I am sure all of us have heard of and would agree with the cliché yet truthful saying: Life is not a bed of roses.
Some of us have to strive to perform well so that we could survive in college, graduate – hopefully – with a distinction, and go into the working world and begin earning our humble salaries.
Some of us worry a lot. We worry if we are good enough to be accepted in this society which had undergone multiple, in fact, innumerable conditioning processes by both our cultures and the media. We worry if we are fine looking enough to be appreciated as an individual and not subject to any judgments. We worry if we are brilliant enough to be considered a friend, someone worth spending time with, someone whom others would sincerely look to in times of need.
Some of us have to strive to survive – just to survive. Even during our student years, we have to work for a little living. With the meager wage we get every end of the week or month, we gleefully enjoy our money, and return to working hard again the following month.
Summing all these, I assume that all of us would concur that life is difficult – real difficult. And perhaps – just perhaps – the easiest thing about life is spelling it.
Many a times we have heard about the overused term “Positive Mental Attitude”. We try real hard to find a reason for joy in each situation. We religiously memorize the several truisms we have come to seemingly worship in times of dire need, and one of them is: Behind every dark cloud is a silver lining. And when all these fail, when all our effort to find joy fails, we shrug and get disappointed at our failure in trying to orchestrate our joy.
But is joy achieved this way?
Is joy achievable by just telling ourselves, "Don’t worry; be happy?" Is joy attainable by just telling ourselves that we can, or we should be happy because before every dawn is the darkest nights?
Let us not kid ourselves anymore.
Don’t get me wrong; I am not saying that positive mental attitude does not work; it does work for some, but for those whom such attitude doesn’t apply, what do they do? Do they discard the chance of finding joy?
No. Life may be difficult, but joy is definitely attainable.
Joy is attainable when we put a pause to the busy lives we are living in. The very lives in which we strive for what we believe in. The very lives in which we work for what we wish to have in this life.
Joy is attainable when we slow down and open our eyes to see the little things, many of which we consider trivial, and accept them as the little rainbows that color our lives.
Joy is attainable when we realize that we have missed a lot in life. Things like the simple heartfelt smiles of friends and beloved ones… the rather out-of-tune melodies which we mindlessly hum whenever we feel like doing so… the little jokes we have amongst our close friends… the little secrets we share between or amongst those closest to us… the little things we laugh at until we tear…
All these may be little, but they are definitely worth being joyful for, because we know that we are not trying to be positive but being thankful for the little moments we have in life.
Last but not least, joy is attainable when we begin to make an effort to say simple words like "thank you". How many times have such simple yet powerful words left our lips only to dissipate into the air without being given the chance to touch another? How many times have we flinched from saying what we have to say because we took someone else for granted?
This, then, is why we can find joy when we put a pause to our busy lives and literally slow down to see and appreciate the little things which add meaning to our lives. This is why we have to say what we need to say.
Let us snatch each chance to appreciate, to cherish, to say simple heartfelt words. If ever in the past we have failed to do so, let us not regret or tear for our yesterdays. Instead, let us live today. Let us live the present. Let us say words that we need to say to those whom we care for, whom we love, whom we treasure.
Once there were two men who stood at heaven’s gates. An angel appeared before them and said, "I’m going to ask you two questions, to which you have to give an honest answer, for they will determine your success in entering heaven."
The first question was: Have you had joy in your life. The second: Had your life brought joy to others.
How do we have joy in our lives? We appreciate. We say what we need to say – not to please ourselves, not to satisfy our conscience, and definitely not to display our severely limited vocabulary in times of anger; but to show sincerity, to show gratitude, to show friendship.
How do we bring joy to others? We appreciate, by saying what we need to say, for it is a choice. A choice made to show sincerity, to show respect, to show we care.
My dear friends, time is but an enemy, for it fleets and never returns. The chance for us to express gratitude or care may never return; let us, then, say what we need to say.
Have a nice day.
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