I'm not complaining!!!

This Janmashtami was a little eye opener for me. I was having a bad day, and as it happens on all bad days, everything in life seemed to be just falling apart!!! So, as soon as I got to the temple, I started lamenting (in my mind of course!) to God. I started to think about all that was going wrong at the time; Praying to God to help me. I must have spent a good ten minutes in all this. Suddenly, I realized that there was a change at the altar this time. Generally, that particular temple has Gour- Nitai (incarnations of Lords Krishna and Balram) on their main altar. This time, they had the idols of Lord Krishna and Radha. They had taken out the regular idols for abhishek. The Radha Krishna idols were looking so attractive and stunning. I was simply mesmerized by the special Janmashtami decorations. At the same time, I was totally conscience smitten, that I took so long to notice the change; that I was so absorbed in my troubles that I couldn’t even see which God I was talking to. It felt like an indication – as if God is saying, ‘why waste your life on each small trouble? You could instead enjoy the beautiful world I created for you!!’

This small incidence set my thoughts rolling…  

We’re so engrossed in the troubles of our lives, that we stop looking around. We want to have pleasant experiences but we are busy looking for solutions to our mundane life issues. We want peace; we want respite from our difficult, time slotted routine. And in the process, we fail to see what good is already happening in our lives. We forget to enjoy now, in waiting for an end to our troubles.

Now, how did this thinking change me? Naaaah…. It really didn’t!!! I’m still the same old grumpy girl! But, my troubles seem a little lighter now. I am more aware, that though there are hundreds of problems in life, still I have two hundred more reasons to be happy about. And though this does not help me with my problems, it does calm my mind sufficiently to find constructive responses to them.

So far, so good. It’s not long since Janmashtami, so I can’t say I’m a reformed person and all my problems are solved! But I’m trying to complain less, enjoy more; to see a situation in totality rather than only the negative side of it. Let’s see how far the lesson goes!!