Life... A Yoga Class?

“Life is a journey” – Cliché, huh? Well although it’s true and although I totally believe in the concept of life being as bumpy and as constantly changing as a journey, I just think that probably it’s about time I’ve come to realize that life, the journey, should be dealt with just like a yoga class.
I remember when I took yoga classes in high school we found some positions hard to perform. Sometimes we couldn’t stand still. Other times, we fell. Well, one day when I was trying to focus on the “flamingo” position I could hardly stand on my foot stably for more than ten seconds. *Pssst, sometimes less!*. My instructor walked towards me and taught me a very simple technique and told me this will help me throughout all my life. I didn’t bother to even get what she meant or even care to even believe. Funny how she was right!

This yoga technique is: Whatever you do, you always lose balance if your eyes are freely wandering around, not focused on one object. When I tried focusing on the clock that was hanging on the wall (aah, I still remember the clock with its Quartz sign), I saw how it really worked... this so-called technique. I stood like a flamingo for more than ten seconds… more than twenty, more than a whole lot of minutes now…! I stood for as long as my muscles could hold my body still.

I find it interesting how I suddenly decided to remember the words of this instructor.

But wait! I'm not talking about yoga as much as I'm talking about life ---

In life, we also need similar techniques for we are really ignorant of what is to become within our coming days. Just like how in yoga you focus on one nonmoving object to stay in balance; as if creating an invisible force that gives stabilizing gravity; you should know what you want from life and stick to it, as well. Spend all the time you need and think of the path you’d choose to continue your "journey" and then “act it”. But act it willingly and as strongly as the force that comes from your eyes when doing yoga.

This will lead to success. Not because you chose the right path but because the strength and stabilizing held you back from falling into puzzlement and profound ignorance... if you know what I mean.

However, I am not talking about success in the work field or success in academics nor am I talking about the success and triumph in business. I’m talking about your triumph in knowing what you want from life. I’m talking about “Do you know how to live without regrets? Even more important, do you know how to never create situations where you would eventually regret?”

This is when you sleep every night with a smile, when you wake up every morning with a blush of satisfaction, when you take in every breath without a rush. I never realized all these simple details that made me a happy person until they were gone. That’s when I realized I made a mistake somewhere in my life. I lost focus and I fell out of balance. Aaah, the technique. Focus must come back.

It is funny how this lesson was taught to me five years ago and I only came to realize it and believe in it today, rather than back then. What did I know back then? I knew much less than today. But certainly I grow to learn optimism… and optimism has a whole different story.