It takes a lot to be happy. Really?

There is a garments factory in the lane I walk to my workplace. I see many girls and ladies hurrying in the morning towards this factory. Today morning, I saw two young girls hold hands and walk quickly towards their factory gate. I felt so happy to see the innocence in the eyes of these two girls. The friendship between them seemed pure and impeccant. They chirpily walked, smiling and laughing at something. They seemed so happy; so complete, as human beings.

This small gesture I saw this morning triggered a train of thoughts.

The first one -

Usually girls working at the Garments factory come from a poor background. But these girls made me feel that being poor is more about a state of mind. These ladies are not treated very fairly in their workplace. They work a lot harder for a meager amount meted out to them at the end of the month. But none of it seemed like stopping them from being happy.

Happiness like being poor is also a state of mind. If we decide that we will be happy with what we have, accept whatever God has given us, stop resisting life, I think we can also be happy. While one thing is about living in the present, being innocent is very important if we have to be happy.

If we have to understand 'Innocence' better, we have to observe children. Do you see children pondering about anything for more than a second? Do they hold grudges? Did you ever see how quickly they forgive? Forgive and Forget? I have hit my daughter many times. I am angry with her, she has no ego, and she breaks the ice most of the times. I see myself and reflect at my ego. I learn but never learn enough. So, you see what I mean when I say we should learn to be innocent. We need to learn to let go. We don’t know everything that happens in the universe; likewise, we don’t know why it happens. But there is a reason. Trust that everything happens for good and "learn" to move on. And mark my words, I said "learn".

The second one -

This is more on a lighter note. I missed the beautiful friendships we have had from school days. It was a time, when we innocently held hands and walked. There were merely no expectations about each other. We just liked and loved each other. As I grew, mind is outstretched with great ideas and with all innocence lost; I lost touch with all my friends. Today, these two girls reminded me of many of them. I wish them well wherever they are. I feel sad that I hardly get to walk hand in hand with any friends these days. We are all so caught up in our own world of endless wants, desires, jealousies, pains and sorrows. Being a friend is a costly affair. It needs time, which nobody has enough to spare.

When I reflected on both these thoughts, I see that the key is to stick to innocence. I will research more on this and get back.

Till then stay tuned. Chao ----