Holding on to the Goodness!

     Have you ever noticed how one thing going wrong can make you forget the ten things that are going right? We all tend to become so engrossed in thinking about and focusing on what isn’t working out for us in the present moment that we forget not everything is technically going wrong in our lives at any given point in time. Unless there is only one major area of your life that you are actively invested in, life is rarely all good or all bad. We all get our share of both. Not just good and not just bad it’s always a combination of the two.

     I believe it is healthy to experience both. Just as we enjoy different flavours of food, it is equally good and okay to experience all the flavours of life. When things are going well, everything feels perfect. The real struggle begins when life doesn’t go our way. That is when we need to learn to hold on to what is working for us. It could be as simple as having a family to go back to, being in good health, or having food on our plate.

     The next question that might come to your mind is, “So, do you want me to just feel grateful for this?” Or perhaps, “There are people who don’t even have these things.” Or even, “What’s the point of all this?” The point is that we often take the simple goodness in our lives for granted. Goodness that quietly exists around us every single day. It doesn’t matter whether you are rich or poor it simply exists around us unnoticed, in your environment, asking for nothing in return. That brings me to another thought: How many of us truly acknowledge these simple blessings? Are we really present with them, or are we only present with everything that isn’t going well?

     Over the years, I have realised that we become so focused and emotionally attached to the parts of our lives that aren’t working that we don’t even allow ourselves to notice anything that contradicts that attachment. Life is always going to throw everything our way the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful. Yet, we often choose to sit with only the bad and the ugly. To me, resilience doesn’t simply mean surviving the worst experiences life throws at you. Resilience means having the ability to transform the parts of your life that aren’t working, learn from them, and continue to thrive. It isn’t about barely breathing your way through life.

     Holding on to the good generates hope. Hope gives us the strength to keep moving. That consistent effort brings change, and with change come more good things in life. We often forget to count our blessings because most of our time is spent counting our struggles. Sometimes, I even feel that our struggles give our ego a strange sense of importance. “I have struggled.” “I have been through so much.” It’s interesting how easily we build our identity around our misery instead of around the things that help us live a better life.

     Count your blessings not just because it’s a positive thing to do, but because it is the reality of life. There is always something good to hold on to, even in the hardest seasons. And if you are reading this today, you are already blessed in more ways than you may realise.

Love and Light 

Shruti