TIME - MY BEST TEACHER

 

I have had some wonderful teachers right from my parents at home through my school days and later in Medical College and several inland and overseas training units. I have worked in four continents and after all that I am convinced who my best teacher was. It was Time.

 

Time is a wonderful teacher. It teaches you things you make life livable and there is no way you can escape its lessons. Time gives us perspective. When we let go of something and come back to it after a period of time, we see things differently. Events unfold in lives that give us the opportunity to see things in a way that we never imagined.

While difficult times can feel like a deep dark hole that we can’t escape and we often wonder “Why is this happening to me?”, there is a silver lining to tough times. It’s through difficult times in our life, that we are able to grow. It’s when we are tested that we are able to rise, push through and come out the other side stronger, braver and better. To find the light, we have to go through the darkness and while you’re in the midst of it, try to take a deep breath and remember that the lessons you are learning will shift your view of life. You will learn what matters, who matters, how strong you are and how lucky you are to exist.

That’s what going through difficult times teaches us and they are some of the most important lessons we can ever learn. Let me randomly enumerate a few things that I have learned with time:

1. Quit wasting time with the wrong people. Life is too precious to waste it with people that take away your happiness. If someone wants you in their life, they'll make time for you. Remember, true friends aren't those that are there for you when you're at your best; they're the ones who are by your side during challenging times.

 

2. Face your difficulties instead of running away from them. It won't be a piece of cake, and all of us struggle to overcome our obstacles. We can't expect to find a solution the moment we face a problem. It is natural to become overwhelmed, discouraged, and stumble. That's the time in  life to confront issues, become educated, adjust, and eventually work them out over time. It's this process that defines us.

 

3. Don't deceive yourself. You might be able to deceive others; however, it's impossible to trick yourself. Our lives only improve when we are bold and take risks, and the most complicated thing we can do is start being sincere with ourselves.

 

4. Don't sideline your desires! Living for someone else can be so overwhelming that you forget your own worth. This does not mean you should deny helping others, but that you must provide help to yourself too. It is the perfectly all right to go after your aspirations and dreams.

 

5. Don't try to be someone else. One of life's greatest battles is staying true to yourself in a world that wants to make you like everyone else. There will always be someone more attractive, smarter, or younger, but they can never be you. Don't adapt to make people like you. Just be yourself and the right people will come to embrace what you have to offer.

 

6 Quit clinging to the past. It's impossible to move on to the next part of your life if you are still stuck in the past. You need to learn to let go and refrain from agonizing over the same things that were in the past. Remind yourself that what has happened has happened and there is nothing you can do to alter it, the only thing you can control is how you react to it.

 

7. Don't be scared to make a blunder. Doing something incorrectly is more beneficial than doing nothing at all. Behind every victory are a series of unsuccessful attempts, and each failure is a step towards success. The greatest sorrow is for the things you never did, not for the things you did.

 

8. Cease being hard on yourself for past wrongdoings. No matter how many wrong decisions we make, one thing is for sure - these slip-ups help us to discover the perfect person and things. Everyone makes missteps, we all struggle internally and even regret certain things from the past, yet these experiences enable us to create our future. Every single thing that has ever happened to us in life prepares us for a moment that is yet to occur!

 

9. Refrain from seeking joy in others. If you are not pleased with who you are inside, you won't be content in a long-term relationship with someone else. You must bring stability into your life before you can share it with somebody else.

 

10. Forget about trying to find joy in material possessions. It's the little things in life that bring real happiness. People try to fill the voids in their lives with expensive items, when in reality, what they need is genuine love and contentment - these are things that won't cost you a penny.

 

11. Don't believe you're unable to take a chance. In life, we often come across chances that push us to go out of our comfort zone, and that's normal! You won't ever feel at ease or ready right away but these are life changing occasions. Recognize them and take the chance.

