Seize the moment
June 2023
Life sends us many moments when we are goaded into making a decision aligned with our values, intuition, and Higher Self. Taking that decision will change our lives forever, says Suma Varughese
“There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound
in shallows and in miseries.” —Shakespeare
Around the middle of January 1996, one such moment presented itself to me. I had just had the realisation that the values of Society, a people and lifestyle magazine that I was then editor of, and my own, were not reconcilable. I knew that if I continued to work for it despite recognising the dissonance, I would be destroying my own soul and forfeiting my self-respect. What was I to do? My inner voice whispered that I should freelance instead and painted before my eyes a dazzling vision of possibilities. Convinced, I put in my papers.
For the rest of the day, I was caught in a maelstrom of anxiety and fear. How was I to look after my mother, my cat, and myself? That night at around 9 p.m., I got a phone call from Parveen Chopra, the founder
editor of Life Positive, who I had met once four months earlier, telling me that he had started a body-mind spirit magazine and was looking for a bureau chief in Mumbai. My heart leapt as I falteringly asked if I could be that bureau chief. That one decision changed my entire life and set the trajectory that made me
who I am today—authentic, value based, and very much my own person.
I believe that such a moment presents itself time and again in all our lives: nudges from a Universe committed to making us whole. Those who take up the gauntlet free themselves considerably of the hold of familial or societal influence and coast into an exhilarating trajectory co-created by themselves and the Universe.
A friend of mine was to the manner born, having studied in the best school in Mumbai, lived in a large flat in South Mumbai, socialised with A-listers, and frequented the best clubs. She fell in love with a middle-class boy from the suburbs and married him. That decision instantly elevated her into her own person, someone capable of taking hard decisions for the sake of love without regrets. Another friend, beautiful, intelligent, and armed with a slew of degrees, met and married a man who had not completed his graduation on the grounds that “he made her happy.” I still count that marriage as one of the most successful that I have known.
J Krishnamurti, the maverick philosopher-teacher, was groomed since he was a child of 12 by the Theosophical Society head, Annie
Besant, and other leading lights to become a world guru. He was put in charge of a new movement called The Order of the Star in the East to prepare the world for this event, which soon had innumerable members and attracted considerable donations. Came the day, though, when Krishnamurti gave a fiery speech in front of Annie Besant and about 3000 members, affirming that “truth was a pathless path,” and dissolved the Order. He subsequently left the Theosophy movement. That moment truly did crown him as the world guru, for he went on to become a world renowned spiritual thinker.
Our lives are meant to be something more than mediocre. We are meant to rise above the entrapment of parental, communal, or societal pressures. Our spirit clamours for freedom and self-expression. Happiness, fulfilment, success, prosperity, love, and, above all, self-satisfaction and growth may accompany us on this path. All we need is the courage to take the decisive step.
Suma Varughese is a teacher of words and wisdom. She broadcasts spiritual truths and a love for writing in her various capacities as columnist,
writer, writing coach, and the founder-facilitator of the popular Zen of Good Writing Course. She is the former editor of Life Positive and Society magazines. She has authored Travelling Light, Travelling Lighter, and 50 Life Lessons. She can be contacted at sumavarughese@gmail.com
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