Live Life.. One Weekend at a Time

After a hectic week at work, weekend is the time to unwind and live the life you want. But some of us are too busy in our work to enjoy life even on weekends. You have no time to spend on yourself, no time to spend with family, no time to catch up with friends. If you are one of those ‘super busy’ people, do read this post. I know you have a very good reason for all the work, but this post is written specially for you.

Think about it, why are you not able find time to enjoy your weekend as you like? Why do we choose to work like dogs in our prime years of life? How much of is the real need and how much of it is driven by our never ending desires?

Can we not spare two days a week for self, family, and friends? Why can't we enjoy simultaneously while we work hard to earn?   

You may say, I work hard for a bright future for my family. Most of us have a small family – a single kid or two kids at most. Do we think our next generation would be incapable to earn, that we save so much for them? How many generations do we want to feed?

You may say, “I am earning to save for a house, a car, or kid’s wedding. Think again. Are we earning to pay builders and interior designers, caterers, and decorators?  Whom do we want to impress with our highly inflated house properties and fat weddings? Do you remember for more than two days what you ate at someone's marriage?

We don't own a property we just have temporary name on documents. When I say, "I am the owner of this land", I can feel a smile coming on God’s lips.

How can we judge a person’s worth by the length of his car? I remember my awesome science and maths teachers vividly. They were all great human beings riding on scooters who changed my life forever.   

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that it is bad to be rich, but it is very unfair to yourself, to be only rich.

Do you spend even 5% of your monthly income for self-enjoyment?  Usually no! Is the money really buying you happiness?

One day, time runs out and each one us has to go. No one on his deathbed ever regrets that he could not spend enough time at office. Instead, most common regret is that I could not live the life fully. I could not fulfill my dream.

So, wake up now before time runs out! Spare time to enjoy before you have slipped discs and cholesterol blocks in your heart!


Let's resolve to live life, one weekend at a time, before life gets us.

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About this Post

I was looking for a suitable title for this post. Thanks Himani Gupta for coining the slogan, "Live Life.. One Weekend at a Time", that became a fitting title.

These beautiful lines capture the thought really well. Thanks Rajesh Verma for sending these.

सुनो....!
बरसों से
बचा बचा के,
कई घंटे इकट्ठा किए थे.......
मन में जोड़ के,
दिन भी बना लिए थे कई....
सोचा था
निकल पड़ूँगा.......
दिल खोल के खरचूँगा
घूमूँगा जियूँगा,
जो चाहे जी करूँगा......
आज मन पक्का करके
तोड़ी गुल्लक,
तो पता चला
बीता समय.......
आज में नहीं चलता.......!!!

Prayer as a Last Resort

There was a sailor who was taking a group of young students on a day trip in the ocean. Before commencing the journey, he started by saying a prayer. When the young passengers saw it, they laughed at him, “The day is fine and sunny, and the sea is calm. What’s the need of a prayer in such good conditions?”

However, soon afterwards, a storm suddenly blew up and the boat began to pitch violently. This terrified the passengers so much that they started praying for their safety. Some of them came to the sailor and asked him to join in the prayers.

The sailor replied, “I say my prayers when it is calm. When it is rough, it is time to attend to the boat.”

This simple story has a great lesson for us. If we cannot remember God in quiet moments of our lives, we are not likely to find Him when trouble strikes, and are more prone to panic. Only if we learn to seek Him and develop a solid faith during quiet moments, then we will most certainly find Him helping us during turbulence.

Make a habit of thanking God and praying every day when the going is good, as you never know when the situation may change. We tend to use prayer as a last resort, but it should be our first line of defense. We pray when there is nothing else we can do; but why not pray before we do anything at all. If we keep our faith, and pray during happy times, God will help us resolve our issues in a timely manner so that we do not have to experience a crisis. Five hundred years back, Sant Kabir expressed it beautifully in the following couplet: 

दुःख में सुमरन सब करें, सुख में करे न कोय
जो सुख में सुमरन करे, तो दुःख काहे को होय

Sky is The Limit

Ritesh was studying in seventh standard. He was well aware that his poor father had difficult time making the ends meet with his little income, still somehow managed to put him in a public school. After school hours Ritesh tried to earn money to fund his education by doing odd jobs and working as a waiter in a roadside restaurant at night.

