Through a Different Lens
Let me start by telling you an incredible story I stumbled upon. The story of Max. Max was the guy who was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, ‘If I were any better, I would be twins!’ His friend James could not believe how he could be happy all day and decided to ask him. He approached Max and asked him- ‘I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?’
Max replied, ‘Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Max, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.’ James shrugged and said that it was not as easy as Max made it sound. Max laughed and explained-
Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live life.
The moral of the story is quite simple, isn’t it? What Max teaches us is that it is up to us as to how we want to live our life. We can choose to crib about all problems in life or we can see things through the lens of positivity. For long we have been accustomed to looking at things negatively. We tend to think that we have all the problems and adverse situations in life to deal with. But what we do not understand is that even if life is full of challenges, there are also times of happiness. How we choose to respond to the situations in our life determines our success or failure. A positive attitude is bound to help us in achieving our goals.
Let me tell you the story of the potatoes, the egg and the coffee beans. There was once a girl who cribbed that her life was full of problems and she was just tired of all the issues. She said that she could not struggle anymore and wanted to give up on life. Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a flame. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them boil, without saying a word to his daughter.
The girl was baffled as to what her father was doing. After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her, he asked. ‘My dear girl, what do you see?’ She said ‘potatoes, eggs and coffee.’
He told her to touch the potatoes. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She was happy with the freshly brewed coffee.
He then explained to her that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same challenge-the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong and hard, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak. The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard. However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
He laughed and asked her ‘Which one are you? Whenever you encounter a problem, how will you face it? Like a potato, an egg or a coffee bean?’
It is really up to us to have a positive approach in life. When we are positive, we are calm and focused and as a result we are able to face the adverse situation in a better way. When we are able to shut our mind fro negative thoughts and feelings, we can have control over our life. Happy thoughts are bound to fill our hearts with happiness. Take an example of any day in your life- you have readings, projects and extra curricular activities, and all of these need your time. In the morning, it seems impossible, but as the day draws to a close, you realise that you have done it all! We always make in the end. The only problem is that we complain a lot and think that we would not be able to.
But if we are positive right from the beginning, we will work faster and be happy throughout the day while tackling the various problems in our life. So, decide to see life through the lens of positivity every morning after you wake up. Believe in yourself and you will get through all the situations very smoothly!
Image credit : http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SEWIxybrai8/TcqShO1S5MI/AAAAAAAABLA/LtC9s0DGx3A/s1600/positivitysmile.jpg
About author : Kudrat Agrawal is a law student. An avid reader who loves to read a variety of genres. An amateur photographer, keenly into music and cooking. She believes that writing is the best form of expression and broadens one’s horizons.
