YJ, my life.
In life, if we’re lucky enough, we’ll find that one other soul, that gets us, knows us and is ready to jump onboard this roller coaster (of life) with us. I’ve been blessed to have found this person when I was a teen. Ah yes, we didn’t know back then that we’d still be ‘together’ in our tweens and then through our threens (that’s Millennial lingo for thirties), and hopefully into our freens, fifreens, sixreens, sevenreens.. (you get the drift), but we managed to stick it out and I’m grateful to YJ for this.
YJ has been the most exceptional, unique and wonderful thing to have happened to me. Period.
For her, I am certainly not the most exceptional thing. In fact, I may have been the most irritating thing to have happened to her but that story is for another blog. Today’s blog is about the wonder that is YJ.
Yeah she’ll read this soon, she’ll have a big smile on her face and it’ll take me a lot of work to tell her not to let all of this go to her head, but that’s fine, it’s all worth it.
She’s worth it.
In reality, she’s been after me to write something about her for the longest time but I hadn’t got around to it.
Why?
Because I didn’t find a special enough occasion to write about the love of my life, the blessing of my life.
And Why now?
Because YJ and I are at a very interesting stage of our lives, it feels like we’re at this precipice of jumping off an edge, of doing something that will define how we build the next two or more decades of our life, of knowing that we’re primed for something exciting and fun and scary. So it makes sense to write this right now.
Oh, and it’s also YJ’s 33rd birthday.
And this year her birthday is being celebrated six days after the actual date (33=3+3=6). Not sure why but it just so happened that we were all stuck with various responsibilities last week and just couldn’t wrap our heads around celebrating Number 33. (Okay it was mostly just me PMSing over the end-of-the-quarter — such a selfish idiot I am).
Anyway, while there’s a lot to celebrate, I think it makes sense to share the top 6 things I’ve learned from YJ! (33 = 3+3 = 6, again. Numerology fanatics are going to go crazy over this)
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1. Owning it
YJ is someone who knows her role very very well and owns it, like a boss. Right from college, when I first met her, to today, when she is my life buddy, she’s OWNED it. She knows who she is and what her values are. And she works hard to uphold those values. Not a lot of people can say that they have a clear vision and are able to stick to that vision. But YJ works hard at this and makes sure people KNOW what she believes and what she stands for.
This is inspiring. And this is something YJ has taught me. Being true to oneself and ‘owning’ it.
2. Keep it simple
YJ is quite a simple person. Simple things make her happy. She’d like a good car, not a Mercedes. She’d like a nice meal with her loved ones, not a mad party with a 100 friends and she’d like to be happy & at peace, more than anything.
Her simplicity comes across in different ways. In the way she takes care of the people around her or the way she’ll make Bhaaji when there are tons of vegetables left over or the way she’ll just want a quiet hug after a long, hard day at work. The simplicity of life with YJ is pure love.
3. Love
Speaking of love, YJ loves to love. She’s taught me (and many around her) how to be loving, caring and supportive in any circumstance. Long long back when we were kids (tweens), she’d go out of her way to try and make sense of the adolescent mess I had become. Her involvement in my life made me who I am. Through her love she’s shown me so many different sides of life, such a multitude of experiences and helped me overcome so many of my inner demons, it is difficult to even comprehend.
Also through her love she finds a way to bind families together and go out of her way to support others even if it means that she has to really step out of her comfort zone (2020 vision). Love is YJ. YJ is love.
4. Designing our lives
YJ knows the art of design and she makes sure every nook and corner of our lives is filled with little intricacies of good design. Be it the way we have 50-year old furniture in our living room along with modern ‘startup’ furniture or how we painted the entire house before settling in or how we continue to nurture a mix & match of many different cultures in our home, food and life. YJ knows how to design our lives in a way that we can always look around us with a smile on our faces and a lightness in our heart.
Even the way she cooks and prepares food, it’s magical. The entire process, the thought and effort that goes into preparing meals, hosting others and making sure that the food looks (and tastes) amazing, creates a positive experience for everyone in any room across cities and cuisines.
5. Pushing physical boundaries
YJ is an inspiration when it comes to her physical prowess. She’s a fighter who has overcome all odds to become as strong as she is today. If there was someone who has exceptional mind, body and soul connect, it is YJ. How she’s pushed past many physical barricades in the last three decades, and become the physically fit person she is today, is unimaginable. She thinks I motivated her to hit the gym while the truth is that her innate ability to build her own self has quietly inspired me to do more with my clumsy body and mind.
YJ’s many fitness triumphs are an inspiration to the rest of us who’ve had it easier, and also help the rest of us push a little further and work a little harder.
6. Family
The love, concern, courage and power YJ gives and receives from family is immense. It is unmeasurable. I’ve understood many things about family and life through her relationships with her family members. She always tries to look at the good side of people and tries to be there for her family wherever possible. Even if some people around her (me) aren’t that ‘socially’ acceptable, she makes sure she does more than required to represent an entire couple on her own.
Truly, she’s the thread that binds two distinct families together.
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To end, I think these lyrics from a One Direction song (obviously) sum up how I feel about YJ —
Everything that you’ve ever dreamed of
Disappearing when you wake up
But there’s nothing to be afraid of
Even when the night changes
It will never change me and you
Thank you and Happy Birthday, YJ, my life.