I am my own Prince

Akira: Independence. Such an intriguing word. I wonder what its like to be independent. Surely its a thing for only the brave ones. 

Guru: That bravery is within every soul. Remember, you are your own Prince. You just need to realise it. 

____

I am my own Prince, as you are your own. Don't limit your abilities to the perceptions of your society, friends, parents and/or significant others. Break down the walls you have built for yourself, as you were born and destined to fly. This sounds like wishful thinking, but really it's the truth, awaiting to be realised. So start today, be your own Prince. Don't wait around for a nudge from someone else, be it whoever. You yourself are good enough to go out there and achieve whatever it is you want to achieve.

You are a beautiful person, drowned in self-defeat and judgments. You are tangled in words and gossip. But it's not too late. Break free. Explore yourself and bring out the best within you. Relieve your happiness from the suffocation of taunts and disbeliefs. The power is in you, realise it, release it.

Who else will come to your rescue, if you yourself don't? You are your own Knight in shining armour. You are your own Prince. 👑

#LaughingAnanas

I'm An Extremist

In a conversation...

Akira expresses, "I'm an extremist, you know? Everything I do, is to the extreme. If I like something, I like it to the extreme. If I hate something, I hate it to the extreme. My happiness is extreme, and so is my sadness. If I set my mind onto something, I will spend sleepless nights to achieve it. And if my heart isn't into something, I will spend days sleeping instead of doing it. And not just mentally, materialistically as well. I like everything that I do to be different. And this can cause grave stress." 

"Dear Akira", the sage responds compassionately, "Extremity is good. It is for strong people. A great mass of population is stuck in average mentality."

"But isn't extremity bad? I have always heard that one should develop and practice a neutral attitude, and remain in the middle ground of situations, neither happy nor sad. How can I ever achieve this state with such an extreme personality?"

The sage smiles as he reveals, "Having neutrality towards everything is spiritual extremity. It is not an average achievement."

Akira left stunned at such a difference in perspective...

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Extremity is a confusing phenomenon. It has an immediate and reflexive connotation of destructivity. Extreme reactions to situations are definitely destructive to mankind. However, there is a fine line distinction between extreme reactions and extreme personality. 

Extreme reactions are obviously a by-product of an extreme personality. However, an extremist, who who trains their mind and incorporates a regular check on these reactions, can do wonders! And this is why, extremity can either be destructive or constructive. Let yourself enslaved to your feelings and reactions, turning your life into a living hell – destructive! Freeing yourself from the clutches of your instinctual reactions, and directing the energy to create heaven on Earth – constructive!

Practice liberating yourself from the negative, to find the creative person in your extremist personality! Risk and achievement are companions. There is no gain without risk. Only the people who take risks in their lives, live a life that's unique. They live a life beyond normal, engulfed in wonders of extremity.

#LaughingAnanas

You Don't Need To Be Happy...

"Akira, my beloved, I see sweat beads on your forehead. Is there something that bothers you?", asked the wise old sage.

"I guess... I'm unsure. I don't feel like myself anymore.", said the concerned Akira.

"This 'myself' that you mention, what is that self like?", the sage enquired.

"Well I guess, I used to be crazy, full of life and always happy. My friends say I used to exude happiness anywhere and everywhere I went, you know, like a bundle of joy. But, now they tell me I have changed. They tell me I have lost my spark. I wonder if this is real, you know? Have I really forgotten how to be happy?", said Akira as he poured his heart out.

A faint smile subtly painted itself on the sage's face as he looked at Akira and disclosed, "Akira, you don't need to be happy. Just be content."

_____

Happiness is extremely overrated. The word happiness, with its simplistic connotation of pleasure, has gotten the whole world chasing and running behind an illusion of a perfect, happy life. People are inescapably judged based on their degree of happiness, and the amount of pleasure they derive from life. But really, one should watch out for this vicious circle of societal judgments and the need to acquire happiness as a measure of one's well-being. In this society, we are all just blind, leading blind. 

In the above interaction of Akira with the sage, those few wise words reveal how happiness is not what one's end goal should be. It should rather be contentment. One should work towards deriving satisfaction from their walk of life, rather than blindly running behind what society proclaims as happiness. Learning the skill of contentment is generally neglected as we have been taught to focus on attaining what we don't have instead of finding fulfilment in the realisation of what we do have. Contentment leaves you feeling fulfilled, satisfied and grateful, whereas happiness is fleeting, temporary and always accompanied by sadness. Hence, don't run after happiness, but rather work towards a well-balanced and well-prioritised life comprising of both materialistic and spiritual goals. 

People's perception of your well-being is not important, yours is. Don't worry about forgetting how to be happy, as long as you remember how to be content. 

#LaughingAnanas