It has been about four months since I quit my job, and I have been in touch with a couple of friends from the office after that. So, one evening, I receive a call from my office friend V:
V: Hey, you remember our office friend A?
Me: Of course, I do. What about him?
V: Well, he passed away today, while he was in office. He had a severe heart attack.
Me: WHHHAAAAATTTTTTTTTTT????!!!!!
It was one of the most shocking things I had heard, in a long, long time. Well, you see, A was in his mid-twenties, physically fit, a vegetarian, a teetotaller, a non-smoker; i.e. he had none of the vices that otherwise led people to suffer from strokes and heart diseases at such a young age. It therefore came as a terrible shock when I leant that he had died of a heart attack.
A and I first met when we were on an onshore assignment in the UK, and we did not get along at all. We managed to rub off each other the wrong way, always, and often tore strips off each other whenever me met. Thankfully , for both of us, my onshore assignment ended early and I returned to India. A followed suit in a couple of months, and there we were, back in the same office, seeing each other everyday. It was during this time that I got to know him well, and realised that we were both very similar by nature. He had big dreams, and his ideas and dreams resonated with mine. Better late than never, we became really good friends and I was happy I found someone in the office I could share my ideas and ambitions with.
A was a dreamer. He had big dreams. He was never content with the present, he always strove for more, for better, for brighter, for higher. I admired this quality in him, that he found motivation within himself, and did not look externally to find motivation or encouragement. When I told him that I was planning to quit my job and sought his advice, he told me to always look at the big picture, and never fret about the small things and petty issues. He inspired me to follow my dreams, and instilled in me the confidence that I was destined for bigger and better things in life.
Grief-stricken as I was, his sudden demise has got me thinking. A had told me to look at the big picture. What if there is no big picture? When we hear things like 'It won't matter in the long run', are we sure that there is a long run? In this fickle world of today, what if the big picture, the long run never come? Everything is uncertain, most of all, the lives we lead and the breaths we take. We immerse ourselves so much in the chase for the long run and the ultimate goal, that we fail to realise that there is life in the journey too. Life is not a chase to the destination of success and glory, but a journey - a journey of ups and downs, successes and failures, joys and sorrows, and most of all love and laughter. It is not a journey to be rushed, but cherished. Who cares what the long run looks like? So far as you have had a beautiful journey, the ultimate destination is irrelevant. The ultimate goal is definitely not worth it, if you are dying a little, each day, in chasing that goal or dream. If you are ever stuck in a dilemma, do not only think about what is best in the long run. It is important to enjoy the journey as much as the destination, only then will you be truly happy. It took your death for me to realise, A, that it is important to strive for happiness, not just the long-run happiness, but happiness and contentment in everyday life as well. If you are unhappy or dissatisfied with your present situation, strive and make an effort to change the situation, never accept anything less that what you truly deserve or desire, without so much as an effort. Work hard for your short-term success and happiness, and the long run will take care of its own.
In your death, A, you have given me wisdom, and I am sure there can be no better memory than that! RIP, my friend. You shall be sorely missed.
V: Hey, you remember our office friend A?
Me: Of course, I do. What about him?
V: Well, he passed away today, while he was in office. He had a severe heart attack.
Me: WHHHAAAAATTTTTTTTTTT????!!!!!
It was one of the most shocking things I had heard, in a long, long time. Well, you see, A was in his mid-twenties, physically fit, a vegetarian, a teetotaller, a non-smoker; i.e. he had none of the vices that otherwise led people to suffer from strokes and heart diseases at such a young age. It therefore came as a terrible shock when I leant that he had died of a heart attack.
A and I first met when we were on an onshore assignment in the UK, and we did not get along at all. We managed to rub off each other the wrong way, always, and often tore strips off each other whenever me met. Thankfully , for both of us, my onshore assignment ended early and I returned to India. A followed suit in a couple of months, and there we were, back in the same office, seeing each other everyday. It was during this time that I got to know him well, and realised that we were both very similar by nature. He had big dreams, and his ideas and dreams resonated with mine. Better late than never, we became really good friends and I was happy I found someone in the office I could share my ideas and ambitions with.
A was a dreamer. He had big dreams. He was never content with the present, he always strove for more, for better, for brighter, for higher. I admired this quality in him, that he found motivation within himself, and did not look externally to find motivation or encouragement. When I told him that I was planning to quit my job and sought his advice, he told me to always look at the big picture, and never fret about the small things and petty issues. He inspired me to follow my dreams, and instilled in me the confidence that I was destined for bigger and better things in life.
Grief-stricken as I was, his sudden demise has got me thinking. A had told me to look at the big picture. What if there is no big picture? When we hear things like 'It won't matter in the long run', are we sure that there is a long run? In this fickle world of today, what if the big picture, the long run never come? Everything is uncertain, most of all, the lives we lead and the breaths we take. We immerse ourselves so much in the chase for the long run and the ultimate goal, that we fail to realise that there is life in the journey too. Life is not a chase to the destination of success and glory, but a journey - a journey of ups and downs, successes and failures, joys and sorrows, and most of all love and laughter. It is not a journey to be rushed, but cherished. Who cares what the long run looks like? So far as you have had a beautiful journey, the ultimate destination is irrelevant. The ultimate goal is definitely not worth it, if you are dying a little, each day, in chasing that goal or dream. If you are ever stuck in a dilemma, do not only think about what is best in the long run. It is important to enjoy the journey as much as the destination, only then will you be truly happy. It took your death for me to realise, A, that it is important to strive for happiness, not just the long-run happiness, but happiness and contentment in everyday life as well. If you are unhappy or dissatisfied with your present situation, strive and make an effort to change the situation, never accept anything less that what you truly deserve or desire, without so much as an effort. Work hard for your short-term success and happiness, and the long run will take care of its own.
In your death, A, you have given me wisdom, and I am sure there can be no better memory than that! RIP, my friend. You shall be sorely missed.
