The times have changed. Hours fly like seconds, day like an hour and a year like a month. It seems time is hurriedly kicking us off to an unknown oblivion. The world is in a hurry. Debates here and debates there. Everybody runs with his own school of thought. Where is that so called ‘’APNA PUN’’, which used to  be a panacea for most of our ills? What has gone wrong? A mad race among fellow beings is on. In today’s world of eternal jugglery between time and tasks most of us end up just wanting to run away to some quiet, little place, curl up and go to sleep undisturbed. We have to cope up with so much in an ever demanding environment. Many of us have to handle changes within ourselves, our families or face the loss of loved ones. Some find themselves made redundant due to the economic situation the world faces today. The list of obstacles seems endless but so is the human spirit. Hence we work to find ways and means of beating the odds and surviving the downs. Majority of people have become like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up they need a place to dump it and sometimes they will dump it on you. Do not take it personal. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Do not take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home or on the streets. Love the people who treat you right, pray for the one’s who do not. Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it, so it is your attitude that makes all the difference. One should not get bogged down by failures. Believe in yourself and your abilities but not in an egoistic way. Find solutions to your failures and expect success. Think positive, creative and constructive and be optimistic. Make positivity an integral part of your life. It will lead you to happiness and success. This will make you a buoyant personality and you will develop self respect. I know many of you must be thinking or saying in your mind,’ easier said than done’’. I do not blame you. I feel much the same on some days. I guess that is normal. It is just that we should make sure that our low days are the exception and our strong days are the rule. When I look around me, I see so much that makes me realize how grateful I should be. I feel,one should once a month make it a point to visit an orphanage, or the general ward of a hospital or may be walk through a slum. These experiences help keep one grounded, humbled and not take life for granted. Most of us have so much to be grateful for. Think of all those people,who live around us, young and old battling life threatening diseases with vigor and valour, parents facing life after the death of a child and physically handicapped people taking the life on and the list goes on and on. It is not easy to smile in the face of adversity, but it is not impossible either. Before, I conclude, I want to share an advertisement, I had come across a long tome ago.
Somehow, it stayed with me over the years. It was a simple black and white magazine advertisement for a drink. The full page advertisement showed a half full bottle of the world famous malt. The text simply red,’ for the host it is half empty, for the guest it is half full.’ This so beautifully encapsulates the way we can look at life half full or half empty. It is all up to us. Life is an echo; all comes back, the good, the bad, the false and the true. So give the world the best you have and the best will come to you.

(Dr.Mushtaq Chalkoo is Consultant Laparoscopic and Minimal Access Surgeon, GMC, Srinagar. Feedback at mushtaq _chalkoo @rediffmail.com)

Lastupdate on : Fri, 21 May 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
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