THE SHOCKING TRUTH ABOUT HAPPINESS…

RECIPE FOR FINDING HAPPINESS IN A TRAGEDY

To dive into the depth of this subject, or even slightly touch upon its surface… we need to be sure that we’re speaking the same language. So… let us check what the main elements of this recipe mean, according to a well-known dictionary… Merriam-Webster.

 

THE FIRST INGREDIENT in order of appearance

TRAGEDY – a very bad event that causes great sadness and often involves someone’s death.

 

THE SECOND INGREDIENT that appears in the end

HAPPINESS – a state of being happy; an experience that makes you happy. Weird… what kind of a definition is this? Happiness means to be happy… I am wondering… does anyone think that happiness is a state of being sad? Then… let’s try another definition… What is the state of being Happy? Well… here I understand it a little better… it is a feeling of pleasure and enjoyment because of your life, situation, etc. OK, I got it!

How can you combine these two elements into a perfect recipe? It would be like mixing oil and water. I am wondering… is it really so impossible to mix oil and water? What if we introduce a little heat to combine these two? Will this heat be considered the third element for a perfect recipe?

If it is so… what if we find something more suitable which can perfectly mix Tragedy with Happiness?

I am telling you… a third ingredient does exist…

The human logic says that you cannot combine these two states too well. But…

The rational mind seems to have nothing in common with the spiritual laws. What is hidden behind the veils can’t be reached and comprehended using our minds. We must train our mind to listen and have faith in our heart. Only by using the heart, can we access what is hidden from our perception.

Before I tell you what the third ingredient is… let me tell you a story. An extremely sad story…

It was in 2004 when I had the biggest confirmation which life could give me regarding… what happiness is and the way we perceive it.

Until then I had many clues and indications from what life had brought on my path. But the most conclusive was in December of 2004.

India… is a country that has always fascinated me. That winter, I planned on going there. It was not my first trip to those places, but at that time… it seemed that my whole life depended on it. In fact, this was really true, but not in the way I thought it to be.

That year I was heavily dealing with an import-export business and my best clients were living in India. They were located in Mumbai, but that December my intention was to go to the South-Eastern side of this beautiful country because I had to check on some potentially new business partners. My flight had to land on December 24^th at Chennai’s airport. The plan was to stay in that area for one week and then go to the Maharashtra area, on the west coast.

I was happy and excited. Moreover, I knew that everything depended on my travel. If things would work out exactly as I wanted them to… my life would see a huge change; in the best possible way.

But… life is life, and you know very well that what you plan for does not always happen. When something like this occurs, we are usually upset, angry and think that life is unfair.

This was exactly how I was feeling, when… for sudden and unexpected personal reasons… I had to cancel the flight ticket. I cannot describe the sadness instilled inside my heart. I cannot describe the anger that embraced my mind. I also cannot describe how much blame I placed on the shoulders of the universe and especially how much I blamed our Creator for treating me like this.

On the day when the airplane I was to be on, landed at Chennai airport, I was experiencing one of the angriest days of my life. I could not do anything more about it, so I decided to accept my fate.

Two days later…

December 26^th, 2004…

Yes… the day when I was to be in Chennai… and exactly on that shore…
The newspapers were screaming… “The earthquake and resulting tsunami remains one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history, with a toll of dead and missing reaching over 230,000 people. The earthquake was the third strongest ever recorded on a seismograph, and the longest in terms of duration.”

No… I don’t intend to tell more. The moment when all the television stations were yelling about what had happened in all Asian countries on that day… the moment when I realized how many people died… that day was one of the happiest days of my life.

I know… I admit it… I am such an egoist! But… wouldn’t you be just as happy if you were the one in my skin?

I am now alive because what was perceived to be a personal tragedy on December 24^th, was, in fact, my “savior” two days later.

The official reports mentioned 6-7,000 dead people in Chennai. My friends who had survived have told me something else. The numbers were much, much higher. But… like always in life… reports are just reports.

Still… I saved some official photos from that moment, taken from the same area my soul was to have its body left behind. If you want to recall those events, you can take a look at more photos at the end of this article. I wish photos with events like these will never take place again.

“I wish our planet would not need to “take revenge” again, on the behavior of the human race.”

