Drona would be Impressed – The Impressive Next Generation

I met eight young women for dinner yesterday – all in their early twenties,.

As I was the host, I expected to cook for them and to look after them. I expected fun conversations and lots of jokes and a glimpse of the young fresh outlook of life. For, the twenties are when the world lies ahead of you and everyone is full of happy fairy-tales and I looked forward to being inspired by their freshness.

I did get what I expected.

But I got more that I had not expected at all!

I saw young women with ambition, with immense hunger. They knew EXACTLY what they wanted. And it did not stop at dreaming their wild dreams.

Each of those girls there had a plan. And every day she was living it. Determined to achieve the day-to-day and quarterly goals that would take her to that final accomplishment. They were MAKING their dreams happen.

I did not expect this.

Some had broken the mould dramatically.  Some have their dreams panning out over a decade – it impressed me that they found motivation for today in something that would happen in 2025. All were brutal to themselves and their schedules and valued their dreams above all else. All were dedicated and hard-nosed workers. It seemed like their ambition was so hardwired that they would not let anything get in the way. Sure they partied hard and did all the emotional stuff that is ordinary to the twenties. But their spirit of dedicated-actions in support of their dreams is extraordinary.

They could have taken the other path – of complacency, of stagnation, of taking their good fortune a little less seriously. After all that would be a very acceptable path for these women.They could have focus on their beauty instead of their achievements – for all of them were above-average lookers.

But they did not.

They have seized their opportunities and are working determinedly to turn their dreams into a life lived.

It reminded me of what Drona said to Arjun in the Mahabharat “When you are aiming your arrow (at the target parrot), be conscious of nothing but the eye of the parrot.” “Keep your mind as still as a flame in a wind-less room – focus with that stillness”

I saw that advice being followed by these cheetahs and these hawks and these Arjuns!

Drona would have been impressed. I, am impressed and proud.

A big salute to the spirit of this fantastic young generation!

jm

oct 2014

LINK TO THE DRONA-ARJUN STORY