#105 Efforts and unexpected outcomes
03.11.2023
Life is unpredictable and one’s efforts always do not guarantee a certain outcome. Sometimes, unexpected results or success may come one’s way without actively seeking them, while at other times, despite one's best efforts, they may not achieve the desired outcome. I think this is how I would always explain the picture above, whenever asked to. I remember, along with the majority of the batch, I was detained from giving a mid term of 20 marks in the third semester because of short attendance. To be frank, our class disliked both the subject and the professor, and thus, our entire batch collectively planned to skip the class. If you have attended an engineering college, you may be familiar with the concept of a "mass bunk." However, if you have not had the opportunity, allow me to explain. If no student attends a lecture on a given day, the lecture stands cancelled and therefore does not affect one's attendance. However, if even one person attends the lecture, all students are marked as absent for that day.
Some of us, the immortal souls, took the mass bunks seriously, while a few, eternal souls were regularly attending the classes. In that semester, I understood how humans and the language we speak is much more complex than we think. Lesson learned, there was never a mass bunk planned after that. Or maybe the opportunity window of planning a bunk was less because of the lockdown and all the pandemic scenarios. Well, what I mean to convey through this story is, in spite of missing out on one mid term, I received two gold medals because luck and all the other variables turned into my favor. Chance plays a significant role in determining the outcome of the efforts. For example, being in the right place at the right time or meeting the right person can lead to unexpected opportunities and successes. These events are often beyond an individual's control and have a significant impact on their lives.
Acknowledging the role of chance can help us recognize that some aspects of life are outside of our control, and that outcomes may not always be a result of our own efforts. But this should not stop us from putting in the efforts. I strongly believe that it doesn’t matter from where you start, all it matters is where you end. And of course, it’s up to you how you define start and the end. I was probably one of the last people to get admitted to the college, in the special round, and 4 years down the lane turned out to be first on the rank list. One's starting point does not have to dictate their future. With hard work, dedication, and perseverance, anyone can achieve their goals and reach their desired destination, regardless of where they started. What matters is we keep pushing ourselves to reach the other side of the summit, and there is only one way to do that — by reaching the top. Once you get to the top, you finally acknowledge that it wasn’t that tough. And here’s the trickiest part: you’ve got to maintain the momentum, can’t loosen your grip on your goals. We must remember that more deaths happen on the way down from Mt. Everest than the way up.
After Ross Gay
He is right; if we choose to look,
we just might believe it’s there
in the first chirp of the day and the body awakening to hear it,
in the black wings weaving through champagne leaves,
in the spark of coffee with the essay that ends
with the words, renovating love,
for gold snails on the busy sidewalk,
for the elixir of friendship in the dark shell of winter,
for each small note from the universe
and its cheerful persistence, even today,
with a new tumor on the back of my dog’s leg,
to encourage delight
in her oblivious exuberance, and let that be
what sustains m
Can verbs be invented? I want to say one to you: I sky you, so my wings stretch out enormously to love you without measure. I feel that we have been together from our place of origin, that we are of the same matter, of the same waves, that we carry the same sense inside. Your whole being, your prodigious genius and humility are incomparable and enrich life; in your extraordinary world, what I offer you is only one truth more that you receive and that will ever caress the deepest part of you.
Thank you for receiving it, thank you for living, because yesterday you let me touch your innermost light, and because you said with your voice and your eyes what I had been waiting for all my life.
Frida Kahlo, Letter to Carlos Pellicer
November 1947
See you next Saturday, until then have a great time :)
Cheers!
What’s cooking on twitter?
heart touching post :)