Image: Phi Phi Island, Phuket
It has been a while since I 'wove' something for this Tapestry. So I am back again, with some new patterns and colours to add. The colours which I picked up from the pearly white sands and the turquoise blue waters of Phuket. Patterns which I picked up from the warm smiling people and their enriched culture.
It is not new to us what a holiday can do to our spirits and energy. But sometimes, it can be more than just a get-away. Sometimes it can bring you closer to what you have been striving. Sometimes it can make you reflect. Sometimes it can be a life changing or even a life threatening experience. Well, I am not saying that this trip changed my life or anything. I am just saying, sometimes it can happen to somebody! However, it certainly gave me time to pause. Time to reflect. Time to slow the pace.
I realized that ever since I moved to Hong Kong last year, I felt a rush to be somewhere. A need to accomplish things before the break of the next dawn. Even though I was having a great time all the while both at work and home, I felt that I needed to do something more. Even though I was moving forward at a good pace, I felt that I needed to run, jump and fly. In the last year, I certainly met more than 365 people and certainly got more than 365 perspectives. Some told me I was doing great. Some thought I was not aggressive enough. I heard everyone, listened to few. But I was hard on myself. I wanted to do too many things, actually everything, now! Whenever I felt that I was falling behind my own set deadlines, I would take severe actions. And when I felt I was doing good, I told myself to do better. I was quite unfair to me.
In Phuket, sitting on the beach, I heard the rhythm of ocean waves. I felt the sand beneath my feet come and go with the tides. I noticed that not all the waves made it to the beach. Some broke midway and some just managed to touch the sands. However, all would gather speed again and then move towards the shore with more speed than earlier, reaching further than earlier. It was all very beautiful and yet very simple. I had of course seen this earlier on other beaches too. But this time I realized that I too, can follow the waves. I didn't have to reach the end of the shore every minute, every day. I didn't have to have the same speed every time. It made sense to me. A little bit of pause to increase the pace and peace.
Now I am back in Hong Kong, breaking my speed from time to time to gain more speed. Does that make me less competitive? Certainly No. Does that make me more productive? Certainly Yes. Does it make me happier? Certainly certainly Yes.(It is not a typo). Does it make me more successful? Well, let's just say it makes me feel more successful, a little more, each day. Success too, after all, is a state of mind.
I hope that you feel happier and more successful today!