Staying Grounded

​Over seventeen years ago, I arrived in Sydney, Australia. This was the first time I was away from the country of my birth, India. My expectation was that I would find a job quickly and settle in.

I arrived just before the Sydney Olympics. While I was enjoying myself exploring Sydney and going to see an event at the Olympics, I also started applying for jobs. I met a number of agents who assured me that my skills and experience would land me a job in no time. That did not happen. A month or so after the Olympics, the job market took a down-turn. There was now a surplus of people applying for jobs that had dwindled. This did not deter me from applying for jobs, showing up and doing my best at interviews.

There were a number of times when I felt sad for myself, not to mention lost without a purpose. A few things kept me going – one of them was a daily walk in a beautiful park near our home.

At that time, I did not know anything about meditation, neither did I know much about fitness. All I knew was that I had to get out of the house every day, walk and keep myself busy i.e., not allow my mind wander away to negativity land.

Every morning, I walked for a few kilometres through the park. I would hear birds chirping, see ducks swimming in the river and take in fresh air. Little did I know that this walk itself was meditation. It kept me grounded and helped me trust life and believe that I would find a wonderful job.

To this day, I love to go out for walks – I love seeing ducks, birds and yes, lizards too; and there’s plenty of them here in Australia.

Look back in your life and see if there is something that you did during times of worry that helped you stay grounded and stay focused on what you set out to achieve.
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If you are looking for a way to stay grounded then, I heartily recommend taking a walk in a nature reserve near you. Communing with Mother Earth has this wonderful ability to calm us and keep us grounded.