Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Pause. Reflect. Play.

She quietly opened the door so the noise would not waker her parents and brothers. She then put down her heavy backpack on the living room floor and  tiptoed her way into the sink. She washed her face to remove all the dirt and black stuff that had found its way from the factory floor. It was after a cold shower that she realized she was starving. She never had enough time to eat properly at work. Her parents could not afford to get enough to feed all their kids, so she always ended up with leftovers. After getting her hands on what little food she could get, she sat down and gently massaged her feet which was aching from all that walking at the assembly line. After a while, as she slowly slipped into her bed, she thought to herself - "My manager did seem impressed with my ideas to improve productivity. Hopefully that promotion should come through". She fell asleep knowing that the prospects of her ambition - becoming the VP of her company - were getting better each day.
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Quietly, she opened the door to the kitchen from the garage and cursed as it made a loud squeaking noise. She hoped that the sound had not  woken up her husband and kids. She put down her heavy briefcase on the granite kitchen counter top and tip toed her way to the sink. She quickly washed off all the heavy makeup that seemed to suffocate her pores all day. She was never a fan of too much makeup, but in her corporate world of meetings and high profile clients, she always had to present her best face forward. It was then that hunger pangs struck her, and she proceeded to see what was left over in the fridge. There was plenty of food in the fridge, but her diet only allowed her to snack on the leftover salad. After a short while, she found herself  immersed in her high-end spa, gently massaging her feet to relieve them from the constant harassment they received from her high heeled shoes. She then sipped her favorite red wine and thought to herself - "The board of directors seemed pleased with my plan of growing exponentially through acquisitions - maybe my ambition of becoming CEO is not that far away. After all, there's only a couple of steps from VP to CEO."
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OK, so I am not much of a storyteller, but more often than not in life, the begin and end points of our ambition feels the same - it is the journey to achieve it that gives the kicks. So when you are fast forwarding through life and everything feels automated and mechanical, press pause, take a deep breath, reflect on what you have achieved, enjoy it to the fullest and then proceed to play the rest. Just sayin'.

Image Courtesy : http://trcs.wikispaces.com/Analysis+of+Poems?f=print

3 comments:

UL said...

but what in that pause and reflection she realizes that she had taken the wrong road? Is it worth starting over? My friend, reality is people prefer fast forward, that way it is easier to over ride the mistakes one has made, to pretend that they didnt occur and try to find some sort of happiness/ balance with what one does have...Do the way i see it "rewind" or "fast forward" aint so good. "Play"/"living the moment" might be better, wiser??? What say?

Jay said...

Fabulously portrayed scenarios. So easy to get sucked it and forget to live - what a mighty loss.

Scribbler said...

@UL - Your statement has an assumption that people make more mistakes in life than right choices which I am at odds with. The benefit of pause is maybe, you realize some of the stuff that you thought were mistakes were not in the long run. I have more thoughts on the this, but my brain hurts as I write more since the lobes don't reach too far for that kind of in depth thought.

@Jay - thanks. live, let live and appreciate can't hurt is my opinion. and when it does, there is only minimal damage.