No more "Hail Mary"

A "Hail Mary pass" or "Hail Mary play" in American football refers to any very long forward pass made in desperation with only a small chance of success, especially at or near the end of a half.

Some people get an easy ride in life and fail to realize the worthiness of what they have. Such peole with a cushy job and a flashy life style may not appreciate what they have that others strive and slog for. I am not being judgemental here. I am talking from personal experience. Talking about people with "no gratitude in life" and "no pain, a lot of gain", I am happy for them, but I do not envy them. For starters, why talk about others, try me 10 years back in Boston. I clearly qualified in this category 10 years back. Been there....done that....nothing much to be proud of. I remember throwing "Hail Mary" all the time and it worked all the time!! It is just that I did not know that I was throwing "Hail Mary" as I had been a Happy-Go-Lucky guy. My critics never had the last word, unfortunately. I wish Tom Brady had a success rate like that......Go Patriots!!

But, this good fortune has to stop someday, right? And, when it stops, the world comes crashing down. And the pain?? It is a terrible jolt that will leave a permanent imprint in your mind that will haunt you for ever.

What's next? What do you do now? I guess that is what defines our character and, ultimately, our lives. Yes, you fell down hard. You just get back on your feet and run again. Your body is not fit enough to match the burning sensation of resilience in your mind. You had not upgraded your skills in your Happy-Go-Lucky life for a long time. You took the foot off the gas pedal. But, now, it is time to endure the pain and get used to fear. The transformation process is so amazing and painful.

Perhaps, it is easy to lie to your friends or lie to your family, as you believe that they will forgive you. But, if you lie to yourself, you will never forgive yourself. I guess, this is the most difficult part of the transformation that will haunt you for the rest of your life. And, the transformation costs dearly in both tangible and intangible ways!!

Ultimately, you ignite the transformation process and, hopefully, the evolution of this newly-hard-earned attitude will cease to gyrate only on the day when we depart for the better world. If not, then we still have not learnt our lesson. As the saying goes....perhaps, it is okay to lose, but when you lose don't lose the lesson.

Having worked in different cultures/continents, the other side of the grass is no longer green to me. I know what I want (to a greater extent). Now, having worked in the Middle East for sometime, I am a bit shocked to see the expats living a very lethargic life, oblivious to the rulthless capitalistic world out there. These folks (blessed, in a way) seldom had to throw "Hail Mary" for over 20 or 30 years. Yes, they have had their share of problems, especially in the health front, but they have had such a peaceful, pleasant and enjoyable family life that is still a dream-come-true for many expats living in the Western world. Trust me, I know it is true!! But, frankly, having learnt my lesson, I will not dare to venture into another Happy-Go-Lucky phase.

Perhaps, my transformation is put to test in an environment where there is hardly any motivation or inspiration. (Please bear with my boasting. It is truly a sense of joy.) Talking about test results, I have made tremendous progress: My weekly 10km runs, my recent 17km run, my 1km swimming, blogging, my target of doing a half marathon this year, I am VP-Public Relations at my Toastmasters Club, my weekly write-up for the Toastmasters Club (http://morisonmuscat.freetoasthost.biz/), progress in the certification/professional front, great progress in the family/personal/relationship front (perhaps, the best of all).

One of the most important lessons that I have learnt in my transformation process is "Humility is the only true wisdom by which we prepare our minds for all the possible changes of life.”

In today's world, most of us will need to throw a "Hail Mary" soon, as the world is bracing for the impact of the world-economic-tsunami that the world has never seen before and, even worse, there are no solutions even from the gurus yet. As Thomas Friedman blogs: the European Union is cracking up. The Arab world is cracking up. China’s growth model is under pressure and America’s credit-driven capitalist model has suffered a warning heart attack and needs a total rethink. Recasting any one of these alone would be huge. Doing all four at once — when the world has never been more interconnected — is mind-boggling. We are again “present at the creation” — but of what?

Let us not stop working and remember to enjoy the journey. Meanwhile, let us prepare ourselves for the "Hail Mary", if required, but at the same time be grateful and enjoy every precious moment of our lives with passion.

Live with passion

The traditional custom of ‘Whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’ was broken when the 2011 World Championship of Public Speaking was webcast live (for the first time ever) from Las Vegas, across the earth. One of the contestants, Kwong Yue Yang of China (Second Place Winner), struck a chord in me with his speech, “Fortune Cookie”, in which he talked about discovering our passions by ourselves rather than aping successful people. Kwong, having received millions of free advice from many, got the best advice ever from a fortune cookie: a piece of paper with nothing written on it. The theme being: one has to discover oneself and not ape someone. The movie, Kungfu Panda revolves around the same theme. And, last but not the least, my favorite movie, “3 idiots” conveys just that.

Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you. – Oprah Winfrey

Well said. It is something that gives you a high and keeps you ticking. Even until a few years back, I remember moments in my life when I had felt empty with no excitement although it was weekend or I had nothing to worry about. The moment deserved excitement, but it was empty. Then, I never understood that emptiness and I had always wondered why. Thanks to one of my best friends who turned my life around by helping me discover my passions (blogging, marathon) and my life has never been the same again since then. No matter how bad the circumstance is, I know exactly which string to be pulled to get my spirits high. I travel to my world of passions to experience the “high” that fills the emptiness and the excitement emits so much energy that you become restless which lands me in another dilemma: from emptiness to excitement, you want to do so many things but wonder where to start.

On my recent trip to my native village in India, I came across a few enchanting people who have escaped the corporate rat race, have been blessed with flexible work times, don’t have to commute in a bumper-to-bumper traffic every day and lead an organic lifestyle (pretty much). The best part of it all is that they do not work rather they do what excites them the most: their passions. These fascinating people who have chosen their passions as their professions - Sea farers, teachers, businessmen, businesswomen, musicians, social workers, and teachers – lead an envious life and the excitement is written all over their faces anytime you meet them. One thing that they all have in common is their unshakeable conviction and positive attitude towards life.

It’s incredible!!

In the movie, “Serendipity”, John Cussack’s buddy says to him, "The Greeks didn’t write obituaries. They only asked one question after a man died: Did he have passion?" True or not, it is a powerful statement that intrigues anyone.

Turning 40!!

Turning 40!! Getting naughty!! Well, many of my friends and relatives teased me on my 40th birthday. And, I wondered why?! A lot has changed since I looked (young) the way I felt (young). It all seems like yesterday, but 2 decades of adult life has gone past in just a flash. All of a sudden in life, you feel a pause as if it was destined to happen to awaken you from the dream. Man, it is a rude awakening!! Friends of my age, who used to goof around all the time get philosophical over a drink. You start receiving wedding invitations from babies that you used to carry around several years back. Your own kids start talking about their plans for their teen life!! And, that does it. The last big bang of the bell reverberates through your ears so much that you start looking exactly (old) the way you feel (old). Welcome to the 40s!!

A sense of wisdom seeps in your life and you feel a bit serene. At times you start questioning your own convictions on "life" based on which you had taken many critical decisions in your life. You feel that you have not achieved anything although you have not done all that bad. You muster courage to face all the mistakes in life and let go most of the timid false-beliefs or empty-pride. When your kids are old enough to reason over an argument with you, they help you confront your own deepest secrets or weaknesses. Unlocking those gates of darkness gives a sense of comfort and freedom that makes you feel enlightened. Ultimately, you loosen up a lot!!

A very close friend of mine who is a quintessential person of the Catholic Faith (even during the school days), used to intrigue me with his unquestioned, unconditional faith. I never understood his convictions of faith very much many years back, but now I could relate to what he was talking about and it has made an amazing impact in my life. I feel completely free and no fear (almost). The altitude and the horizon of your comprehensive capabilities on the bigger aspects of life gets higher and wider that you start drawing parallels between this blind faith and the ideas that you come across everyday. One of my favorite attitudes (parallel drawn) from the movie, 3 idiots, is the "Aal iz well". Incredibly simple, yet amazing!! It guarantees to get rid of fear in your mind, like the blind faith. And, I wish I had had this faith 20 years back when my close friend used to shower me with plethora of faith related information with an earnest intention of saving another soul (mine).

Although I wanted to be an Engineer even as a kid, I wonder why I wanted to become an Engineer. I wish I had explored other areas of interest rather than to have just followed the crowd (in a way). The movie, 3 idiots, has been an eye opener for many youngsters and "Aamir Khan" is more of a cult these days. Glad to see a cult-trend for something good. It has definitely been an eye openner for me!! The movie does not portray something that is new or revolutionary, but it is just that we have never dared to digress from our conventions. I just loved the last phrase of the entire movie that sums up all: If you chase excellence, success will chase you with its pants down.

Especially, on the "woman" front, you wonder: Oh man, only if I had known so much about women 20 years back!! I am sure a lot of guys my age can relate to it.

For many years until I hit 40, I looked (young) the way I felt (young) and, at 40, after the wisdom has suddently dawned on me during the fateful pause-in-life, I definitely look (old) the way I feel (old). But, hey, it does not matter. In a nutshell, as long the spirit is young we never age. And, to feel young one needs to set challenges every single day to feel alive every moment and raise the bar for the next day. I pat myself on my back to cheer myself for having attained the right attitude at 40 for attitude and not aptitude will determine our altitude.