Be Simple Be Happy
Today I enjoyed watching a small gang of girls playing cheerfully. They were making house of princess Elsa with cushions, stoles and whatever available items at home. They really made some nice creative stuff. No gadgets, no fancy items but putting together simple little things made them so happy and gave satisfaction of creation too.
Friends I really feel simplicity in different forms is blessing in disguise. We all will agree that during our childhood there were so many formulas which we had to remember. Our teachers used to simplify the formulas with logic and examples and then applying them would be much easier.
We buy and wear so many variety of clothes- western, ethnic, party wear, office wear and so on. But the moment we are back home we all love to be back in our normal soft home wear. Infact I feel older the clothes more comfortable they are. Simple soft clothes give us comfort which we can never experience with expensive fancy clothes. The other day a friend bought some special western wear. To make it look and feel comfortable she had to buy special accessories and special footwear. She had to organize everything and finally she could wear that dress. Sometimes putting such efforts is worth. The look is definitely special but everytime putting so many efforts is not possible and feasible too. Our regular clothes are definitely easy to wear and carry. A millionaire draped in simple cotton saree steals attention and appreciation of thousands with her dignity, grace and work is a classic example of simple living high thinking.
Whenever we travel outside the restaurant food gives comfort and pleasure for few days but later on we start craving for simple home food. The day we are back home first thing I cook is simple dal rice with loads of ghee. It gives pleasure which is beyond words. Friends fancy things make us happy but simple things have an unexplainable value in our lives.
We all love to decorate our homes. Our homes are considered to be reflection of our personality. But sometimes to enhance and reflect our lifestyle we fill our homes with variety of furniture and decorative items. The continuous addition of things infact multiplies our work of cleaning and maintaining the decor. Cluttering of articles can take away the peace of abode.
Nowadays every day new model of mobile handsets are introduced with a variety of features. The number of apps , the speed of connectivity ,the coverage area is increasing. It is a revolution and is advantageous. It has contributed in bringing the world closer and in global development. But all this advancement has taken away the charm of connectivity occasionally with friends and family. Every now and then the social messengers are flooded with messages which are in most of the cases just forwarded without any personal inputs and touch. I remember we got a landline at our home when I was in teens. At that time occasional calls were so enriched and had a fulfilling experience. It used to be a heart to heart conversation. Simple one line message on pager made us so happy.
Friends, progress is necessary but in this journey don’t we start moving away from simple things??
Life in metro is fast with so much of exposure, multiple career avenues, modern infrastructure and many entertainment options. But whenever I go to my hometown the peaceful life there is full of bliss. The comparatively slower pace of life, free roads, silence around relaxes mind .People are more socially active and find happiness in small simple things.
Friends I agree that complexity is unavoidable when we expose ourselves to challenges in search of some defined success and progress. Multitasking is need of the hour. But we have multiple options in most of the things and consequently we are more stressed and confused. For instance we go on to check ratings of restaurants most of the times before going out. We search for deals before going for shopping. We are somewhere missing the straightforward easy way of doing things. We start judging people, forming opinions by watching their public profiles even before we meet them. Sometimes we leave current good work and take up highly challenging job requiring higher degree of skill set only in anticipation of higher rewards.
Isn’t all this taking a toll on our mental health? In a recent movie the counselor rightly observes that “Sometimes we choose a difficult path only because ... we feel that to attain important things we need to choose a difficult path ... we think that it's important to punish ourselves ... but why can't we choose a simple path ... what's wrong with that ... especially when we are not ready to face that difficult path”.
I agree that we all need to strive for excellence .We all need to enjoy life as and however way we want. We have the liberty of choosing our professional and personal path. But if we can try to retain simplicity at certain levels or in certain aspects we can make life much more easy and relaxing. Always taxing our minds, body, resources is definitely dangerous in long run. We need to find joy and happiness in small simple thing as much as we do in expensive fancy options. I feel simple chaat party can be enjoyable with family and friends as much as pizza party at expensive outlets. Direct conversations are more meaningful than loads of whatsapp messages.
Friends our future generation imbibe life qualities from us. They are already exposed to a revolution which is bound to multiply the level of stress in coming times. We need to make them understand the value and pleasure of simple things. Simple thinking and simple deeds can actually be more rewarding sometimes. Simple thinking and simple way of life can actually keep clutter away. So friends stay simple stay happy.
