FINDING THE 'GOOD' IN GOODBYE

 

“Thank God, I found the ‘Good’ in goodbye.”

Beyonce Knowles

 

The plastic bucket-chair, on which I am presently sitting and typing this Post, was bought by me more than three decades ago. I had bought four such chairs, and all four are still sturdy. The friend, from whose shop I had bought those chairs, continues to be my friend… and, his chairs, too, continue to be my loyal companions.

To me, what is a chair for, except for sitting on them and typing my posts, the way I am doing now? Even if I replace this chair with a sophisticated chair, say worth 25 K, will it make any difference to my writing work, my stories, my simple joy?

I realized it long ago, that the kind of chair I was using had no relevance to the kind of stories I was writing. So, I continue to use the same-old bucket chairs… They are still going strong, just as my storytelling mind does…

Our possessions are all there for our temporary use… When we let them possess us, use us – comes the danger… the despair!

We build beautiful houses, and spend rest of our lives caring for them – Sorry, worrying about their decay…

Do what we may, and what we can – decay does come. So, as we keep dusting, cleaning and caring, we need to remind ourselves, that the fewer and simpler the stuff, the fewer and simpler are our worries…

The Zen wisdom says, when we buy a beautiful glass, we need to see it as ‘already broken’. Thus, when the glass actually breaks one day (which, it will), we will not be heart-broken…

The money in the bank, or all our possessions, yes, they are all ‘already broken’… They are meant to come and go… They are never meant to bring us peace. Our attachment to them – our dependence on them for our peace – will simply frustrate us, when they go…

Every rupee coming down from our bank balance can bring up unrest in us. The early we recognize this truth, the longer we stay at peace… Just as my old bucket-chair reminds me…

Around the same time, as I bought this chair, I had come across this Zen pearl, too:

“If you love something, set it free…

If it comes back, it is yours; if it doesn’t, it never was.”

 

I will continue to write my beautiful Posts, with or without this chair…

“The chair is already broken,” I had said, when I bought it, more than three decades ago.

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic.: Bluesnap/Pixabay

Video: ChristophDollis