A game waiting to be played!

As one embarks on the professional career path, a lot of things happen at the same time. In many cases, there is the uprooting of an individual be it from his home or hostel and he/she is forced to adjust to the rigors of a new life in a new city. Along with that come certain riders and inevitably certain priorities.

Suddenly, there are a lot of new things to confront. Time, that elusive figment of our lives, which almost always eludes any firm grip, runs its own course come what may. A good realization of this fact coupled with shrewd expectation management is needed to acclimatize and later establish control over one’s new surroundings.

First of all, any narration of events to a fellow human being however close he/she may be is fraught with perceptions and no matter how detailed a person is, in his narrative, it remains a narrative. Facts are never conveyed during communication. They are seen or experienced, never heard. Hence, it is futile to imagine that a person at the other end of a telephone line can visualize and experience every event that we hope we are narrating. It depends to a great deal on the person at the other end and his/her relationship with our friend.

Secondly, one can’t expect to carry on as before and most of us realize it soon enough. Here comes the whole field of expectation Management. Our friends in college may experience a different work culture and their demands may not be the same from their work. At work too, it is important to strike the right chord. One’s immediate supervisor and manager ought to be seen for what they are. Their expectations from us as individuals are driven purely from the spectrum of work. It comes before everything else. Sharing one’s idea of girlfriend or boyfriend might seem ok, but certainly not the idea of how working is so boring or exhilarating relative to your friend’s experiences!

After a period of adjustment, one gets bored. The new city and the surroundings don’t remain new anymore. The mind is always in search of new and fresh experiences. It is subject to a lot of pulls and pressures from numerous quarters. Routine would appear drab and in many cases, there’d be an urge to rebel and seek “different” experiences. It is important to understand the workings of the mind and be aware of the need to canalize one’s energy.

One can’t remain happy without being surrounded by good people who care for you. It is here that investing time into cultivating good relationships and building a good network plays a good part. Since the individual is on his/her own, there is immense freedom of choice. Engaging in activities that utilize one’s passion, forming new friends and remembering that any friendship cannot be built overnight, not expecting too much from people, given that they are subject to the same whims, fancies and vagaries as one is, reciprocating friendly gestures, taking small initiatives at the cost of being laughed at and ridiculed, learning the art of communicating banal niceties, cultivating the knack of seeing through self-serving tendencies, this phase in one’s life is a game that is waiting to be played with a little caution and a lot of freedom!