Boo-Bloody-Hoo, Toughen Up, Princess!

I posted this in Instagram a few days ago:

Thought of the day: are you able to pull through when your goals are far ahead of you & seemingly out of reach? Or do you discard them & reach for closer ones? The easy way out, the immediate gratification; these are the things that our generation has been conditioned to think are what we ‘deserve’. But are they?

Think about it – every day, we are bombarded with millions of advertisements which are competing for business, each trying to out-sell the other by touting themselves as the ‘better’ choice. Not only are they the better choice, we also ‘deserve’ to buy the best brand, which is theirs, obviously.

Add on to that the option of shopping in the comfort of your own home and quick delivery right to your doorstep, & voila!

Sure, all this is well & good, especially for those who are unable to leave their homes due to unavoidable circumstances. Yet, as with everything, there will always be undesirable side effects which can arise.

Immediate gratification. With everything within a click of a mouse or a tap on a screen, we are slowly being conditioned to get what we want/need immediately. I have noticed it with myself too, & probably you too, dear reader…remember the time your Internet connection went bust? Bahahahahah! Yes, even slow Internet connections piss us off, because we are so used to fast-loading websites, non-buffering videos in HD, etc.

& while all this may seem funny, gone unchecked in the long run, it can affect our lives in deeper ways.

For example. You want to go on holiday, but you don’t have the means to. You take up an extra job, work your ass off, scrooge on expenses...

One week passes.

Two weeks.

The little things about your job start to piss you off. You feel you have worked hard enough & deserve that t-shirt you saw on the way home from work. You start to think, ‘Why the fuck am I doing this? I am not living in the moment, I am attached to the future, I have everything I need, & everything will come to me at the right time, so why am I holding back?’

Quit your job, laze around all day, do the things you love doing (which has not been serving you in financial terms, else it would already be your day job). Keep the holiday dream at the back of your head, convincing yourself that things will fall into place when the time comes.

‘The Universe will provide.’

But it doesn’t.

Oh, boo-bloody-hoo.

Must suck to be you, huh?

I’m sorry but not sorry if I sound mean. I am tired of people who think that the easy life is just that: easy. Yes, it is; but probably not how you imagine it to be.

Ordinarily, a person accepts a situation when he feels helpless. That is impotent acceptance. That will not lead you anywhere. Impotence cannot lead you anywhere. A person accepts a situation when he feels hopeless – nothing can be done, so what to do? At least accept, to save face.

-Osho -

Just having positive thoughts isn’t always enough. Just manifesting, manifesting, manifesting, ain’t going to do jack shit. & playing the ‘acceptance’ card when things don’t go as you planned isn’t going to help either, as Osho beautifully explained.

Yes, I’m fairly new in the yoga teacher industry. & yes, I seem to be living it easy, going around enjoying life, travelling, etc. But that’s because you don’t see the BTS (Behind The Scenes) action that goes on.

I seldom hang out in commercial establishments, & also don’t hang out with friends that much, although I admit, I really should make more of an effort. I have things which interest me, like dancing, art, music, etc. But these things cost money too. & so I have to constantly question my priorities; to continue on the example given earlier: Are dance lessons or my holiday more important? How badly do I want to learn to play the drums? Can I afford to watch a movie in the cinema?

Of course, sometimes I do give in to the shorter goals in life. I'm not saying that long-term goals are the be-all-end-all of life. What I am trying to say here is that balance always needs to be struck between your long & short term goals. You can’t go gung-ho on one dream, then burn out & forgo the other.

Each time you feed into a short term goal - & I’m talking purely materialistically but this idea can also be applied to relationships, work, etc as we will see later; you are *that much* further away from your dream. You spend RM30 on a dress – you are RM30 further away from going on holiday. You don’t upgrade yourself in your work industry – you are that much further from that promotion.

& NO, start-ups, earning money online, etc will not give you immediate financial freedom or freedom to earn money from wherever the hell you are in the world. Everything takes time. Those people you see, they have already put in the necessary work a long time ago, & bear in mind they still have to maintain the upkeep of their business, even now. You need time to establish yourself as a brand, reach out to your desired audience, & gain enough following to quit that day job you claim you hate so much & live the life you want.

Back to the original question: Are you willing to pull through? Do you have what it takes to be patient, to work at that day job while at the same time slowly building up the things you love doing?

If you do, then good on you. If you don’t, then don’t come crying on my doorstep. Especially if you’ve been repeating the same thing again & again.

& don’t bitch me about how easy my life is, & how ‘things are different’ for you. Sorry, Tantricka mode completely off today...& loving it! Bahahahahah!

Toughen up, princess.