Remember those “FIRST TIMEs”, “FIRST DAYs” or “FIRST MOMENTs” of your life ?? I am sure that this very thought takes you through a journey of a lot of good old memories of your life. But have you ever given as much importance to the SECONDs, THIRDs or FOURTHs ??? Like the Second day at college, Third time you saw someone you liked or the fourth moment with your loved one ?? I guess not !! Atleast not most of us.... Have you ever thought, why is it so ?? Have you ever imagined, how would your life be, if you felt the same way about every moment of your life, as you felt about those first moments ?? If not, I suggest that its about time you think about it !! Because, I recently had a long chat with one of my friends, about this and figured out many things, which I am attempting to share with you, through this blog....
To start with, just imagine your first day at college/office... I am sure most of us can recall many things... Now, try to imagine your second day at college/office... Were you able to recall things, as well as you did about the first day ?? Well I did not ! Let me tell you the reason ! Its because you were not as curious/interested in knowing the place,people or your surroundings, on the second day, as you were on the first !
This was just an example, but if you give it a thought, so is the case with everything...Like first touch, first experience of something, first moment spent with your loved ones, first impression about something, first time you did something and so on..... We human beings give so much importance to all the “FIRSTs”.... Now that you imagined all those moments, are you not feeling happy ?? The intensity of the impact made by those moments is what makes you happy, when you think about them !! But, I learnt that, if you can just give as much importance to every moment in your life, then you can be lot happier, than you are now !! All that you need to do is develop what is called as “Present moment awareness”... Let me elaborate...
When you meet a person for the first time, he is a stranger to you.... You do not know anything about him/her..As you observe him/her and begin to communicate with the person, you begin to judge the person, you probably even make certain assumptions about the person and by the end of the first meet, you have an image/impression of that person created in your mind.. So now, according to you, you know the kind of person he/she is... But let me tell how it matters !
The next time you meet the same person, since you already have a presumption about that person, you might not observe/pay attention to knowing that person, as much as you did the first time... This is where, the value of second meet is lost !!
What I am trying to say is that, we are always making judgment about every possible thing... And we presume a lot from what we see just once... Meanwhile, we are missing out on things/changes that might have happened between the first and the other times.... We gain a limited knowledge about something the first time and then give that “limited knowledge” too much importance in our lives, which results in us narrowing down our thought process and letting those presumptions rule us !! The bottom line is, the lesser you think you know, about anything or anyone, the more you will learn !!
Let me give you one more common instance, to justify my point better....
When a baby starts exploring the world with its own eyes, it will be amazed by everything it sees ! Because, the baby looks at everything with an open mind or zero knowledge... It does not have any presumptions about anything.... It enjoys every small thing it learns or observes !! Unfortunately, as it grows up, like us, it starts judging and developing presumptions, for whatsoever reasons and becomes boring like us.... Because, unlike the baby, we look at everything with a narrow mind, which is closed down to our limited circle of thoughts !!
The question is, Why cant we look at everything with an open mind ? Why are we not ready to accept more than what we know ? Why do we have to let our previous knowledge about something, rule our present ? Why cant we make every moment of our lives, as special as those “FIRST MOMENTs” ??
Though its an easy job to say, I understand that its difficult to implement in our lives, as we are too accustomed to leading our lives, the way it is... But I believe, there is nothing wrong in giving it a try, if it means we could live a better life !!
The day you learn to practice “Present moment awareness”, you will be the happiest person !
Let us take baby steps in implementing it, by not judging people ! Lets forget the first impression we had about people.... Everytime you meet a person, look at him/her as a new person ! You might even end up liking a person, whom you thought you hated before !!
You might have not even looked at many things around you, for a long time.... Like a tree in front of your house, you own room, sky, moon, your vehicle and so on.... Dont you think all these are constanltly undergoing change, just as you are ?? When was the last time you looked at your vehicle and felt happy ?? When was the last time you looked at you room and felt happy ?? We dont look at these or enjoy these anymore, because we think we know everything about it and we stop observing !! That reminds me of a very meaningful line I came across somewhere which says “Only change is constant in this world” !!
I hope, with this, I have put forward my thoughts, in an understandable way !
Look at people each time, without remembering your past with them, you might discover something new !! Even if you are doing a monotonous work everyday, you might learn something new each day, if you pay as much interest as you paid the first day !! You might enjoy the second time you do something, as much as you enjoyed doing it the first time !! Just be aware of what you are doing at the present moment and give you full attention to it.... Dont let your past impressions/thoughts about something take away the joy of present moment from you !!
I am on my mission to look at life in a better way... I am hoping to be successful in learning to live my life that way.... If any of you who read this blog, believe in my thoughts and if you are intending to give it a try as well, I wish you good luck!! :)