 

12. Be mindful when entering into relationships! It's wiser to be by yourself than to be with someone not so great. Don't hurry - if it needs to happen, it will occur when the time is right with the perfect person and for the best purpose. When you're ready, that's when you should fall in love, not when you're alone.

 

13. Don't hold yourself back from making new connections! Be mindful that each person you come across in life has a purpose - some may challenge you, some might exploit you, and some may even teach you something valuable. But most importantly, there will be someone who will bring out the best in you!

 

14. Don't engage in competition with other people. Don't worry about the things that others can do better than you and focus on surpassing your accomplishments. Success is something that you must battle with yourself only.

 

15. Stop feeling envious of others. Nothing can ruin a person's joy like jealousy - try to recognize the things you have that others don't. Enjoy what you have while you have it.

 

16. Stop grumbling when faced with a challenge. Make the most of the unexpected challenges life throws your way. It may not make sense now, but if you look back, you'll discover that most of these things moved you in a better direction. It will make you much more resilient than before, and you will keep on growing in strength.

 

17. Don't bother explaining yourself to others. Your real friends don't need it, and your foes won't believe it anyway. Just do what you believe is right. In the long run, you'll always be happy you did. Don't compromise who you are.

 

18. Don't let other people bring you down to their level. Don't adjust your standards to suit those who won't make any effort to improve theirs. They will either beat you with experience, or you'll end up just like them. Don't compromise who you are.

 

19. Don't stay mad forever. It's not worth it to spend your days in anger and resentment. You are only harming yourself by holding on to grudges. Forgiveness doesn't mean that you condone the wrong that was done to you, but it means that you are choosing to not let it ruin your happiness. If necessary, forgive yourself, learn from your mistakes and strive to be better.

 

20. Appreciate the small joys. Appreciate the small joys in life, since eventually you will look back and recognize that they are the big things in life. The peak of your life will be those minute moments spent in the company of your loved ones which you might have considered mundane and every day affair.

 

21. Refrain from attempting perfection. Perfection is the enemy of good; accept the latter and stop chasing the former. The real world does not honor perfectionism, but rather people who get things done. Planning ahead is good, but too many people plan all their life and never get around to it! Doing something half-right is better than doing it perfectly never.

 

22. Stop pretending everything is fine when it's not. It is alright not to be OK sometimes. You do not always have to give the impression of being strong, and you don't have to constantly demonstrate that everything is going well for you. Do not worry about what other people think - sob if you must - it is beneficial. The earlier you do this, the sooner you can start smiling again.

 

23. Stop taking the easiest way. Life is not a walk in the park, particularly when trying to accomplish something of consequence and importance. Do not choose the easy way out. Do something out of the ordinary.

 

24. Don't blame others for your issues. The amount of success you can achieve in reaching your ambitions depends on the amount of accountability you take for your life. When you point the finger at others for your troubles, you take away your responsibility - you're allowing someone else to have control over that part of your life.

                                                                                                                           

30. Be thankful for your life and all it offers. Somebody elsewhere is now fighting for their life. Instead of fixating on what you don't have, concentrate on what you have that others don't. Have an enthusiastic attitude about it all!

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve had this dream of changing the world, but growing up, I had no idea how—let alone what I wanted to do with my life. I kept on looking outward, never truly feeling any sense of contentment or peace, until I arrived at these words by the 13th-century poet, Rumi:

“Yesterday I was clever so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise so I am changing myself.”

That’s precisely when I began to understand that all the change I’m seeking in my life first begins with me. And all the change that you’re seeking in your life first begins with you. Change the inside, and the outside falls into place.

 

The truth is, you are capable of creating whatever you please, but what’s standing in the way between where you are and where you want to be is you. Not time, not money, not circumstances…….only you. And do you know why? It’s because you are your greatest obstacle. For the young and inexperienced feeling lost is normal and no matter how “put together” everyone around you seems, when you dig deeper, you’ll realize that they’re all just “figuring it out” as they go. They are students in the same class and the class-teacher is time.