I Am that Bird. Are You?

How many times in life does someone unknown come and sit in your house, regularly, for some days, and disappear suddenly, without notice? Not very often, right? Well, this happened to me not very long ago, when a cute little bird just came by flying from out of the blue and sat on the leaf of a plant just outside my living room. She came and sat on the same leaf of the plant outside, everyday without fail, and without chirping or even moving, she almost said everything and made a connection with me as well as others passing by and looking at her. As soon as I saw her, the first thought that came into my mind was that she was just like any human being who wanted to sit silently for some moments and enjoy the company of one’s own soul, forgetting the rest of the world, listening to their breath, the music of the cool breeze, sometimes just sitting and feeling a drop of tear roll down your cheek and feeling the warmth of that tear turn into coldness, the coldness that represents the world’s indifference towards some of the feelings that he has always considered to be the most important and noticeable thing in the world. Sometimes even sitting and thinking becomes a big thing in this world, as there is not enough peace left, to talk with oneself, sit, relax and think, to design a life of one’s dreams, to think about what he has done and what he needs to do, love oneself. We just need to sit quietly like that bird, in a corner, observe things, think about every and anything we feel like and be happy, once in a while. We just need to get out of our comfort zones, out of a good convenient company for a while and sit silently, observe what’s happening in and around, outside what we already know.

It’s always been said that being overly dependent on something or someone is always disastrous. And we have always been increasingly dependent on something or someone, so much that when it is unavailable even for just some seconds we are uncontrollably hurt. And this goes the same for both humans as well as machines. Humans are equally dependent on other humans as well as machines, and this tendency has made them fall for almost everything that seems like a good idea for getting them engaged in happy activities. Endless innovations and inventions always create comfortable environment for us to live, work and manage many a things in our lives these days, but we never realize when we become a victim of over dependence on a laptop, a mobile phone, a car, a cup of tea or coffee for working late in the night or even on a person in office or at home.

This dependence can be tackled if taken care of at the right time and in the right way. Have you ever seen a mother who is worried about her child not being able to leave the habit of sucking his thumb or having milk only out of a bottle, or always looking for one specific toy for playing? It is really very interesting how she handles this dependence of the kid. She would usually give something better and more interesting or attractive to the kid, so that he stops paying attention to the old one and starts depending on the new one. This was just an instance of wrong way of trying to getting rid of a habit. The right way could have been slowly taking away that thing from the kid so that he has to come out of his habit. This is called getting out of the comfort zone. This is what that little sparrow did! She got out of her comfortable nest, flew away and came to some unknown place, and sat there till the day she found herself, found her share of life. She taught this very vital thing to me – “Without leaving their comfort zone, one cannot achieve extraordinary things in life.”

I never knew that a little bird could teach so many big things to me about life, just in 7 days. During those 7 days I used to wait for her to come back every evening and feel the most wonderful relief when she came chirping and whistling to sit upon that leaf and keep  staring at one place for the whole evening, night  and till the next sunset! Those 7 days changed a lot in my life and so can they do to yours or anyone else’s life. She used to sit alone and asked for nothing during those 7 days she was there, this shows how not getting a pay for giving someone happiness or making someone smile is good, and that it’s not always just professional, and that even if we are a stock broker, a career counsellor, a chef, a doctor, an engineer, a lawyer, a banker or an entrepreneur, it is sometimes good to serve without pay, if it somewhere somehow makes someone happy, and that it is sometimes good to not get something but only the happiness of giving someone something that you can and the satisfaction of being the reason of some stranger’s smile.

She taught me the way to handle problems calmly. She taught me to stay cool in different situations. She taught me to love unconditionally. She taught me to keep myself composed even in situations where others shout and scream and lose control. She taught me to wear a smile without a reason. She taught me to not care if I do not get anything but a smile in return for what I’ve ever done. She taught me to carry on when nothing is there in the name of a ‘good sign’ as they call it. She taught me to not lose that shine in our eyes, that excitement, whatever happens. She taught me to observe and then react, not react and then observe. She taught me to be patient when things go wrong and when nothing comes up to my mind. She taught me to not lose hope no matter whatever happens and everything falls apart. She taught me to not be dependent on anything that is not meant to be. She taught me to never expect anything, from anyone, which is the key to always being happy. She taught me to remain who I am and not try to be someone else who is liked by all, she taught me to be myself. This is what I am now going to do. Just be that cute little birdie, be that calm and composed little birdie that knows nothing but peace, smile and unconditional love. Be that bird, who can fly when she wants, but can even sit silently and calmly when needed. Fly, smile, be happy, be cool, be calm, observe, relax, and fly once again! I am that bird. Are you?

