“Please make sure to fasten and secure your oxygen mask
first, before you help your child with his”.
The air hostess concluded her safety demonstration with this statement
and I started wondering, why do they say that? Who would be so unkind and selfish to make
sure he is safe first, before he helps others out? Isn’t social service
supposed to be selfless? Then why do
all the airlines say the same thing? Look what I found out!
At first I correlated the mask to being alive, and then I
thought of it as a solution to life’s problem.
I looked at it as food, clothing, shelter, sleep, dreams, desires,
ambition and every other possible thing I could think of. Each of the co
relations made the same sense. You need to satisfy your need first, before you
offer help to others. Of all the
correlations, happiness is my most favorite!
You have got to have an adequate supply of happiness, if you
want to make others happy. If you don’t have it, you cannot give it. Now the
big question; where can you get it? It is never on sale, you cannot reap it in
the garden, and neither can it metamorphose out of nowhere.
Of all the places, happiness really comes from within. You have it in built in you, but you won’t
let it stick its head out. You keep overpowering it or overshadowing it with
other worldly things. A little coax and
some thoughtful time is all that it takes for that that emotion to come and
show its magic.
Like securing your oxygen mask you need to identify the time
when you are happy, the moment when you unknowingly laugh or giggle and feel
your heart warming up and your smile reflecting in your eyes. Is it the sight of something or someone; is it
a prayer or an achievement, an art, or friends? An outing, a hobby or even a TV
serial perhaps? Or is it the thought of your loved one? Are you happy to clear the mess at the end of
wonderful party or be at home when your kids come from school? Your day can be
full of such small happy moments, which you tend to ignore or overlook. So, look
out for those happy moments and then try to repeat them as often as you can.
Try not to make those moments people dependent. (Remember, you have to secure
your own mask!). If it is an action that
you cannot repeat every day, then be happy replaying it in your mind again and
again. It is a great mental workout! Selfishly keep refilling your mask
(happiness) so that you can then selflessly help others find theirs!
Happiness if practiced could be your most pre-dominant state
from where you choose to move out to some other emotion for some time and then
back to being happy again! Like an infection, happiness can spread from your
thoughts, to your heart and then very soon to those around you, just with your
smile!
