"We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public"
Do you think about bunking your work, if the weather is beautiful? Or your friends/ family are getting together? or any other excuse to move away from the mundane existence of work? Well if the answer is yes , then my friend welcome to the world of being a child who has been given a task to act and behave as expected by the society.
Some where inside us, is this child, who is curious, fun and carefree. Yet by the conditioning done to us in early ages of schooling and peer pressure we learn to curb this instinct and live a life which is a set of "code of conduct."
How we are suppose to behave in society, at work, even we now have coaching for how to lead our life. May it to be a good leader, power dressing, giving a speech or even giving an interview ... the list goes on and we all imbibe these code of conducts for a better life. Some where in this hustle bustle to be the best and be a mature professional we have left behind our core essence to be natural.
This dawned upon me many years ago, when i started working. my colleagues would come up with excuses, like not feeling well, or some one is family was hospitalised to take an off. I somehow used to manage to irk my bosses by being blatantly blunt by telling that i just did not want to come to work. Not that any of my work was pending, timelines were met but somehow there were some days when i just didn't want to work and wanted time off to rest my brains. This did not go too well with my bosses, but then as my work was good thank fully i never got fired from my job. That was a blessing in disguise if i look back now 2 decades ago.
Walk the talk, is what i have heard all my life. Be the change and i did just that when i got a chance to lead a team. I let the child come out and my team did not have to lie to take a day off. The mandate was simple, work hard and party harder. If one was not in mood to work, or wanted to come late just say so. That way the work does not suffer, as passionately charged people work differently than adaptors who are just wiling away time at work. Our deadlines were always met, projects were delivered and the team was highly motivated.
Life is fun, yet we have complicated the whole process. To be mature to me means, to be emotionally mature nothing else. There are decisions which we need to take in life, let it be personal or professional. Both ways what ever we decide effects people around us and an emotionally mature person would take these decisions without prejudice. That does not mean that a person need to be serious or speculative always, neither does it mean that one needs to be a court jester to get the inner child out. Just being ourselves at times i feel is enough.
My existence is that i am living and curious, beyond that i don't care. I usually see a surprised look on people's faces when i tell them my age. Probably to many age suggests getting old and to me it suggests one has more experience in living and having fun.
There are times i wonder about my genetic engineering and whistle with gratitude that the funny bone inside me lives. To me the mantra of living a good life is to be happy. Things don't usually go as planned, there is no eternal sunshine or happiness given to anyone. But the trick is to find happiness when the going is tough and understanding the myth around being happy.
Let the child be a child, living by the code can disguise many but then heart is always young and let the wings unfurl to feel the freedom which one does when there are no masks worn. Passion drives us all, our success is in our own hands. We can choose to be a fragment of imagination of the code of conduct or choose to set ourselves free to be who we want to be.
As the saying goes " The most potent muse of all is our own inner child"
Seriously does anyone wants to Grow up?
