From ME to WE

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Nostalgia is a powerful emotion. Every one of us is nostalgic over something or the other and this gets stronger as we grow older. And when it involves moving into a new apartment, it is certainly a vast change. The people, the place, the community, the neighbourhood  - you are in for a sudden change, and it takes you a long time to adjust to it.

I moved from the earlier home, our first purchase about 20 years ago. And you can judge how strong my emotions would be. My son’s childhood was in that place, and he still feels strongly about the old house. Since we moved into the new place, he has been away for studies and work. So he fondly reminisces only our earlier house as his home.  

I couldn’t let go of the house so much that I had kept it under lock and key while occasionally going there to clean up the place. But as time grew, I realised that my hold over the old place getting loosened and I slowly got into the mindset about letting it go. But till that time, when I prepared myself to let go, I was not able to adjust to the new place.

Luckily, the new community served as a boon for me with new friends and new experiences unfolding every day. Everything about this place was novel and it was quite challenging and interesting to handle. So much so, that till this date, which is about close to a year now, I have not found time to sit back and relax. There is always running around for something or the other, all within the community. And it has not been mindless running, there has been some purpose involved in every activity that I have taken up so far. But more for social causes than for personal gains.

When life’s purpose unfolds, there is a search for ways to do it better. This constant push from the universe to perform better and deliver the best is what makes life worthwhile. At the end of the day, even when there is little monetary gain, the amount of personal satisfaction that one derives, makes it a worthy one.

It is when one's energies are focused on the larger purpose, that one learns to let go of the petty personal things held close to chest. It is a big lesson that only if you let go of things, you allow a lot more new ones to come up to you. When the focus of one’s actions shifts from Me to We, there is a greater purpose. Growing spiritually calls for expanding this consciousness and seeking things to do good for the community rather than for oneself. It is certainly not an easy task to achieve, but as the saying goes: When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. 


True nostalgia is an ephemeral composition of disjointed memories. Florence King

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