This article is not coming from some happiness guru who has found all the secrets to live life. It is by ‘ME’ an ordinary person who becomes extraordinary (at times) just by realizing the greatness of a few simple things, in life.
According to Rumi the great eastern thinker and poet “God is the most active being and loves activity, the sovereign ruling the universe cannot sit idle. He loves movement; therefore even a useless effort is better than utter passivity” Rumi goes as far as saying “useless striving is better than inaction” by sharing this I am not indicating than you should go insane and work like a machine, load your desk with extra tasks and meet ten deadlines at one time. All I am referring to is… just keep doing what makes you really happy…
SHARE-In ‘life’s little instruction book’ volume 2 by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. point no 649 says “Don’t confuse comfort with happiness “and this to me is the biggest truth in life. Comfort is beautiful and essential, we dream for the best car, the best home and the best couch but mere comfort and material objects don’t give complete happiness…sharing them does. Sitting on the couch with a beloved gives happiness, experiencing joy, warmth and laughter in a home with family and friends gives happiness, driving the car in the best company or state of mind gives happiness.
PRAY– Again point no 847 in life’s little instruction book volume 2 says “Pray. There’s immeasurable power in it” Try not to miss out the best opportunity in your life…the opportunity to communicate with God. Have faith. Thank Him for all that you have and ask Him for all that you want. I’ve tried it. Thank God, it always works.
ENJOY – Eat chocolates or you favourite dessert. Have a delicious, mouth watering appetite. If you can’t afford that an ice cream or a candy can give sheer happiness. Walk or jog in your nearest local park and savour watching the trees, birds, people, smiles, kids and games, spare the time to notice the beauty around you. Meet friends often and try to find that one friend who can listen to you and you can listen to them for hours. The kind of friend you want to travel with and the one in whose company time always travels way faster than it is supposed to. If you haven’t met that friend, your mom (dad, brother, sister, husband/wife) can be and is always a best friend. Give in greatly to this person-to make your life the destination of absolute joy you need to work on a BIG -EXPANDED heart, not (importantly) in terms of material stuff but in terms of compassion, trust, patience and character. Great friendships guarantee a joyous life. Talk your heart out. Play, be a child. Sports, dance, Lego, carom. Video games, cards… Why have you stopped all that? Here are two stirring dialogues from the film Forest Gump….which behold the magic of enjoying life in a so-called ‘stupid’ man’s words;
Forest Gump “That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run. So I ran to the end of the road. And when I got there, I thought maybe I’d run to the end of town. And when I got there, I thought maybe I’d just run across Greenbow County. And I figured, since I’d run this far, maybe I’d just run across the great state of Alabama. And that’s what I did. I ran clear across Alabama. For no particular reason I just kept on going. I ran clear to the ocean. And when I got there, I figured, since I’d gone this far, I might as well turn around, just keep on going. When I got to another ocean, I figured, since I’d gone this far, I might as well just turn back, keep right on going”
Forest Gump (telling Jenny about Vietnam) “Yes. Well, I-I don’t know. Sometimes it would stop raining long enough for the stars to come out… and then it was nice. It was like just before the sun goes to bed down on the bayou. There was always a million sparkles on the water… like that mountain lake. It was so clear, Jenny, it looked like there were two skies one on top of the other. And then in the desert, when the sun comes up, I couldn’t tell where heaven stopped and the earth began. It’s so beautiful”
I wish all of us…can be that stupid!
BUILD – give yourself new challenges. Be passionate about something, that one thing which absorbs you till no end, once you start you don’t want to leave it, just go for it. It can be anything from travelling, art, music or reading to exercise, doodling, sketching or watching movies. If things work-out right, your passion can be what you do for a living. And that is utter happiness. If you haven’t found your passion search for it, experiment. The movie Julie and Julia is the best example. Two women find their ultimate passion trough trial and error. The legendary Julia Child made hats and did a lot before discovering her love for cooking. Have hobbies. Enhance your knowledge through literature, news, visuals or cartoons – whatever YOU find engaging and interesting. I love watching documentaries..! Attend seminars or workshops or have discussions among friends. Ask questions and try to find answers. Life’s little instruction book volume two, point no 715 says “remember that the more you know. The less you fear.”
