Life is tough but I’ve bat & ball on my side!

“Who would you seek motivation from?”

“What would keep you up all the time?

“Where would you get that energy from?

“Why wouldn’t you feel exhausted?”

“How would you manage it all?”

These are the five Ws and 1H of my life. Every day I wake up, I ask myself these questions. Obviously, not all days are same; days are like the 11 players of a local cricket team– some good, some bad and some just to fill spaces! But no matter how my days unfold, my answers to all these questions remain the same.

I might need to pinch myself quite a few times to get up but I make sure once I’m up, I’m ready to roar– just like how James Anderson roars as soon as the new cherry is handed to him. Again, not all pitches are helpful nor are all the batters easy to deal with!

Even the roar I make comes back to haunt me! It terrifies me! I feel numb! I feel lost! I feel nothing!

But then when I’m about to lose hope, I recall what Ben Stokes did at Headingly and Kusal Parera did at Dublin!

“Can my day be tougher than what were they against?” I ask myself.

My body might respond with, “No, not today!” and my mind might yell, “Didn’t you have enough?” but I don’t give up just like how Kartik Tyagi didn’t when he defended those six runs in the final over!

I push myself even harder yet most often than not, I fall short by the barest of the margins!

Does losing a battle to myself make me feel sad, broken, helpless or alone?

Of course, it does! Losing a match can never be easy to handle no matter how many times we say, “Winning and losing is part of the game!”

It hurts and makes you feel what a batter feels about getting out for a duck. Then, how you forget the duck and walk out to bat with full confidence in the next game is the vital part.

It might have been a bit easier but not when every person you meet asks, “What do you plan to do in future?"

No matter how convincingly you say, “Let’s see what life has to offer!”, they always follow it with, “Come on, you must have a plan!”

“Yes, people might have a plan, but I don’t! I only decide which shot to play once the ball is delivered! It might not always be a good choice, but this is how I play!” I so want to say in response! But I don’t. Why should I? Why does it matter what people make of me?

“Life is a contest played at these 22 yards, which keep wearing new looks every new day, so all that’s needed of you is to stand and fight!”

“You’ve both the bat and the ball in your hands! You’re the game and you’ve to play it– you either play it or you lose! Just that winning isn’t the option,” I tell myself.

Remember the joy Ian Bishop’s words carried when Carlos Brathwaite made us all remember his name forever? This is how exactly you feel when you are the one answering your own questions.

Life definitely is tough but it’s just you need to find your bat and ball to stay in the game!