Deferred Gratification

There are days when I stare out of my office window thinking about all the changes that are happening in my world and how at one time I used blogging as an active sounding board to write about stuff. These days, there is no dearth of topics to write about, but, the expressions have reached a stumbling block. Nevertheless, I hope to overcome this phase and start being able to express myself again more freely.

Over the course of months, I've had some exposure to learning few of life's valuable lessons. Yes, this post is taking a philosophical tone. I am a long term planner for the most part (meaning I plan my vacations, life changes, goals etc) for atleast a year or more into the future. I plan my weekly lunches and dinner and cook accordingly. I love a routine and try to stick with it as much as possible. I even have to know the storyline and ending of a movie before watching it, no element of unplanned surprises for me, if I can help it. But, I guess life doesn't always work that way for everybody. Things change, situations out of the ordinary crop up and you have to deal with the issue at hand.

One of the recent learnings that I gathered about myself is that I don't know what it is to defer gratification. I guess I am not alone in that respect. In today's busy and stressful world, everybody wants everything now, or atleast most people do. Starting with on-demand programming, instant ready to eat meals, instant messengers...the list is endless. Wanting it is in itself so bad, but, wanting it right NOW makes it ten times worse. There are many things in our lives that we bought on an impulse, ranging from a small thing like a pretty top to a major thing like a sports car. Of course the top that seemed pretty to you initially, doesn't sustain your interest for a long time and goes into the closet, along with the plenty of other items that would fall into the category "I just had to have it." The sports car would probably have been used for a more longer period of time (probably a few years) and then you realize that it is not practical anymore for your growing family and that you need to trade it in to buy a van.

When someone told me that delaying gratification isn't just a money principle, but is a "life principle", it felt like a light bulb went on in my head. Think about it. Which tastes better? Something cooked in the microwave in 10 minutes or in the stove. Hopefully, you said the stove as you pull your frozen food from the microwave!

I guess that by learning to delay gratification in life, a lot of success can be achieved in the longer term. There is a saying in tamil that my mom uses a lot when she talks to me, "Poruthar bhoomi aalwar", meaning the one with patience will rule the world.

Until the next post, which I hope to write soon......