Thankfulness

I was told today that I feel fresh, happy and active for some non-obvious reason. The statement came from a person having so much respect in my heart that I was coerced to evaluate my state at that time. But without giving it much thought, I summarized my feelings in a seemingly trivial statement: "why shouldn't I be happy, I have every reason to." And yes, as I reflect further, I had every reason to because I could not think of any worries. It was the Friday night marking the inception of the, once in a quarter's time, long weekend and I was having my dinner while talking to my wife. I was apparently so relaxed that I could've easily ignored that blessing of being at a calm state of mind if my wife had not pointed that out to me. But I no longer could ignore my current state and the more I thought of the reasons behind it, the more thankful I got towards God.

I had left all of my affairs to God and was happy that I had nothing to worry about the things that I had no control over. I have a small but a highly valuable family, and unfortunately each member of which is spread all over the world map. My parents have left for PK where my wife is currently residing and my brothers are at work in the North East. But thankfully, all are safe and sound. I recalled that how blessed I am to be able to
- have the refrigerator filled with delicious food,
- stomach full with dinner,
- schedule abundant with time,
- wife filled with love,
- family members all sound and in good health,
- account good on money,
- heart filled with tranquility and empty of jealousy,
- mind being filled with knowledge at a top-notch university,
- character, with God's help, exempt from wrongdoings,
- soul submitted to God's decrees,
- days filled with work and
- night filled with mental peace and sleep.

I feel that I have everything right now. It is due to these little, potentially unnoticeable, and frequently labelled as mundane things, that we actually cumulatively acquire our peace of mind. We work hard in our professional or scholarly life to presumably earn money or to gain more wisdom so as to distinguish ourselves in this material world but in fact we all work everyday to achieve mental tranquility which is often very hard to notice. But when you give your state a thought, you would realize the blessings bestowed upon you.

You can become happy by just lowering your standards, and can become inspired and motivated by raising them for the future. Happiness and contentment is what we acquire when we reflect on our state of being superior from those underprivileged monetarily, emotionally or physically, and Sadness is what one can impose on him/herself by looking up to those superior to us in the said categories. I have realized that looking up to our superiors is only healthy when one begins to feel proud over his accomplishments and to let go of his inspiration.