I was in class 9 then. Each day, mom used to wake me up early in the morning. I was fed-up. At that moment I thought, at college life would be better. Mom would not care a lot then. But at college, I had a competition with one of my fellows, so I kept myself work hard till late night. The ray of hope at that instant was the ending of college and beginning of university era.
At university, the competition got tougher. Struggle to be a versatile professional was my ultimate goal. I did well, got into an esteemed headquarter of multinational company but the fight didn’t stop here either. I wasn’t much happy as I had to work hours and hours without break. I couldn’t spend much of time with my family. The distant between me and my friends started growing. I needed someone to share my feelings. I started thinking, life will be better after getting married and having a baby or two.
But I used to get frustrated when the kids were not old enough and on my return from office, they used to ask for a walk or going out for a dinner. I somehow managed the things with the expectation that when kids would grow up everything will be perfect. But dealing with teenagers was a much unpleasant job. I kept on waiting happiness as my children got married, I had grand children and finally I retired. Today, sitting under the umbrella, I repent that I wasted most of time waiting for happiness. Today, I have a lot of time to read books, think about past, think about my mistakes and I realize that I waited for something that was never to come. Happiness is a journey that is to be travelled not to be waited for.
I stood up, went to my house and called all my children and grand-children and asked them to join me on this weekend. I narrated them the story of my life and continued.
The truth is, there’s no better time to be happy than right now, right here. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges. It’s best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D. Souza. He said, ‘For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.’
This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. Treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with and remember that time waits for no one.
So, stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you’re off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you’ve sobered up, until you die, until you’re born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination. So work like you don’t need money, love like you’ve never been hurt and dance like no one’s watching. Everyone scream out – “I am moving towards happiness!! Right now, right here!”
– By anonymous
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4 comments
1 ping
Faiza says:
July 12, 2010 at 2:32 pm (UTC 5)
This is a really good read, Samah
Thank you for posting.
naveed says:
July 12, 2010 at 3:48 pm (UTC 5)
very well written
Muhammad Anas says:
August 7, 2010 at 3:07 pm (UTC 5)
Wow …. Great!!!!!!!
Of course, It is a reality that everyone is always waiting for some specific time in future when they will enjoy their life truly but such time doesn’t give any indication and pass away silently.
I think Ashfaq Ahmed has also given such an ideology in his “Zavia 1″ i. e. don’t care much about your past and future … just enjoy the present. He name such a person as “Sahib-e-Haal”.
Thanks for such a nice post!!!!!!
Samah says:
August 7, 2010 at 6:22 pm (UTC 5)
Thank you for the appreciation, everyone!:)
Monday Motivation: Attitude Changes Everything | Tea Break says:
November 8, 2010 at 6:57 pm (UTC 5)
[...] Right now, right here! [...]