Am I better off?

Nothing prevents happiness like the memory of happiness. - Andre Gide

Am I unhappy today because I am not as happy as I was in past. Isn't it a funny tongue twister sentence with no clear meaning.

But that is the fact of life. our past happiness always looms over our present happiness. In fact the past happiness prevents present happiness and cycle is continuous vicious circle.  We have this innate knack to relentlessly search in our past to find a situation at least when we were better off than present. 
And what does this discovery do?
Yes , it makes our present worst.
So learn to forget past, do not open compare chart every time you have something to rejoice and always be happy at every smallest chance that life gives you.

Accept or Revolt

Happiness can exist only in acceptance. As quoted by George Orwell.

Acceptance of what?
What is the level or degree of acceptance?
Is it right to accept always?

Yes most disturbing questions.
Is my happiness dependent on my acceptance of all imperfections of my life?
If so then how to decide how much should I accept?
And by accepting certain aspects of my life am I not paying a very big price for happiness?

Is this what is true happiness?
For once I have no answers but more questions.

My Happiness My Responsibility

Aristotle quoted,"Happiness belongs to the self-sufficient ".

I can only interpret this in one way, that my happiness is totally dependent on me. I am responsible for my smile and I can take full care of maintaining it. The only way this is possible is if I am always able to the sliver of light in the darkest of times. Tough but not impossible! And what makes it possible is the relentless faith of humanity in God that made humanity survive world wars and holocaust. 

Smile and Remember

Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened. by Dr. Seuss

I am overwhelmed by this statement. It is a total transition from what we tend to do normally. We are always sad when we recall good time, because we miss it. But we have never got down to our knees and thanked God for the wonderful memories we have because of the good time we had experienced.
These memories are not to sadden us but to provide us courage to pass through the tough time.
And they are also a constant reminder of the fact that this too shall pass.

There is no need to regret that the good time is no more around, because it was not supposed to happen that way. We cannot be in same phase of life always, either physically or mentally so how can rest of things hold same status, especially time which is most dynamic of all!

Live Life not just Survive

Paulo Coelho tweeted,"People who forgot to live are the ones who fear death."

To live is to explore and enjoy what ever that time throws into your face. When Krishna said do action without worrying about the result some part of that learning also fits here.
We are so scared of failure that we forget to live. We secretly admire all those who have taken up lesser walked path but for our selves we only take up the challenges that are thrown into our faces. We never indulge our selves to dream something different for ourselves, we stop ourselves from getting excited about anything big in life because of the fear of failure.
But what we tend to miss is that life is about living, it is about exploring because life is just a journey which can come abruptly to stop at any time so we need to make most of it.
So next time when you want to do something more in life do not stop yourself but instead support yourself, encourage yourself and have full faith that God Helps Those Who Help Themselves.
So go ahead and take a leap!

How much time do I have?

Do we know for certain about the next moment?
Can we really plan ahead?
Is it going to happen how we perceive it?
So, then why are we not in action to do all the needful asap!
Now before you start running in all possible directions finishing all possible tasks. let me tell you I was not worried about even one of them. I was thinking about hugging the one you want to hug, walking in the woods with your dearest partner, taking out time to play with your little one, saying I Love you to the one waiting for it...
The list is endless so start off with the the most important one that is YOU. Spend time with self , find your needs and interests, do what you want to do. So run off NOW.

May I have?

How many times have you regretted not saying what you want?
You are standing in the bus near a ladies seat which is occupied by a young male and you keep on contemplating whether to ask for a seat or not.
You want to ask for some extra chocolate sauce on your ice cream but stop yourself from doing so.
Have you wondered why?
This is because we do not expect to get it. We are our worst critic! We value ourselves short.

And this is what we do when we sit to pray too. We do not ask what we actually want but what we think we can get.

So next time when you sit to pray ask for the MOON and the STARS will follow.