ஆள்வினை

I bumped into a TED talk today! I am glad I did! It is a talk by Sam Berns. It made me think, wow, how often do we think that the problems in our lives are bigger than us! And here is a young man, who understood life so very well and lived every single moment happily despite anything else!! Sam had a strange decease called Progeria - a rare decease that accelerates aging. Only about 350 people are affected by it in the entire world and there is no cure for it!

Here is the gist of the video 1) I choose to focus on activities I can do, and make adjustments so that those activities that I love to  do but in the cant do category move to the can do category. 2) Surround myself with people I want to be with - especially people of high quality who are energetic, enthusiastic, empathetic. 3) Keep moving forward! No point in looking backwards! We open new doors by moving forward 4) never miss a party :-)

The positive energy Sam radiates is awesome! The smile on his lips, voice and eyes puts all those crib and cry for simple issues to shame!  When I watched the video, I did not know that Sam has passed away!! He passed away last year - a few months from the recording. Hmm… How long we live does not matter! How we live is the only thing that matters!! I don’t know if Sam was thinking about all his unfulfilled dreams when he died but I am sure he would  not have regretted that he should have lived a better life! That is a big achievement!

I am comparing it with my life! Of course, the challenges I handle are not that big or not that cruel as the ones Sam had to face! But then, size of the problems does not matter that much as the reaction to the problems! From that sense the comparison is reasonable!!!

The questions I keep asking myself are, if I have to leave this world today, what will I take with me and what do I want to feel. I am happy that I have a life I do not regret at all! Like Sam puts it and like all of you, there are things in life I love to do but I can't do, I have learnt to accept them; if there is something I can turn positive, I give my best shot ! I am blessed to be with magnificent human beings who support me as much as they can. And I am very  choosy about whom to be with; I stay away from those who start a "why me" story. I stop to reflect but not to regret! I have realised that, ultimately what matters is the enthusiasm with which we lead our lives daily and the effort we put in to make things better! I think I acquired this attitude  from Thirukkural!

Thirukkural dedicates an entire chapter to ஆள்வினை- enthusiasm and effort. I like all the 10 couplets. But I have a favourite kural (618) that  is in the big poster on my wall!

பொறியின்மை யார்க்கும் பழியன்று அறிவறிந்து

ஆள்வினை இன்மை பழி.