In this 15th Day StorySpark session, the facilitator (Speaker A) guides participants through Prompt 21 – “a time you had to make a tough decision.” After a brief two‑minute reflection, each participant shares a personal story about a difficult choice and its aftermath. The narratives include: 1. Harsha choosing a stable assistant‑professor job over a film opportunity. 2. Dr Alka leaving her in‑laws’ home to build an independent household, enduring hardship on a makeshift floor‑sleeping arrangement. 3. Venkat quitting a profitable business because multitasking reduced his productivity, deciding to focus on a single venture. 4. Rajesh wrestling with resigning from a job, experiencing a four‑day paralysis before finally writing his resignation letter. 5. The host (Haritosh) recounting two personal decisions – relocating from Bangalore to Delhi to be near parents despite a lucrative offer, and removing a misaligned community member from the Confidence Storytelling Hub. After the stories, participants reflect on how recalling these moments feels, noting that decisions are often prepared long before the decisive act and that struggle fuels personal growth. The facilitator closes with a quote from Patricia Fripp about learning through reflection and encourages continued learning, growth, and stepping out of comfort zones for Day 16. The session is informal, conversational, and emphasizes storytelling as a tool for self‑awareness and community building.
Chapters
Awesome! So welcome everyone to the day 15 of StorySpark session. And as we are in the week 3 of collecting and finding stories, today's session is also going to be like that. We are going to take one more prompt from the same prompts book and we'll reflect on this and we'll— I'm very sure we are going to come up with a lot of stories. So let me share my screen. Today's prompt is prompt number 21 from the prompt sheet, and that is, what's the time you had to make a tough decision? So let's think about the time when you had to make a tough decision, and we'll have about 2 minutes for us to reflect, and then we'll go around the room sharing the story. So yes, let's think for 2 minutes, and I will play the music in the background. The last 20 seconds.
Aren't you supposed to do Haritosh Srivastav good morning?
So hi Rajesh, uh, this is a prompt that is on the screen, which is what is the time you had to make a coffee, and you had to think about the story when you imagine it, correct? Okay, so I'm going to stop the screen share now and let's go around the room. So let's start with Harsha. Harsha, did you remember any story where you had to make of decision. Yes, go ahead. Uh, I had an opportunity of a job opportunity at that time. I had a big, uh, film opportunity also here came. I'm in a dilemma what to take, what not to take. So I choose the job as an assistant professor in engineering college, and because I will get film opportunity is not mandatory. Job is mandatory. So I choose to do the— it was the tough decision. I chose to do a job. That's all. Absolutely. Thank you. And everybody write SPTY, story power to you. Harsha, thank you for sharing. Let's go to Dr. Alka. Dr. Alka, when did you had to make a tough decision?
So I have had many such, many such opportunities. My most important thing was when I had to leave my in-law's house and I had to start my life anew. And I've been working on it for 5 years, and there was no going back on that. And, um, it was a decision that I have to go away from them or I have to stay with them. That was the only thing. And I did not put any pressure on anybody It was my own making. Slowly, slowly, I had applied for the loan. Slowly, slowly, I had got the house. But then I had to paint the house and I had to get the electricity. So I had— I didn't have the money to do it. So I was doing it very, very slowly. And one day then I told my husband, yeah, let us go now. So he said, next week, next week, next week we'll go. I said, no, I'm going. If you want to come, you come. And I took my children. They were crying and shouting and screaming. I put them in the taxi and I just left. Without anything. So that was my story. And after I reached there, I was sleeping on the floor for about a month on a bed sheet and a bed cover. And there was no vessels in the kitchen. I had picked up some 4 katoris, 4 chamach, and 4 plates from my mother's house, and some patila, and the hand stove that was there. So this is what is my story. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing that.
Thank you for reminding me.
Awesome. That's everybody, right? SPTY, story power to you. Let's go to Venkat.
Good morning to all.
Good morning.
I had been running the business since 2021. Recently I quit the business even though the business is going good and good profit. The reason behind is I couldn't multitask. If we concentrate one thing, the productivity is much than doing multitask. I identified, so I took a good decision to quit because the profit and the business is going good. Still the customers are calling now. So now I feel that I had a good, good business in my previous. So I plan to do in future also, but that time I will fully engage in that business. So, so part-time business is for me multitasking. It's a good, a great challenge that, that's the reason I quit the business. Productivity is more important than everything. So keep on working is not good. Thank you.
Awesome. Thank you for sharing. Everybody write SPDI, Story Power to You, Venkat. Let's go to Rajesh now.
Yes, good morning everyone. Good morning Haritosh Srivastav. So after listening to, like, I also remembered all my, uh, days as we had a hard time But yes, in our life there are so many incidents when we have to take decision, but it was— it is difficult to take decisions. So I just wanted to say the recent decision of mine and the situation where I had to take a decision, but it was quite difficult. Uh, like, um, I'm planning to quit— I was planning to quit my job, and, uh, it was decided, uh, we decided that on so-and-so date I'm going to resign. And I quit my papers. But when it— the day came, it was like I was into dilemma. What should I do? How should I do? I was into— for, for continuous 4 days I was there into like— I was not able to write down my resignation. And because when we are working into some organization or some wherever you are, you get so attached with that and it becomes difficult. And you have— you like It was, should I take decision? Will it go right? Will it go wrong? What will happen? And I was trying to ask from myself, I was trying to ask from Universe, should I continue? Should I not continue? Give me some signals. And it took me for 4 days to write a single resignation letter that, yes, now this is the time, let's write it down and send and this, uh, letter. So yes, it was, uh, a quite difficult task for me, but after taking that decision, I am calm, relaxed, and at least now concentrated on a single thing. Otherwise, like, I was not able to concentrate on my job as well.
