Happiness is a Choice!!

 

Happiness!! Isn't it something that we never understood but we always wanted to savor? But what is happiness? How can we achieve it? Is it available on sale? Is there any way we can earn it? Can we live with it forever?

Seems pretty difficult questions. We may try few random answers but as you go on thinking deeper, you never get to the bottom of these answers. And wait! If you all are expecting me to answer these questions here, today, in my blog then you are wrong! I am just going to tell you all wonderful people a short sweet story!

As it goes… Once upon a time when the Sun was still round and the frogs still made that queer sound and the trees still grew from the ground; there was a city well known all across the globe. In that noisy city lived two twins. Sonu and Monu, like any other twins they two loved each other a lot no matter what happened and how far their sibling quarrels went.

When they stood facing each other, people wondered if it was only one and the other a mirror. They looked exact the same only difference, Sonu was seven and half minutes older than Monu. They had studied separately but grew together. They had different tastes but shared everything. They now worked in separate firms but lived together. To look at, no one could make out who was who among them, but being with them also made no difference, they both were equally patience and soft spoken.

As days passed, Sonu started noticing changes in Monu. Monu was growing restless, his face clearly reflected the depression in his heart. It was a clear bright full moon day’s night with the thousands of naughty little stars twinkling at each other as though they were cracking PJs and having fun among themselves and a big round white ball, just like a weightless cotton ball freely floating in the air, when Monu was sitting on his armchair and staring at the night sky without really enjoying the beautifully lit sky.

Sonu walked into Monu’s room and placed his hand on Monu’s shoulder. Suddenly waking up from his thoughts, Monu turned back and looked blankly at his brother. Sonu smiled peacefully and sat on the bed beside the armchair and looked outside the huge window. The silence prevailed for few minutes.

Breaking the silence, Sonu said, “Monu, do you notice that tiny little star between the three bright stars?”

“Where?”

Sonu got up and moved across to the window. Pointing his arm towards a group of stars, he said, “Right over there, two stars are very bright and the third one is little dull. Right in between those is a tiny little star. It looks so small, but when it shines just look at it. It has the strength of overpowering all three of them only if it was nearer to us”

“Yeah right”

The silence again grew. After few minutes, Sonu said, “What’s the problem Monu? Why are you depressed these days? I haven’t seen you happy since a week. Is there something bothering you?”

Monu turned at his brother for a second and then again turning back to the sky, “I am not sure what is biting me” he continued, “but something is really wrong with me. I am not able to find happiness in anything that I do. I am not finding any success. Whatever I do, whereever I go it just seems that everything is irritating me.”

“This is pretty bad Monu. Why dint you tell me before?”

“I don’t know Sonu. I just don’t know what to do. How to set things right? All this has been drilling my mind since a week.”

“It’s so easy. Just walk back and mend everything that went wrong and be the same as you were earlier. Everything will start falling in place and as they say, ‘Time heals everything!’”

“Yes Sonu you are right. That’s what I had decided to do tomorrow. But…” Monu break in between and fell short of words. He was still lost in searching the brightest star in the sky.

“But what?” Sonu asked.

“But what if nothing falls in place. Even if everything falls in place but will it be the same after that? What if

I start feeling the same again? What if I grow more depressed? It seems to me that happiness is a myth”

Sonu, suddenly turning towards his brother said, “No Monu. Why are you speaking like that? Happiness is not a myth. It’s just everywhere, it’s in you, around you, it’s in air we breathe, it’s in the water that we drink, it’s just in everything we do everything we feel and what not.”

“Then why am I missing it Sonu? Can you tell me how can I get that happiness?”

“Monu! It’s the simplest thing in the world. Imagine happiness as Oxygen and everything else as other components of air. Now when you have air around you, you will definitely intake it all, including the dust, the smell and even this Oxygen. It’s then deep in your body, the air is filtered nicely and your body chooses only the Oxygen and kicks off the rest.”

“Sonu, I am not getting” Monu said looking at Sonu with his eyes wide open and his jaws dropped down.

Smiling at his brother, Sonu continued, “You got the Oxygen part? Right?”

“Yep” Monu nodded, still with his eyes wide open.

“Now coming onto happiness. Whatever you intake is a mix of everything brother. You just have to filter out the rest and grasp in the happiness. You will have to feel that happiness, enjoy it and then respond back.

Now look you saw the sky, what did you see? Practically nothing. Because you were busy enough not to filter out what you took in. I was free enough to filter my view and notice that tiny little star shine brightly and found happiness in that.”

The expression on Monu was changing but his eyes were still wide open while he turned to find that tiny little star.

Leaving Monu to enjoy the picturesque view of the sky, Sonu continued, “Now Monu imagine you are working hard at your office and suddenly your manager comes barking at you. Do you take in that? Yes you would. But I will never take it in. I will listen to him, take in if his words have any work or advice for me and forget the rest. They are the dust particles. Instead I just simply turn back to my laptop, start working, do my work, and enjoy a cup of coffee, because that’s Oxygen. That’s were happiness lies.

You are having a chat with your friend. Something turns up and he suddenly irritates you or annoys you. You have choice on how you react. Either shout back on him, start a quarrel, turn the environment sour, end up in a disgusted quarrel resulting in a bad mood and hurt friendship. Else, think for a moment, filter out his anger, understand his position, take in the real friendship that existed among you guys, console him, if you fail, change the topic, if even that turns useless, just remain silent. When he is back out of his anger you will be the first person he would talk to and thank. That’s happiness. Wasn’t it easy to filter?

