24 June 2012

A Dummies Guide to An Optimistic World


“I feel the glow of your unspoken love. I am aware of the treasure that I hold…And I say to myself, It’s wonderful, wonderful – Oh So Wonderful, My Love!”

Who said Life is Shit? It’s wonderful and beautiful! You just have to look in the right place and you’ll find it. But as always, sermons are much easier to deliver than to implement in our boring lives. So what to do? Here are a few tips :

1. All’s Well That Ends Well : If at the end of the day, you are tired and lying on your bed and listening to a sad and slow song and you think to yourself, theek hai yaar zindagi (Life is okay), then that’s all you need. Getting anything on Planet Earth is not easy, except of course the scorn of other people; so if you’ve gone through lots of troubles and bad times, consider yourself natural. But if those turbulent times are over, then enjoy the sunshine and don’t fret about the ghost of troubles past. The good thing is that they are gone and done – and you are free and should be happy, until of course they come again. If in the end, you’ve nearly got what you wanted, breathe a sigh of relief. Aaram Karom, Relax Karom. Chill. 

2. Misery is Another Constant in Life : Furthering Point # 1, misery is the other constant in life. Bad times will come. We all keep wondering why isn’t our life like a fairytale, but we forget that the happily ever after ending comes, well, in the end! Before that there is a huge black spot of misery. Alice fell into a rabbit hole, changed forms and beat the Jabberwocky; Snow White battled an ugly step mother (not the fairest of ‘em all, eh?) and slept for a long time, before a necrophilist Prince Charming came along. Pinocchio was hung upside down on the branch of a tree! So don’t worry about misery – it’s going to come anyway.  Best you can do, is pull up your socks and beat the God the damn thing! Man Up (Woman up too)! Life isn’t sugar, spice and all that’s nice – there is always a Chemical X! (PPG :P)

3. The Lynchpin Theory : Oooo. This is my favourite. Sometimes what happens, happens for the best. Take for example, if I had been rewarded with one more mark in my board exams, I wouldn’t have been doing B.Com Hons, nor would’ve been in the same college, might not have even learnt debating, and finally might not be writing this post. How small things work their way up, it’s incredible. Small, insignificant things go a long way in shaping our lives and it is only in the retrospective that we realize that. If you regret doing or not doing something, then measure the full value of that regret. If you would’ve done things differently, things would also be different today. And since we don’t know if they’d be much better or much worse, spare yourself the headache. Look into the mirror and smile. It might be the silliest thing you’ll ever do, but it will go a long way in making you happy. Small Things. Big Outcomes.

4. Make it the Worst : If the above rational argumentation does not make sense to you, start imagining the worst. Don’t think that good and bad outcomes are equally likely; instead think that bad outcomes are more likely. So if you are upset that you don’t have X+5,  imagine if you ever on X-5. The level of happiness would fall tremendously na? So don’t be greedy and be a little grateful.  I mean, where else would you receive such clear and FREE analysis on how to live life. Not everyone is able to read this Blog, but you can. So be grateful about that. Now, be a dear and send in the fan mail, flowers, chocolates and cheques! Plenty is what you have!

5. SWOT Analysis : Every business from time to time does a SWOT Analysis i.e. : Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats. I don’t care about the rest, but Opportunities is important. I am not of the belief that when one door closes, another one opens; in fact I think a million doors are always open. Life is full of opportunities.  There are so many things in this world.  You could be an actress and yet have half a dozen children, you could be a painter and an inventor at the same time, you could be deaf and still make Music, you can be so many things – all to your hearts’ content. So if something doesn’t work out, think about what went wrong, work on your flaws and then move on! Time is better spent on doing new and better things, than on lamenting! Look at me - from IAS to MBA to M.Com to LLB to MA Eco -only to realise in the end that I don't want to study more. Story for another day. 

6. Realistic Targets : There is a difference between Optimism and Stupidity. Optimism does not mean that you think all is well and all will be well. It's rational enough to account for deviations and abnormal events. Optimists don't feel bad about things that they don't control. It is okay to feel bad about something you could've controlled, but feeling bad about something that you couldn't have controlled is a little pushing it. Some bad things in life, no matter what you do, you cannot control (death, disease, natural calamity). If you're upset, it's okay. But don't let it become you. No matter what happens, you've got to move on and eliminate the cause of the misery. So if a natural calamity happens and you are sad, do something about it! Sometimes when I lose a debate, when I think I should've won, I just let it pass. I can't reverse the judges' decision, why make myself miserable about it. Of course, I give the judge a low score, that's my way of doing something about it :P

And that's about it. I hope these help you. They've helped me. Always remember, nothing in this world has the ability to hurt you or should have the right to make you feel miserable.Tum Bindaas raho. Broken heart, Bad marks, Bastard Boss or Bekaar Phone - nothing is more important than you. So value yourself.

To Jaya Row Ji. For being a Wonderful Guide in my life.


I highly recommend listening to the song. Also that's a Mentos with Chill Pill written on it. I highly recommend that too :)



P.S. : The Blog's new look has inspired me to add pictures to all new posts (as of now!). Don't worry I am not buying a DSLR/SLR for the same :P
Also, adding tags/labels to posts, so they can be categorized well. Yay!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Sir,

Firstly, I am in love with you. (platonic love - don't get too happy :p). Just something that your article inspired me to tell you. Earlier i was afraid of you but then i fell for you.

Secondly, looking forward to the second part of the 5th point. It will be a story worth reading.

Thirdly, the image of you smiling in front of the mirror is an animated, refreshing and in some ways an inspiring thought. It shall be my medicine in distress times.

Fourthly, Do not make fun of DSLR people, they can make you look ugly in photos :p :D

Lastly, It was fun read.

Thanking You

Yours Sincerely,
Hakuna Matata

Rohan Chawla said...

Dear Sir/Madam/Hakuna Matata,

Apologies for your comment not showing up on its own. Blogger believed it was spam and it took me some time to dig up your comment.

I think I am okay with platonic love for now. Sex with strangers can cause a variety of diseases these days. I'm glad that my article inspired you. And I hope that you are no longer afraid of me. Yes, this means I love you too.

Yes, of course I will share that story. Someday when I am looking back at all the wrong choices I made, I'll make sure I document them. I hope you continue loving me until such day. For now, I must write about someone other than me. Maybe you.

The idea of smiling in front of the mirror was more of something you would do, but what the heck, as long as it makes you happy and keeps sadness at bay, feel free to use me as your north star.

By all means they should! If I can make fun of them through my writing, they are free to make fun of me through their Picasa Tools and Cameras. It's only fair that way!

I am happy to hear that it was fun reading the post. But do take the tips seriously!

Also, I am not sure if Thanking You is a word. But with the speed at which I make grammatical errors, I guess we can pass that. As long as the meaning is understood.

Best,

ChotaShakespeare