As I type this down, the clock is still ticking and time is sprinting to overtake me with each passing moment. Isn’t this overwhelming? The fact that all of us are running towards our own set targets, which, we assume will lead us to the path of unshakable happiness, is overwhelming. In this mad rat race, we do not want to look behind. We do not want to pause and breathe for a while. Simply, because we have no time. If we all are capable enough to fathom the uncertainty of the time that we are left with, then we surely hold the sensibility to comprehend the preciousness of time.
There must be a million instances when we are heard saying, ‘If this one thing happens, I’ll be happy’ or ‘Once this gets over, I’ll be happy’ or rather, ‘I will be happy when I achieve this.’ The way we conveniently fool ourselves into believing that happiness can be equated to an event, makes me want to question our sanity. Can the occurrence of one affair get you everlasting happiness? And what if that never happens. Or what if it does, but temporarily? Will you never be happy again? Don’t we need to rethink about the true meaning of happiness and the value of one, just the one life we’ve been blessed with? Keeping aside all that we have and all that we wish for, this One life is all that we’ve got. Every morning that we wake up is a blessing, an opportunity to live, to do all that our heart truly wants. And to let that day fall prey to stress, overthinking or disappointment is no less than committing a sin.
In the stubborn chase for destinations, which are ambiguous themselves, we completely miss savoring the taste of journeys. The journeys which we have with us, which will stay with us and which are in the present. We are misled into the idea of utopia which can be dwelled in only after one reaches the finish line. Well, that’s not true. Every day we witness instances that prove the unpredictability of life. Nobody knows for how long will they live. Nobody knows if they will even wake up the next day to execute the plans that they sat making at the dinner table, last night.
Happiness has very little do with circumstances. It is a choice that we as individuals make. I believe so because I have seen a toddler in torn clothes, with an empty stomach and sunken eyes, dance with joy at the sight of her father coming back to their hut after a long day of labor. On the contrary, I also have had the chance to see the daughter of a millionaire, having all that she could ever wish for, living in a state of persistent dissatisfaction. While we all juggle with innumerable problems throughout our life span, we aren’t unaware of the reoccurrence of them, one after the other. They are never ending. For a child, it is leaving his warm bed and attending school; for a student it’s the exams that haunt him like nothing else; for a lover it is the pain of separation and longing, for an investor it’s the slumping economy and the list is long. The point being that for each one of us, irrespective of the age group or class, problems exist. Irrespective of the magnitude of problems, they are equally challenging for the one who faces them. And happiness? Does it knock on the door before arriving? It doesn’t. We need to look for it in every opportunity that we get. We need to spot it in the midst of troubles; and embrace it.
We get so engaged in whining and complaining about the deficiencies of our life that we completely forget to look around, stand still and gaze at all that we are blessed with. And believe me, what we have is countless and priceless. Even if we spend a lifetime counting our blessings, we’ll fall short of time. The things we have, the people we have are only distant desires for many.
For the fear of this sounding as cliché as it can, I am anyway putting it down. The next morning you wake up, take a moment and hug a loved one and thank the universe for their presence. Look at the sun and experience its warmth healing your soul. Hold a mug of steaming hot coffee and relish every sip. Get those paint brushes out of the cupboard and pour your heart out on the canvas. Pick up the phone and call someone you love and tell them how much you do. Wear that apron, put your favorite music on and make the meal that you’ve been craving for. Tie up your bun, wear your spectacles and read a book, basking in the sun. Go for that job, marry that girl and see the world. It is the little things, always. Thank more, love more and laugh more. You can’t let this life slip away just like that. Living with regrets is worse. To lay in your deathbed and count all that you could have done, tears your soul apart.
You just have this one life and it is your responsibility towards your own self and every single person who loves you, to live. Live this life to the fullest.
