Most of you, I am sure , are familiar with this title of the famous Hollywood movie, one among my favourite movies of all time and a wonderful film of the Hollywood legend, Will Smith who portrays a simple man’s life .
As the earth keeps going and time slips away before you are aware of it, at some point in life , everyone evaluates his or her life. What have I done? Was it a complete waste..? I have never had complete happiness in my life... there is a hollow feeling in me... and that's something that bothers me a lot.. I have money, a roof over my head and kith and kin who love me dearly ... yes I do have everything but there is something .... something that I miss... yet I cant find it anywhere. According to others, this person may have a successful career and good living, but he says “I am very unhappy and I don’t know why”.
Some of the people , I have met in my life, said at some point in their life they evaluate what they have done. Some of us may have everything, still we feel like there was nothing. Our ancestors, I guess, had never had such problems ….they were happy with the little hut and content with what ever they had to satiate their hunger. And that's it! That was their life . But to our dismay our modern world is very competitive since we want everything and all the things we could ever dream of... if the neighbour has the latest plasma TV we also want it... may be two, one for living room and the other for bedroom.
The other day one of our family friend was discussing their new house to be built in Kerala back home with me... He describes the beauty and tranquillity one experiences when one simply wakes up in the morning and view the city in front of him or her from the 20th floor. It brings immense happiness when you just sit and watch the city waking up in front of you... as the time goes the streets get busier and when the night falls the streets become emptier... Its beautiful to wake up to see this... it makes the day feel good for the rest of the day and the effect that it brings to you is marvellous. He wants to bring this similar effect to the new home . They are building a riverside home... though one home is in city and the other in village, the effect is similar... waking up to see the beautiful river in front you, the calmness of silent waters and the lush green plants and trees around it. If you imagine this on a rainy day you will also dream of a riverside home. And to me, it is one of my favourite things that I do... watching the street below you and sipping my morning tea. My magical moments. Though you may not know what the empty streets are telling you , it still drives you to go there the next day too.
No wonder people now a days want courtyards and water pools in their home. They want to bring this little piece of nature within the building and feel nature all around. Courtyards and water pools have positive effects on our mood and emotions. Even for the flooring they do nowadays, people demand something natural- natural stones that bring coolness to the feet... people are going back once again to nature... as they realize that technology and gadgets are not everything in life.
Now a days every one don’t get an apartment in the 20th floor or a riverside home. Well, there are some other options as well . Simply going to a lakeside in the evening or just sitting on the grass and smelling the freshness it has, is awesome. In another movie I watched , I find this businessman with tight schedules who has fame and money, but at the end of the day he goes to the park , walks on the grass and feels the nature beneath him. But people, unfortunately , find it hard to spend time on things like this. Busy schedules... want all the things to work out well, nothing should go wrong and everything must be perfect! Yes, that's exactly is what everybody want today. But it doesn’t happen like that on earth.
People these days spend a lot of money on spa treatments and yoga. Its the first class spa in town, you should go there, they tell me. Thank you so much for the kind advice, I would say to them... but I would rather spend my time alone in a corner of the park and find my happiness... that gives me double effect because, 1. Unlike the spa I need not spend a penny 2. I get the exactly same effect on going to the spa except that no one massages me.
If at all God grants me a chance to choose which time I must be born, I would be really confused. I don’t want to lose the modern world with new technology and advanced lifestyle and the readymade ‘happy life’... but I also don’t want to miss the small community living where there is love, trust and happiness everywhere. but thank God , He saved me because He never asked me such a question.
This is one of my favourite quotes from the movie:
"Hey dad, you wanna hear something funny? There was a man who was drowning, and a boat came, and the man on the boat said "Do you need help?" and the man said "God will save me". Then another boat came and he tried to help him, but he said "God will save me", then he drowned and went to Heaven. Then the man told God, "God, why didn't you save me?" and God said "I sent you two boats, you dummy!"
Happiness is all about finding what you have and being content with what you have. Don't get fooled by the tempting ads and attractive goodies that say “ add life to life” or ädd colour to your life or add whatever to whatever... all they want is money from you and not your happiness. If you want happiness it is within you. If you are able to enjoy a glass of water that is happiness. If you see an innocent little child smiling there is happiness all around .Go and spend some time qualitatively... some fishing or walking in the woods or seashore. And of course everything depends on how you view your life...is it an half empty glass or half filled glass? It is in your choice to decide.
I recently read a book which says one finds happiness within oneself , in the inner self and hence people needs to be in solitude to find this missing ‘element’ .They have to discover it within themselves. Happiness don’t need any money at all... as they say, money cant buy everything. And there is a little
joke that follows this message : make sure you have earned enough before you say this. Because this is the twenty first century , different time , different people different story. So good luck in finding your “happiness”.
By the niece
How I can ensure that what I share is not disinteresting to the one I share my experiences with ? When I suppose that what I like may be interesting to others as well and start sharing it , it may be described as a mild form of bigotry because I refuse to recognize different perspectives and divergent views and arbitrarily demand that my likings should be palatable to others as well .It occurred to me that I should share this experience with my children but felt that I should exercise caution and take the generation gap that separates me from my children into consideration. Though I firmly believe that my children love me from the heart of their hearts there is a limit beyond which such bonds of love can not pass . Is it that that my tastes and inclinations end where their preferences and appetites begin? Sometimes there may be conflict of inerests. I have to leave them alone to enjoy their life as they deem and should learn to refrain from imposing my will on them or meddling with their personal affairs . That is what I am now trying to do though I cannot imagine how far I will succeed in my attempt.
