Heard about “start living now” or “live while you are young” or “live life to its fullest” or “listen to your heart” before?

I guess you have. Most of us have heard it already. It’s not something new.

However, some of us either just choose to ignore it or focus on it only for a short duration.

They create their list of things they want to do in their life, and in no time slide it in a safe place where they won’t be able to see it unless discovered accidentally.

These people are either too busy or just don’t dare to live for themselves.

When they are kids, they plan to live their life the way they want once they pass out from college or get a job.

Once they get a job, they become so occupied with it, that they neither have the time nor the energy to do things except their work.

The plan for living life according to their will gets postponed.

After a few years, they settle down, get married, have kids and priorities change. Yet again, the plan gets postponed.

After retirement, the plan hardly gets executed and these people live with a feeling of regret for the rest of their lives.

Finding these situations similar to your life?

Well, then the time is right to break free from what you are doing, find some time for yourself, and start living.

Because your feathers are too bright to be caged

I was no exception

I won’t say I was an exception. In fact, I had spent my entire teen life living for others, rather than living for myself.

I was living a life where every day, I woke up, went to school, returned home, watched a bit of cartoon until my tuition teacher arrived, studied, had dinner and went to sleep to face another such boring day.

Though I was living a comfortable life and getting all my materialistic demands fulfilled by my parents and two uncles, I missed out all the fun during my childhood.

I never went to the playground to play with kids of my age. I didn’t have or rather still now don’t have any friends in my neighborhood.

The only time I used to step out of my house was while going to the school, and a few occasional trips to my aunts’ houses in Kolkata with my family.

That was, however, a straight trip from our house to one of my aunt’s house in our family car with no breaks in between.

While my friends were visiting different cities, having fun at the amusement parks, going out on a picnic and enjoying their life, I was stuck in my house and believe me, it wasn’t even a bit amusing.

I wanted to get out of my house, explore the world outside and have fun.

The only thing that held me back was the fear that in the act of having too much fun, I would eventually score poor marks and have my parents disappointed.

Moreover, I was too afraid to go out somewhere on my own.

For a guy like me, who had never gone out alone and have always been accompanied by an elder even to the nearby tuitions and to the closest bus stop till the age of 16, it required a lot of courage to go out alone.

Frankly speaking, I didn’t have that courage back then. I don’t blame anyone but me for this.

“Scared of a world outside, you should go explore” — John Mayer

It took a long time for me to realize that being stuck inside four walls was killing me from the inside. At times, I felt suffocated, I wanted to break free.

I had always been told,

“If you study hard now and don’t focus on other things then your future will be bright and you will have lots of chances to enjoy later.”

I agree this is a fact. However, that certainly doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t enjoy at all until you get a decent job.

And it’s also true that you can maintain a perfect balance between enjoyment and study/work if you manage them both efficiently.

In short, make time for both but don’t do both of them together.

I “finally” made it

It was in the year 2009 when I finally understood this.

Oh! What a fool I had been for many years, but that year completely changed me.

From that time onwards I started to live my life according to my will. One of my close friends motivated me to take my first step.

I think that was the major breakthrough. Just the kind of thing I needed.

In no time, I was feeling free and happy. It was a whole new experience.

Of course, everything didn’t just happen at a glance.

It took me months to make myself feel comfortable and free and change what has been going on in my life till then.

I still remember the first time I cycled from my house to a tuition, all alone. I was so excited that I could keep on cycling without getting exhausted.

I was feeling free like a bird. Kind of like Eddie the Eagle.

“Even now sometimes I just take my bicycle and cycle to any random spot. Feels great.”

After that, I had gone out with my friends on many occasions, visited a lot of wonderful places, been doing stuff that I like and want and had been enjoying a lot since then.

One amazing thing that I have witnessed is that having fun or doing what your heart wants you to do doesn’t hamper your work performance. If you can manage them well, you can maintain a perfect balance of both, and in turn, work better.

Though I had spent many of my years stuck in my house, I don’t regret about that even a bit now.

“I don’t cry for what has happened, I smile for what might happen.”

Now, coming back.

Are you with me?

Are you planning to enjoy your life after your retirement?

You might want to stop doing that. Believe me, if you do so, you will regret when you actually retire.

Start doing what you want to do right from now. It’s time that you live for yourself and not for someone else.

Don’t be afraid to do what your heart says.

Your mind might put up a lot of obstructions and make you feel that you shouldn’t follow your heart, but it’s following your heart that will give you the utmost happiness in life.

It might seem a lot difficult for you to change something in your life, but the moment you take your first step, it will start to seem a lot easier.

Take that first step. I am sure that you won’t regret.

A little time spent for yourself won’t affect your work or study. However, it will surely make you feel happy.

Create your Bucket List (the things you want to do before you die) right now.

Start following it.

Don’t keep it safe until your retirement, start executing your wishes one by one right from now onwards.

You never know what great things you might get to see and what amazing experiences you might have. Make new memories and add them to your library of happiness.

Stop worrying about what might go wrong, break free from your inhibitions, and start living for yourself.

Time will pass anyway. It’s how you live that matters.

“Make your today such, that when you are dying, you can leave this world without any regrets.”

Mark this date.

Today is the beginning of a new life for you. New adventures, new experiences and surely a whole lot of happiness.

Make the most out your life. You won’t get a second life to live. Have a happy and grand life.

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