Cheesy Cheeriness

There’s a very famous proverb – “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” In simple words, it means that if you are determined to do something, you will be able to do it. That’s good, isn’t it? Because if this saying is true, I will be the most powerful woman on this earth whenever I wish to be so. I just need to decide upon it and work toward it. That’s all good and fine, but then what’s my problem? Or do I have a problem?

Oh yes, I do have a problem. In fact, my problem seems to be growing day by day to gargantuan proportions. And the simple reason of my problem is all the cheerfulness I see around me, whether I am at work or socializing. If I am dissatisfied with my work and tell my boss that I need something challenging, he/she will tell me that ingenuity lies in finding the satisfaction and innovation in the existing work; that I should be self-motivated enough to complete whatever I am given on my own without any errors or delay. If I complain at home that I am dissatisfied about a certain thing, my family rounds up to give me a list of things that I have and others don’t have. By others they mean the poor people who don’t have enough clothes to wear, enough food to eat and a shelter to rest in peace.

Even my life on Facebook is not free from such cheerfulness. Every time I log in to see what my Facebook friends are up to, I can just see famous quotes on positivity, and advises on how a one should handle his/her life. The advices range from how God has decided good things for us and how we shouldn’t get depressed by the minuscule failures, to how people around us are so divine and saintly that we should practically worship them, to how love always conquers it all, including terrorism and greed.

Mind you, I am neither a bleak person nor suicidal. I too love jokes and I do appreciate whatever the God (if he/she truly exists, that is) has given me like any other normal person; but that doesn’t make me blind to other problems in my life. Being happy with my project at work doesn’t stop me from trying to get a better project for the next time around. Being happy in my personal life doesn’t stop me from questioning the unacceptable behavior of my family members and relatives around me. And the most important thing of all, being happy doesn’t compel me to dish out positivity quotes and goody-goody advises to all the people who are unfortunate enough to be around me at the time.

Another thing I can’t fathom about this cheerfulness around me is if everybody is so happy, spiritual and content the way their life is shaping, why do they whine about their problems when they get an opportunity to do so? Why do they snub the weaker person around them if they are so saintly? Why do they want to poke their nose in other’s business when they are so much fulfilled with whatever they have? And why do we have so many lifestyle diseases if everyone knows how to combat stress and how to achieve whatever they want?

The other day when I saw the new Bournville advertisement, I couldn’t stop laughing. I could absolutely relate to it that too much sweetness, especially the fake one, is not good for your health. I firmly believe that the journey of life gives you the glimpses of good as well as bad. You cannot get whatever you want no matter how determined you are because there are circumstances and other people involved in your life, and you have to learn to accept it with a smile. Be a loser but a graceful one; don’t start pretending that life is a garden of roses and that you have a right to dispense advices to each and every person you meet. Everyone has their own way to dealing with their life, let them do it. If they need advice, they will come to you if they think you are the right person to approach. Until then, live and let others live.

Photo Courtesy: www.inven.co.kr