All of us have heard of "seize the day" "live in the moment" and other catchphrases without having any idea of how to put them into practice. How can you seize today when you are worrying about your tests tomorrow? How can you live in the moment when you are dreading that next moment is going to be filled with anxiety because of a presentation in office?
There is a story in Upanishads of a hunter who is sitting on a tree trying to hunt a deer and sees a snake slithering towards him. When he looks down to jump to escape the snake he sees a crocodile waiting by the side of the tree. Facing certain death, the hunter looks up, and at that moment a drop of honey from a hive on a branch above him falls into his mouth. As he savours the sweetness of that drop, he experiences pure happiness.
This story was stuck in my head for a while now-just lounging there in one corner of my head without really achieving anything. And unexpectedly, today evening I understood what it was like to be the hunter.
For the last few days I had been obsessing about Rolf Potts- his writing style, the kind of travel he promotes and his general awesomeness. I have read all his articles, seen most of his videos and all of his interviews so thoroughly that it got to the point where I could predict the answers he was going to give. And in every article of his, I always find at least one line that makes me go " Yes! Wooow, you are amazing". I thought I had read all the stuff he had ever published.
Today evening I had a meeting I wasnt looking forward to at all. I had to go through it because it had to be done but that didnt make me stop being grumpy about it. I reached the venue earlier -it was a wonderful coffee shop-one that I would have loved to spend time in if the context was different. As I sat thinking about my upcoming meeting it was impossible not to let the niceness of the place wash over me. I knew there was about fifteen minutes for the meeting to begin. I ordered something nice and on a whim opened the twitter account of Rolf Potts. As I sat sipping hot chocolate and reading some brilliant RP tweets, I knew what the hunter experienced.
Unfortunately, I also knew how the hunter felt while being devoured by the snake afterwards.
This story was stuck in my head for a while now-just lounging there in one corner of my head without really achieving anything. And unexpectedly, today evening I understood what it was like to be the hunter.
For the last few days I had been obsessing about Rolf Potts- his writing style, the kind of travel he promotes and his general awesomeness. I have read all his articles, seen most of his videos and all of his interviews so thoroughly that it got to the point where I could predict the answers he was going to give. And in every article of his, I always find at least one line that makes me go " Yes! Wooow, you are amazing". I thought I had read all the stuff he had ever published.
Today evening I had a meeting I wasnt looking forward to at all. I had to go through it because it had to be done but that didnt make me stop being grumpy about it. I reached the venue earlier -it was a wonderful coffee shop-one that I would have loved to spend time in if the context was different. As I sat thinking about my upcoming meeting it was impossible not to let the niceness of the place wash over me. I knew there was about fifteen minutes for the meeting to begin. I ordered something nice and on a whim opened the twitter account of Rolf Potts. As I sat sipping hot chocolate and reading some brilliant RP tweets, I knew what the hunter experienced.
Unfortunately, I also knew how the hunter felt while being devoured by the snake afterwards.
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