Rise & Rise Again - Until the lambs become Lions

What are your limits? 

When you ask people this question - you get such different answers. One might say, I can work for 18 hours straight without moving from my desk, one might say I can endure pain to no ends, one might say I can lift 50 kgs of weights at gymn, one might even say I have no limits, the list just continues endlessly...

what is the real question here ? Does one mean what a mind can conjure, does one mean what a heart can withhold or does one mean what a body can withstand - what is this limit we are talking about? Its an old saying that not all fingers on the hand are the same, so are all people different. Hence it is no surprise that the answer to the  question of limit varies from person to person, to what their understanding of their self is.

I beg to differ from the common crowd, limit of one's self is rather based on what the situation they are put in. So as common to people's belief, it is not a controllable aspect of life, but is weaved into you as a person with the pattern of life, one lives. Now I know there are extra-ordinary people who have broken limits defined or seen in this world. Their stories are used as examples for motivation & inspiration for the rest on how one can surpass their limits - which of course highlights  personality traits like hard-work, dedication, focus discipline, so on & so forth. 

Does this mean the rest of them who have not broken barriers are lazy, ill-disciplined, aimless....?

The answer is no. Everybody is born the same in this world, it is how your life mould you as a person, the situations that you are put in, that make make you or break you. These situations help us to understand our limits. The highlight of defining one's limit is that it is a never-ending process. You are always re-defining your limit with every situation you face in your life. According to me, a real-understanding of one's self comes to people very rare & to a very few, most have this glimpse only in their death-beds.

As many people as I have come across always try to challenge the situations, maybe because it is not in-line to their wishes & wants. Instead, you accept the situations, learn & grow so to see & understand how these situations are helping you to define yourself, then you know what your limits are. In this movie called, 'Robin Hood', there is this dialogue which always rings a bell in my head, " Rise, & rise again ... Until the lambs become lions" ..... What this signifies is, dont let anything stop you. For the lambs to become the lions, they need to learn every time, they rise what it takes to be a lion. To do this, they must first realize as lambs what they can do & cannot do.

Dont define your limit, rather define yourself by learning from the situations life has to offer & one day you will see yourself to be the Lion.  

                      

Breaking out......

I remember saying this to my very good friend once, "Dude ! you are stuck in a loop and it is playing over and over for you....Break out of it, start fresh and you will see things getting better." But do we really break out ???

I have seen quite a bit so far in my life, and I always noticed that people are eager to do something new, they are always on a lookout for something out of the routine. A very few handful people that I know or have come across have been content with a routine. There is always an unfulfilled emptiness in people. Now this is where some people jump off planes, swim across deep seas, and do all kinds of crazy stuff. At the same time some are quite focused , you know becoming a corporate bigwig, establishing a career or making loads of money and stuff.  But in both the extremes, you will realize that the emptiness will always return back to haunt us. Now English language has many words for this kinda  thing, enthusiasm, motivation, so on and so forth. Of course the usage of these words is quite contextual. But, none can really define this emptiness, I am talking about. The irony here is that, the same routine that we try so hard to break out of becomes our life. It is like seasons of nature always following the same path, yet it is so well disguised that we people in all our ignorance believe that we have matured, progressed, evolved, finally broken free. Now that is the beauty of life. 

The fact is we are small little kids that we are born as even when we reach the age of 70 or 80. New things fascinate us, we are inquisitive to see , to learn , to hear, to express and to feel. It is the eagerness to fill the void that drives us all along. Now I have read a few philosophical books, and most of them say control on mind, heart and body will erase this void and bring contentment to life. None I know ever will or ever can achieve that level of control. Honestly, no one would want to either. Who in their right mind would want to do such a thing. Then you are missing out on all the good things, isn't it? 

You fall in love with a wonderful man or woman, you dote on your lovely kids, you work so hard to achieve success, you buy an amazing car or a beautiful house, you go on a holiday to the most exquisite place in the world, you get into adventures that can make your head spin with adrenaline, you take care of your old and ageing parents , you do charity to help the needy & poor,  you are forever inspired. The greener side of the hill always  beckons to you. 

I believe life is a journey meant to travel enjoying every moment of it....I am glad there is a void in my life. I so look forward to all the good things I am about to do....I wouldn't want to break out , do you?