By Ahsan
“Life can be hard. Life can be unkind. Life can be unfair.”
That is looking at life with the glass half-empty.
We all have heard that you are better off seeing life with a glass half full, but what if this idea leaves out something more important to know?
There is a story about a spiritual seeker sitting with his teacher to learn more about the secrets to a happy life.
The teacher tells his student that he will explain everything, but first, they must drink a glass of water.
The teacher put the glass on the table and started pouring the water into the glass. The student was about to reach for the glass as it was almost full, but the teacher kept pouring the water, which then began spilling out of the glass and onto the table. The student hesitated to say anything out of respect but then requested his teacher to stop pouring water as the glass was full.
It was then that the teacher stopped and said to the student that if he wanted to learn anything new, he would need to empty the contents of his mind to make room for some new ideas. A full glass of water is just like a full mind.
A good many of us know everything there is to know. And the rest of us are rarely open to new ideas.
If we willingly make some mental space, we just might learn what we need to know. And then we might benefit and see a better path to a happy life. A life that avoids unnecessary meandering and frustration.
Here is an idea that might be new to you.
If you want to increase your happiness, just think less.
Remember the days of being a child in grade school. Recall your summer break and how you spent your days. I bet you remember them as moving slowly and full of fond memories like going for a bike ride with friends and staying out until the street lights came on and getting into mischief in between. You were not thinking about the past, you were not living a hectic present, and you were not looking at a frantic future. You were just enjoying the ride!
Am I making sense? Once you grow up, you think a lot. You think about all the things you have to get done by 5 pm; all the emails and projects and text messages that need your attention; what you will make for dinner; who and what bothers you from yesterday and ten years ago and all the unknowns of tomorrow.
When you do this, you are not enjoying the ride or enjoying the incredible sweet taste of a banana-flavored popsicle dripping on your fingers and the laughter of your friends as you ride your bike through the park.
All the extra thinking is like a log that begins a jam in a narrowing river. Before long, the flow of water is affected as the initial log creates catches more debris flowing down the river. Until the log jam is dislodged, the water flow is altered and generates overflows and floods on the banks of the river.
Thinking less can lead to fewer logs and mental debris from entering the mental river in the first place. An unobstructed river lets the water flow into the lake and from there to the sea where it naturally should be.
When you think less, you enable your mind to have a natural flow of just being. No mile-a-minute thinking. It's like being on vacation; you enjoy the sun more, enjoying the taste of your food, and you enjoy conversations more too. All because you are thinking less.
Be still. Be chill and continue to climb every hill.
What you think about is your reality. What you think about puts you into a state of mind and feeling. If you want to change your state of mind and emotions, become aware of your thoughts.
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