The Pursuit of Happiness
Leo Tolstoy, rightly said, “If you want to be happy, be happy.” Upon our reflection after the session with Mr Dutt, we all felt that happiness is a state of mind. It is up to us to look at everything positively which will, in turn, bring us the sheer joy and pleasure that we all search for in life.
Many of us find it difficult to deal with the grim feelings of unhappiness which often grips our soul thereby leading us to all the negative feelings which we otherwise would want to ward off. It is then that we need to be firm with ourselves, otherwise unpleasant memories, silly fancies or even wicked promptings will soon gain the upper hand. A short meditation every day might help us steer clear of the negativity of undue anxiety, unbridled anger, envy, and other harmful emotions. It will calm our minds which will, in turn, lead us to be happy.
To be genuinely happy, we should also learn to tolerate. Only when we can be tolerant of others’ shortcomings, can we empathize with them and together create a world of joy. Our mutual discussions brought forward many interesting incidents which we all fondly recollected.
One of us remembers having a really enthusiastic child in class who likes to add his opinion after every two minutes. In the same class, there is another child, who often lags behind and repeats questions which sometimes irritates others. The teacher loves both of them and understood their situations but somehow couldn't bring the class together. She, thus, decided to pair the two up which creates a magical situation. Both of them now sit together in the first bench and the enthusiastic kid tolerates the mistakes and repeated queries of the other one thereby helping him a great deal. Also in the process, the class doesn't get disturbed. He makes all his comments together after the teacher completes a topic. Never was the class happier. This is all about inclusive education - being empathetic towards others and helping to weaken their weaknesses thus creating a cheerful ambience around.
Thus, tolerance is the ability to respect others even though they may be different from what we are comfortable with. It is also being able to support and accept everyone regardless of the fact that they may be distinct from you. When one of us visited a class as a substitute teacher in a particular classroom, she came across a special child who appeared to be a bit violent at that point in time. Although the teacher felt uncomfortable, she was taken aback by the tolerance demonstrated by his classmates. They were all ready to calm this child down with a benevolent tune and consequently set a very happy atmosphere. This is an instance when our kids take us by surprise and thereby teach us tonnes.
In fact, taking into consideration the present scenario, none of us is enjoying staying at home. However, it is important for us to tolerate our inconveniences and try to carry on with our life as effectively as possible. This is what we are trying to do - this what even our students are trying to do. In spite of missing their school, their dear friends and beloved teachers, they are trying to stay happy and carry on their tasks with a smile. Their happiness is clearly visible when we meet them for online classes. We know that smile is contagious. It spreads from one to another, thus causing, the entire world around us to be happy. We are all going through hard times and this is when we should effectively try to tolerate the disruption around with a smile on our faces, thus creating happiness of a different kind!
Super 7 @ Billabong High International School, Thane
- Sayantani Mukherjee, Dimple Awasthi, Ritu Chitnis, Manjusha Saji, Jyoti Ramdhave, Vijaylaxmi Ramesh, Sumati Muthukumar
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