November 1, 2020 | 8.50PM| Sunday | Tirumala

Often, we don’t value the things we already have. We keep thinking something else is better than what’s in front of us.

But everything — I repeat, everything — has value. Whether it’s a pen, a pencil, our home, or the people around us… everything deserves respect.

It’s okay if you don’t fully appreciate what you have sometimes, but don’t disrespect it. Don’t disrespect anything.

When we first get something — like our first smartphone or a motorcycle from our parents — we feel extremely happy. Excited. Grateful. But after a few days, or maybe years, that feeling fades. We stop valuing it the same way.

And this doesn’t just happen once. It happens with everything in life.

This cycle is a trap.

We keep chasing a better home, a better car, better people… always something “better.” But what if what we already have is enough? What if it’s more valuable than we realise?

In 2018, we lost our home in Tirupati due to a debt trap. Slowly, we started losing everything, one by one. Eventually, we came back to Tirumala.

Today, all we have is our family, a small house, and a shop.

We never really know what life has planned for us. We think we are safe, healthy, stable… that nothing will go wrong. But life can change at any moment.

Things are not always in our control.

Life feels like a journey in the night, without any lights. We don’t know what’s ahead of us.

In my case, life turned completely around. We lost homes. We lost our name and respect in society. We went into heavy debt.

But through all of this, we learned a lot. We changed. We evolved.

Today, I can say I am strong enough to face any kind of challenge in life.

All these experiences have shaped me deeply. They changed my personality and the way I see the world.

Now, I look at life… from a completely different perspective.