Do I wish that I could freely hop onto a train from 93/4 platform and
escape to Hogwarts or go shopping
for a magic wand at Diagon Alley so I could wave away all things unwanted and bad with a wand? Sometimes I do. But I like to believe that life could be magical
without wizardry for muggles too.
As we work towards economic
stability and our idea of a fabulous life, we may become ambitious and self
indulgent in our chase for economic prosperity and fulfilling success that we
lose sight of the purpose of our pursuits which is to be happy. Gretchen
Rubin wrote in her memoir ‘The Happiness Project’
:“ The words of the
writer Colette had haunted me for years: “What a wonderful life I ‘ve had! I
only wish I’d realized it sooner.” I didn’t want to look back, at the end of my
life or after some great catastrophe, and think “How happy I used to be then,
if only I’d realized it.” Gretchen had an epiphany and decided to take stock of her good life
and devoted one year to explore and study the meaning of happiness and be
mindful about the steps she can take to be as happy as she could be. A
wonderful memoir that reminds us that happiness is all about our expectations,
perceptions and attitudes towards our surroundings and limitations. Gretchen
writes that everyone’s happiness project is different and unique. She wrote:
“Do good , feel good ,feel good ,do good.”
On Sunday night, I surfed the
television channels and happened to catch the harrowing Indie movie “96
minutes” on Sundance channel. The movie was based on a true story. It is about four youngsters, two
teenage kids and two college girls from different backgrounds. The movie told
the story in a back and forth
manner. There were flash backs to
what happened before the girls were
attacked when they walked to the car. The girls were about to graduate. Both of
them were upset about something. One was not sure if she wanted to pursue law,
something her family wanted her to do and
she was upset that her family was not going to attend her college
graduation while the other friend just had a break up so they both were unhappy
about their situations.
Then suddenly their problems seemed trivial when they were carjacked by Kevin
who had an abusive upbringing and wanted to
join a local youth gang. Kevin was joined by Dre, who came from a crime-ridden neighborhood, was smart
and ambitious, but he was too
loyal to his friend and wanted to prevent him from committing crimes. Kevin was emotionally unstable and
constantly broke into rages that was beyond Dre’s control thus his acts ended
them in grave trouble. There were moments Dre had a chance to possibly change the chain of events but he
did not seize those moments.
Malapascua,Philippines |
The story in “96 minutes” depicts
how volatile and tragic life can be.
Burps and Giggles cafe, Ipoh, Malaysia |
All of us need some level of
resilience to cope with the changes and challenges in life. In order to be happy, I remind myself not to take things too seriously and remember that not everything
is about me or to think that I am more deserving than others. I also remind
myself that even if I make mistakes, it is not disastrous and more importantly,
I must be grateful for the good things that have happened.
Last week, I happened to lunch alone in a Thai restaurant where there were only two other customers. I overheard a conversation between two young mothers. One of them was telling the other that she did not care about the son getting top marks as what really mattered to her was making sure that the son actually learnt the subject or the language. It was very refreshing to have heard what I overheard because these days, academic results seemed to be all that matters to many parents.
Last week, I happened to lunch alone in a Thai restaurant where there were only two other customers. I overheard a conversation between two young mothers. One of them was telling the other that she did not care about the son getting top marks as what really mattered to her was making sure that the son actually learnt the subject or the language. It was very refreshing to have heard what I overheard because these days, academic results seemed to be all that matters to many parents.
Brighton, England |
My elder daughter sent me a link http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wait-but-why/generation-y-unhappy_b_3930620.html
for the article that is entitled “Why Generation Y Yuppies Are unhappy”,
an interesting article written with accompanying graphs and drawings. The
advice given by the article is summed up as follows:-
“(1) Stay wildly ambitious. (2)
Stop thinking that you are special and (3) ignore everyone else.” The writer
wrote this :
“ Other
people’s grass seeming greener is no new concept, but in today’s image crafting
world, other people’s grass looks like a glorious meadow. The truth is that
everyone else is just as indecisive, self-doubting , and frustrated as you are,
and if you just do your thing, you’ll never have any reason to envy others.” Great advice indeed.
Georgetown, Penang |
The pursuit of accomplishments and success (at least as defined by a career or economic paradigm) is like a dog chasing its tale. The end result isn't all that tasty.
ReplyDeleteI like the concept of living like a monk in the world-- focused on simplicity, spiritual pursuits and the joy of community. Now-- to live that out more fully!
Hi there! Spot on. Thanks for your comment. I revisited this post today and realised that I had not left a reply to your kind message.
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