Principles of Life

My father loved Mysore Sandalwood soap. When he finished his bath and entered the room, the entire space smelt like sandalwood and I loved it.

When the soap got smaller, he took the brand new soap and attached the old worn-out soap to it. Initially, it would slip away and not stick properly but in a few days, it would slowly become part of the new soap and even disappear into it.

The key is to keep going through those initial days when the pieces slip and slide and feel as though they can never stick together. Once that happened, we had a never-ending supply of expanding Mysore sandalwood soaps.

As I take a new job, start a new company, get married, make a new friend, become a Father, that’s the same principle that I apply – attach myself to something new, bigger than me, experience the friction, the slippery slope and attach myself to it so strongly that I disappear into that role. And as time goes by, as I become smaller, it’s time to attach myself to another larger idea, another experience. Our ability to be different yet together may be the essence of our purpose.