There is a couplet in Urdu that goes like this,
" Ya to diwana hase ya woh jise Tu taufeeque de
warna is duniya me aakar muskurata kaun hai."
My late father, Prof. Gurudeva Sharan always used to say " life is like one long sentence of sorrow,punctuated with happiness." But then he always said that although this was true, it also tells us that there are very simple means through which we can increase these moments of happiness.
Whatever I am today as a person is entirely due to my father. If I could pass on to my children even half of what I received from him, I will consider myself a very good father. My father lived for five more years after my mother's death in 1992. Every morning, till his death in 1997, I used to start my day with a visit to my father( he used to live with the family of my late brother and I stayed in a separate house). For an hour, he shared his experiences, his wisdom, his knowledge of scriptures with me. We talked about politics, about literature, about films, almost everything that we could think of. It now appears to me that he was making a conscious effort to pass on his wisdom to the next generation. When ever I think about him speaking to me, i am reminded of Bhishma Pitamaha, lying on his bed of arrows and trying to pass his wisdom on to Yudhishtir while waiting for his death after the the epic battle of The Mahabharata.
Coming back to the topic of happiness, let us see how we can increase these moments of happiness:-
1) Rejoice when your relatives, your friends, your neighbours and esp. their children do well in their lives. By adding their moments of happiness to your own, you can easily increase your happiness.
2) Learn to give. Not only money and material but something of your own. Your affection, your love and your quality time. I can not describe the happiness we feel when children of asha Kiran call us mummy and papa.
3) Keep your children and your grand-children close to your heart. They are the biggest source of happiness. I really pity those who do not enjoy the company of their children. You can imagine my happiness when my father called me his closest friend.
4) Take time off from whatever you do and spend time with your family.
i am sure that these simple methods will help you to increase your happy moments.
2 comments:
This is really touching to my heart. I do agree with your this principle of happiness and would like to add one more entity i.e. love for almighty God and sitting in presence of His true lover.
Very true: Most men are unhappy not because of their unhappiness, but bcoz of other's happiness.
I would like to add another one:
Whenever you feel down, lost and unhappy, think about those who are unluckier than you, the ones who have sufferred greater losses, the ones who have not achieved as much as you have. You will automatically feel happier. I know it works :)
As long as you have all the necessities of life taken care of, you are better off than most others.
Post a Comment