Chasing Longevity

 ये बात-बात में रोना — अब बस भी कर, दूसरों की ज़िंदगी देखकर कसमसाना — अब बस भी कर। क्या तेरे पास ख़ुश रहने को कुछ भी नहीं? सोचा तो कर… सोचा ना! अपना आरोग्य है, अपने पे काम करने की ललक है, निखार का जज़्बा है… और क्या चाहिए? अब बस भी कर।

  “Sunshine all the time creates a desert.” When I first came across this quote, it struck me like a truth I didn’t know I already carried. I loved it instantly. I thought I’d write about how too much ease, too much comfort, too much of anything — like sunshine — can dry us out, leaving no space for roots to grow deep. But as I began reflecting with my pen, something almost ironic emerged. My life doesn’t feel like unending sunshine. It feels like storm after storm. I’m not lacking contrast — I’m drenched in it. What I long for is not more “growth through struggle.” I’ve had enough of that. What I long for is stillness. Peace. Just a little light that stays. That’s when journaling entered — not as a solution, not to chase the storms away, but as a way to pause. To breathe. To empty out what the world was pouring in. I didn’t come to the page with wisdom. I came tired, cluttered, confused. And yet, something shifted. Not around me, but within me. My life didn’t slow down. But my tho...