Positive thinking is an optimistic state of mind, which sees the bright side of life. A positive frame of mind brings more harmony and happiness, improves relationships, and attracts success into your life. Right from Stone Age, we have worked towards simplifying our lives. Whether it was through discovery of fire or invention of the wheel, we looked to reduce the effort we expended in life. However, today, in this quest to make our lives simpler, it seems like we are defeating the very purpose of this action. We wake up early, not to enjoy a beautiful sunrise but to plan ahead for the rest of the day. We rush to our offices not because we love our work, but because we are caught up in the endless grind to earn a living—a high living that is better than what we had yesterday. We come home, not to our families, but to a pile of bills that are waiting to be paid. Sure, our kitchens have the latest appliances, our living rooms have the best of home theatre systems, and our patios have the best furniture pieces. But, we are nowhere in the picture to enjoy these.
Time and money have constantly been at loggerheads. In this inverse relationship, we have begun to sacrifice time to earn more money. One thing we are missing in this endless rut is that money can be deposited in the bank and withdrawn, but there is no bank where you can deposit time and withdraw it when you are in need. Following one diktat can solve this incessant battle—simple living high thinking. Simple living does not necessarily mean giving up all worldly pleasures to lead the life of a monk. It means having the ability to feel content with what one has acquired. A person without contentment is like a bottomless pit—no matter what you put into it, no matter how much you put into it, it is bound to seem empty and darkness is all you’ll find when you look into it.
In fact, the recent spate of suicides is the off shoot of failure to understand the concept of simple living and high thinking. Youth today, tend to compare themselves with others and feel inferior when they don’t match up to their peers. Only if they understood that by comparing them to others, they are being highly unfair to themselves because they are limiting their capability to that of their peers. Today, we tend to confuse simple living with lack of ambition. If we see someone leading a simple life, the general tendency is to assume that the person lacks the fire-power needed to lead a successful life. What we need to understand is that such a person is at peace with himself. And when you are in peace, you are successful in your own right. A simple living and high thinking can bring cheer in life all the time.
Jayanthy Subramaniam
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
