Balance

I took a walk today. Not the workout kind. The more of being with myself kind. It is nice and sunny here in Vancouver. I am feeling the need for a short break after the unnatural schedule and work hours I have been through for the last few weeks. Today, I felt that it was important to take breaks. It appeared like one's mind and body needs them to function optimally and consistently. I have lost on my consistency for the last two days and it affects me that I am not being productive in my duties.

Sometimes, when I over-work with the motivation of making some gains, financial or personal, I am reminded of the story of the person who has the time to run and cover as much land as he can before the sunset. He must return by sunset and all the land covered until than, is his. The man runs with all his strength and keeps running as much as he can in the desire to cover the most. He doesn't budge though he is completely exhausted. He finally makes it back before the sunset, but when he reaches back, he crashes and drops dead. At that point, all he requires of land is the six feet worth to hold him. The moral is pretty self-explanatory. This is what flashes before me when I try and run too hard. It helps keep myself on track, reminds me that if I run too much behind one thing, I will lose the balance and eventually miss out on other aspects of life.

I have to say that it is a challenge for a person to strike a balance in the various spheres of life that revolve around one's existence. One cannot afford to be negligent about any because if s/he does, the whole effort would be entirely unfulfilling. Anything left out, will come back to haunt you sooner or later. However, I know that this is something that is experiential knowledge and cannot be taught. It can only be learnt.

What are these spheres. Here are what they mean to me (in no specific order of importance):

1. Family (emotional, bonding, duty, being there)
2. Financial(near-term, long-term, towards family, kids, personal)
3. Spiritual
4. Social (giving back to the community)
5. Professional
6. Personal (self-development, personality development, continued education, passions, etc.)

Cheers!

A step closer to invisibility

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Just complaining...

Finally, something to write about. Here goes.

I was calling up travel agents for fares to India and boy, what an experience. First, the price tags vary dramatically in some cases than I used to find in the US. Singapore Airlines is still decently priced. I am kinda tempted to take the London route and hang out in London for a couple days, but then when I think of the hassles of getting a visa and trading those days with India, I find myself pushing back on options. Wishful thinking!

I talked to about 8 travel agents (desis) and 6 of those were just plain pathetic. I am very passionate about the hospitality industry and if I were not where I am on my professional front, one of the very strong candidates would have definitely been this industry. These brainholes can't even be fundamentally courteous leave alone being equipped with the etiquettes that are expected of customer service. I pick up the phone and dial one of those travel agents, he picks up and farts in a groggy voice, "Vikram!". %$#@ I care what your Mom calls you. You are running a travel agency and can't we just start off saying Good <time of the day>, <insert your company name here>.

Not one single person out of the 6 travel agencies I crib about, be it a guy or a girl, greeted me or even bothered to mention their company name. How the hell am I supposed to know if I have reached the travel agency or it's a damned wrong number. Forget any expectations of reaching out to your customers and helping them make a decision.

Out of the two that atleast let me retain my dignity as a worthy probable customer, one of them was courteous, informative but was munching something really big (wasn't a gum) as she talked. My imagination spreading wings, it seemed like some sort of sandwich stuffed up until the last morsel that could squeeze in.

Nothing conclusive, but had to whine.