The Joys of being Original

It never ceases to amaze me that no two leaves, pebbles, clouds or faces are ever the same. The universe is a master in creating originals. Each of us is unique. We have our own experiences, sense of being and purpose. We have been provided the opportunity of life to explore and build with our unique capabilities. I also remain in awe of the synchronicity in the universe and how it brings forces together to co-create. Our energies coming together is a unique opportunity to enable more of life to happen. Each day is unique, it will never occur again. The weather, events and possibilities on this day will only happen once and a new day will again bring its own unique possibilities. As I learn to be more aware, it is beautiful and inspiring to watch the occurrences of the day and observe the universe enabling each one of us towards our potential.

Harivansh Rai Bachchan says ‘if it happens as per our will it is good but if things happen against or not according to our will it is even better’ as events are occurring beyond our limited imagination and abilities, in alignment with the vast intelligence of the universe. I have learned to accept this reality more and more and benefitted deeply from this one understanding. There can be a lot of grief that we feel at a moment because of an event not going as per plan but when we look back after passage of time we see the intricate structure of possibilities that emerged from that moment. We have limited vision and understanding of life’s desire from us and it is important to try to push in a certain direction but equally important to accept when we see the forces of the universe not warranting us to move in the trajectory that our intellect is taking us. There is time, place and readiness for experiences.

We are all blessed with original thought that is completely unique for us and we do a disservice if we do not nurture it well. There are so many of us trying to be like someone else and that is an impossibility. We are conditioned right from the beginning to be Christ or Rama like or follow in the footsteps of another great soul but that isn’t even a possibility. All we end up doing is confusing ourselves and brewing in guilt or dissatisfaction. My life would be well lived if I was able to be more and more like what I am meant to be. We are of course inspired by many and learn from the journey of others but it all needs to be brought within to explore what is our soul wanting from us. The word GuRu is beautiful. It stands for Gu (darkness) to Ru (light) and the real Guru is within. The work of a master to enable us to connect with that force and then be guided. We are taught in India that the master appears when when the learner is ready and I experience that so many times. We cannot really seek out the teacher, all we can work on is to get ourselves readier to receive.

It is our responsibility within organisations to enable each individual to work towards their highest potential and that may be with or beyond the boundaries of the establishment. We are all searching whether we see and accept or not. It is beautiful to watch people get a glimmer of that understanding. Our organisation has been blessed to spend time with some amazing masters who enable that journey within and I see that there is little inspiration needed for an individual once that shift begins to take place. Once the seeds of exploration are sown it brings with it a journey so fulfilling that it is impossible to be the way we were. They say ‘you cannot step into the same river twice’ and that is so true. The river is constantly flowing and our desire for staying in status quo or comfort zone is so misguided as it is an impossibility. Kabir says ‘it is better to ‘do’ and suffer rather than not do, regret and suffer’. Even suffering has different levels of satisfaction! Taking a step towards what life is asking from us can be daunting and I see so many of us get frozen by fear and on the other side I also see those who are able to be guided by life and the fulfilment that they experience as they go along.

I also see organisations trying hard to be like another establishment or trying to provide offerings that another provides and that is a disservice to the possibilities that the particular concern and its unique team and culture hold. We try to take the easy way out. When we go for a project we are asked to give examples of organisation that we would like to emulate and that never ceases to amaze me. Why are we not able to think starting from a blank slate? As soon as we reference another my minds are clouded and possibilities for a unique occurrence diminished. We need to understand the opportunity that we are trying to address and the value we are trying to bring and co-creation can occur from thereon. There are lines of shops that offer the same set of products when we go to a tourist site and in that case there are only two variables that would enable success- location or cost. Those two are tough parameters to compete on. It would definitely be better if we work on understanding our strengths, the needs of the receiver and the value we can create to enable a shift to occur. Creation is deeply embedded in our nature and we feel an innate sense of joy in the process when we engage. There are so many ‘me too’ products and services out there and as customers we are automatically attracted to the originals more. We may knowingly settle for an alternate on the basis of cost or convenience but our minds still yearn for the unique.

Our teams get unsettled when there are so many that work on copying our products or services but I find that is a happy place to be in. We would not want it the other way round. We get into deep discussions of protection, intellectual property and patents but all we really need to focus on is continuing to create. That is a process that provides deeper joy and also keeps setting us apart. The chase helps us grow and go faster. Creation is endless and we need to build the ethos of exploration and constant desire for growth and excellence within our organisations.

Let us all keep working on finding our unique selves and working from there to provide an offering that can only be provided by us. There would be many that would follow but the joy of doing what the universe is asking from us has no alternate. We would have lived a life fulfilled.