Five Things Everyone Should Experience in Life

Life is a patchwork of moments, experiences, and emotions that shape who we become. Some of these experiences uplift us, while others challenge our strength and resilience.

Over the years, I have had my fair share of both highs and lows, and along the way, I have discovered certain experiences that leave an indelible mark on the soul. These are not things you can buy or read about alone, but lived moments that teach, humble, and transform you.

So, if you are looking for ways to live more fully, here are five things I truly believe everyone should experience at least once.

1. Build an Athletic Body

I have seen extremes. I have lived unhealthy, fatigue dragging me down every single day. Even basic things like climbing stairs or waking up with energy felt tough. Then I changed. I committed to my health and built an athletic body.

After ten years of living fit, I know this for sure: discipline in fitness spills into everything. Showing up for workouts, eating right, sleeping on time builds structure. You learn to keep promises to yourself. That is where real growth begins. If I start something now, I finish it. Be it a new habit, a work project, or a personal goal, I stay the course. Fitness taught me consistency. It taught me how to show up, even on hard days.

And the reward is energy, clarity and confidence.

2. Spend Time with Your Grandparents

Grandparents hold a kind of wisdom the world doesn’t teach. I have been lucky. I got to spend real time with both sets of mine. My Nana and Nani were part of my daily life for nearly six years and that too during the most crucial time of my life, when I was in college and a teenager. A phase where many people lose direction. Their presence gave me stability, clarity, and values that kept me grounded.

My Dadi lived till 94. Sharp, strong, and a force of nature. She was from a different league. And my Dada, Babuji as we called him, was one of the most forward-thinking and insightful people I have ever met.A man of clarity and conviction. Just being around him gave me a sense of direction.

All four of them were visionaries in their own way. I carry their values with me. Their words and even their silence still guide me.

I feel especially blessed that my Nani is still around. I get to see her once or twice a year, and every visit is a reminder of how deeply she has shaped who I am.

When you sit with your grandparents, you learn patience, humility, resilience. You see what a life well-lived actually looks like.

3. Hold Your Newborn Baby

Some moments change your life completely – holding your baby for the first time is one of them. It’s impossible to describe. A rush of emotions so overwhelming that words can’t keep up. You feel a tiny heartbeat on your chest and small fingers holding yours. In that moment, you realise you have brought a new life into the world, and nothing else feels the same.

I have had the privilege of feeling that moment twice. Or I should say thrice. When my elder son was born in Purulia, I was sitting outside the hospital, anxiously waiting. The doctor walked out, smiled, and said, ‘Congrats.’ A tear rolled down my cheek, and in a matter of moments, my son was in my arms.

Five years later, in Faridabad, I held my second son, sleeping beside his mother. As I gently lifted him into my arms, the same rush of emotions came over me. That feeling is not like anything you have ever known.

Five year back when my Granddaughter was born I got an opportunity to relive those moments again. 

You can’t quite prepare for it. The weight of responsibility, the depth of love, and the awe of it all. In those moments, time stands still. You are filled with gratitude and humility, and your heart knows that nothing will ever be the same again.

4. Be Present with a Critical Patient

Hospitals teach you what matters. I spent my grandfather’s last days sitting beside him as he battled a fever. I visited every day, watching him fight. Then one morning, he collapsed. ICU time was limited. I could barely be there. And yet, that short time meant everything. I held his hand. I felt to helpless.

My grandmother’s struggle was longer and more painful. She had skin cancer. In her last years, it spread fast, even to her eyes. She suffered. You could feel it. But there was nothing I could do except sit by her side.

Those days changed me. They peeled away the layers of ego and stress that usually fill our lives. Most of what we think is important isn’t. When you see pain up close, when you feel someone slipping away, your priorities shift.

Being there for someone at their worst teaches you love, empathy, and the true meaning of presence.

5. Live in a Hostel

Most of my student life was spent in hostels – first at Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, then later during engineering in Nagpur. Leaving home was a shock. At home, things just happened. Food, laundry, comfort. At hostel, nothing came without effort.

No parents to remind you. No house help to serve you. If the food wasn’t great, you either ate whatever was served or went to bed hungry. If you didn’t wash your clothes, you wore dirty ones.

That is where I learned to stay organised. But more than that, hostel life taught me how to live with people. Different cultures, languages, values. Everyone brought their world with them. And we had to find a way to live together.

You learn to share. You learn to adjust. You find out how to make friends, not just online, but by talking late at night, going through hard times together, having arguments, and making up. Living with others teaches you a lot.

These five experiences have shaped me in ways I can’t even fully put into words, and I truly believe they have the power to transform anyone experiences them.

– In a workout that teaches self-respect.
– In the quiet wisdom of your grandparents.
– In the warmth of holding your child.
– In the heartbreak of watching a loved one fade.
– In the chaos and camaraderie of hostel life.

Embrace these moments, and let them change you.