Evening hour. Peak 6 pm- 7 pm traffic. Metro works. Potholes. Narrow roads.
I have promised to meet friend Suresh at his home in Jubilee Hills - exactly 26 minutes away. It's a route that could take anything between 35 minutes to 45 minutes. I hit the road and the first thing I notice is the stress in my body and mind. I am thinking - this is not going to help. At best it will make me hit someone.
First get the time out of the mind. I cannot control it. Stopped looking at the clock,
Second, I mentally committed to the 7 p.m. deadline. I told myself I will make it somehow.
Third, focus on the controllables. Now with time out of my head I started thinking of ways to gain advantages. An alternate route that allowed me to slip past the crazy Yousufguda traffic, little traffic parleys that allowed me to creep up a bit ahead. All within the rules of safety and legality. All focus is on driving and finding best route.
Resisted temptation to look at watch.
Stopped in front of Suresh's house and then looked at clock. I knew the time even before I looked - 7 p.m. Perfect.
When under stress take the uncontrollables out of the equation. Time is certainly one. Keep the goal in mind and then refocus on the action, on somehow achieving it with all that is in your control.
Done!
I have promised to meet friend Suresh at his home in Jubilee Hills - exactly 26 minutes away. It's a route that could take anything between 35 minutes to 45 minutes. I hit the road and the first thing I notice is the stress in my body and mind. I am thinking - this is not going to help. At best it will make me hit someone.
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| Pic courtesy Chitra Karandikar |
First get the time out of the mind. I cannot control it. Stopped looking at the clock,
Second, I mentally committed to the 7 p.m. deadline. I told myself I will make it somehow.
Third, focus on the controllables. Now with time out of my head I started thinking of ways to gain advantages. An alternate route that allowed me to slip past the crazy Yousufguda traffic, little traffic parleys that allowed me to creep up a bit ahead. All within the rules of safety and legality. All focus is on driving and finding best route.
Resisted temptation to look at watch.
Stopped in front of Suresh's house and then looked at clock. I knew the time even before I looked - 7 p.m. Perfect.
When under stress take the uncontrollables out of the equation. Time is certainly one. Keep the goal in mind and then refocus on the action, on somehow achieving it with all that is in your control.
Done!
2 comments:
Hari, You are probably the last hyderabadi to figure this one out. Everyone else figured this out a long time ago, we'll get there when we get there. Or it'll get done when it gets done.
Thanks Madhav for reminding me. But I know that blissful state of the Hyderabadi mind. No philosophy in the world can beat that. All in good time, all in good time.
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