We have to withdraw from the hallucination that the great words always hail from the vocabulary of the great men. Consistently a few words even from an average person becomes extra influencer that may have been on mapping by virtue of his experience of life. My father, a forest official, with know-how of few years of 'Army Education Corps', sounded me, at the time, when I was about to enter to pursue my carrier in the police department, that there will be battery of people, who are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered but I must love them anyway. He apprized me of seven social immoralities; to be kept in my memories always such as: wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice and politics without principle. Guided me about three things needed to be truly happy and they are: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for. On the horizon of service, keeping in memories, as daily prayer, the advice of my father, I was able to wrap up the journey of 36 years in police department very smoothly to entire contentment with peace of mind. But the commanding nature that remained around me throughout my career, undoubtedly, haunted me in my earlier years of retirement, inviting some sort of inconvenience owing to changed environ and quite contrary to the last encouragement from the department (customarily in nature), even felt repressed by the department that was the system of my whole youthful period. Sometimes alone on the terrace of my home and away from public gaze with my repressed free rein of feelings with unrestrained abandon, when I encountered with a core valued 'WhatsApp' posting, that changed my vision about post retirement period, worth mentioning here.
After loving my parents, my siblings, my spouse, my children, my friends, now I have started loving myself. It is the beauty of life. It is sunshine. It is the love of mother, the joy of a father, affection of brothers and sisters, cooperation of wife, smile of a child, the togetherness of a family. It is the advancement of mine.
I don't take myself so seriously. I realized that I am not 'Atlas'. The world does not rest on my shoulders. The world would go on even without me.
I stopped bargaining with vegetable and fruit vendors. After all, a few rupees more is not going to burn a hole in my pocket but it might help the poor fellow, save for his daughter's school fees.
I have made myself available to the needy, confined to my wallet. Money can be a pretty sweet deal; it can provide us with an exciting lifestyle, glorious things, sometimes a little happiness but the happiness on this account surpasses, when money paid to really those who need them the most.
I pay the Taxi driver without waiting for the change. The extra money might bring a smile on his face. After all he is toiling much harder for a living than me at least in the present.
I stopped telling the elderly that they've already narrated that story many times. After all, the story makes them walk down the memory lane and relive the past. I have realized that, it is always a blessing to learn the wisdom from elderly people.
I've learnt not to correct people even when I know they are wrong. After all, the onus of making everyone perfect is not on me. Peace is more precious than perfection. Perseverance is the hard work; we do, after we get tired of doing the hard work we already did.
I give compliments freely and generously. After all, it is a mood enhancer not only for the recipient, but also for me.
After years of self deprecating behavior, I've never learned how to properly take a compliment. Now a part of me wants to argue and to tell that there's nothing special about me.
I have learnt not to bother about a crease or a spot on my shirt. After all, personality speaks louder than appearance.
I have changed the self-image that has changed my personality and the behavior. Personality has power to uplift, power to depress, power to curse, and power to bless. The "self-image" is the key to human personality and human behavior.
I walk away from people who don't value me. After all, they might not know my worth, but I do.
I have stepped out of my comfort zone and feeling refreshed in a beautiful garden of my writings.
I remain cool when someone plays dirty politics to outrun me in the rat race. After all, I am not a rat and neither am I in any race. Although no citizen is apolitical; as a citizen, by definition, has to take interest in public affairs but mine is an exception to the maxim.
I am learning not to be embraced by my emotions. After all, it is my emotions that make me human.
I am exerting to transform negativity from people and this activity has kept me always in good mood. I have let it go, that spending time with negative people can be the fastest way to ruin a good mood.
I have learnt that it is better to drop the ego than to break relationship. After all, my ego will keep me aloof, whereas with relationship, I will never be alone. My transformation by leaving ego at the door every morning helped me to shed it.
I am doing what makes me happy. After all, I am responsible for my happiness, and I love it to me.
I have learnt to live each day as if it is the last. After all, it might be the last. Anyone who has lost something they thought was theirs forever. Finally, comes to realize that nothing really belongs to them. And if nothing belongs to me there's no point wasting my time looking after things that aren't mine. It's best to live as if today were the first (or last) day of my life.
Concluding I can vouch, based on my personalized applications, those apostles, involved to bring a change in me, will definitely act as an influencer for others especially running in 60-65 years of their age and will realize that "We are responsible for our own happiness". |
