The guy who never walked to office

It was a hot dry morning of June in India when I walked to my new office for the first time. That day, it occurred to me that I never walked to my office ever. I used to drive a scooter in my early days and then a car but I never ever walked to my office. Felt exuberant for doing it for the first time, my jubilance became a lump in my throat soon. A wave of diffidence swept me slowly. What is happening to me I thought. I was feeling less confident with every step which means till then I was deriving a part of my confidence from my car!

That left me disturbed; and I remain disturbed for about an hour in which I reflected on what was happening to me and how can I prevent it. Apparently I was defining myself through the things I own. This is exactly what I and most of us do in our everyday lives. We do define people around us by the things they own. A Mac owner becomes a different guy who believes in beauty of design, a PC owner becomes a guy who has to be content with what he has and a Porsche owner becomes a status of success…..

I was doing it conveniently for quite a few years to others, what disturbed me was that I started doing it to myself.  By no means, I can let that happen or rather keep letting that happen to me. Others will and do define me by what I wear and own but I cannot define myself like that.  I could not allow my image of myself to be of a guy who drives a thing and wears a thing. Damn it, I should be defining the things I own not the other way around; I thought. Most depressingly it occurred to me when I stopped using a thing, until then I was clueless.

Something changed that day. I started seeing things as a convenience to me and not a necessity and definitely not a part of my personality. People still define me by what I own but at least I stopped doing it to myself. It saved a lot of money but more importantly it brought an unprecedented peace of mind.

That’s an evil we all do to ourselves. We do define ourselves by the things we own and not by the intellect we possess. That is exactly why it felt so hurtful to lose things because they are a part of us and we cannot afford to lose what we think of ourselves. With some thought and lots of will, we all can change a part of it and focus on what is essential to us. We all do have different causes that are essential to us but trust me, owning a list of things is not a part of it for any of us. Give a shot like I did that day. Your perspective will change and you will create a better and more realistic image of yourself. It is; worth the pain.

Arpit