“Life per se does not have any meaning, it is we who give meaning to life!” So say the wise. Every individual is a story in the making and every one of us gets an entire life-time to write that story. The onus is on us to make that story a good one.
Once, a man who lived on the 15th floor of an apartment block heard someone shouting, “Sharma, your daughter eloped!” The man was an orthodox Brahmin and the thought that his daughter eloped was too much for him to take and he jumped out of his balcony to commit suicide.
As he reached the 10th floor, he all of a sudden realized that he was not married! As he reached the 8th floor, he realised that he does not have a daughter, by the time he reached on the 5th floor, he with a shock realised that he is not Sharma!! But Verma!!!
The above is a classic example as to what situations can become when we “react” to them and at times even making them “deadly” like this one. If you watch carefully, you would find that the situations remain what they are, but it is we who make them bad or worse by our response.
Take another example: A man who worked in a faraway office and used public transport, often felt stressed out thanks to the heavy traffic snarls and continuous road jams he faced daily on his way to office. He simply disliked travelling in the public transport. Being poor, he could not afford private travel.
One day he got know that his wealthy uncle who did not have any children, had left all his wealth to his name when he passed away! This made our man very happy and he booked a first-class ‘round about ticket’ to see the world through a tour agency that offered luxurious travel.
As the ticket came, our man set out from his house to the Airport which was far away through the same road that had intense traffic jams and chaos. But he did not feel any stress at all now. He was so happy with the prospects of his beautiful vacation. He just did not care and did not even noticed the hold ups on the road.
Has the situation changed on the road? Well, “No!” But one thing changed, and that was his perspective and how he viewed the situation. Situations has no ability to impact us, be it good, bad or worse. But then, we get impacted by them because we continue to nourish the pain or happiness they bring us!
To get stressed out or not, to feel happy or sad, depressed or enthusiastic is a choice one can exercise, but we seldom use that option and continue to nourish, pain, frustrations, hopelessness and despair and make them so big that we get inundated in them.
Situations are powerless, it is we who give them the power to make or break our lives!
Affectionately.
– Prof. C Devidasan,
Vice-President, WOW Factors