One day the English teacher asked the class to write an essay on “My Dream”. As Ritesh walked back from school, he kept thinking about the topic and got quite charged up about it. After work, he started writing the essay in night.

“My dream is to build a 200 acre farm which will have 50 fine horses. It will have a lavish farmhouse in the center in which I will live.”, he wrote.

Then as he went on writing further, his imagination started taking wings and he described the farm in vivid detail. He covered the design of the farm and the breed and specialty of the horses. The essay was already ten pages long, but he was going on with his writing. He got so absorbed in narrating his dream that he could not sleep that night.

Next day, he submitted the essay to the teacher with pride and enthusiasm. His anticipation was that his essay would stand apart from all other students, the teacher will give him good grades. However, when the teacher returned the assignment, he was surprised to see that he was failed. His eyes were filled with tears and he went to the teacher to ask what was wrong with his essay.

The teacher said, “You know you are from a poor family, even daily bread in a challenge for you. In spite of doing jobs after school, you find it hard to earn enough money for school fees every month. How can you think about a big farm like this? Can you afford to buy even one horse? I am giving you one more chance to re-write your essay. This time write about something that is feasible for you to achieve. You should not have such unrealistic dreams that are impossible to fulfill.”

Ritesh was completely devastated. He could not go to his daily jobs that day. He slowly walked back to home and narrated the disappointing episode to his father.

His father said, “Son, you are the sole owner of your dreams. No one else has right to decide what you can or cannot dream. Dream as big as you want, and make every possible effort to realize your dreams.”

This affirmation acted like magic for his confidence. Next day, Ritesh took the same essay to the teacher and said, “I accept the grades that you have given me, but I cannot compromise with my dreams just to get a better grade.”

When it comes to dreams - sky is the limit.

Your dreams should not be limited by your age, sex, caste, religion, and status. The belief in your own capabilities and potential should be the real factor that determines your dreams. Dream big, else you are underestimating your own potential.

The Beggar's Secret

Vaishali was in the grip of a dry spell that year. There was no rain for months.. no crop as a result. People did not have enough to eat or drink. King Siddharth was trying his best to help, but still could not do much in the face of such a natural calamity. He used to go on regular rounds to get first hand information of the situation on the ground, and it had become a depressing ritual now. Wherever he went, he encountered misery, hunger, cries, and gloomy faces. The situation was hopeless and was getting more and more desperate every day. Every one was praying for just one thing - rains.

So Siddharth was obviously surprised when he noticed a man sitting under a tree, smiling and singing a song. The sight of the happy man continued to haunt him that day and he made it a point to visit that area next day. The man was there, sitting confidently under the tree, smiling and singing like previous day. Siddharth kept watching him with amazement for a long time.. and then came back wondering about him. He observed the man for next several days.. and he remained equally happy on all occasions.

"What is the secret of his happiness?", This question started dominating Siddharth's mind so much that he found it hard to concentrate on anything else. He started seeing the smiling man in his dreams as well. Finally he decided to find the answer of this question troubling him and approached the man on his next round of state. As he went near the man, he noticed for the first time that the man was holding a begging bowl in his hand. "He is a beggar.. still he is so happy, how?", the king's curiosity got further multiplied.

He asked the beggar, "Whenever I pass from here, I see you being happy, while everyone else is miserable. I myself am not happy even if I have money, expensive cloths, palace, family and power. You don't have anything.. what is the secret of your happiness in spite of such a gloomy situation?"

The beggar said, "My happiness is based on two simple beliefs:

1. God gifts challenges to each of us depending on our capacity. Bigger challenges are given to those who are more capable.
2. Every new challenge we encounter makes us stronger."

"Okay, how does that make you happy?", the king was getting more curious now.

The beggar continued, "Whenever I face more hardships than others, I feel satisfied that I am the chosen one, since I am stronger. This makes me happy and lets me focus on facing the situation with confidence. Once I cross the difficult situation, I feel good that I am stronger now."

"I believe that wherever I am, in howsoever challenging situation, is the right one for me. All I need to do is to just put in my best effort in the situation and there is no point worrying about it. These thoughts act as a warm positive protective cover for me, that shields me from feeling miserable and keeps my happiness intact."

If a beggar can feel happy in spite of having every reason to feel miserable, what is preventing you and me from adopting the same attitude?