Life's Balance Sheet

Today, while completing the accounting for the year, I felt isn’t our life also like these account books?

Regular routine events are like normal entries - anticipated, familiar, and recurring. They do not impact the profit or loss significantly because we already know their outcomes and remain mentally prepared for them.

But when an unusual transaction occurs, it affects the revenue or expenses and eventually changes the profit or loss. Sometimes, even a single event is enough to affect the capital itself.

Similarly, in real life too, unexpected events disturb the state of our mind. They affect our joys and sometimes create sorrow. We lose our peace of mind, our regular sleep gets disturbed, tears flow… and at times, certain happy moments completely change the mood of everyone around us, filling our homes and surroundings with excitement and positivity.

Just like in business, some unexpected events in life bring unforeseen profits or losses. Their resultant effect gets carried forward into future years, to be compensated or balanced at the appropriate time.

In accounting, after set-offs and adjustments, the books eventually begin to show a routine and balanced picture again. Life too should perhaps be the same. Whatever baggage we carry, whatever memories we hold onto, need to be set off and adjusted at the right time for a cleaner and clearer life ahead.

Love, kindness, empathy, emotional intelligence, joy, gratitude, and confidence are our assets. Good mental and physical health is our true capital. Grudges, resentment, fear, and depression are our liabilities.

Negative memories, painful experiences, and sadness need to be debited, while positivity, hope, and gratitude must continuously be credited into the ledger of life.

We should learn to write off sorrows, fears, grudges, and painful memories in time, before they begin to affect the entire balance sheet of our life.

And just like in accounting, we must keep resetting the accounting equation of life from time to time.

Just like a balance sheet, our life too is designed to remain in equilibrium by the Almighty. Sorrows and joys eventually find their balance. We simply need patience and faith to wait for the right time.

At the end of the day, life is not about having a balance sheet free from losses, but about having the strength to balance every debit with hope, learning, faith, and resilience. Some entries in life will always remain beyond our control, but how we account for them within ourselves makes all the difference. Perhaps true wisdom lies in knowing what to carry forward, what to adjust, and what to finally write off so that the books of life remain proper enough for us to move ahead with peace, gratitude, and purpose.

— Madhura Lathkar

www.madhurawrites.com