A Full Thali
For most of my life, I've lived in the space of doing chasing milestones, setting goals, checking off lists and staying productive.
I often told people, "I'm more productive under pressure." It had become such a strong belief that I never stopped to question it.
Pausing rarely came naturally to me. It was only through my journey of therapy and coaching that I slowly began experiencing what it truly means to simply be.
And then... life happened.
Over the last two months, I moved into our new home, fell sick multiple times and found myself juggling far more than I had the capacity for.
Yet, I wasn't taking any of that into account. Instead, I kept measuring myself against a commitment I had made to myself and feeling guilty for not living up to my own expectations.
Looking back, it is almost as if the universe had put up signboards everywhere asking me to slow down. The signs were there; I was not just seeing them.
Around the same time, I reached out to one of my mentors because I was feeling overwhelmed. There were simply too many things on my plate.
During our conversation, she asked me a simple question:
"Is it okay for you to drop a few things that are not so important?"
That question stayed with me.
Almost immediately, my mind went to a thali.
When there are too many things on your thali and you don't have the appetite to eat everything, what do you do?
Either you take less the next time or you leave a few things on the plate.
You don't sit there feeling guilty about not finishing every single item.
I realised that's exactly what I was doing with life. My plate was full, my capacity wasn't; yet I was feeling guilty for not finishing everything.
That one question gave me the permission to let go of a few things that were not really important.
Then came another reminder.
My coaching mentor had just released a book titled Doing to Being.
This isn't about promoting the book. It simply arrived exactly at the right time.
The title hit me hard.
It felt as though life was reminding me once again:
"You've done enough. Maybe it's time to spend a little more time in the space of being."
A little over a month ago, after years of learning, training and deep inner work, I officially became a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist.
Yet, when the certification finally came through, I was in such a hurried state of mind that I couldn't even pause to celebrate it.
That made me reflect.
How many beautiful moments do we miss because we're already rushing towards the next thing?
Over the last couple of weeks, I have consciously slowed down. I have been taking care of my health, allowing myself to recover and giving myself permission to pause.
I am deeply grateful to everyone who reached out during this phase. Your messages, your concern and your kindness meant more than you know.
A special thanks to Rekha Hatkanagalekar for asking one simple question that changed my perspective, to Subash CV whose book Doing to Being arrived at the right time and to Swati Ramamurthy Chopra for being my constant source of encouragement. Sometimes, people do not realise the impact they have simply by being who they are. Thank you.
And yes...
Something exciting has been quietly taking shape in the background.
I will be sharing it with all of you very soon. I am genuinely excited and I can't wait.
For now, though, I am just grateful to be back not because I have something to prove, but because I finally feel present enough to write again.
Maybe that's the lesson these last two months were trying to teach me all along.
Doing will always have its place. But sometimes, the most meaningful thing we can do is ...just simply be.
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