A story by Samyak Shah

“Samay Samay Balwaan,

Nahi Manushya Balwaan”

– Mahabharat

Whenever we are faced with a problem, wherein you’re unable to find a solution at the moment, people often tell you that you need to ‘give it time’ and ‘time will solve everything’. That, somehow, made sense because acceptance of a particular situation takes time. What I do not understand is that why is there a need for a lot of time to get everything back to normal? I agree that it looks like I am the one who is a bit impatient, but then again, if everyone is saying that ‘time is running out’ then how do you explain the paradox of ‘give it time’?

My brother explained to me that there are some things which he is able to do at the age of 25 which I am able to do at the age of 19, while there are some things which I am not able to do at 19 which he was doing at 19. Basically, what he meant was that everyone has a different learning ability curve, so it takes a different amount of time for every single individual to grasp the concepts that are going to be applied in the outside world.

I asked him the same thing which I’ve asked to a lot of other people: When am I going to learn to behave the way in which you do because everyone takes you seriously and everyone wants to listen to you? He replied with just one statement: It is going to take time bro. Enjoy life and it will teach you with time.

What he didn’t see when I asked this question is the desperation of my attempt to be the normal 19-year-old boy who does want to live how the other 19-year-old guys live. But then, I am reminded that every individual is different, as am I.

So, I asked him straightaway: Why is it that I always have to give it time to improve? Why do I have to learn about how I’m supposed to behave with different people differently?

He again answered in one statement: In today’s world, your network is your net worth.

He further went on to explain: “See, right now, you are smarter than you were at the age of 12. You have grown, why? Because after turning 12, you moved around a lot, you won a few competitions, you learned what it is like to have a very small friend circle and how important it is to have a strong network of friends. You may not have a lot, but you know the worth of your friendship. There was a time when money and bank accounts mattered the most, but now is the time when you have to focus on building a network of people who can help you and Vice Versa.

Having a small circle of friends is important, but you need to find someone who’s willing to help you in situations where you feel that one person isn’t enough and vice versa. Today, I can say that I have a lot of friends, but then if you ask me how many are the sort of people who are willing to stand by you when the world is not? I’d still have a few names who will because we have a mutual understanding and we believe in the other person.”

“If we just had to sit back and accept fate, then there would have been no chances given to us for improvement. Learned to accept and move on as quickly as you can, time is running out. You may give it all the time needed, but if you’re unable to move ahead even after devoting a lot of time, it is time we go back to the basics and see where we went wrong. It is not wrong to be wrong, it is wrong to not correct it. You’ll learn everything, but there is no fixed time when.”

Samyak Shah is a passionate writer and has been writing on his blog Sirf Likhaai since 2017. He also has a podcast on his youtube channel Flip The WIEw where he talks on topics such as peer support, reputation and why you should be a “Sakth Launda”. To contact him, you can send an email to  [email protected].