Gratitude

It is that day, I realized how I am blessed and fortunate in all aspects. It is not that I won a big prize money or an award nor that I got any gifts or so called any achievement. It is not even that any of my dreams came true. It was the day when my twin brother departed from this world!!! Oh, if you are thinking that was he so much troublemaker for me, no not at all. We loved each other thick and thin. Being twin brothers, it was almost like two bodies and one soul! Then why I am saying that I realized how blessed and fortunate I am.

My twin brother and I grew up together, studied together in same school and both of us were brilliant & hardworking enough to get into good collages for our graduations. We both managed to do well academically and got into professional careers soon after acquiring similar level of education qualifications.

Having described so much similarities between us, it is also obvious that no single individual can be exact replica of any other individual in this world except that there is a belief that a set of 7 persons across the globe can look alike physically but when it comes to mentality, thoughts, nature, etc there can be no replica at all. 

Having unique thoughts, likings, approach towards life & circumstances, personal interests like hobbies & leisurely engagements were quite apart between us. Also, I always carried an opinion that my twin brother was more fortunate as he could accumulate much more wealth than me and fame & recognition over a period. I used to wonder while almost all parameters being common between us, he was able to create better wealth and acquired fame & recognitions much better than me. While he was fully occupied with his professional commitments which was his primary focus, I had my own path. While I did focus on my professional career, it was not that my entire life was about career. I had several other things in life which interested me. I always spend time on my passion for running, fitness activities, art, music and other engagements. Probably I have been trying to balance every dimension of my interests which might have resulted in less success in career than my twin brother while it was not that I was not successful. I have been progressing professionally at an above average pace.

We used to discuss together many a times on our personal interests and career aspects. While he always used to recommend to me that, just by stretching a bit more on career with a higher focus, I could get into a different league in organizational hierarchy. Also, he always showed me many examples how others are more successful, wealthier than me even though coming with the similar backgrounds.

On the contrary, I used to humbly request him to take out some time for himself and invest such time on his well being in terms of fitness activities and pursue a bit of personal hobbies. I used to see him stressed and always felt he deserves a good break & to substantiate it, he had developed several lifestyle or sedentary life related diseases which had put him on long term medications and several diets. Being a fitness freak and a person who want to spread holistic wellness practices, I made constant efforts to pull him into my line of thoughts. However, since our priorities and thought process didn’t had an alignment, we continued the way we are!!

However, it will be dishonest for me not admitting the fact that, his thoughts and points indeed used to appeal to me many a times. I used to feel sad that I don’t possess equivalent wealth and fame like him while I had and have such opportunities. It used to make me question my ideology. I even thought of taking his advises seriously. Over a period of time, I started noticing how I am lagging behind in wealth creation or rich lifestyles others are able to manage and it made me not only sad and to confess impacted some self-esteem aspect as well.

It is that day, I got a call from my twin brother’s office that he collapsed in office in the middle of a meeting and before even they could take him to the hospital, he was no more. I rushed to his office, only to see a motion less body.

While we were born together, his journey had come to an end while I am still alive. It is that moment of grief, I realized how we take our life for granted. We show no gratitude to the surroundings, the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, the person who cooks/ serves the food, vendors who takes care of the supply chain for our comfort, the lift we use in our buildings, the trees which gives oxygen and consumes what we breathe out and the list is endless as we focus and think about it.

Don’t they deserve our heartfelt gratitude? Are we not fortunate that we are still alive as compared to millions of people who die everyday and create grief to their near ones and dear ones? Why do we always feel sad that we possess less compared to those who possess more? Why can’t we look at people who are less privileged than us and carry gratitude that how fortunate we are?

I pinched myself and felt so happy that it pained to testify I am alive. I kindled back my forgotten or neglected attribute of Gratitude.