We are born as emotional beings as we are human.  Anything good or bad in our life impacts us positively or negatively. Our mood swings with our experiences in life. A positive human being around you creates an environment around, which is energising.  On the other hand a cribber saps the energy out of you.  Thus, we notice that it is easier for us to deal with positivity in life rather than negativity.

How do we deal with our experiences in life ?  We cherish the people in our life, who smile and add joy to our lives.  We love them and wish they were around us all the time.  We are grateful to them for bringing cheer. They can convert a dull environment into a joyous one by their very presence.  On the other end of the spectrum, we have people who look at life as always half empty.  They can criticise everything and anything in life.  They can make you sad even when you want to laugh. 

In life we meet people of all strands.  We may not be able to choose whom we want to work with.  One cannot choose your parents or boss in life.  Hence, we have to learn to live life the way it comes.  We have to learn to deal with life positively.  There may be days of laughter and days of sadness.  God always balances our life with the good and the bad.

It is up to us to live life the way we want.  It is our choice to be happy or sad.  If one compares oneself with others, then it is all the more difficult.  We have to deal with our life situations ourselves in the best way we can.  We have to be happy and content with what life provides us.  Happiness is a state of the mind and at the heart, what is possible.  It is up to us to convert any situation as an opportunity rather than a threat.

On the other hand, the most difficult aspect of life is to forgive the people who hurt us and move on.  It may be easier to forget bad experiences in life.  However, when someone, whom you have done so much in life ignores you or hurts you with their behaviour, it is tough to forgive them. It is tougher to forget such incidents. I have had many experiences in life where I could neither forget nor forgive the people who hurt me for no fault of mine.

But one day I learnt a good lesson in life – ” The joy of forgiving” .  It is easier said than done.  But, if you are able to think deeply and reflect, it is possible.  After all such incidents may have happened long time ago and it has no consequences for the future.  The fact that we keep those hurt feelings deep in our heart makes us more weak. If we mustle the courage to forgive and forget such people, we become more human.  The efforts to reach this state is tough but it is worth trying.

Gautama Buddha taught us the art of forgiving like in the photo above from Dharmashala.

Let us learn to forgive, forget and move on in life.  It is worth it.

S Ramesh Shankar