Life and happiness Series 1: To complain or not to complain!

It is strange, isn’t it? On a hot summer afternoon, we complain about the heat; on a chilling winter night we crib about the bitter cold; on a rainy afternoon, we wonder when the pouring will stop! Neighborhood has all the amenities and we don’t! Mr Mukherjee’s son scored letter marks in secondary exams and my son didn’t! The list goes on and on. We are just too good at complaining, quite efficient in that too! Now, let’s look at few of the examples quoted. The truth is, a summer is supposed to be hot! So are the winter and the rainy season. You see the irony here; we want winter in summer, summer in winter and can’t stand the sight of rain (for many) in rainy season. Should the world change for us? Not possible! The only option left is to change ourselves. We should change the way we think, observe and react. For us, the grass is always greener on the other side. However, we don’t realize that, ‘the other side’ lives in the same environment, face the same dilemma, breathe in the same air, and drink the same water. We lack the patience to think and ponder over a situation. The reaction comes thick and fast and our thought process is never long term. Now, these might sound pretty frivolous and kind of straightforward! But hey, trust me; most of us know it too. It's just that, we are too lazy and apathetic to do the right thing, and guess what; I am part of the brigade too!
So, what is the solution? We don’t have any categorical one, I would say. Since, most of us are ‘gyani’ enough to understand the fact and differentiate it from fiction! The problem arises at the implementation part and there are no easy solutions I am afraid. We complain because things are not like the way we want. However, a dispassionate and impartial peep into our mind and one would realize that there is only one truth that can happen at certain point, come whatever we might have thought of. Truth may be a single happening or a set of happenings. Let’s say, on a hot summer afternoon, I am too thirsty, tired and feeling dazed. On one of the extreme corners of my mind, I crave for a rain, soon! Suddenly at around 5 in the evening, some cloud gathers in the sky, and my hope quotient moves up! But alas! It never rains that evening. I wanted the rain to happen, but the truth is and remain that ‘the rain didn’t happen that day’. So, we see that truth always remains constant whether we complain or not. But, if we are aware of that, why do we complain? It’s because, that is the easiest way to vent ire and frustration. What we could have done at that time was probably gone for a bath to beat the heat. That would have subsided our desire of some splash in water. But, we decided to curse our stars instead and couldn't stomach the fact that, it really didn't rain! Hence, we can try to summarize it by saying that, adaptability, a clear understanding of the situation, dispassionate outlook and patience can be identified as the factors those should be controlled to better effect if we have to stop complaining!