EQUALIZE – It’s a big world and cliché I may be but ‘grass will always be VERY green on the other side of the hill’. Compare yourself with yourself only- Want what you want -don’t want it because others have it. We all exist to start and end at the same point. We are blessed individuals but try to realize that no one is richer or poorer, better or worse, what matters most is how you see yourself. Stop estimating and consider the whole world, every single person to be your equal. Like you, time is growing every second, live it, love it…don’t fret and calculate who’s doing what and has achieved what in what point in time. Give yourself and them a TEN ON TEN. Be patient, your success, your chances, money, luck, love will be yours, live life to deserve it.
LOVE – There’s a dialogue in the film ‘The Mexican’ which says it all;
Winston Baldry (James Gandolfini); when two people love each other, really love each other but they just can’t get it together. When do you get to that point that enough is enough?
Samantha (Julia Roberts): (yaps about stuff that is irrelevant to the question)…
Winston Baldry (James Gandolfini); that’s your answer; that’s not right, there’s a right answer but that’s not it…
Samantha (Julia Roberts); (looks at him)
Winston Baldry (James Gandolfini); (explains how in his profession where death is an everyday encounter he has realized how much people crave for care and love) and says “the answer to this question, specially in your case is, when do you get to that point that enough is enough?, NEVER, never..”
This dialogue explained to me why so many people who were verging on ‘crazy’ were still together! It’s because like the sun, moon, the stars or the planets, between the light, darkness, storms and the rain – their hearts are in complete symmetry. So when ever you are in love with a person, place, thing, belief, work or anything, remember the importance of this ‘Never’. Get OVER the petty stuff, nowadays there’s a hurricane of information on the dos and don’ts of love. You are the love, so love in style. Love brings with it tolerance, patience, courage, respect, generosity, hope, faith and crazy happiness. It is like the waves of an ocean or fire of the sun, passionate, creative, effortless and truly devoted. The greatest of poets, philosophers, artists are so immersed in and in love with what they do that they enjoy every single moment of their journey, even at the time when there are no rewards or even when there is struggle. If you are always concerned about why, how, why-not, when, how much and measuring love on a scale? You are only thinking about the packing of the chocolates, just the exterior…not the chocolates, not love it self. So LET GO and love. It is worth it. According to the great eastern poet and philosopher Allama Iqbal. Love connotes far more than the bringer of purely individual joy. To him, love is the regenerating spirit of the universe, the spirit that should cut the Gordian Knot of all man’s perplexities and provide an antidote to all human vices. Love brings forth beautiful things and thoughts into the world. To him love for an individual means the assimilation and absorption of the qualities prominent in the beloved…. (From IQBAL, His Art and Thought by S.A Vahid) Poets and philosophers have agreed that love can never be explained completely…but all great people have tried learning it and so should we. Life’s little instruction book point no 980 says “approach love and cooking with reckless abandon”
FORGIVE – Be the first to forgive (point no 651, life’s little instruction book, volume two). I recently read somewhere that if you visit the library of congress in Washington D.C, you will find five words painted on the ceiling- five words written by the poet Pope; “order is heaven’s first law” you must be thinking what has order got to do in forgiveness. I believe that it is the first and the foremost. Does unfinished business in your drawers or clutter beneath your bed or in your closet ever bother you? Do you want to get free of the mess but hardly ever have the patience and time to get it over with? For ladies, do you enjoy cleaning your purse and throwing away the useless supermarket receipts and other junk in the trash? Do you enjoy when every thing is clean and clear? Yes, many of you do, even if you don’t realize it. Forgiveness is the mechanism of cleaning the clutter of the heart and mind. Be-very-brave and forgive them no matter what they did. And happiness shall be a promise. In the life’s little instruction book volume 2, point no. 659 says. Turn enemies into friends by doing something nice for them. This is the grand stage of forgiveness and freedom. If you can do this you already are a very happy person. ..
SHUSH – Others are saying things that you don’t agree with and don’t want to do or ‘are-not-you’ at all but they think that they are-stay quiet. Yes, talking smart and winning arguments is really cool as well but sometimes rigid views require time and examples to influence and effect. Time will prove to them who you really are. Having arguments with people who don’t understand (or want to understand) what you want to do, will never make a difference. Change will come itself when they see the difference. In Paolo Coelho’s words “what other people think of you is none of your business”
DREAM – In the life’s little instruction book by H Jackson Brown Jr. Point no 780 says “don’t let weeds grow around your dreams” so share, pray, enjoy, build, equalize, love, forgive, shush and dream on….. Do all the ordinary things for extraordinary happiness.