You sit
in a boat. It is filled with a bunch of positive items that are undeniably
yours - happy memories, wondrous moments, encouraging words from teachers and mentors, appreciation from people around
you, quiet, firm, and objective support of your family and friends, and the unconditional love of your
child. These keep your boat buoyant.
There
is a hydrofoil attached to your boat. It is made up of numerous sources of
inspiration, accomplishments, aspirations, creative achievements, learnings,
structured thought, and crystal clear perspective. On certain days, the
hydrofoil activates and your boat rises above water, speedily headed towards a
bright horizon.
You
also have a container of fresh water, which has hope, optimism, and
determination.
Your
boat sits in the ocean. The ocean is made of negative elements – your fears,
insecurities, self-doubts, stresses of daily life, betrayal by people you
trusted whole-heartedly, unhappy memories, moments you would never want to
recall, callous words spoken by close ones, expressions of disapproval from
people you look up to, pain caused by the ones you loved because they did not
return the kindness you extended them, the hurt you caused your loved ones due
to your own insensitive actions, and the shock of dealing with bad outcomes
resulting from your good intent. But that’s the ocean. You are in your boat,
relaxed and comfortable, and you have fresh water. What’s to worry?
Well,
there is a hole in your boat. Every day some water seeps into your boat. You
spot it, scoop it up, and throw it out. And everything is fine again. You do
this on a daily basis. If you don’t, there’s more water to clear out than you
would like. Plus it’s salty water – you cannot drink it. Unfortunately, some
people mistake that for fresh water, get used to drinking it, and forget the
taste of fresh water.
Occasionally
the sun goes behind clouds, and your boat gets hit with storms. The storm
scatters your positive items, and it requires some effort gathering them and
getting back to your boat. Sometimes the storm is severe, and the boat flips
over. But you have the strength to flip it over and the foresight to perform
some repairs and expansions so that the boat is more stable go forward.
In your
journey, you notice many overturned boats, with people in the process of
flipping them over. You also see people who are underwater - some in their boats,
others absent their boats. The ones with boats are occasionally able to get
back to their boat and make it buoyant again. Some of the ones without boats appear
to enjoy being underwater and show no interest in searching for their vessel; some
occasionally climb onto your boat and start throwing your positive items out,
resulting in your sinking boat and their unavoidable departure; and some appear
to be in agony yet weighed down heavily by an invisible force that prevents them
from responding to offered assistance, let alone trying to reach for the
surface.
And
then there are boats that are not even touching water. They are most rare, and something
to aspire to.
Negativity
appears to be hardwired in the human psyche – it is the emotional equivalent of
entropy. Happiness requires conscious effort and housekeeping on a very regular
basis, but is totally worth it.
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Positivity
is an effort, negativity a breeze
Integrity
a burden, disingenuousness a tease
No
matter how hard life appears to squeeze
The
engine of happiness must never ever seize
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So what
floats your boat?
