By Mahak
Each one of you must have heard of this common phrase “Happiness is a state of mind” but I realized the true meaning of the statement recently when I saw it being implemented. There is a very old man; he works in our college canteen. He wipes off the tables and collects utensils basically he makes sure that the canteen is clean.
He is old somewhere in mid-60 and has barely any hair left on his scalp. He has crooked teeth and a squint in his left eye and is very plump and short. Now, from the description you must think that why would anyone give this man a second look but I can guarantee you that once you see this man smile, you will definitely look at him again and give him a smile the reason being his pleasant, welcoming and satisfactory smile that can make you forget your problems.
People enjoying a much better life style, having a decent job keep cribbing about their problems and just can’t stop finding flaws in everything. But this man a mere sweeper at a college canteen seems completely satiated and not just this he even interacts with the students, if anything is kept on the table while he is cleaning it , chances are he would pick it. Then after a while he would return it with a “naughty smile” just like a kid.
His smile is really therapeutic and takes the every burden off your shoulders for a while. This man’s smile depicts his happiness which comes from his true sense of satisfaction and his “the world is so good” attitude. There are people who hate their jobs, their lives and this man definitely doesn’t have the best job or the so called “perfect” life but he is nevertheless happy.
It is evident that one must look at the positive side and if there is a problem in life either find the solution or forget it because cribbing about it won’t help you at all.
I read something somewhere about dealing with problems and it said that think whether this problem will affect you 5 years down the line, if the answer is no then you do not have to upset yourself over it because its affects are short term, and there are very few problems which are long term.
We have the tendency to exaggerate everything and tense ourselves but that is not the right way to live. I hope that such people continue to make me and others realize that it is not very difficult to be happy and you can’t blame the situation because all you have to do is value what you have, live in the present and find peace within. Let me quote Elizabeth Gilbert from a novel I read Eat, Prey and Love-
“Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it.”
