Smile>Million Dollars
Lately, I have been trying to stay more in touch with the ones who make me smile, or even better, laugh.
I kept down my phone after talking with a friend for about half an hour and looked at myself in the mirror, I felt something had changed about my face, it glowed better. The person I talked with is a friend I met during my undergraduate years and who I have known for more than four years now. We talked about the most random things possible in this universe, and I remember myself laughing all the while I was on call with her. She (let’s call her Alex, because I am not sure if my friends would appreciate my naming them in articles :P) is an accomplished person when it comes to tickling the funny bones in others, and the conversations I have with her are the kind I wish to revisit in my fondest memories.
Conversations with Alex have made me realise that each of us, irrespective of what we do, where we are, wish to have things that we lack in life, and while each of us wants to have different things, one thing is constant on all the wish lists: the desire to feel positive.
Alex and I have the most goofy conversations, sometimes they begin at us pretending to be accomplished undercover agents, we pick up the phone, tell our coded names and end at our saying to each other how much fame we would get if we made our conversations a part of a podcast or a YouTube channel. I do not remember the last time I had a serious conversation with her, but wait I do remember. It was when I was in her home during our University convocation, and we had a cup of tea in the breathtaking balcony of her beautiful house. My point is that my conversations with Alex are so effortless and unique that I wish to share what it feels to have such a friend who does not let this life sit heavy upon our hearts. The benefits I have realised are far greater than we can imagine.
We are all looking for breaks, some of us even more desperately so because this Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 routines, that too with so many people working from homes or fixed campuses, is making each of us live a mechanical robotic life. A break therefore, becomes imperative. If that is the case, what could be a better way to get one than a heart-to-heart goofy conversation with a close friend?
I recently listened to a learned man saying that God himself does not like to help the ones who have a straight, serious face all the time. He said, while you work, while you pray, in fact even while you meditate, why do you think it is necessary to have a serious sullen face? Why can you not smile and pray, smile and talk, smile and meditate, smile and work? A kind and smiley face costs nothing thankfully except a desire to keep looking for something positive.
Lately, I have been trying to stay more in touch with the ones who make me smile, or even better, laugh. Some people feel that in order to be and stay intellectual, you have to joke less, smile even lesser, and have a strict and serious approach towards life. Nothing could be farther from truth. In the twenty four and a half years of my life, I have been lucky enough to meet a large number of people but only recently did I notice that most of the ones who have done marvellous in life, in fact “succeeded” in even the 21st century notion of success, take it all lightly. I can’t remember the last time one of my cousins (who has been one of the best researchers in solar energy in India) was serious in front of me. I can’t remember the last time I saw one of the best doctors I know being all serious in his typical medico aura. People who pull pranks, make fun of other friends, laugh more than they frown, are definitely closer to the hearts of others than the ones who seem to have a huge burden upon themselves, as if they have to solve whole of the world’s problems.
Dancing, singing, playing, all of these activities in my humble opinion must not be associated with young age. People of all age groups must learn to take everything lighter than they do. The secrets to living a long and healthy life given by people have always had one point in common: smile and laugh more.
In fact, when I think about it well, I have noticed that success is somewhere connected with our ability of resilience, and resilience demands humour and light-heartedness from us as much as it demands hard work, dedication, and well, *just add all rest such serious words you can think of* :P
If you resonated with my and Alex’s approach, reach out to me at sdshivanidubey@gmail.com.
