This is not what I signed up for!
to This is what I have been signed up for!
Many times we get this feeling of lost momentum with things/situations in life.. and we end up silently exclaiming “This is not what I signed up for!”.
True and will always be true. We rarely know what we are signing up for when we get into something, whatever it be.
Associations with a new school, neighbourhood, people, places, positions, offices, and finally our own inner self often brings up a cross-road situation where we feel at sea — the unexpected twist in the scene immediately makes us exclaim: “This is not what I signed up for!”
Admittedly, the same exclamation comes out as smiles and often less verbalised if the expression is happy! Who ever talks much about that, anyway? Have you ever heard anyone say “This is not what I signed up for!” when the company gives a pay raise? or when a flight lands earlier than usual? I have not!
The world has come to where if there is a story, there has to be a pain point addressed. If you have doubts, check the news ticking on right now on your favourite news channel!. That which is painful to people gains attention and audience, and often rightly so! Only when the baby cries, the mother knows she has to feed the newborn!. Only those issues that need attention get spoken about, not the ones that deserve appreciation.
That said, we go back to the low momentum pointers (lighter ones alone here) that cause the exclamation: “This is not what I signed up for!”
I live in India and most of the expressions would apply to life and people here, although chances are, that most of the world would have seen the same things albeit differently!
On a bus when a sudden brake caused a hurt ankle: “This is not what I signed up for!”
In school, when your Dupattah(Costume: read as the Indian version of a longer stole) flew off in the afternoon breeze: “This is not what I signed up for!”
On the stage, when you were just making an important point, and the microphone fails: “This is not what I signed up for!”
On the road, when you take the shorter route to your destination, and a bullock cart is ahead of your vehicle: “This is not what I signed up for!”
At a wedding dinner when your favourite chocolate ice-cream spills on your favourite off-white dress: “This is not what I signed up for!”
Similar things happen in teenage, college, and marriage when we end up exclaiming: “This is not what I signed up for!”
Ethnic day when the usually well-draped, well-managed saree misbehaves on the driveway: “This is not what I signed up for!”
Personal care need when the usually full-stocked store on college campus has a ‘Stock-out’ board and a sorry smiley: “This is not what I signed up for!”
On a perfectly dressed-up day with a perfect feel-good factor crowned by a beautiful smile, the professor with a bland, lifeless face, lost in thought, does not return your smile crosses your way: “This is not what I signed up for!”
On the big day of wedding with butterflies fluttering inside and outside of you with no rhythm, the sweat that breaks off on the eye-brow for no explained reason: “Is this what I signed up for?”
On the big day of knowing you are pregnant, with tears of joy rolling down your cheek, and unknown pangs somewhere deep down, the giddiness and breathlessness that pops up among many other things during the nine short months of nurturing a baby within you — and when people say, it’s all normal when NOTHING about you feels normal: “This is not what I signed up for!”
The juggling of multiple roles — mom, wife, tutor, cook, maid, and manager at home plus the roles outside home makes it all so very exhausting — makes you wonder: “Is this what I signed up for?”
Conclusively, in this journey of life, we must believe “We mostly get into what we do not know we are signing up for”. We sign up and the true joy comes when we see through the commitment, albeit hard.
The unknown power of the Universe, places us at the correct place at the apt time with the deserving people for the pre-destined reasons!. We must keep the word we were signed-up for!
“This is not what I signed up for!
to
“Is this what I signed up for?”
to
’May be this is what I have been signed-up for!’
That way, it is easier to keep up the word and do the deed. You have been signed-up only because you can keep it up! There is just no one like you to do what you are doing! May be this is what you have been signed up for! And this could help you see greater heights of success(heights can mean dizziness and falls too, but that’s for you to stay warned of!) that you never knew could be possible! So get up and get going!