What does paradise look like? Can we find paradise on earth? Some seemingly normal questions, right? Well, my trip to europe was like that...NEAR PERFECT. It is not perfect because of the panaromic views, serene places and all...but it is perfect because my mind was uncluttered, i had no worries and FINALLY i seem to find a reason for my existence. You want to know the reason for my existence, or for that matter, your existence or the reason for the existence of any person or plant or animal on this planet? IT IS SIMPLE...TO LIVE....As easy as that. It can sound cliche, it can sound so untrue, but it is....To live is the most seemingly simple thing to do, but like all simple things, it is hard to explain on how to do it and it has to come from self-experience...
Europe to me has always been a fascination, right from the days of my school...reading about alphs, the greenery, lakes and the history...i wondered if i could ever go there? As i posted earlier, it has come true. Being in a place where i wanted to be and doing the things that i imagined to do, this is the first time i ever had such a feeling...i had many other wishes, like joining a good company, finishing my masters and so on, but they never gave the idea of fulfillment...somehow this did....is it because i have better understanding of life now than i did before or is it because this had nothing to do with future but living in the moment? I dont know...whatever it was, the feeling was truly unique...afterall, being thankful to GOD is such a wonderful feeling to have.
Couple of incidents that made me realize the greatness of god:
a) An early checkin in amsterdam: When i first realized that my checkin was at 3:00 pm and i was going around 7 am, my first reaction was panic. After a 9-hr flight, the last thing you want is to hit the road and see some museums, right? I felt guilty that my planning was not so perfect and that i need to immediately book for an extra day. However, before i started doing that, some voice within me asked me to WAIT. Why wait, you might ask? I say, i dont know the answer. Somehow i felt that i should stop planning EVERYTHING and i should sometimes adopt a more move with the flow attitude. Some people can find this as an excuse for laxity, but in matters related to GOD, you have to trust your inner voice. My inner voice kept telling me that, trust the divine providence...I'm a control freak, i book everything in advance, i plan every bit of things and i also buy all sorts of insurance, just to avoid the worst thing. So, with such a background, can you imagine how hard it was to let go? On my way to amsterdam, all i could think of was a angry receptionist arguing that she cannot do an early checkin, me and my wife dragging those heavy travel suitcases across the streets of amsterdam, me paying a ridiculous amount to find another room etc, etc.....But, when i actually ended up near the hotel and got a room straightaway, i couldn't just help but to thank the divine providence. This is a simple incident, but it taught me to trust DIVINE PROVIDENCE. It is one thing to plan but it is totally another thing to just trust your own self...There are scenarios and there will be scenarios in life, where no matter how meticulously plan, things will not go in accordance with what you think.
b)Scenic view of eiffiel: When i was first planning a visit to paris, i wanted to get a hotel near eiffiel tower. People laughed at me and said that i shouldn't do out of the place and in a strange place, it is always better not to try something new. They suggested, i stay at a place that our tour operator provided. Some mocked the whole idea of me trying to see eiffiel tower from my hotel. Their reasoning was: dont try new things when you don't know the place. But, my inner voice kept telling me to go out of the comfort zone and do something new. It told me to do the research myself and get a place near the tower so that i can see it in the night. Lucky, that i listened to my voice as not only did i get a good hotel near eiffiel, our hotel room was upgraded to a scenic view, which meant, i can just open my bedroom curtains and there it was eiffiel in all its glory. This had never happened to me before and i could sense the work of GOD. Of course, it doesn;t mean that god is there to provide you upgrades, but i feel vindicated that GOD lets you achieve the things that you strive for and stand up for.
For me this europe trip was about letting go of control and living life in the moment. It is easy to do this when you are on a vacation, where don't worry about work or think of the next promotion or house, but is it possible for this attitude to work in real-life? The answer is YES. It takes hard work, it takes patience and most of all, it means TRUSTING GOD AND LISTENING TO YOUR INNER VOICE.
Omsairam!
P.S: I had my luggage torn on my way back, as you can see in another post, though i grieved about in the moment, now after a while, i feel it is ok to let it go...Afterall, northwest could destroy my luggage but not my memories from this wonderful trip.
