#‎FocusDeFocusReFocus!

My Dad gifted me a camera when I was 10, so I owe it to him to ignite the passion towards photography. As years passed I kept exploring different cameras and as technology kept getting advanced I kept upgrading my cameras too.

Having a Digital SLR meant that I also learn how to use it. So it was first ever experience into world of Lenses. How few pieces of Glasses put together can do an unbelievable job of showing you the same subject differently. It was all about ‘Focus’. Cameras today can focus at 39 + points in the same frame to get you highest resolution pictures with uncompromising quality.  My Passion for Photography meant that I click anything and everything that helps me learn more. And In my pursuit of learning I kept exploring different lenses. Lenses and Photography has made me realize that even in our lives, it is all about being focused!

Our Lives today however aren’t simple where we go through trying times more often than what we would like. Our Focus on Career means, our personal lives take a hit, our focus on money means our health takes a hit. It just isn’t easy to balance. Competitiveness is at its peak today. Each organization, each individual keeps thinking and doing things that makes them stand out. It’s all about how you can prove that you are different over others in the competition. There can only be ONE WINNER! Which makes failures or to better put it, ‘Learning Opportunities’ more common.

So question is do we use these Learning Opportunities well?

In Photography when you switch on the camera, you have to adjust your lens to Focus on Subject. To get it right, you have to Focus, De-focus and Refocus to get it right.  Drawing a parallel to it, ‘If we were to make best use of our Learning opportunities, we got to learn to De-focus, take a step back, look at what could you have done differently.

If you are down sick and meet a physician, he would advise you bed rest in all probabilities. Bed Rest allows you time to recover and recover well enough that you don’t fall sick again. A Learning Opportunity’ is a time to re-focus. We should use this time to ‘Recover’, ‘Recharge’, ‘Reinvent’ ourselves. This would ensure you have now captured the right subject!

We live in an ever changing environment. We have made life tough for ourselves with our dynamic needs. At times, even before you could switch on the camera and point your lens, the background has changed, subject has changed. So it’s all about how quick and agile you are.

Between Focus, De-focus, Re-focus…'Focus' is common. People who succeed in life have laser sharp focus on their wants and needs. That’s what makes them the best!

So if you are going through a “Learning Opportunity Event”, Time to Focus, De-Focus and Re-Focus. And if you are on the other side of the lens, don’t forget to Smile! :)

Stay Happy, Stay Blessed!

Gopal Iyer

‪#‎GetSetNoGo‬!

After having traveled for over 2 + hours, reaching Airport, completing formalities and having boarded the flight too, one would never expect to return back to the same port where one takes off from. But that’s exactly what my colleagues and I experienced today. After taking off on our Business Trip, flying for 2 hours and returning back to the base location only to find out that we are being disembarked and the flight has been rescheduled due to security reasons.

Anti-Climax? Well, it happens so often these days isn’t it? Well that’s the uncertain world that we are all part of. One could be at his/her proactive best and plan for everything. But one cannot plan for the unplanned.

Is this our inability? Certainly not, we did all that we could do, didn’t we?

Is this the inability of the Airlines or the Security personnel? I really doubt, they did what they had to do too? Imagine, if something was to go wrong. Whom should we blame? Yes, Airliners could do a lot more and manage the Anxiety levels of passengers in such situations, and that’s something our Airline did. I felt their effort to accommodate people in hotels, working with Partner airlines and get tickets re booked in a chaotic situation like this is commendable. But as human’s we always feel, they could have done this differently. Expectations unfortunately have no horizon. I personally felt they did their best! So should one stop being proactive and prepare well? Absolutely not. If 250 + people thought that it wasn’t important to prepare, one can just imagine the chaos!

The fact is, that we live in a very different world today than what people lived in yesterday. Technology is so advanced that it can be often misused, rather than being used. It takes hardly a micro second for us to forward messages on Instant messengers using our Smart Phones. As much as we may want to think that we are living in an era of Smart Tools/Technologies, such incidents just prove how vulnerable we are. And when an event of this sort happens, you could just see Helpless Parents, who were excited to see their grandchildren, a passenger who was sitting on wheel chair for help, mind you he had almost reached his destination in his mind, and others like us, hungry, awake and tired!

Frustrated, Annoyed, Irritated, Confused – yet Happy that we are all safe! Is this the first time that we went through this? Probably for some yes; For a few, No! Is this the last time we went through this? Certainly not. As I prepare again, repack my bags for flight later tonight, I just could recall this:

1) Do what you have to do! – End Result is not in your hands, Focus on your duty not results

2) You get what you deserve, not what you want! So focus on your Karma. Do well and get well

3) Whatever may have been the situation, you have the right to react or respond! Remember, response always gives better results as you think before you respond.

Today 5th September is Teachers day as well as Janmashtami. So this was probably Krishna’s teachings for not just today, but a life time!

Stay Well/Stay Healthy – Gopal Iyer