THIS TOO SHALL PASS

I may have started this blog on a lighter note, but guess it’s time to get down to business – the business of living life… one moment at a time (ooh, the drama of it all!)  

Ever had days when you’ve woken up in the morning and everything seemed so bleak you didn’t even have the will to drag yourself out of bed? It happens to me once in a while. Those are the days when the so called problems I’m facing in life bog me down. Be it relationships, career woes or random irritants, every ole things takes on dinosaur-like proportions in my mind, sapping my energy, draining me out and making me a prime contender for the Miss Grumpy award (I’m sure there’s one out there, except there’re too many contenders!)

On such days the single phrase I try to keep remembering is this - THIS TOO SHALL PASS.

This Zen thought is one of the most profound phrases I’ve ever come across in my life. If beauty lies in simplicity, the sheer gorgeousness of these succinct words and meaning, always blow me away. Everything we face in life - from worries and problems to blissful moments and down-in-the-dumps days - it’s all ephemeral.

So while going through the highs and lows, victories and blows of life, if I get too caught up in it all, I just go whoa! And distance myself a little bit from it - literally. I shut my eyes and imagine myself on a hot air balloon, rising higher and higher, far above the problems. This gives me immense perspective. When I have the wide blue skies above me, why would I want to focus on the tiny dot on the ground that the problem is becoming? My universe expands, along with it, my consciousness. It makes me feel like I’m far bigger than as well as very distant from the problem, so why would it get me down?

That’s not to say that I sail through every difficult moment – oh if I were that wise! - but after some tears, teeth gnashing and pulling-out-my-hair moments, I remind myself that just like how all good things must come to an end, so will the bad and the ugly. The key is to not get attached to the good or overwhelmed by the bad.

Which brings me to the modern day version of ‘this too shall pass.’ Will the wise person who first said ‘sleep on it’, please stand up (or roll in his/her grave). When a situation threatens to overwhelm you, all you have to do is put it aside and go to sleep. Yep, literally. When you wake up the next day the gravity of the problem or intensity of that negative emotion - be it anger, sorrow or a desperate need for revenge - would have gone down. Don’t believe me? Check out this link, which explains it scientifically.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/relationships/work/Sleep-overnight-to-solve-a-problem/articleshow/6851009.cms

Give it a day – and a night – and either the solution presents itself, or the problem itself ceases to bother us as much, because our priorities would have gotten sorted out. Reminds me of an old Ally McBeal episode. Ally, as usual, is hyperventilating and being a drama queen about the problems in her life. A colleague walks in on her venting and snidely asks, “What is it that makes you think that your problems are bigger and more important than others’?” Ally gives her a puzzled, ‘do you really need to ASK?’ look and retorts, “Because they’re mine.” Sleep on this. 

MY VERY FIRST TIME!

Hi all
OK, first off, I have to admit that I got onto the blog-wagon rather late - like wake-up-and-smell-the-twitter late. This is my very first blog, people! And why I didn't leapfrog into the Twitter stage is - let's face it - I've always been a rather verbose sort of person. 140 characters? Hell, I can't write a Haiku in less than twice those amount of Words! So as to not scare you off so soon in the game, let me add that not ALL future blogs will be subject to verbal diarrhoea. Just to prove my point, I shall end this post right here...
But then on second thoughts, you don't grudge me a few extra words... sentences... or paras, here and there, do you? OK, what was my point here? I'm sure there was a point to this whole thing, dammit. Oh yes - life's not a bitch. No, I did not pick that because I had lost out on every other option. I picked it coz I believe it.

You know how after a rough day at work, or a killer traffic snarl, or when we just have the blues, we all tend to go, "Life's a bitch, man." I beg to disagree. Which is why, my blog is gonna be about the little things that make life worthwhile. There, I've finally come to the point. And it's taken me just 1-2-3-4-5, OK, 905 characters to do that (relax! I said characters, not words! Talk about ADD).
Before you think I'm some sanctimonious saint types who will spout spiritual aphorisms, yes, there will be a little bit of that too (just the latter part, not the former.) But just a little: mostly I want to bring out the beauty of life that's staring us right in the face, which we often don't notice until someone throws a rock at us. (P.S - I'm hoping to be the someone, not the rock - just saying.) From books and music, to technology and nature, everything has something to teach. I just want to share some profound and not-so-profound things I've learnt from the mundane AND the exotic.

Let me end with one of my favourite Zen stories. Once a seeker went to a great spiritual master, who was quietly doing domestic chores. He asked, "Master, what is the quickest way to attain enlightenment?" Straightening a little from the burden of wood on her back, she said "Chop wood, carry water." One day, the seeker heard she had attained enlightenment. He asked her, "Master, now that you are enlightened, what is it that you do?" She said simply, "Chop wood, carry water."
And, thats 443 words - yippee! Later, then...

Aum

Here's to an auspicious start... Good luck to me!