Now, let’s get back to the recipe mentioned in the beginning of this article.

 

THE THIRD INGREDIENT that must be added in between

I will be short here.

Have you already figured out what is the third ingredient?

Yes… it is ‘TIME’.

TIME – a nonspatial continuum that is measured in terms of events which succeed one another from past through present to future – says the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

Coming back to the story I mentioned, I do not know what the reasons were for having so many people die. I didn’t talk with them prior, I was not in their skin to understand the spiritual aspects of what happened; I don’t know what life plan they decided to follow before the souls came in their human bodies.

However, I know one thing. What I perceived as a personal tragedy due to my travel plan being canceled, in fact, was the best thing that could have happened to me. In addition, due to my “personal tragedy”… I am HAPPY because I am still here in this human body, continuing my life plan… which was decided a long time ago… before taking breath on this planet.

Therefore, whenever something dramatic happens in your life, try to overcome the first temptation to cry on your own shoulder because you think life is so cruel and unfair.

Rather… BE HAPPY and accepting of all that is happening to you… no matter how good or bad it may seem!

There is a hidden reason for why things happen… and they happen for your highest good. ALWAYS!

 

In the future… when you experience the following

• Have to cancel that important business meeting that your life depends on, because… your son lost the keys to the house and doesn’t have anywhere to stay until you come home… do not blame your son!

• If your alarm clock does not wake you up, you are late for your job, and now you’ll be fired… do not blame your clock!

• If you’re stuck in traffic, are unable to make it to your dream date, and get dumped… do not blame the traffic.

• If your car breaks down and you miss your flight that was taking you to your dream vacation spot for which you saved several years of your hard earned salary… do not blame your luck!

• If you fall down on the street, break your leg and have to go to a hospital to get fixed up… do not blame those who repair the roads!

• If you encounter any other reasons, you perceive as personal tragedies, which don’t need to be mention here… do not blame your fate!

You might just get the chance to discover a taste of Happiness.

First you have the Tragedy… add a portion of Time to it… and when you can truly understand how lucky you were for gaining the first element of your recipe… then add the Happiness.

You still don’t believe me?

I will ask you to do something… it is the most extreme example of what you can do… but…

Go, find the survivors of the September 11^th tragedy; those people who were supposed to be in the building, but for some unexpected personal “tragedy”, their arrival was delayed. Ask them… what was their reason for not being inside the Twin Towers in those final moments?

The shocking truth…

Small personal tragedies are blessings that Heaven gives us!

The question is… what is Small and what is Big?

What is and what is not… only the One Creator, who created all that exists, knows.

Until we are able to understand His reasons of acting like this…

Let’s try to be Happy while we are alive! Who knows? Maybe one day we will understand why!

“The massive tsunami tidal waves that struck the Coramandel (eastern) coast of South Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry without a warning on the (Sunday) morning of December 26^th, 2004 has left a trail of destruction, suffering, and death in its wake in the coastal districts of Chennai, Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Thoothukudi, Ramanathapuram, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari and Karaikal. The latest official death toll is put below the mark of 10,000 as no accurate picture has emerged in some of the worst-affected areas.”

http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/opin/lasamy_tsunami.html

 

The killer waves moved with such a high speed that the Tamil Nadu people didn’t have any time to make a warning announcement. It was impossible to comprehend what would happen in such a short time.

 

The waters killed not only entire families, but even entire communities. They did not even know what hit them while they were going about their ordinary lives.

 

When someone dies, the family that remains crosses a tragedy. But this catastrophe had a different magnitude. The whole village had vanished.

 

More than the physical tragedy that the survivors felt, the emotional ravage is more profound.

 

Lost houses… lost homes… but anyway… who would live in them anymore? All their inhabitants were washed away.

 

Bodies… more bodies… anger and sadness. How many can you save from the water’s fury? How many can you still search for after the killer wave retreated?

 

Helpless parents… horrified grandparents… What can you do when your kid is taken away right there in front of your eyes?

 

Mountains of boats… where are the fishermen? Are they still alive to claim their boats?

 

Can words comfort this human being? He is a survivor but… what’s inside his heart? Who can ever know?

 

Can our minds grasp an upside-down world?

Tu autem Domine miserere nobis!
(Latin; But Thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us!)