It is not unusual to watch a movie and get a hangover from it which is sometimes too hard to shake off, specially when you know what you saw was not just fiction but pure fact, black and white(well.. with few shades of gray maybe). So much so... that i decided to rethink the description of my blog because i really felt that way. Watch Will Smith portray the true struggle in the life of Chris Gardner in the "pursuit of happyness" and you might end up relating to my thoughts.
Most of us seem to be standing at a place in our lives where we feel(or at least claim) we are not actually meant to be. When was the last time you heard your colleague/friend say, "i am so happy with my job/work" etc.. We 25 somethings, techie graduates, walking away with a faithfully replenishing salary account, have got this common thread running through which unites us in company....at times over lunch... at times sipping coffee.... at others gulping down cans of beers and small pegs of vodka....mourning the hike letters.... !!! This common thread i would like to christen...."a notion of unhappYness".
Yes, i believe its just a notion, and we aren't really unhappy. How can we be unhappy? What pain have we ever experienced in life? Just the other day when a friend of mine remarked that i should drive faster since he is very hungry, and he can't wait, i retorted....asking if he could explain me what hunger is?? I really haven't so much in my recent memory(or perhaps ever) felt like that.. to be easily able to recall. Truly...what is it...?? Do you start having some abdominal spasms, or nauseating experiences??? And please..... i don't want you to be talking about the other day when you dint eat for one full day. That is NOT hunger..!! Like this is NOT unhappYness. Hunger is what farmers in the villages of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and so many other states would have felt...not once...not twice....but over and over again with such a huge prospect of recurrence in the future..that they decided to end it all with their own lives. Hunger is what perhaps bhagat singh and his friends(for lack of some other immediately striking examples) would have felt, when they decided to starve themselves for 19 days in a jail with endless miseries on their heads(also add thirst to the experience). Can we not once awaken to the fact that there are no real miseries in our lives and just the notions of them.
This same fact was rubbed in to me in with the story of a real man, not far away in dreams and ambitions from you and me, but much far ahead in perseverance, and efforts. I wondered what drove him? What was it that made him so determined? My determination couldn't even make me jog for 5 continuous day's..
And i could only explain myself, that it was because i never needed to be. Life has just slipped by peacefully and conveniently, with our parents (and even teachers) assuring us all the peace of mind and luxuries they could afford. We hardly ever struggled for anything. Once again i reiterate(n i am sure u agree) that staying up all nights for an exam is no struggle...neither is having to miss few treats/night outs due to your Dad's difference of opinion...!!! My definition of struggle will be....having to endure physical pain....lack of food, shelter, education, clothing maybe.... somethings that cannot be turned around immediately by changing the frame of your mind. REST ALL ARE JUST PETTY ISSUES..which can be dealt with inside of your head.
If there was someway i could drag myself out of this convenience of life, out of this "COMFORT ZONE"...to find myself struggling in the true sense of the word, i could perhaps be a much more determined man, with a zeal to be really able to achieve the things i dream of ...hopelessly today...!! Would my shoes ever pinch me enough to feel the joy of getting out of them???
One thing is for sure, this "notion of unhappYness" is not taking me anywhere..!!!
Most of us seem to be standing at a place in our lives where we feel(or at least claim) we are not actually meant to be. When was the last time you heard your colleague/friend say, "i am so happy with my job/work" etc.. We 25 somethings, techie graduates, walking away with a faithfully replenishing salary account, have got this common thread running through which unites us in company....at times over lunch... at times sipping coffee.... at others gulping down cans of beers and small pegs of vodka....mourning the hike letters.... !!! This common thread i would like to christen...."a notion of unhappYness".
Yes, i believe its just a notion, and we aren't really unhappy. How can we be unhappy? What pain have we ever experienced in life? Just the other day when a friend of mine remarked that i should drive faster since he is very hungry, and he can't wait, i retorted....asking if he could explain me what hunger is?? I really haven't so much in my recent memory(or perhaps ever) felt like that.. to be easily able to recall. Truly...what is it...?? Do you start having some abdominal spasms, or nauseating experiences??? And please..... i don't want you to be talking about the other day when you dint eat for one full day. That is NOT hunger..!! Like this is NOT unhappYness. Hunger is what farmers in the villages of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and so many other states would have felt...not once...not twice....but over and over again with such a huge prospect of recurrence in the future..that they decided to end it all with their own lives. Hunger is what perhaps bhagat singh and his friends(for lack of some other immediately striking examples) would have felt, when they decided to starve themselves for 19 days in a jail with endless miseries on their heads(also add thirst to the experience). Can we not once awaken to the fact that there are no real miseries in our lives and just the notions of them.
This same fact was rubbed in to me in with the story of a real man, not far away in dreams and ambitions from you and me, but much far ahead in perseverance, and efforts. I wondered what drove him? What was it that made him so determined? My determination couldn't even make me jog for 5 continuous day's..
And i could only explain myself, that it was because i never needed to be. Life has just slipped by peacefully and conveniently, with our parents (and even teachers) assuring us all the peace of mind and luxuries they could afford. We hardly ever struggled for anything. Once again i reiterate(n i am sure u agree) that staying up all nights for an exam is no struggle...neither is having to miss few treats/night outs due to your Dad's difference of opinion...!!! My definition of struggle will be....having to endure physical pain....lack of food, shelter, education, clothing maybe.... somethings that cannot be turned around immediately by changing the frame of your mind. REST ALL ARE JUST PETTY ISSUES..which can be dealt with inside of your head.
If there was someway i could drag myself out of this convenience of life, out of this "COMFORT ZONE"...to find myself struggling in the true sense of the word, i could perhaps be a much more determined man, with a zeal to be really able to achieve the things i dream of ...hopelessly today...!! Would my shoes ever pinch me enough to feel the joy of getting out of them???
One thing is for sure, this "notion of unhappYness" is not taking me anywhere..!!!
