The Optimistic Way

Optimism is an art. Its hard to be optimistic when life tests every bit of your patience. Two of my teachers have made a great deal of difference in my life as they taught me to look at the brighter side of life.

I've always had the habit of scribbling whatever is in my mind in a notebook or some place else. When i was 14 year old,I scribbled a question in my school diary,'All that happens,happens for good?'

And I forgot about what I'd written. A teacher of mine,Mrs. Sunitha Menezes, asked for my diary to write some hymns that we needed to learn for Christmas. She saw what I'd scribbled and wrote an answer to it.

"It is true because 'All things work for good for those who love God'. Sooner or later in life we realise that whatever has happened is for good. So have faith in God and move ahead with great hope. everything will al right."

"Life is beautiful within and around,All we need is two beautiful pure eyes to look around". These words had a very big impact on me.

In my line of work,we're trained to find mistakes in whatever is presented to us. And I've seen people around me becoming very cynical about life due to this habit of 'finding faults'. They tend to start finding faults in everything.

In my CA coaching class,My Teacher,Mr. Vijay Raja,gave us a speech in his last class.

Here I quote a few things he said,

"Our mind has two parts,the conscious mind and the sub conscious mind. Our sub conscious minds are all connected. That is why when we are sad, we see only unhappiness around us. When you wake up in the morning, put up a smile on your face and wish everyone a 'Happy morning' and the day will turn out to be happy day because your sub-conscious mind connects you to all the happiness around you."

"Each one of us have a set of people we call idols for various reasons. We never go up to them to tell them what we appreciate most about them. In the same way, you too are an idol to someone, find that quality in you and appreciate yourself."

That day he did not tell us how to prepare ourselves for the examination but how to live our lives. I can't thank him enough for all that he said that day. Such words bail us out of the bouts of pessimism.

Every person tends to get pessimistic about things. But how soon we recover from it and see the positive side of life is what differentiates an optimist from a pessimist.

Worries are like a stone that gets into your shoe while you walk. Don't try to walk while it bothers you. Stop walking and throw it out. It makes a lot of difference and then you can comfortably see life 'The Optimistic Way'.

My take on true love

A strong positive emotion of regard and affection,is that what love is? I'm not talking about Love in general, I'm talking about the Love that every person knowingly or unknowingly fantasizes about. Everyone seems to be in search of true Love.

Psychologists say it stimulates that part of your brain which is stimulated when cocaine is introduced to the body. Quite a risky state of mind to be in, I'd say. You see colours more bright and there's a funny feeling of happiness inside. Differences between the two people seem to blurr when they are in Love. Age,religion,habits,looks none of these things matter. In that state of mind do we really know what we're up to? Is it right to make a commitment for life at that point?

Religion says that is the love you need to feel for the almighty. And many religions portray it in the same way. Movies only show us how amazing that initial drive is. We all have a picture in our minds as to how our partner will be and how it feels to be in Love. We create our own mindset of how,where and when we will find someone who is exclusively made just for us. And we keep looking for that person who matches the picture in our minds and triggers an adrenaline rush.

But for how long does a person feel that rush ? Doesn't that effect come down too sometime? The truth is it does.

Every relationship that begins with love must stand the test of time. People change and so do their priorities. And amidst all these the only thing that keeps two people together is their willingness to stay together. I don't know if soul mates exist but I've seen some wonderful couples in my life. They are imperfect people who make a perfect couple. They seem to complete each other. They work really hard to make their relationship work. And that is what I call Love. Because the initial drive eventually dies out but the love you feel after that is True Love.

True love could be in any disguise, it might be right around the corner, its just that you have failed to even look at it. Its very easy to fall in Love. Because love is really not that hard to find. It happens a number of times but when only one person really matters and when you wish to revive and re-live that initial rush with that person,that is when you are really in Love.