Design Your Destiny

 

 

 “You must give everything to make your life as beautiful as the dreams that dance in your imagination.”
 Roman Payne

 

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L

ife is full of endless possibilities.

Growing up I truly believed I had at my disposal endless possibilities, paths yet to be trodden, routes yet to be mapped - the world was my playground, living was an exciting prospect, every day unfolded new and newer avenues to skip down soaking up the delights on the way. I loved learning and books which were opening up my mind and increasing my wonder at all the things out there to choose, experience and savour.

And then I grew up and experienced ‘real’ life.

A life strapped down by responsibilities, duties and commitments. I was a wife, a mother, a home-maker. The world wasn't my playground anymore, more a to-do errand list that I mentally ticked off every day. Experiences, good, bad and ugly, just rolled on me rather than me choosing to experience something. All exciting possibilities grew distant and distant, even books read failed to ignite wonder and passion for things unknown as I knew them to be mere words not possibilities. Don’t get me wrong. I had a good comfortable life surrounded by loving people but somehow, I felt restless and empty. Destiny became a mocking word – I knew in my heart there was more to me that just that and I drew little comfort from the fact that duties and responsibilities are marks of a person raised well. A sense of commitment to ones daily jobs, regard for the elderly, devotion to ones partner, obligations towards ones kids, loyalty to ones friends - all these are marks of a good upbringing.  Fortunately or unfortunately, depends upon how you feel on any particular day!

And sadly, I also realised that there are no "endless possibilities" in life. We are all like balloons, tethered to a string, some short, some long, all up in the sky together, blowing gently this way and that, but tethered nevertheless.  Those that break free and soar up are the free-spirited ones, faced perhaps, with endless-possibilities, the rest of us, will stay tethered till the end of our time strapped down by circumstantial and personal commitments.

And just like life, room design has limitations too – defined by its space, features and functionality. Good designers acknowledge the limitations early on and work on possibilities to make the                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      room a success. Limitations in rooms certainly present us with challenges – but do not stop or hamper creativity. In fact most room limitations lead to very creative design solutions; as I realised to my advantage over the years - initially getting frustrated over being hemmed in and then finding the most desirable solutions to design dilemmas.

And it was this very aspect of design that eventually taught me that even though in life I feel tethered and bound in some ways, I needed to think within the boundaries of my impossibilities to arrive at the probable – and then act on the probable to make it possible and in doing so, realise my criteria of personal growth and success. I was surprised at how similar the process was to designing a room and also why I had never thought of using the same process for designing my life.

Whatever your criteria of success may be, money, power, health, spiritual growth, emotional stability, altruism, this really is the ultimate formula for success.

Consciously choosing to relentlessly act on some of your possibilities till they invariably become your destiny. 

Have you read about people living their destiny – living their dreams? Well, who is to decide what they were destined for?  They are doing nothing more than acting on their beliefs and ideas conjured up in their own brains (or borrowed from somewhere) and then calling it their destiny when they make a success of it.

Life is really what you think of it – and destiny is the conscious implementation of your thoughts. The blue print of your destiny is created by you and not by some divine intervention delivered to your doorstep.

Although life does look and feel like a series of chances, sometimes you even feel helpless in the face of all it throws at you (and I have had plenty of  those moments) there is really at all times, even in the worst, most painful situations, some elements in your power. In every situation, there is always some room for manoeuvrability – either something you can think, do or say that will change the situation. Sometimes it's just as simple as how you perceive a situation, because when all else fails that is the one thing that you can whip out -like a secret weapon-  to make your life easier and better for yourself.  You really are in control of your own destiny, your thoughts direct you, your choices define who you are, your actions take you where you want to be.  

So become the architect of your life, design it the way you want, carry that blue print in your mind and act on it little by little every day, I guarantee  you will be much happier and feel more passionate about being alive.