THE OLD RULE OF PLAY...























“The best way to bring down our suffering in life
is to carry our crosses… gladly!”


I came across this line, this morning, on a waste paper! 

I stood there, still, for a while… and read it, and read it again and again and again:

“The best way to bring down our suffering in life
 is to carry our crosses… gladly!”


“So simple!” I really felt like as  though I had just discovered a new continent!


As a small child, every time I resisted the work given to me by mom, she would scream:

“If you do your work happily,
you will have more time to play!”


This meant: if I resisted more – complained, grumbled, argued, fought and postponed – I would simply add more trouble in my life… waste away my time… ruin my joy… and, yes, I would have less time to play, enjoy. My stress would deprive me of my joy, my playfulness.


The rule had applied everywhere - from my school homework to every other work… Yes, when I was small.

 
Today, at 54, the rule still applies: Right from the time I wake up till the time I retire… yes, each day, every day…


If I pay my bills in time, and gladly, I would feel the joy of this act:  of paying my bills. My tax, my EMI’s, my Premiums, the college fees of my son, the cost of medical treatment of my family members… all these payments can be a source of my joy or source of my stress depending on how I pay them. 




Any condition, any situation 


that I meet in life 


can be seen in the same manner: 


I can meet it gladly 


or I can meet it 


throwing my resistance. 



It applies to my relationships, too. How another person behaves with me, reacts to me, treats me… and, my response to his behavior, reaction and treatment… yes, my well-being is determined by my response…


The less I resist, the less I suffer…the more peaceful I am!


By the same token, the more I resist, the more I suffer… the less peaceful I am!





 






So, what caught my eyes, this morning, had been there all the while... writ-large on every wall… 


My eyes had seen it before… a million times over… still missed it!


Today, that wastepaper had made its random presence in my heart just to remind me, all over again, about the old rule of play:

 “The best way to bring down our suffering in life
is to carry our crosses… gladly!”



It only meant:

“Son, if you do your work happily,
you will have more time to play!”



GERALD D’CUNHA

Pics.: 1.Amit Bhoir

         2. Prajakta


Comments

jaya kadam said…
true. the more we resist, the more stress we experience. you hve conveyed it so beautifully.
---- jaya
October 14, 2012 at 6:26 PM
Vikas Jagtap said…
Enjoyed reading. inspiring post.
... Vikas
October 14, 2012 at 10:43 PM
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