The End that every Beginning deserves..

The way we look at things shows who we are! There are some things that matter only to us or more to us than other people and when we try to tell them that those things should matter to them as much as they do to us, its not necessary that they will understand. Its just like a song we totally love but when we try to make someone else listen to it they won't necessarily respond in the way we expect them to. I'm sure this has happened with everyone at least once in life! And that, for sure, is enough to explain what I mean to say! There is no way we can make others like whatever we like. Just like there is no way we can do whatever our parents think is right, and just like there is no way someone can play a flute when he likes the piano, or be happy with macaroni when what he actually likes is rice! No matter how hard we try not everything will happen just as we want.

Have you ever thought what would happen if everything went just the way you wanted? It would be great and wonderful to have everything in your life just as you wanted! Just one little problem, you would then have no dreams, no wishes, no desires and nothing left to look forward to. Life will go smooth as ever and you will have no regrets, nothing that you want and haven't got, nothing that you need to ask for, or pray for, nothing you will have to wait for any more, no excitement in life. Hmm..its good..What's life without smoothness and no desires left? We all Desire and deserve a flawless and perfect life. So what's the harm in losing the desire and getting what the desire was for? So what if life just becomes a little boring and dull! It would be totally okay I guess. No jerks while we are driving just plain simple speedy smooth drive and straight to destination! Wow!!

Just imagine, you love someone and get them right away, no hassles, no issues, no crying, no pain, no fights,  no pros and cons written and nothing else considered, just plain simple marriage followed by a nice wedding dinner, or you want to become a guitarist, one day you get up and pick up a guitar and start playing like a rockstar, you didn't need to learn, get to know the chords, no classes, no difficulties.. Wow!! You'd probably fool around dancing and singing, shouting out loud in happiness. All the roads known to you, you will have no difficulty reaching where you want to go, all the people your friends, you will have no competition, no enemy, no negative emotions too. But if you have ever tasted a dark chocolate with cinnamon, or a rum n raisins ice cream, or a nice chinese dish, you will definitely understand the importance of the slight flavour of spice, sourness or sharpness in all these. All these are incomplete without this slightly contrasting tastes, just as life is incomplete without the little hassles that come in our way of success. Those little difficulties and hassles are that little flavour of rum in the ice cream, cinnamon in the chocolate and spices in chinese dish. And you know why they are important? They are important because the food gives us taste, but the spice or sourness opens up our long ago slept off senses. And there is nothing better than having your senses opened up. It is just like the cork placed on the bottle of champagne is opened up and it comes out flowing freely with a vigour and excitement that can be seen nowhere else other than in a person's opened up senses.

Just move out in a misty morning and try to walk a mile, all alone, with a smile upon your face. It won't be very easy or convenient, but the feeling of walking in the morning mist, having no sign of sun anywhere near, a blurred vision of where you're heading, it will make this simple walk a memorable experience with yourself, an experience that will outrank everything else, any nice trip you may have had, to any corner of the world. Just keep walking, reach somewhere else, where kids are going to school, people have started going out for work, shaking hands with each other, saying hello, smiling, talking, jogging, exercising, drinking their morning drinks, babies' cheeks turned to pink in the cool breeze, an old couple walking in the park with their sticks..

