Today, it is a public holiday in India. It is 6’o clock in the evening. I am standing on the roof of my house. It has started getting some dark. I am feeling very low today. Every decision which I took up to now looks going wrong. My confidence level is at the lowest levels and I am feeling like a loser, a person who is not able to achieve anything in his life? Luck does not look to be in my favor. Everything looks confusing at this point in time. The mind has come to a halt and it has accepted defeat. Body, mind, and soul all are losing their equilibrium and I am getting more frustrated while thinking about my future. For me, no ray of hope looks to be appearing from anywhere. It looks like everything is lost. I have never been so much sad ever; then what has happened suddenly?
This may be my frustration of not being able to achieve desired goals. In this world of comparison, I am finding myself losing grip on myself and my goals. So far, life has not gone as thought by me. Friends and relative's success is forcing self-comparison and I am feeling ashamed of this state. Everybody is busy in his or her life; therefore, no help looks to be coming from anywhere and this situation is making me even more helpless. Why is this happening to me? I am asking this question to God; however, like every time I received no reply.
Then suddenly my attention went to a small dog playing in the grass. I know him; he is the same small puppy of my street to whom I was feeding sometimes. Puppy is alone, but still, he looks very happy. He is rolling here and there. He is running and rolling on the grass like a mad dog. He looks like the happiest dog on earth. His face was shining like God. He looked like a messenger of God. I looked at him and then at myself. Why this difference in happiness is present between us. Why this dog is happier than me?
If I compare myself with this dog, then I have much more than him. I have a job, a house and especially food for the evening, whereas the dog has to struggle for food in the evening. He has to even fight for all basic things of life. Certain chances are there that he may have to stay without food tonight; however, he is still happy, because he knows to live in this movement only. He is not concerned about the future. He was enjoying the present moment. He is not comparing himself with other dogs. He is not frustrated by the happiness of other dogs.
Now by looking at myself, I have realized that I have gone lower than even a small dog in understanding life. My mental state is even poor than this innocent dog. What has happened to me? I have studied so many things. My knowledge level is much more than this small dog. However, in happiness, he is a king and I am a beggar. The reason is clear; his happiness depends upon himself and not upon others. He is living in the present and enjoying it. He doesn’t have very big goals to follow. He has no ego to satisfy.
Life is not totally about achieving big dreams or creating wealth. It is much more than that. We lose most of our life while struggling with these issues. Most of the time in life, we remain busy in dreaming about our future or worrying about future. Or we remain busy in comparing our self with others. Why we do so? Answer is - Because we have learned only this from society. Everybody around us is doing same thing. It is ok to Plan about future; however, it is wrong to miss our present while worrying about future. We all need to learn a lesson from this small puppy that we can’t miss our present while worrying about future.
This may be my frustration of not being able to achieve desired goals. In this world of comparison, I am finding myself losing grip on myself and my goals. So far, life has not gone as thought by me. Friends and relative's success is forcing self-comparison and I am feeling ashamed of this state. Everybody is busy in his or her life; therefore, no help looks to be coming from anywhere and this situation is making me even more helpless. Why is this happening to me? I am asking this question to God; however, like every time I received no reply.
Then suddenly my attention went to a small dog playing in the grass. I know him; he is the same small puppy of my street to whom I was feeding sometimes. Puppy is alone, but still, he looks very happy. He is rolling here and there. He is running and rolling on the grass like a mad dog. He looks like the happiest dog on earth. His face was shining like God. He looked like a messenger of God. I looked at him and then at myself. Why this difference in happiness is present between us. Why this dog is happier than me?
If I compare myself with this dog, then I have much more than him. I have a job, a house and especially food for the evening, whereas the dog has to struggle for food in the evening. He has to even fight for all basic things of life. Certain chances are there that he may have to stay without food tonight; however, he is still happy, because he knows to live in this movement only. He is not concerned about the future. He was enjoying the present moment. He is not comparing himself with other dogs. He is not frustrated by the happiness of other dogs.
Now by looking at myself, I have realized that I have gone lower than even a small dog in understanding life. My mental state is even poor than this innocent dog. What has happened to me? I have studied so many things. My knowledge level is much more than this small dog. However, in happiness, he is a king and I am a beggar. The reason is clear; his happiness depends upon himself and not upon others. He is living in the present and enjoying it. He doesn’t have very big goals to follow. He has no ego to satisfy.
Life is not totally about achieving big dreams or creating wealth. It is much more than that. We lose most of our life while struggling with these issues. Most of the time in life, we remain busy in dreaming about our future or worrying about future. Or we remain busy in comparing our self with others. Why we do so? Answer is - Because we have learned only this from society. Everybody around us is doing same thing. It is ok to Plan about future; however, it is wrong to miss our present while worrying about future. We all need to learn a lesson from this small puppy that we can’t miss our present while worrying about future.