest half are left for office politics and drag down strategy building.

Now: 
The drive is relaxed, gear shifts are smoother, no one around me seems in a hurry. It is at 10:30AM. Very few horns, feels pleasure giving way to an ambulance, stopping a few meters before the traffic signal to allow pedestrians to cross with ease, and reaching the workplace in less than 5 minutes. Not to mention, parking is a difficult choice to make at this new workplace, for I need to choose between the most spacious, the ultra elegant and the one near to the exit gate. Freedom is indeed a beautiful choice.

Walk from the Parking Lot to My Seat

Then: 
From car parking to my workplace seat on the 4th Floor of a multistory building - a fast stroll towards the lift, rushing through the crowd - sometimes overtaking the female staff and elderly - thinking that they may not understand my reasons.

Now: 
As I get down from my car, its a foot path straight away - with green trees and chirping birds around me. My new workplace has no lifts, sky rocketing buildings, or basement parking. I walk for around 300 meters among those dense trees before I take the relatively tougher decision of choosing my seat now - either in the basking sun on a chilly winter day or in the shade of a dense tree in summers. There are chirps and squeaks - of birds and squirrels - busy gathering their food for the day. The choice of a seat was never so beautiful.

The Day at my Workplace

Then: 
The day usually starts with a meeting where I have to either give the status updates or explain why our team targets could not be met. The purpose is rarely to find a solution but to find the weak links in status updates of other colleagues, so that mine was considered a relatively better one. There are tea time discussions with colleagues where either politics or someone's career was being dragged. The day ends quite late. Never ever understood how did the boss know that I was about to leave.

Now: 
As I occupy my chair, the day starts with a relaxed meditation for 10 minutes. Then I resume writing my book from where i left it yesterday. I am not fighting any competition. I am just making my writing better, so that it can elevate many more lives than what my last one did. The work ends when I feel the need, or when it is time to personally pick up kids from their school - a time I so truly cherish. By the time we reach home, kids have so excitedly shared some of the most awesome incidents of the day so far. Then, we have lunch together. After an hour's power nap, its time to help them in their studies, projects etc. My evening time is dedicated to my spouse over an elongated cup of tea - she always deserves a lot more.. Freedom is an awesome experience.

Evenings

Then: 
There was no way I could have left my workplace before 7pm, and then - same traffic, same chaos. When I reached home after draining off all my energy reserves, I am looking for sources of energy who can uplift me. And if I find my kids under stress for their exam the next day, I lose patience quite abruptly and tell them that they do not realise that their stress is nothing in front of mine. If things are not in place at home, my reaction is mostly negative. i am thinking that I do so much for them, and they cannot even keep the house in basic decorum. Its quite stressful at home too.

Now:
I am full of energy - ready to give my energy, positivity and happiness to anyone who is in need. If my kids are under stress, I hug them, love them - because I know that exam stress is enough reason for ample stress at their age. They need my unconditional love and a reinstatement of the fact that I love them irrespective of the result. I can love them and make them feel better, because I haven't lost my happiness during the day. My energy, positivity and happiness is there for those who matter the most in my life - my kids, my spouse and my parents. Spending 30 minutes everyday with my parents - with no specific topic - and just discussing the day's proceedings is a beautiful experience indeed. Freedom is priceless.

Off to Bed

Then: 
Going to bed, I am planning for the next day. Many times, it is those late night calls for the software that must go live by the due date or calls with counterparts located in countries with geographically opposite timelines  - all hindering in our beautiful family moments.

Now: 
Going off to bed is a much awaited family time. We either play Uno or Scrabble as a family, share some stories of the day, crack some jokes and go into the beautiful lap of nature, anxiously awaiting a similar beautiful day ahead.

The day ends...and another beautiful day is yet to unfold...

A day spent in pursuit of money - doing things which I do not do as a passion - doing things that does not really positively impact the world around me 
OR 
A day well spent, a day that creates beautiful memories for us to cherish through the rest of our lives...
I had to choose, and I chose it around 8 years back. I decided to choose Freedom - Freedom to live the way life is meant to be lived - which may not be the way everyone around me is living. I am living it, and I am loving it !!

These are two different days and therefore two different lives.....for a life is nothing but a collection of 35,000 days put together. You chose your day. You chose your life. Have you chosen yours?

You can choose to be Financially Free. Anyone who can save some money can do it. There are thousands of such crazy thinkers and believers who are seeking our help, and moving forward on this beautiful journey towards Financial Freedom - all FREE of cost. Read about some of them here.

It is not about the money, but the choices that freedom brings along. 

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Cheers

Manoj Arora

Official Website | My Mission

Life elevating books : 

From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom | Happiness Unlimited | Dream On