Today was yet another day in my life. However, I got an insight for me to improve myself. It was the birthday of a great colleague of mine at work. It was the wedding day of a relative I attended today at Mysore. In the evening, I lost a dear classmate, who died due to kidney failure.

God balances our life by giving the good and the bad news in equal measure. I felt good in wishing my colleague on her birthday. I was happy to attend the wedding of my relative since his father has supported me a lot during my childhood. However, in the evening when I came to know about the sudden demise of my college mate, I was shocked. I knew he had been admitted to a hospital last week and was undergoing dialysis. I knew from the my classmates, who had visited him that his condition was not good. But to hear the sad news of his death out of the blue in the evening numbed me.  

I saw a lot of good qualities about him being showered by classmates in our whasapp group. He deserved every word of appreciation. He was modest, shy and reticent. All of us admired his noble qualities. But, it suddenly struck me after reading all those wonderful words of praise as to why do we need to wait for someone to die to share what we admire about them. Why are we reluctant to notice, admire and share all the good qualities of our friends, colleagues and relatives while they are with us on this earth. I am guilty of this reluctance and may be some of you too.

 Is it possible for me to resolve to day to myself that I will never miss an opportunity to observe, admire and share my appreciation of all the goodness I see in all my colleagues, friends and relatives. I will not wait for them to leave Mother Earth to share what I liked about them. It may look silly but for me it was a great insight. I could be stingy in criticism of others but can be more than generous in my praise of others goodness.

Life is short. Let us make it sweet.

S Ramesh Shankar