Friday, August 10, 2007

The Undeniable Moments...

This post is dedicated to Tara, Jason and John. The author knows that this post is heavily incoherent in nature, with each sentence, being there, just because it needs to be there. Heavily deviant in nature from the original idea. Kindly excuse the so many loose ends.

Most of us, at some point in time or the other, excessively indulge or wallow in self-pity. The moments, often, undeniable and unavoidable, take us by surprise, and further ensue a lot of pain. While experiencing an undeniable moment, one is often tempted to define it as the darkest and the toughest moment in life. The past one's seem bearable when compared to the present one, and the future always holds forth joy and happiness. Who knows as to what the future beckons us with? Thus, we gradually, miss out on the present time of our lives.

Space and time, prove to be one of the most natural healers for such times. Getting immersed in one's passions does help one blissfully become unaware of reality. Often, it so happens, that the mind proves to be treacherous with its tendency of complicating simple things in life and likewise, simplifying the complicated things in life. It doesn't take a long time to make a small worry a big worry and vice-versa. If we finally are able to look at those undeniable moments with clarity and true lack of emotion, we can see, that their purpose is to provide us with some really important lessons for life; and move on in life. The experiences makes us richer in being, well-rounded in thought, and more empathetic in nature.

What is universal, is the fact, that each and every human being has to face these moments at some point in life. Every face has a story to tell. It is all right to indulge in self-pity. It is all right to crib about life. It is all right to be hurt with failures, be they related to academic, professional, financial or matters of the heart. But then, however, there is a limit to all of this. Suddenly, this thought struck me - chaos is all pervasive and is mostly illusory and in the mind. We just need to look deep within ourselves and see that we are blessed in so many different ways, something that we always fail to respect. These "undeniable" moments try to average out the blessings, but then, allowing this to happen, again depends on our own self.

Recently, in one chance conversation with the owner of an Indian restaurant, we got to know that he recently suffered from a stroke affecting the third nerve to his eye; sadly, a totally new case for the doctors. Further, I happened to meet a father, whose 3 year old son, has an acute form of leukemia, for the past 2 years. Today, I met an 8 year old survivor of some form of leukemia, preparing for his 8th marathon. Such a nice person totally exuding with a certain positive energy, despite being in a battle for life. These people are facing the true tough moments in life that are very much real.

With such tremendously huge real undeniable moments in life, does it really matter, if you stand defeated on almost every possible front in your life? Most defeats are usually within our circle of influence and control. But then, when it comes to the body, all other defeats pale in their illusory significance. Each day that we live is a blessing. As my teacher glibly put it, "Ranga, it is best to not compare yourself to anyone. No matter what, there would always be someone better than you, in every aspect in life." Lastly as another of my teacher puts it in one of his favorite songs,

Oh! my mind!
You think you understand so much!
When your own faults and shortcomings have no limits,
You go on looking for blemishes in others!

PS: A post on a similar theme can be found here; and a post on blessings in general.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Ranga,

similar blog entry:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2007/08/life-sucks-then-you-die/

really nice blog by steve pavlina

Rangakrishnan Srinivasan said...

kulkarni : thanks for your comment and the link. a really nice blog by steve pavlina.

Anonymous said...

call it a fault but i can't help but notice the crack in the vase.it makes one feel jittery when summoning enough energy to smile can seem labourious.

but honestly? i wouldn't have it any other way.