Looking At The Bright Side Of Life

Cultivating a positive attitude always From a Parisamvada

- Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra

If you see a glass with some water in it, will you say that it is half full or half empty? The answer may depend on our mood, but the problem is that most of the time the moods keep changing, which is not a very good thing. It affects subsequent thinking. It is not only that the glass is half full or half empty but that the external world also looks to be half full or half empty.

Nowadays, if we read a newspaper, those half-full stories are very few; the half-empty stories are there most of the time. We are carrying that sadness, pain, fear, all the time. We are not that cheerful, happy, kind, bubbling with enthusiasm or joyful. Possibly, we take it that these are all empty words and the reality is different. But we can it make our reality.

I keep on repeating the story of an old station master. He was a very nice person, well built. During British times, he was station master of Balsar station. He came to see us when he was 85 or so. At that time, our compound was not made up, the buildings were not there. So, he had to search. He also had to climb a little up and down. But when he saw us, after some pleasantries, he asked, "Do you remember that day we all met? It was a full moon night and we had very fine refreshments." Now he was talking about those happy times, though he, himself, had become old and could not walk properly. But he did not think about that.