You are rushing to office and almost running on the pavement when a car speeding by spills dirt onto your trousers. You shout at the guy without getting anything. Curse yourself. Scold your luck. Hate the world. Kick the pavement. Decide not to vote the government and by then you are left with nothing more to think and reach office late with rest of your day spoilt. But if, in the same situation, imagine you spend a moment filtering the things and taking in the right decision and giving out the right reaction by ignoring the car, decide to be more careful next time, hurry to the office, wash off the dirt, walk to your seat, tap on the shoulders of your teammate, crack a little joke on what happened, ask him for coffee and then start work. You know now what you did?”

Monu nodded his head signaling a big NO.

“You just chose happiness dumb! Imagine you are sitting with your girlfriend.”

Watching Monu blush, Sonu stopped for a second and then continued, “Monu. I said to imagine, you don’t really have a girlfriend. Now stop blushing like a girl and listen.”

Monu’s face turned serious and he tried punching Sonu on his right shoulder. Escaping the punch, Sonu continued, “Now you are with your girlfriend sitting in a Coffee shop having a nice talk. Suddenly something turns wrong. She starts yelling at you. But you remain calm and console her. If not successful then let the time do its magic. You chose happiness and saved your wonderful relationship.

Let me tell you one more situation. You have been assigned to a new project. You are learning new thing, working hard, spending your whole day, but still nothing is working out. Results aren’t coming in. You start getting irritated. Curse the project and start hating everything. See now you just took in dust instead of Oxygen and that will only result in bad health!

Instead you stay calm, start thinking back. Find out solutions, learn again and again. Take help, take advice. Rearrange your work. Start all over again. Aim at the results and concentrate on the work. You now took in the Oxygen and that would only result in a better delivery of your project, which is nothing but a good health and nice mood, which is nothing but happiness!

A guy stares at you in bus, smile at him, else ignore him and look at the beautiful world outside. A guy is sleeping our shoulder in train, get up from the seat walk to the door and enjoy the cool breeze. You drop coffee, look at the design the flowing coffee is making and try to make out the map of the country the design is resembling instead of cribbing. You fail in a test, concentrate more on your studies, and enjoy the subject. You are getting beaten from you teacher and feel ashamed, it’s your mistake, stop cursing your teacher and your fellow friends for laughing at you and stop thinking it as end of your schooling, instead learn from it and prove him that you just changed into a boy he always wanted you to be and your fellow classmates start admiring the boy at whom they were laughing few days ago. You don’t get recognized for your team award, forget it, work hard, else look out for what you missed and make that up. You had a quarrel with your wife, ignore it, instead walk into the house in evening carrying a bouquet of roses and surprise her. The food isn’t tasting good, adjust, it’s not your last meal. You are sweating badly in a queue, and the smell is driving you crazy, try holding your breath and look at your watch for how many seconds you can do so and remember the times you played the breath holding games with your friends in swimming pool.

You watch sunrise, pick the beauty. You go to a waterfall, try enjoying the chilled water. You are walking alone on a road completely exhausted, pick the cool breeze and the wagging tail of dog trying to pick its best food from the garbage. You watch a film forcefully, try having fun among the lines of the film, or else enjoying the heroine's beauty. You end up waiting for your friend on a sunny sweating day in front of shop, stop being annoyed and use the time in having a soft drink or taking a stroll in the shop or noticing a naughty little boy licking the ice cream that melted and flowed down on his arm till his elbow and his mother trying to avoid him in doing that while opening her wallet to take out her hankie to swipe off the ice cream off his arm.”

Monu was now smiling imagining all these little things and the happiness that popped out from them. He was lost in a world of his own. It seemed his body was now being transformed into the minute Alveoli of the Lungs that observe only the Oxygen into the blood! He, in his heart, now pledged he would always take a moment and think twice and would choose the right reaction he would give on every action that happened on him.

His face that portrayed a sullen silence since week was now glowing brightly like the small kid carelessly licking ice cream off his arm.

He turned at Sonu and his eyes were already thanking his brother. Sonu was also smiling happily noticing the change in his brother’s face.

After a silence of few seconds, Monu turned back at Sonu and asked, “Sonu, how did you manage all this?”

Sonu smiled at him and said, “Few years ago, when I was travelling in bus, I noticed the writing on the back of a Truck. There was a long line written on it, with may be ten to fifteen words. But because of the speed of the bus, I could read only the first four letters.”

“What were those?” Monu asked, not able to control his curiosity.

“They were, ‘Happiness is a Choice’”

“I am happy I could read only those and chose in only those words”

“Did you never bothered about the remaining part of that sentence?”

“Monu, as I read that, I then and there itself made a choice of not bothering about the rest and from that moment my application of ‘Happiness is a Choice’ started. I had got the message what I needed.”

“Very true Sonu. Happiness is definitely a choice. I will from now on make the right choices.” Monu said turning back at the tiny little star which was still shining naughtily challenging the other bigger stars!

I would like to take a moment more in telling you readers that the topic on Happiness was suggested to me by one of my SundayReader…

And, the quote ‘Happiness is Choice’ is inspired from the “Mr. Monk Goes Camping” episode of my favorite serial, Monk…

Vishal…

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