Desperation

This stage of my life is called Desperation. Yes it sounds strange and funny but it is scary too. But the course of events recently has led to a multiple organ failure kind of situation and everything being in a vicious circle. Why multiple? The next few paragraphs would make some sense I hope.

1. Desperation of an admit

I have applied for my graduate education at 8 US universities and spent a lot of money on those. The result till now has not been very fruitful. I have 4 rejects in hand and 4 more to go out of which 1 is a really long shot and my conscience automatically eliminates it after the initial setbacks. So I am left with 3. This is one of my dreams, I always wanted to do since my undergraduate - it saw many ups and downs, influenced some decisions of mine and in turn got influenced by me too. In this particular application process I have been through delirium, phobias, anxiety, anticipation already and I am en route to acceptance. But the long route to the destination and the involved uncertainties has left with me desperation. Sometimes I tell it to myself that "I can live with or without you" but what about all those mammoth efforts! Overall desperation rating: 3/5

2. Desperation of a good work at my current job

I have never been satisfied with the work I do and that is a generic problem with many of us. It has reached limits and it has been 3 years now. Many people that I started with have left for the better or worse or many be just for a change. And now, I have decided to work for it, prove myself and put my point in a more aggressive manner. And this attempt has become desperate. I think when we become desperate, we become vulnerable too, which can have both positive and negative outcomes. Left with no choice, last 2 weeks I have worked my ass off and still continuing it. Recently the efforts have dropped down because I was given a breather from my usual boring stuff and I could start my own project. Now that is quite a bit of achievement, so right now the Overall desperation rating is: 1/5. It deserves a smile.

3. Desperation of a good recognition at work in form of Salary/Promotion

Its been a long time I have been in the same position but fulfilling responsibilities and showing competencies for higher positions. And they are recognized from time to time in form of "Pat on the backs", appreciation in "one-on-one meetings", Performance review etc. But, when it comes to promoting me or giving me a higher salary all that is forgotten. I have seen less competent people in my team move up and grow with higher salary. I wasn't bothered then, after all what I cared was just me and never try to compare telling myself that my time would also come someday. But that someday never seemed to arrive and I ended up being desperate. I have got opportunities but I could not sacrifice my personal goals for so-called business goals of the company and as obvious, I am reminded of this every time by  my managers whenever I asked a remedy for my desperation, which in turn increased it. Overall desperation rating: 4/5

4. Desperation for saving money

This one is a bit tricky. I never had the save money attitude. I couldn't save. I used it all for my own happiness but, bought things I liked, did stuff I liked, had awesome time with friends & family - all out of that money. And I relied on the fact that my salary would coming in and it can only increase. But suddenly this feeling is sinking in me that in case, I get an admit I would not be able to fund my visa and travel. So now, when I am still recuperating with my past expenses I want to save and its a desperate attempt again as I have to live the next month in a meagre amount. Now this point is also related to point number 3 and I need not explain why. Overall desperation rating: 4/5

5. Desperation for doing something which I want, follow my dream

Again, a tricky one. I know in long term what I want and I think I am already late in pursuing it. I need to build up short-term plans to achieve those (I am not disclosing them here :P). So time keeps knocking and makes me feel that its time that I start doing something. And this realization came late, so again I have been acting desperate. Though this is not justified and I should a ct calm in this case, I guess the above 4 points are fuelling it. Anyway, Overall desperation rating: 2/5

I am entangled in the above 5 points like I am stuck in quick sand and with them are associated many intangible desperation. The primary one being, desperation to find happiness, have been waiting for a long time for it too. Here, with happiness I mean something which would really make me happy and that is elimination of any of the five points from the list above.

Amongst all these, I do have a few points to look forward to and I am living everyday with them. They are small things that make me happy. Also, there is one thing which I have in plenty - Love. Being in love, having that support, someone to understand you and finding your strength in it is just beautiful. And when I compare it on the other side of the balance with all those 5 points together, the former outweighs the latter by a huge margin.

Having talked about it all, I would also mention that I know it for sure that these are temporary and just another tough phase of life. And now on I guess I have flushed it out and I would feel better, and most importantly work out a rescue plan which should not fail. Also, what I learn from it would add tremendously to my profile and I would do a better job in the future for sure.

Adios!