All this will open up your senses the same way as the spice I mentioned does. All this is not so easy to observe, experience and live, for walking this way in a misty morning, one has to leave the bed, the most comfortable place, get going, and walk! But after all this is done, the ultimate comfort awaits you. The colours of morning are going to embrace you within themselves as if you have worn a blanket of mist, with flowers all around you, smiling and touching you softly, cool breeze caressing your hair gently, a natural music in your ears, that fills you with freshness from within. Would anyone call this a discomfort? Would anyone, after feeling what this feels like, say smooth and perfect life is great? Well, a sane man would, but not someone who has lost all his senses to life! A good sleep deserves a fresh morning, a nice summer deserves a pleasant autumn, a chilling winter deserves a charming spring, a romantic love affair deserves a decent wedding, a good party deserves satisfied guests and nice starters deserves an awesome dessert, a cute baby deserves a sweet sixteen, a nice young couple deserves a peaceful old age together, just as a nice life deserves some struggle, and just as a life with a little struggle deserves success and happiness, every long discussion deserves a conclusion, every question deserves an answer, and just as every start deserves an end. So, it's just the way we look at things, that makes us who we are, and the things that matter more to us and don't matter to everyone the same way, are the things that make us fall into love with ourselves, and this is what gives things an end that they deserve.

You will find it, just when you stop looking for it!

Each of us is looking for something. No one ever finds what they are looking for. Those who don't find it keep looking for it forever and ever. And whoever finds it loses everything else.  And once it is found, there is nothing else they need to look for anymore. But what is it that we are looking for? Is it solitude? Is it happiness? Is it freedom? Is it confidence? Is it love? Is it ourselves?? No. it’s not the same for every person. Yes, it is strange but true that everyone looks for something that nobody else is looking for. Sometimes,  it’s just one word that people are looking for and they keep looking for it and even that one word is sometimes more unapproachable than a lot bigger things. And sometimes, while looking for that one little thing, we start losing bigger things that are already ours and do not even realize! For that one little thing is as vital to us as cheese is to pizza, or a little stone set in your favourite finger ring.

It is not that easy to get it, and sometimes, it is not that hard to find too. Some get it even without searching, and some overlook it even if it is right in front of them while they are looking for something else, and do not even realize they just lost what they should actually be looking for. And it doesn’t happen only to some people, but not everyone knows it. And some do not even know what they want. These are the happiest people. For they are content. Even if this contentment is the result of being unaware of the wanting of something within them, something other than what all they already have. This unawareness is something that is healthy, as such unawareness brings with it freedom from all desires, which, in the spiritual world, is popularly known as Nirvana, which is known to be usually unachievable, or mostly unapproachable, no matter how much experience on has got, or however hard they try. One can call it nirvana when the soul is liberated from all Karma and the physical existence of oneself.

And that is not an easy thing to achieve. It can only happen when one reaches the level of peace and satisfaction, where they achieve complete freedom from every kind of feeling, all the sufferings, desires, wants, needs, wishes, sentiments, excitements, indulgences, love, hatred, winning and losing, comfort, discomfort, convenience, tiredness, all good, all bad, all kinds of emotions, that exist. That, is the ultimate freedom, not only from one thing, or one person, or from one desire, but from the vicious circle of life and death, happiness and sorrow, from the thing that we all keep looking for all our life. And this ultimate freedom comes only from and this ultimate freedom comes only when we find the ultimate happiness. whatever we are looking for can be narrowed down to mean only this one word, happiness. and for our whole lives we keep looking for these big things that we think are big, but are not, and actually are bigger than we think! i know this is hard to get and stupid as it sounds, but what we think is bigger in short term is always smaller in long term..and what we think is smaller in the short term is always bigger in the long term. So this happiness is a bigger happiness than we can ever think. have you ever thought how stupid is working over a project for the whole night is? but you understood its importance once you were appreciated for that effort, when your work was recognized and applauded for? had you ever imagined that this  one effort which looked like the biggest till then, seemed to be the littlest of efforts that you'd made for such happiness and satisfaction? this is what we were talking about! small things turn big and big things turn out smaller than we think.  and these small things bring happiness. not from where we try to get them from, but only from within US! Yes. this happiness lies within ourselves. Yes, what we all are trying to get from the world, from everyone else, looking for everyplace else, but not within ourselves, is always there inside us, and we never find it! Thus, I say, Whoever finds it, finds himself. and whoever finds himself, finds the ultimate freedom from the vicious circle of life, death, happiness, sadness, and everything else, that stops others from becoming one with their souls. He is the one who has gotten what he was looking for, and found it just when he stopped looking for it. He is the one, who found life, who found himself, NIRVANA.