You are your possibilities

I looked in the mirror this morning… a close, intense look… something I hadn’t done for a very long time. Yes, I do look at the mirror several times a day, but not the way I did today. I looked at the little lines that have developed over the years… I call these my character lines filled with experiences and memories – some good, some bad. I looked at my eyes… and they looked right back at me taking me back through the years. I remembered doing the same thing when I was a 10 year old when I peered into my eyes to try and find out how I would look all grown up. And today, I was looking back at that 10 year old, while a slow smile spread across my lips at the recollection.

Time flies…and how. From a being a tyrannical little 10 year old insisting on stories from my mother - to wanting to explore complete freedom as a youngster living in Ayn Rand’s world - to discovering marriage, motherhood and my career…this journey has been a beautiful rush of memories and experiences. Through all the ups and downs, I have lived in a world filled with possibilities. I believe these came from my parents who have always been there for us, who made us believe that we are special in our own ways and that we master our own destiny... and that sometimes things are bound to go wrong, but it does not mean that you give up on yourself.

My sister, Kamini is a brilliant and beautiful woman who has expressed our mother’s presence in our lives in a meaningful way. In an article, she wrote… ‘She was here, there and everywhere. I could feel her presence long after she had left my room. She had a sixth sense, she knew when I had broken up with my best friend in school, when I had played hooky, read my first ‘forbidden’ book or had my first cigarette, my first drink or my first crush. But she was always there to take the edge off the pain – if I failed a test it was because the teacher was not good enough. If I did not run fast enough on the sports day it was the uneven track and a biased referee and this went on till I returned to normalcy and a failed test was not the end of the world’.

I took a deep breath and stepped back from the mirror, and I thanked God for all the people in my life. I am glad I had people in my life who made me understand that life is not just about growing older, it’s about growing better. It’s about being there for each other, it’s about doing little things that make our lives more meaningful, it’s about celebrating the joys and believing in possibilities and we make our world better only if we choose to see the beauty in being alive.

Until the next issue,

Shalini Wadhwa, CEO/Managing Editor
swadhwa@vow.com.np