Back to School

I can’t believe the summer is over already and I’m just a couple of days from going back to school. It’s my last year so hopefully I’ll be able to keep up with recording shabads, blogging, art, and reading  (okay maybe not all of them, but at least some!). 

Recently, I dug up an old assignment from my first year of medical school where I had written that my goal was to work on my conflict resolution skills. Little did I actually know how many conflicts I would face that would offer me the chance to build these skills, that in fact this would go on to become one of my stronger skillsets. 

Sometimes in life we don’t really know what’s next. What is coming to test us, or the opposite, what surprises are around the corner! When we look back, it all fits together, but when we look ahead it’s all unknown. I didn’t know the amazing people I’d meet this summer. I deepened my connection to God through the good company of Gurmukhs that I met on my trip, and the kirtani jatha here. I was inspired to wake up and read Gurbani in the mornings, and do simran, to sing and listen to as much kirtan as possible. Each day that has tested my patience, I have turned to the power of Ardas and the Hukam of the Guru to soothe my mind. I realized when our connection with God deepens, so does the connection to ourselves and to other people, because God is both Nirankaar and Akar (formless and in forms). Looking back, this summer was very much about learning how to best take care of myself and recharge body, mind and soul (a lot of which was accomplished by playing with my cousins and little sister!).

Whenever there is something new, of course there is going to be an aspect of the unknown ahead and I think that feeling comes up for a lot of us each fall. Usually this time of year, a red leaf falls and we panic that the summer is over now. (I'm sure the darkness and coldness doesnt help anyone's mood.) But the unknown can bring us a lot of gifts that we never imagined and we can look forward to those. At each step of life, we bring forward what we have learned from the past and apply it. 

Good luck to everyone who is going back to school this fall! We are privileged to be getting an education.