It is an amazing morning, the sky is still heavy with dark hues resisting the morning light. We know who will win this round, it will soon be morning and the birds will take over the skies as the sun comes up.
I can hear the Koel (cuckoo) sing in her plaintiff voice as though she was sad to see the night pass away and give way to dawn. The little sunbirds fill the land with their sweet, silvery voice as they welcome the first rays of the sun. They perch on the highest branches to enjoy the tender warmth of the morning sun.
Standing there as the sky changes color and the light slowly spreads around I look back at my life and only see happiness. It is not like there have been no sad days or grief or bad things happen to me. Bad things and sad days are part of everyone's life, it is just that I chose to focus on what is good and what is beautiful.
When I was in my early teens I lost my dad to cancer, I thought that was the end, but life moved on. Then there was the disappointment of not doing as well as I wanted to in school, it seemed like the end of my future, but life went on. Life doesn't stop for anyone. We learn to roll on with life.
Looking back I see how the lessons learned from the bad things in life helped me understand life. A few lessons I learned then as a teen served me well in life.
*Death is inevitable.
*Failure is part of life, in fact an important part of life, It gives you extra time to look back and learn from what you did wrong.
*Sadness is as important as happiness, if not for sad, grief and pain we'll never appreciate happiness or goodness that surrounds us. It is not to be shunned away.
The poignant emotions we go through in those moments shape our sensitivity to life's finer moments.
The delicate nature of life reminds us to grab every moment we have and live it with gusto. It teaches us to enjoy and make the best of every moment.
Death is a constant reminder to make the best of what we have and not chase after the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
I remember that as a child I thought if I run far enough I would catch the rainbow, only to discover that I was lost, the rainbow vanished into thin air as quickly as it appeared and I was exhausted and lying on the ground till my family found me. What silly thoughts we have as children. This came from a story I had read then about a little girl who found the end of the rainbow and climbed on it to find gold, precious stones and happiness.
We only have this moment that we live in, the rest is either past or uncertain in the future. Learning to live moment by moment is permitting yourself to be happy always. This whole hearted living makes each day worth living, creating memories for a time that may not be as good as the present.
Every moment we spend in positive action is step forward and every moment spent in regret, and negativity is cutting out what could have been important parts of life.
Emotions like hatred, jealousy, greed, revenge, anger, self-pity etc do us more harm than good. They cut short our lives by huge chunks. They drag us into the past and relive those hurting moments over and over again while we miss out on the present and probably all the pleasant things the current moment has to offer.
Embrace life, the good with the bad, the happy with the sad, each moment has something to offer, learn from it. Be not too emotionally caught up in the highs or the lows of life take them as they come.
Let childlike amazement, wonder and curiosity take over your world. See nature with eyes of awe and wonder, seek to learn as much as you can and life will be blissful.
Life is to be lived each moment with zeal and passion.
Images used here were photographed by me.