So thank you. Awesome.
Thank you so much for sharing that. Wishing you all the best, and everybody write story power to you. SPTY. All right, so I'll also share a couple of stories from my own life, and then we'll go about reflection of this activity. So I think one of the big decisions I took was when I started my career. I was in Bangalore for almost 4 years, but then I had to take a decision to move back because I wanted to stay close to my parents. So I had to take a decision from— for relocation from Bangalore to Bangalore to Delhi, and it was not an easy decision because the company I worked was amazing. And in fact, I had as many as 6 rounds of— so they have these exit interviews, so they actually did 6 rounds. Typically it happens once or twice. I had 6 rounds of exit interview and they were coming up, we'll do this for you, we'll do this for you, and these were all lucrative offers. But ultimately I had to remind myself that why I'm doing that, so I had to move that. And the second decision was again similar to Rajesh Ji. When I earlier this year, when I decided, I mean, I had decided last year itself that I'm going to quit the job. But yes, when it comes to actually putting, it's one thing is to say that yeah, I'm going to quit the job, but the second thing is when you actually have to take decision It does require guts, it does require a lot of retrospection, and yes, you got to have a lot of trust in yourself that no matter what, I'll figure it out. So yes, that was another tough decision. And the third one is recently when we had a member in Confidence Storytelling Hub, and I figured out he was doing something which is not aligned with the values, even though I saw a lot of potential in him. I had to make a tough decision to take him out of the community and refund. So that was the third decision I had to take. Not the easy decision, but yeah, sometimes you have to know why you are taking decision. It helps. So thank you so much, everyone. Let's quickly— we have 2 minutes, so let's quickly go around the room. Thank you, Venkat. Quickly go around the room and share what did this activity make you feel. Let's start with Harsha. Okay, it's very exciting to me to remember that tough decision time. And, and I like to add that every day we are meeting like this is very excellent. We are starting with positive vibration. Whole day is very good. To better continue this process. Thank you. Yeah, we're going to continue at least till the Storython is going, and then we'll see what else can be done. But yes, thank you for that feedback, Harsha. That really helps. Yes, Venkat.
Yes, um, I had many, uh, tough decision point. So remembering that, uh, that time it was difficult, but now we all feel it is good. So I came out from comfort zone. Now I feel, yeah, so this today also, this time also, I'm taking decision to stay in Japan. That also I feel I am taking good decision and it will grow us. So every decision is for our development.
Absolutely.
That's— thank you.
Thank you, Venkat. Yes, Dr. Alka.
So any— what I'm realizing is that any decision is not made at the moment of the action that it has been taken. It is made much before that, much, much before that. So I think I made this decision even before I got married. So there were some things I saw and I decided that I will have a house of my own and I will do this on my own. And I think the struggle that I went through has made me the person that I have become. So the struggle is where we grow, like Venkat is telling. So all the trouble that I went through in my life has made me a very tough person. Today my son is also looking for a place to stay somewhere else. I don't want him to go away from me. So I'm making all kinds of excuses for him to stay with me. But that time I did not have that opportunity, and I wanted to just leave immediately after my marriage. But even then I left after 3 years. So that is what I remember, and it's a good thing to remember. Thank you so much. Absolutely.
Thank you, Dr. Alka. Yes, Rajaji.
Yes, uh, my reflection on this activity was, uh, yes, Alka ji said rightly, decision is never taken at that moment. Most of the time we take decision much before, uh, of the actual, like, actual, uh, actual situation of that decision. And slowly and gradually we prepare ourselves mentally, physically, or financially, or some with other things. However, when it— that particular struggle that make us realize about our potential, that carve our real personality or real character, we are not aware of at that particular time, but yes, that process keeps going on, and then a strong personality or a character comes out, out of that particular decision, when we take that particular decision. And these such kind of decisions make us a complete personality. They, they help us to become mentally strong. They— such kind of activities or incidents in our life they make us stand alone and we feel, yes, we can move ahead in life. Ultimately, we all have to— we all are individual personalities. So I feel, yes, remembering all those things is again, uh, is a great thing because, uh, when we— you keep going on into your life, you forget things. When Alka ji was sharing my story, I also realized that I had that tough time and today I didn't feel that life is life can be so tough. So yes, sometimes I feel remembering is also a great thing. Thank you so much.
Absolutely. And thank you so much, Rajesh ji, for sharing that. And I know part of the story because we worked together, we went, we were doing your keynote. And yeah, it was very touching and very emotional story that you have. So I know that. And yes, so absolutely agree with all of you. And, and I'm pretty sure you would have heard the story of a cocoon becoming a butterfly, it's not an easy process. The cocoon goes through a lot of pain, a lot of struggle, but that's when he be— that's when it becomes a butterfly, a beautiful butterfly. And the last point that I want to mention is that, uh, yes, we have taken a lot of decisions, we have a lot of stories, but I'm gonna quote, uh, somebody named Patricia Fripp, who is, uh the first female president of National Speakers Association in US, and she said that the real learning happens in the moment of reflection. So you take decision, you have story, but the actual learning happens when you reflect. So one of the habits we are trying to work on this week is reflecting on the different moments in our life, which gives you a lot of story and which also give you a lot of learning, a lot of courage to move forward. So that was Day 15 of StorySpark session. We have completed 15 days. So thank you so much for being with me. Thank you so much for joining. I wish you a great day ahead and we'll meet tomorrow again for Day 16. And until then, as I say every time, until next time, keep learning, keep growing, and keep going out of your comfort zone. See you tomorrow for Day 16. Take care.
