FULFILLMENT IS NOT SOMETHING WE CAN CREATE; IT IS A STATE OF BEING WE RETURN TO

Time has never acted as a greater and tougher teacher than it has been in recent times. We have somehow managed to keep our heartbeats ticking in this fierce time, but pandemic life lessons have come at the cost of our very presence in watching people go in blink of an eye. It is sometimes not mandatory to undergo sufferings to feel the pain, the understanding of suffering is enough. If we list down the cons emerged out of what pandemic has brought to us (apart from fatal count), the most underrated one is unspoken and more importantly unheard feelings.

We all know that few countries already had a roadmap for an attempt to reduce human-to-human dissociation, even before this pandemic hit. The progress on this is fast forwarded these days after embracing this virus so closely. Countries like Japan, UK had a central cabinet ministry called “Loneliness Ministry” to tackle suicide death counts and coronavirus has broadened this Ministry’s portfolio. Such journeys can take time to extend its reach to every ground seed and anticipating its time, a city in Denmark came up with an impactful, fast and on-the-spot treatment for this. This city has opened a library where instead of books, we can borrow a person’s story. The people who are not in a state of mental and psychological well-being (due to personal or professional reasons) tell us their story for 30 minutes regularly. As trust takes time, time takes trust. The purpose is not to solve problem, it is to fight prejudice, it is to realize why should not we ‘judge a book by its cover’. The intention is to not intake bad experiences but to share our positives with them. The idea was a big success, on paper and on moral ground. The idea propagated in other cities and countries. It is now internationally recognized as a concept of “The Human Library”. The root lies in the fact that Liberation is as important as storage.

I was inclined to understand how many people joined this movement as a listener. We all have our issues, our setbacks as everybody are sailing in same boat, to greater or lesser extent. How can anyone be in a state of taking extra disappointments, extra pain because in this barter system, listener must take negatives and gift their part of positivity. The result lied with UNDERSTANDING and NOT EXPERIENCE, as understood by following story.

Once a weekend teacher (a person who teaches only on weekends) asked all her students to write what they want to be on a piece of paper in just a word. After few minutes, when she collected papers, she was surprised to see one answer as it was from one of her mediocre students. His answer was “HAPPY”. She asked him, “Son, I think you have misunderstood my question”. He replied, “Madam, I think you have misunderstood life”. That genuine person who truly makes us feel inferior or small, is usually the one who takes least efforts to make us feel so. More observantly, a teacher learnt a life lesson from her orphan student.

The next day, when she commenced anchoring her corporate meeting, she asked every participant (senior, experienced person who must have struggled to get through life) to write about an incident they think they did not deserve. Everyone expressed about what they could not achieve, who humiliated, suppressed, cheated, or misunderstood them with deep pain, concluding with a big WHY ME, as if they have a USP in the human market of God.

When she understood the responses, she addressed, “You all have selected negative scenarios. None of you wrote about an incident which happened to you because of good fortune or kindness of others rather than your efforts. We all are addicted to think about misfortune we do not deserve. Please take a moment to consider the fortune of being born into a family full of care, resources, opportunity and love. We are so acquainted to miss the recognition bestowed on us without being qualified for it. Understanding of this makes us HAPPY.

Only these HAPPY people can withstand the negatives of someone’s story, can be a listener to an unheard. Returning to a state of peace and fulfillment above everything, is the best gift we can give to ourselves