The 5 Checkpoints on the Journey towards Light — A Diwali Gift!

On the festival of lights, you should light up certain things that will make your tomorrow a prosperous one and crackers aren’t one of them. The lights of Diwali denotes progress, change and prosperity, but unfortunately people almost always fail to fulfill the most crucial aspect of the festival. I’m going to help you make this Diwali complete. Consider this my gift to you. Here are 5 ways in which you can be a guiding light, leading a progressive change for a prosperous tomorrow.

1. “Look harder”

It is important to know yourself, acknowledge your flaws, and accept yourself for whatever that you are right now. If there’s someone who can change your life completely from zero to hundred, it’s you. The greatest power you have and will always have, is the power to change your situation at any given point of life. You may ask, then why do people find it so difficult? Well, change is hard to handle and it requires preparation. The very first step to change is to face the mirror when it’s shoved in front of you. The most important quality of a leader is the ability to accept their flaws when confronted. They appreciate criticism and scrutiny because they know that the key to change lies there. If you do not have friends who can criticize you, then you better find one soon. It takes courage to look deep within yourself, but that’s where the journey begins.

2. “Remember Who You Are”

You can either believe that you’re just a dust in this infinite universe, which is true. Or you can believe that you’re a node in a humongous network without which the system would fail and that’s true too. It’s important to define your role in the society and it’s never too late to do that. You could be 18 or 30 or even 70, the ability to redefine your life and your surrounding is in your hands. The first step to that is introspection. You are a part of the network, which means you need to understand yourself first, before you go on trying to understand the society. Change begins from you. Define and redefine who you are, so the world will remember you too.

3. “Oh yes! The past can hurt

… you can either run from it, or learn from it.” This happens to be one of my favorite quotes from The Lion King movie and it is more than just a dialogue. People and possessions never last, they leave at any point of your life just like that without any notice and you can’t do anything about it. What’s going to stay with you forever is your body, your mind and the legacy of wisdom you leave behind. But the cloud of emotional trauma keeps you from seeing this truth. But the catch is that you already know what’s ahead so you don’t really have to see while you’re walking. You will trip once or twice but the cloud will eventually clear. You will begin to see farther.

4. “Look beyond what you see”

Your life is more than just your day job, your weekend day out, it’s more than the clothes you wear, the properties you own, the friends you make. You matter! You matter only when you have something that the world will value and you should acknowledge that you don’t have it yet. Look beyond people and possessions. The knowledge you acquire will lead you to forming your principles for life. Which in turn will lead you to the infinite path of wisdom. It is a path that humans can never fully trace, but the future lies in the wisdom of today. Mathew Arnold once said, “the freethinking of one age is the common sense of the next.” Learn, create, share but never stop looking. You won’t find what you’re looking for, but through your journey the people behind you will.

5. “Love will find a way, anywhere we go”

Your loved ones are your pillars and you are theirs. Supporting one another to learn, fight and achieve. That’s what a family is all about. What’s immediately around your family is the community or the people you attract within your circle. These are usually the like-minded, kind and healthy people who want to see you happy and successful. Make sure when you grow, a community of people grow with you. A community built around a family of head-strong healthy people is a society that we need to build for a prosperous tomorrow.

The brightest of all lights, is the light within you. I believe that these checkpoints I have jotted down for you, will act nothing more than a read that will get you thinking for a moment or two. Unlike my previous articles, this one is more like a letter of care. I want to see you grow happier in life. It’s as simple as that.

On the festival of lights, vouch to be one yourself!

Happy Diwali!