Setbacks: The guiding path towards success - Rishona Chopra

Sometimes the setbacks are exactly what we need, to rise higher than the rest. These setbacks push us back and let us down but to win a good race, you need to take a few steps back, so that you win with full force. 

It’s so often in life that we don’t get what we wished for, but that’s okay right? At that point, we may not always spot the silver lining but just like every cloud has a silver lining, every disappointment has a profound positive aspect to it that seems invisible but it’s always there, we just need to look deeper and find it.  

It sounds so cliche and shallow when people say that everything happens for a reason. When you’re down in the dumps, the last thing you want someone to tell you is that it all happened for a good reason. It doesn’t feel true at that time. But maybe, they’re right. Maybe everything does happen in life for a reason and perhaps setbacks and challenges are exactly what we need for a brighter future. How can one ever face life if they’ve never truly felt how disappointment feels? How can someone reach for the stars if they’ve never really faced any challenge in life? 

Time is precious. Each second is a blessing. Why spend that time wondering what could have been? It’s easier said than done ofcourse, but nevertheless it's the truth. The cold truth is, we don’t always get what we deserve, we don’t always get what we want, but life doesn’t wait for that. What matters more than the unchosen path is the one you’re on right now. 

Challenges make us stronger. I’ve heard that plenty of times but today I feel it. If you’ve never failed an exam, you’ll never know how important it truly is to pass. If a bird never leaves its nest, despite knowing it could fall, how would it ever sail through the clouds? It feels right now as if life couldn’t be worse, it feels disappointing. It feels as if your heart could break into a million pieces. But it won’t. It won’t because you and I, we know the secret of life. That the only way to move forward is to take a step back.

Rishona Chopra 
Grade IX 
Gyanshree School

Looking for happiness - Rishona Chopra

Happiness. 

It is something we all try to look for in everything. Everything temporary. We look for happiness in a cup of ice cream, but when that ice cream finishes, so does our happiness. Why isn't our happiness long-lasting and in our control? If we look for happiness in a pen, once the pen is broken, our happiness will be broken, too. We are the authors of our books. We are the hand that controls the pen. But in this case, isn't the pen controlling the hand? Aren't our feelings going in control of someone else?

When someone does something not to our satisfaction, we lose our happiness. In that way, can't that external person take control of when we are happy and when we are sad?

Another instance is when we see one of our family members or friends sad, we often tell them, "If you are sad, I will also be sad," but that is not the way. Again, someone else is controlling our feelings. Why not cheer them up instead?

The journey of looking for happiness is quite an interesting one. At every moment, we realise that we are giving control to someone else or something else. Even though I always hear this, I have not fully found happiness in myself. I have not found happiness being alone with nothing, but we all learn at every step of life, and so am I. 

There are a few lines I remember from a book I read, they were:
"Never search for your happiness in others; it will make you feel alone. Search it yourself, and you will feel happy even if you are left alone."

Rishona Chopra
Grade VII
Gyanshree School

Dear Life - Rishona Chopra

 
Dear Life,

Is your path too difficult to drive?

Does it hold happiness?

Or sadness?

Is it full of bundles of joy?

Is it fun, like a playing toy?

Does it hold success for me?

Or will it be full of glee?

I ask these questions to dear Life,

I hope it helps me decide.

It answers,

You could suffer from Cancer.

You could be successful,

You could be distressful.

You may find a lot of joy,

The path may be destroyed.

Neither do I, Neither do you,

Know if you might fall through.

It is in your hands, she says,

It depends on the way I sway.

Rishona Chopra

Grade VI

Gyanshree School

Someone very important in my life who I’ve lost - Affifa Fatima

On New Year's Eve, 31/12/2020, something horrible happened. 

I had two cats, Chandler and Zoey. Chandler went to my grandma's house for a month. He

used to go out for a walk daily. But one day, he never returned. Everyone went searching for him. But in the end, we found him in the woods. Some wild dogs had attacked him. Chandler was very innocent. It seemed as if I'd lost a piece of me. My other cat Zoey is alive and well, and I wish she never dies.

Afifa Fatima

Class VI

The Doon Girls' School

A friend whom I lost - Gaurangi Rastogi

Date-12th August 2020

Time-1:00 pm 

 

It was a rainy day filled with sadness; I can still feel the moment as it was a changing point in

my life. I lost a friend who gave me happiness while she was in her bad times. A friend who

never spoke anything about her illness. Can you imagine? How does it feel when you lose

your friend whom you grew up with? I can still feel her presence around me. Her name was

Shyra. We always had a kind cultural diversity within us. During my holidays, I still visit the gurdwara and think about her. She wanted to become an author and publish her words. I used to call her Miss. Austen ( Jane Austen). She wanted to enter IFA ‘ International Fashion Academy’ in Paris for Fashion Journalism. She was an aspiring fashion designer and journalist. But, there was a time when we were shocked.

The words I can use to describe her:-

 Happy

 Carefree

 A sister 

 A friend to the needy

I made a mistake: ‘ I abandoned her when she was ill.’

If she can see me, 

Shyra, I am sorry to abandon you.

Gaurangi Rastogi 

Class VII

The Doon Girls’ School