Like a woodsman severely perspiring and brutally chopping down a tree with their axes, how many of you had tried or is doing to heavily exert all your effort and strength when you squeeze the bottom-of-the-bottom toothpaste with your Hulk hands so as not to waste away that last tiny weeny-teeny bit before tossing it in to the trash can?
Those who are extremely proud of your achievements as the main product may not agree with it in the open even though you vigorously nod within yourselves. For those who consider achievements, success and money to be as the by-products of sincere hard-work and intense determination, they will say without any hesitation like me that they still do it with no qualms of regret or compunction in doing that act.
Some people might say that we are stingy. Au Contraire, with our blood, sweat and tears, we had earned our hard-earned money and we immensely value what we had paid to purchase that one single toothpaste. We try to get the maximum out of it. 100% extraction may or may not be possible. But, we strive close to 99.99% just like how the medicinal ads as Dettol inform everyone that their products prevent 99.99% bacteria!
Oh. By the way. It's a typical middle-class Indian mentality to have the VFM attitude. There is no way that those born with a silver spoon or golden spoon or even platinum spoon would be able to understand it though they might pretentiously and overtly agree to it. Anyway, it's up to them. But, to those who have done it and experienced this situation will definitely know what I am exactly talking about here.
Why am I giving this big lecture on effective and maximum utilization of resources when the blog title reads "Takeaways and Lessons"?
Well. Life is also like that toothpaste. Unless and until you have exprimired the lessons in its entirety, you tend to squander away the time by repeating the same mistake again and again. No one is perfect. So, committing a mistake is not wrong unless it's a grave one. But, we should have the open-mindedness to accept the mistake and take the necessary steps to rectify them so that it doesn't happen again.
IMHO, you can error the same mistake for the second time as well as it's a bit difficult to internalize everything at one go. But, when we are doing it for the third time, the mistake ceases to be a mistake and you turn out into a habitual offender. Only God can save the person after then. Before it's too late! And if you happen to be an Atheist, even that glimmer of hope is switched off.
However, to correct the mistake, first of all, you should have the understanding that what you have done is wrong in order to proceed to the subsequent steps.
Why is it important to ensure that your mistakes aren't repeated time and again?
Simple. At the end of the day, everything in the world boils down to one indispensable fact - Survival - whether you have the stomach to digest this fact or not. Also, every person is unique in their own ways with different levels of tolerance, patience, temper and anger. It naturally follows that if at all you have knowingly or unknowingly hurt/harmed someone (Say X) or X feels/perceives that they have been physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, spiritually or psychologically violated and also possesses a very high anger level and quick-temperedness by/through one of your own repeated same-to-similar mistakes, who knows what might happen to your life. Things can go real ugly if your wife and children's lives are dependent on you. This situation can once again be interpreted as: X had also failed to learn his/her lessons from their previous encounters with their tempestuous anger lashing in their turbulent life.
Unless you don't want to be dead, the bottom line is dead simple : Flatten your undoings at the earliest and turn a new leaf else life has the uncanny ability to put you through the sword until you have acquired the right knowledge to lead a balanced life.
There are many such lessons which I had painstakingly learnt during my spiritual-adventure travels:
1) Planning is of paramount importance if you like/love/desire to travel, either backpack or group, to reduce your costs. Most importantly, you can have peace of mind without scratching your head as to how to go about from one place to another especially when it comes to choosing your mode of travel.
2) Have the element of flexibility built in your fixed or free-flowing tour itinerary so that in the case of any flight reschedules, you have the buffer time/ day to visit the places.
3) Apply the principles of Idealism to practical life and meaningfully add value instead of holding on to it as one's own identity and strongly desiring that others should also live it in their lives.
4) Personal problems, however important they might seem, are extremely trivial and insignificant in nature which needs to be dealt heads on instead of being bogged down by the weight of the situation.
5) Everything is transient like a passing cloud. So, are our troubles and worries as well. Not at all worth in giving too much emphasis, energy and time to it though the issues need to be addressed. And Oh no no no! It's not some dumbshit intellectual philosophy I came up with.
6) No matter what, Meditation must be inculcated as a way of life to not only reclaim your lost energy expended during the course of the day but also have a clearer clarity through self-monitoring and self-regulation.
7) It is better to be differently normal than be normally different.
8) Karma precisely knows when to strike back like an angry King Cobra. Be extremely careful of our words and actions and practice the right ones at the appropriate times. It is tremendously difficult to follow it immediately but to make things even simpler, the 'right' is the objective 'right' and not a subjective one catering to an individual's whims and fancies.
As the wise saying goes, you earn your trophy through practice off the field. You merely get them on the field.
Think positive. Feel optimistic. Be realistic.
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