Starting on a New Journey

Every time I come across housing.com's advertisement video it strikes a chord in my heart - it is peppy and exudes positivity, and to top it all, the the core product placement is not very in-your-face. The video of course talks about housing but in a subtle manner, for the focus is more on looking up, feeling positive and leaving the old and mundane and energy draining inanities behind and starting afresh.  The video also makes me reminiscence about the time, when I too was stuck in the 9 to 5 rut, desperate looking for an escape route and yet clueless about where the exit gate was. Of course eventually I did find a way out and that in itself is a story that keeps motivating me time and again. But before I go into flashback mode, check out this video and I am sure it's catchy tune would l pep up you too!

A fun one to watch, isn't it? Okay, so getting into flashback mode, here's the story of how I said 'enough is enough' and decided to start on a new journey. I left my cushy job for it was draining my mentally and physically and instead set out to follow my passion - travelling. My mind for long had been craving peace and solitude, and yes, something new too. Something that could keep me creatively and positively engaged. The drudgery of working at a 24/7 news channel had drained me of all my enthusiasm, novelty of a job in broadcast journalism had worn out and with every passing day I was realising that my little left sanity would soon wear off. Here I ask you - for how long can one keep the façade on? Pretend all's hunky dory in life? What if you decide that you you do not want to toe anyone's line? What happens when you are left continuously pondering about the meaning and purpose of life? A life caught in a monotonous routine, where one's nothing but just another cog in the wheel. These were the thoughts that were constantly bogging me down, making me desperate for the mountains, for that's where I wanted to be.

My chance to hit the highway for the mountains came in the way of a rejected visa. Bizarre, you would say, since generally visa rejections angers people, seeing their best laid out 'foreign trip' plan going astray. But my rejection letter appeared to me as a blessing in disguise. It was as if instead of heading for London, the Gods wanted me to stay in India and travel to the mountains and fulfil my dream of travelling on my own.  And that's precisely what I did! I said I quit! There were people, right from family to colleagues who thought it was a foolhardy decision and the idea to quit job to just travel was my passing fancy but something inside me kept giving me the energy and assurance to stay put.  No doubt it was a big leap of faith but deep within I had this feeling that I will do just fine. And a couple of years down the line now, I am happy to note that things have been quite okay. There have been occasional hiccups but nothing that could cause a roadblock. The journey is on, and I am happy that I started on this new journey and picked a new life for myself. I am glad I took this road. :)

The hardest part of starting a new journey is taking a leap of faith right at the beginning.

Photo courtesy: paulspatterson.com