The year that went by

It’s too early for this piece. Atleast 2 weeks earlier! But I presume, nothing much or bigger can happen in the next 15 days, that will overshadow the 350 days that went by. And I hope not too. Looking forward for a sedate time.

How exactly this year had been? Well its mixed I should think. One way to look, life has never been so good. Things that I had only dreamt earlier happened. Things I had been wishing for ages happened. If I make a balance sheet of good and bad things that occurred, then good column should be bigger. So no complaints!

Let me list out all the good ones first

• Found a best friend.
• Got some real good money.
• Bought a new car.
• Shopped till I was bored.
• Collected footwear and shirts like women.
• Got promoted to a meaty role.
• Daughters as usual loved me more than the previous year.
• Had a big holiday.
• Did a few good things for the needy.
• Good stuff happened to friends.
• Wifey landed up doing what she always wanted to do.
• Partied as if it is end of the world.
• Started writing (apart from blogging, which also started this year)
• Collected more number of books than what I already had.
• Read more books than the previous year.
• Lagey Raho Munna Bhai happened.
• Chatted, sms’ed, mailed, spoke more than ever.
• Made useful expenses as much as frivolous ones.
  

Now the bad ones

• A visit to the ICU and popping up more tablets than ever.
• More people quit at office.
• Bitten by a loneliness & wanderlust bug.
• Friend’s dad passed away.
• Everyone got busier.
• Saw lesser number of movies.

I am now prompted to think, that at any given point of time a balance sheet of this kind, will only have more good things. There is good all around and if we trained ourselves to see those, life appears to be good. But, it is also true that bad things when they do happen are big in magnitude. Or maybe, we don’t even remember small bad things, which is good in a way. Our mind wants to keep more good stuff than bad stuff and that’s good news.

Pain & misery seem to be there, but then how else we can recognize the good things?! In this book ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff….and its all small stuff’ by Richard Carlson, there was this wonderful lesson. If something bugs you so much, just stop and think whether it is going to matter so much the next year and then you know you don’t have to sweat.

But , ‘Easier Said than done’ Richard ……..