THE SHADES OF LIFE IN MOTHER NATURE

My morning ritual for the past fifteen years has been watching from the balcony of my home the lake glimmering in the light of dawn.

- ANKUR R. GUPTA

A blissful sight of aquatic life where the schools of fishes swim gaily on the lakeside, dozens of birds nests on the vibrant pink Tabebuia Rosea trees (a lookalike of cherry blossom), and trails of green water snakes slither through. The soft cooing of the cuckoo bird and the chirpy chatters of the sparrows and cormorants were all my morning- companions. These captivating colorful shades of mother nature often left a soothing impact on me, and I learned lessons for a lifetime.

A few shades of life I found in mother nature

COMPARISONS ARE ODIOUS

I enjoyed watching these aquatic lives with a cup of coffee while sitting on my intricately woven swing chair. Sometimes, I envied them too for their carefree existence with no work worries, household chores, or hassling kids. Hmm… we alive minds like to live in an illusionary thought process that the Grass is always Greener on the other side of the fence. We always get tempted by and envious of what others have.

But reality strikes when we try to fit into another person’s shoes. One such day, while watching the schools of fish playing together. I muttered enviously, how I wish I could be like you, so carefree with no worries. Suddenly, a flock of cormorants flew up from the sky and swept away the fish from the water. They left behind the panic-stricken creatures running for their life.

Chills ran over me as I realized how futile my comparison was of fish having a carefree life. The reality is these aquatics live in perpetual fear of becoming prey to other creatures at any moment. This episode dawned on me that I should embrace me the way I’m and should not get tangled in the web of comparing myself with others.