E-Paper
Spice of Life: Happiness hack, do what you love or love what you do
When I decide to love teaching, I simply forget whether I chose it, or it chose me. The line between the two becomes blurred. The rewards procured clearly outweigh the adjustment entailed.
The summer holidays are over. It’s back to square one. Adios leisurely reading hours, lazy afternoon naps, pool-splashes, and customised lemonades. When the dates for this year’s summer vacation had got declared, a colleague had shared that it would be a challenge to kill time. While this is partly true for everyone, because we all are so accustomed to structure in our days, it’s also partly untrue (and, well, kind of sad). The spare hours, and days, during the vacations have mostly had an enchanting and revitalising effect. Around the end, I felt that I could easily do with more of these days.
For this particular vacay, I had my own mini-version of a bucket list. It included catching up with relatives and friends, watching movies (Sky is Pink – ticked), finishing at least one oil painting, touching up my old paintings and getting them framed, trying out a new eating joint on a lunch date with my mother (ticked), recording a motivational video, volunteering, etc. I knew some of them were going to remain un-ticked, but that’s okay because life is not about perfection.
I have a coffee mug that says, ‘There are always flowers for those who wish to see’, implying there’s always something to be happy about, provided we look. So, as June 30 marked the end of half of 2023, with new summer-time memories etched forever in mind, we were back in college to enjoying Anuradha ma’am’s jokes, Sunita ma’am’s undying support, Ritu ma’am’s good-natured teasers, Geetanjali ma’am’s naughty glint-of-the-eyes, Deepa ma’am’s Shimla-outing (and other) tales, Ganeshwari ma’am’s sparkling laughter, Savita ma’am’s food-cum-cooking hacks, Pervinder ma’am’s soothing persona, Neelam ma’am’s forthcoming and friendly chit-chat, Kavita ma’am’s appreciation, Chanchal ma’am’s frank demeanour, Natasha ma’am’s subtle-sweet sensibility, Preeti ma’am’s tinkling anklets, Seema ma’am’s pretty-flowers-in-the-hair, Pooja ma’am’s chirpy-chatty presence and Jagjit ma’am’s calm composure; in short, we’re back to cherishing the things that remain the same over time, lending the so-desirable stability and predictability to life.
It would be no good if it’s ‘all holidays’, it would be no good if it’s ‘all working days’ either; and while I am tempted to think of the notion of ‘alternate working days’, I know that it’s hardly workable. In any case, the trick to happiness, they say, is, to either do what you love or love what you do. Both the situations demand at least baseline strength and optimism i.e. either taking a stand for your desired work or learning to enjoy your work whatever it might be.
Day in and day out, I choose the latter, for teaching wasn’t exactly my first love; but choosing to love it actually makes it lovable. It’s a lot about perception, indeed. Further, whatever I select, is, likely to change to the other one over time, and/or reverse again with time! In simpler words, when I decide to love teaching, I simply forget whether I chose it, or it chose me. The line between the two becomes blurred. The rewards procured clearly outweigh the adjustment entailed.
Just like every year, I remind myself that any task begun is half that task done; for beginning is usually the most difficult part. So, despite the internally building-up July-blues, I smile and repeat, ‘All is well’, and if it’s not, then it can be made so.
reemaban@gmail.com
(The writer is a Jagadhri-based freelance contributor )
