The World Spins, and while it does that, some people Inspire. I met one such person this week, Mr. Mark Philpott. I had heard about Mark from Sid's Singapore days, finally after 6 years, I got a chance to meet him. He was here to participate in the Abu Dhabi Triathlon (Swim, Bike, Run). He was staying in Dubai with a friend called Alex in the Greens community. So, we made a plan over email to meet him there at 8:15. Mark sent us an email with all the directions and put his faith in the universe. After getting lost a couple of times, we made it to the Greens community. As soon as we got there, we saw Mark waiting outside. So, unlike most of us, Mark didn't fret about whether we were going to show up or not, whether we would need help on directions or not, he just knew that the universe is going to ensure we get there. And so it did.
The rest of the evening was one of the rare evenings when I didn't check my watch for the time, or my phone for those BB, whatsapp, email notifications. The conversation that followed was one of the most inspiring ones of my life. I will not share Mark's story here, because it is best heard straight from him. Mark left DHL after spending 23 years in the corporate life to start his own social foundation called Humaneity. He is currently touring the world participating in various sports challenges around the world. He says that this challenge is about testing himself physically, emotionally and spiritually as well as re-connecting with old friends around the globe and meeting people on the road. Humaneity has been founded to raise social conscious thinking in the world. According to Mark, the problems are not only in the developing countries. The developed world has its own issues, where people are becoming selfish and materialistic. This crazy guy is living his dream everyday. He doesn't know where he is going to spend the next week, his only objective right now is to travel the world participating in sports challenges and see where the universe takes him. He says, when you start following your dream, you automatically start meeting the right people, those people who you would otherwise not meet. The universe starts helping you in your dream. Two things he said during our conversation, are things which might have been said before, but when Mark says it, you know he is saying it from experience. These were - Expect the Unexpected. There is so much happening in the world around you, that you can't control everything. Your plans will keep evolving, don't think you are going to end up where you planned to. And the second thing was - Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. If everything in your life is going well, question it. Something is wrong is all is right. What really struck Ishan and was really the quote of the week was - Many people ask, is there life after death? While the question that you should really be asking is - Are you living now?
The best part about Mark is that he is really happy with who he is, and what he is doing. Which so many of us are not. It was divine intervention, Ishan is going through this phase of life where he is really questioning everything that he is doing, and this meeting with Mark, was as he says - planned by the universe. He says, don't think so much, just go with the flow and be a happy person. To be able to do good in the world, and make the world a better place, you first need to be happy with who you are. You need to be able to look at yourself in the mirror and say - I like this guy!
He is truly an inspiration. I am inspired to paint more, be fit, be a good human being and make the world a better place.
The World really does spin!
