Have you ever realized how often we cry about how much our life sucks? “If only I had this, if only I could do that”, the list is endless. As if whining about our lives wasn’t enough, we have to hear others whining about their lives too. Seriously? I have way too much whining to do myself. That is exactly what I think to myself when my brother drags into the room, complaining about how his life at school reeks. He then turns to me, and says, “Oh, what do you have to do? Just have fun at college all the time. So lucky. I can’t wait to get out of school and go to college. Urghh!!” I chuckle to myself. LOL. Wait till you get to college young man. You will see. My dad in turn goes, “Enjoy your school life boy, you’ve barely got a few more years. I’d give anything to live those amazing years again.” His remark sets me wondering at the irony.
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It is funny, how life works sometimes. It takes sad times to know what happiness is, noise to appreciate the sanctity of silence, absence to value someone’s presence; that is the way it goes. Everybody wants those things they cannot have. The very idea of doing something we cannot, or getting something we do not have, fascinates us. We are only human, that is our temperament. We can choose to stay angry at life for not giving us what we want. Or we could rather feel blessed for having given all that we need. Because when we begin to love what we have, we would not need anything more.
When Dalai Lama was asked, what surprised him most about humanity, he answered,
Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about his future, that he does not enjoy the present, the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies without having really lived.
It is quite funny to see young boys roaming around with their ‘goatees’, pretending to look older, while men in their late 50s wear slim fit outfits and dye their hair, pretending to look younger. It is somehow similar to how most of us cannot wait to grow up, finish school, graduate college and start living on our own, while upon reaching such a stage, we miss our childhood and regret not having fully enjoyed it. The baseline is the same. We are mostly never content with our present state of being.
Now now, being satisfied with what we have in life, in no way means not to aspire for better things. It is more about counting our blessings, than about limiting our desires. The urge to always have better things in life, constantly keeps us growing. But being thankful for those things, helps us measure our growth, to see how far we have come across. Gratitude is the key; it is a beautiful, content feeling. You know, there just might be someone out there, longing for something that we may have, but do not really value much. Be it our young age, good health, the people around us, or mere possessions; we need to realize the value of every small thing in our lives. Life would be more enriching, more beautiful that way. We should live our lives in such a manner, that upon reaching that other ‘supposedly-greener’ side, we have only cherishing and contenting memories, no guilty regrets.
Well, in the end, whether it is on your side or the other side, the grass that you water, shall grow to be greener.