‘You’ and ‘I’ and the happiness within. How can we create a happier world?
It is often said happiness comes from within but how often have we paid attention to what it implies? If a person is unhappy, no amount of money, success and love can change the feeling for good. Happiness comes to those who know how to embrace it and not worry if it’s there to stay.
I have a little different definition of happiness. To me happiness is synonymous with imagination. You might want to stop reading further because this might not make sense to you. And really, it’s fine. But for the sake of those who are kind enough to read on, I must go on.
Okay, let’s start from the start. A child is born from a biological process of attraction and unity between opposite sexes and love between these two persons. The child, in the form of genes, takes a few elements from the mother and a few from the father. These attribute to the physical appearance of the child mostly. But deep within the child, where others cannot peep, there is an ocean of possibilities lying dormant. These are subtle, subconscious, sensitive but unpredictable layers of one’s individuality—those that one would either nurture constructively or damage destructively.
This unseen force is the imagination to me. Imagination that has insurmountable potential to bring about happiness. Have you ever seen a child who is not imaginative? You might say yes, because your definition of imagination might vary from mine. So let me make it simpler. Have you ever seen a child who cooks up stories, draws, doodles, sings, dances and doesn’t really care? Most definitely, yes. Now in contrast to this, have you seen a child who is quiet, likes to keep to himself, doesn’t tell stories or dance or sing? I am sure you have.
So which child of the two is the imaginative one? The answer is both.
And which is the two is the happier one? The answer is both.
Every child is different. We as parents aspire to live our dreams via our children and in the process disturb their imagination quotient. In our endeavour to make them better singers, dancers, writers, actors, or students we pull away them from their happiness. If our child likes to keep to himself we constantly call him under confident and nag him for being shy, if our child is loud and carefree we shut him out for being over talkative and careless. We tag them.
By tagging them we rob them of three things:
- Confidence
- Self-esteem
- Imagination
We also bring about a great unseen damage to their lives. Little by little we seep out all the happiness from their lives.
Now you might argue with me and say that as parents you know what is best for your child. I don’t deny that.
Let’s says, ‘You’ are parents and ‘I’ am the child. ‘You’ and ‘I’ can shape the future together. What ‘You’ need to do for ‘I’ is this:
- Believe in what you believe but also listen to me. How else will I have the confidence to be heard?
- Give me the freedom to make mistakes. How else will I learn?
- You be who you are. Do not try to take on appearances. How else will I learn to be confident of who I am?
- Love, not only me, but others as well. Try to understand how precious love is and how useless hatred is. You won’t need to teach me if you follow that yourself.
- As you age, smilingly receive the lessons life has taught you. Even when you gracefully bid-adieu to all-that-jazz from your youth, do not lose your youthfulness and enthusiasm of heart.
- Keep strengthening your soul to face all sudden heart-breaks or bad fortune or grief but never resort to fictitious sadness to punish yourself and in turn to interrupt my flight of imagination.
- Whatever be your work or desire, try and keep your soul peaceful in the noise and pace.
- Keep befriending and learning from animals. They teach simplicity the best way.
- Like I am your child, trees and stars are children of our aesthetic. Love and appreciate nature.
- Don’t keep yourself fixed with notions and ideas. Be flexible, learn to relax, learn to listen, worry less, don’t be unhappy, don’t develop byproducts of unhappiness in you and I shall learn easily from you.
‘I’ am not separate from ‘you’.
