About The Deep Dark Dungeons And Demons

So the actor who took his life shocked the collective intellect of a majority. It also brought to light the dark underbelly of the Glam World. With each passing day, one is exposed to stories of how a few Power Lords desecrate and wilfully destroy the lives and careers of many. India is outraged.

There are another set of people, many nondescript faces that might cross the road along with you, or live in the same vicinity as you, who might be the regular Joes doing some Corporate gigs, who might be facing the exact same demons. Depression and loss of self-esteem.

These are unprecedented times with unprecedented Stress!

One is stressed to keep a job and without it, is even more stressed without it!

While Death by Suicide shakes us up, Death by Cardiac Arrest doesn’t exactly stir us as much. We reason ourselves thinking that the person must have been smoking or drinking too much, must have been feeble and buckled under stress, must have had a sedentary lifestyle which caused this et al.

Studies point out that close 60-72% of the employees over 40 (majority men) are prone to heart diseases.

In times like this where several hundreds of thousands of people are being laid off, the above number might just balloon.

Layoff!
The one word that can give nightmare to the best of the professionals. The dynamics of who gets laid off at who’s cost and at what stage is a complex discussion involving individual effectiveness, the difference that once makes to the team, the internal dynamics of the team, criticality of the role the team performs, the performance of the Organization, outlook of the sector etc.
So in case you are reading this piece and you happen to be one of the unfortunate person that got laid off, don’t beat yourself down.

Life is a journey across several streets. Some bright ones and some dark dungeons.
Along with everything that one develops, one is expected to work on developing adversity quotient. So what's Adversity Quotient (AQ)?

AQ is one's tenacity to travel through the deep dark dungeons.

Some dark corridors are meant to be traversed alone.

These are the places that render all the tools acquired in life useless and all the support system inept.

These are the corridors that seem to take forever to cross and probably are the tests that He (God) makes one take.

Oh and just to make it a little more entertaining, He adds multiple such corridors and multiple layers of the dark Alleys in each.

What lies at the other end one doesn't know but all that one built till then is decimated.
The one that can dispassionately travel through that rubble reaches the next phase of one's life.
So what keeps one going? One's sense of belongingness to the family and to oneself.

It's the dogged determination not to let some blow, bring you crashing down and to stand for what you believe.

Belief that Life is benevolent and it would give one more than what it has taken away
If it doesn't, it isn't the end of the tunnel.

Get strong to last these phases.

Learn something new!
World in evolving rapidly. The new World requires new skills. Using the break to acquire new skills is a great way to reinvent oneself. So many new programmes that one can enrol and equip oneself.

Reduce Liabilities!
It is important to get back to the old school of living within the means. There is probably no shame in restricting/returning the car or the apartment instead of burning the reserves trying to pay the massive EMIs.

Get fit! Keep the heart healthy and beating!

Start Fresh! 
You owe that to yourself and your loved ones! Success, Fame, Fortune are transient.

Fighting through these phases, teaching your children how to weather a storm and emerge stronger, is a permanent and invaluable lesson!