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| Let the blue around you not diminish your smile |
Whoever said: Yesterday is
history, Tomorrow is mystery, Today is a gift, therefore it is called present-
must love surprises. But don’t we all live a bit of us in yesterday, a lot of
us in tomorrow, thereby giving less credit to today- our ‘present’. We go through
the motions of our day sometimes feeling life is a heavy weight- when bogged down
by past, sometimes chirping happily- in anticipation of tomorrow, but rarely
living in the moment. That is the zen
way of living and one may argue that only the most evolved among us may have
that competence of living, truly, in the moment. I ask what is wrong in living
in the past or in anticipation of future, if it keeps us happy and, more
importantly, hopeful? And I also ask this with a caveat: Does man have the
potency of first, distinguishing what makes him happy and sad and second,
choosing to keep only positive and happy (past or future) memories within while
living in the present?
Memory is a dark place. I lay
claim to this but with utmost care to say not ‘good’, not ‘bad’, but ‘dark’.
For example, in your head, go down the memory lane, your happiest best moments
that you can recall right now. Your birthdays? Your going to college? Landing a
job? First pay check? They may be any or none of these. Now, relive them. Do
you remember living those moments in their pure form, when only that moment was the title of your
living? Most probably, you’d say yes. Now come closer and remember the last
time you were happy. At a friend’s party, at your office when a colleague was
extra nice to you, when you ate something fantastically delicious. Repeat the
exercise. Relive that moment. NOW do you also relive that moment with only the
header? Mostly, no. Whichever your latest happy memory, you’re most likely to
attach a string of other thoughts to it. Like- a friend’s party. You will also
recall how one friend was being obnoxious of you, how your dress wasn’t the
right size, how your feet hurt in those heels, how bad the hangover was the
next day etc. etc. Now, do a temporal exercise and put this moment in a box.
Reopen it in a month or two. When you do, you are most likely to have forgotten
all the bad stuff. So, what mostly remains... is that you had a happy memory of
a friend’s party. Similarly, this works for bad memories. Sad news is, today,
we tend to experience... nay... record... bad memories more than good ones. We
see more red than green. We read more about accidents and deaths than awards
and achievements. So, what are we feeding ourselves?
In the long-run, we are piling lots
and lots of bad memories, removing the peripheral good stuff and heading into
the next day with the cumulative burden of the past. Is that healthy? Hell, no!
It does not even make sense.
Next time when you have some moments
to spare, try this. Go for a walk and start smiling. If going out for walk is
not feasible, sit back, close your eyes, and just smile. Let it be an effort if
it is at the beginning. Science has proven that a smile, even if artificially
induced, is a stress-buster. I swear we can all use that most importantly
because it doesn’t have side-effects, with-drawl symptoms or malignant addictive
capacity. So, once you start smiling, your bad memories will be washed over by
happy ones and you will be surprised to realize by the time you have completed
a round or opened your eyes, the artificial smile becomes a natural one. That
is how powerful and beautiful this small thing is. It is a lot more potent than
we give it credit for.
Whoever said: A smile costs
nothing but gives much... was a wise being.
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