Happiness.... one thing everybody wants...and its like sand..the more tightly you want to hold on to it the faster it slips away from your hands. It surely does not come easy to most of us...especially as we grow up...we tend to see more problems than possibilities...with our mature minds we tend to critically analyze everything...which is not a bad thing but in this process I feel we lose our inner peace as we judge every person, every material thing by its brand, money in comparison to what my peers are earning..its crazy...the contentment we had as kids vanishes...where even a small toffee made us jump around with excitement and we could wait the whole day to just it get it once.
I just had a small lil kid at my place visit us for 2 days and his smile and energy was infectious...he was excited for no reason...happy and jumping around as if he's won a lottery and all of this just because either he was eating his favorite sweet or watching his favorite cartoon...I see the same thing in school too when I watch my kids playing in that limited area of the classroom...sharing whatever food they get from home...the smile when they get a new pencil to work with...the list is endless :) and now when I think of if I am happy...I see no reason to complain...but still I feel I am seeking something...I do not smile that genuinely as my kids do...I hardly get excited about things now..I don't remember the last time i jumped around anywhere out of happiness...may be like 8 months back when i got selected for Teach for India.
While talking to a friend yesterday...I realized we are always craving for that one thing we do not have in our life at that moment...like when i was staying by myself in Mumbai...I craved for a settled/sorted life...having a dependable life partner...a warm family environment...and today when I have all of this...I miss my freedom..the randomness of my life before...as there was some excitement....I didn't know where I was heading so there were endless possibilities which now seem very restricted. I can bet if i get a chance today to move out and stay alone again...in 6 months i'll miss my family...and thats what is like a vicious cycle...you keep seeking what you do not have but you cannot possibly have everything.
We all know it...and we keep forgetting it...keep getting depressed...but we need to surface again...fight that depression and look around...there are millions of people who are an inspiration...the maid in my house...who in last 2 years has barely stepped out of this house but still manages to laugh and smile....the kids in my class with torn uniforms but hearts of gold full of love...they all choose to be happy no matter what happens...if if they have a fight..they do not take more than 5 minutes to flash that killer smile again...n thats what I need to learn :D to let go off things which disturb me and keep the memories which make me smile.
I do understand what this quote means now:"The secret of Happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less!" - Socrates
I am glad I am on this journey of learning with my kids where I learn more from them than I can teach them :)
No comments:
Post a Comment