Wow. I'm 22.

I hope you've watched Marvel's Daredevil. If you haven't go watch that first! What are you doing with your life, seriously? In the season starter of Marvel's The Defenders (this is a different show with Daredevil in it), Matt Murdock aka Daredevil (a lawyer by day and badass crime-fighting vigilante by night) helps a crippled teen get a compensation of $11 Million from a company that endangered lives of people by selling fake drugs. He not only wins him the means to "get by" with life, but also he gives him the advice that would help him thrive. Mind you, that teen's never gonna walk again. That's scary. Here goes...

Matt: Mind if I tell you something? Aaron: Sure Matt: That money is really gonna help your parents but for you from here on out, it's only gonna get harder. You realize you're never going to be one of them. Alright. Everybody's gonna tell you. The doctor's gonna tell you. Your family's gonna tell you to stay positive. Every body's gonna tell you not to feel sorry for yourself. Your dad is gonna tell you not to be angry. Aaron: I'm already angry Matt: At whom? Aaron: Everyone. I just want my life back. Matt: I can't give you that. Maybe you'll walk again, I hope so. But maybe you won't, but your ability to go through it, as this gets harder; that is a hundred times powerful than slapping a smile on your face, pretending like everything is just fine. Do you understand? Hey listen, no one can give back your life Aaron, you gotta take it back. Let's go...

Now I'm no expert at life advice. And you shouldn't be taking advice from a 22 year old. But this is a truth bomb coming from a crime-fighting 'blind' vigilante lawyer. Here's what I really need you to think about. Do you really have control over your life?

I'll rephrase my question. What are you doing to take the reins of your life in your hands? Because let's face it, we can't always control all the factors around us. What we can do is take concerted efforts towards building ourself. This is why I started writing again.

The sabbatical I took from writing has been a wild and crazy experience and I can't wait to pen it all down. I've been depressed, lost 20 kgs, gained them back, lost friends, gained friends, co-led a team to build an award winning vehicle with the highest fuel efficiency, patented technologies and what not. Life is always a roller coaster ride. I'm not writing this to motivate anyone or make someone feel good about life. Trust me, it doesn't work that way. Most of the days will be dull and somber. You gotta fill colour into those grey patches of life. I've failed to do that for a long time and maybe that's why I feel hollow, despite having made a tangible impact.

Depression is real, I've felt it. I got out on my own. I'll tell you why I was depressed. I gave JEE. I failed. I was fed a lie that my dreams won't matter if I don't get into an IIT, or that my life will make more reason if I had the IIT brand stamped on my CV. Now, there's nothing wrong in aiming to be in an IIT, but the world feeds off of your insecurities and will do anything to sell you this dream. A dream that 70% of Indian students never realise and feel like utter failures for a significant amount of time. That's not true.

This got real dark real soon, right? Let's brighten this scenario a bit. I'm not a failure and I'm not an IITian. Why am I not a failure? The reason is I didn't stop hustling despite failing. And I don't say that I'm successful. I'm not even 10% of what I wanted to be. But here's the deal. I DIDN'T STOP TRYING. Now my trusted ones and the closest ones know that this sentence that I just wrote is a load of bull****. I did stop, I did sulk, I did doubt myself but I managed to get back up.

The key here is to keep running even though your feet hurt (Ironic coming from a fat guy. I know, I'm working on it). Today you might not even be able to run a mile without stopping and panting but there will be a time when you'll run 10 miles without breaking a sweat.

Patience and consistence. (Again, I'm working on it.)

Keep Hustlin'.

#Day2

#Hustle