Friday, April 29, 2011

Overrated

A few weeks ago my Mom had asked me to do a few chores for her. I agreed with her outwardly of course but when I went out back to the clothes line and saw the pile of clothes hanging there I was dismayed. My dismay turned to misery when I'd plucked them off the line and had dumped them on the floor to fold them. I sat down sulking but couldn't find a reason to not do the work. My parents are very loving people and they work day and night to make sure my brother and I have everything we need and want. So I sighed, reminding myself that I'd been the one to offer my help and began to fold the clothes one by one.


My mind started to wander and  soon before I knew it, the mountain which had previously towered over me was now reduced into a small neatly stacked pile of clothes. I stood up bemused, as I surveyed my handy work. Surely the pile wasn't supposed to look so small? I glanced around to see if I'd missed out on anything when a realization dawned upon me. I nodded in awe, admiring my logic. To my overexcited mind the pile of clothes had been an impossible task, huge, tangled and confusing. But when I'd mentally accepted that this was one chore that I simply had to do my mind too warmed to the task and helped me focus all my work on completing it. This made me wonder, are all life's problems slightly overrated? With the right attitude and the willingness to work hard can we overcome anything we set our hearts to?


But after a few times of trying unsuccessfully to implement this logic I've realized that it's no piece of cake. To achieve that kind of willpower is no joke. Believe me even with this knowledge in hand it's no easier being a better person. I'm still the girl who cries when things go wrong and shuts herself off from everybody when I'm mad. But nowadays I'm finding that it's easier to ignore my brother than fly at him when I'm angry, it's easier to just be done with my homework even after a tiring day. What I realized was that our minds are our greatest hurdles and greatest achievements. Hurdles when we need to implement will power and achievements when we assert ourselves and complete a task. I'm happy that I've realized this early in life because someday I know I'm going to need it.


Another thing I've noticed about life is that ignorance is bliss. Maybe that's why people adore babies so much. And maybe that's why I adore animals so much. Seriously, both have the same thing in common, both are pleasantly ignorant of our busy world and are content with simply living. The line 'All Izz Well' in 3 Idiots had always been just that to me: a line. A dialogue I'd never imaged would actually apply in life. I remember, just the other day I'd been having a bowl of grapes, my nose glued to the T.V screen. My hand would occasionally go down to pluck a grape from the bowl and pop it in my mouth, my eyes never wavering from the T.V. When my programme had gotten over I 'd glanced down at the grape in my hand and realized that it was slightly over ripe which had caused dark blotches to bloom over it in places. I chucked it away, revolted.


But that was the point, the grape would have tasted perfectly right if I had eaten it. There was nothing actually wrong with it and my throwing away of it had been a mistake. I knew that and had still chosen to waste the food morsel. Whereas when I'd been otherwise occupied I had eaten every grape in my hand irrespective of its ripeness. Looking down my mind had decided that the grape was not of my standard and I'd thrown it away. The same grape I would have eaten if I were blind to its appearance. My brain had invented a problem, where actually nothing had existed. I'm not saying that its best to remain ignorant all the while but sometimes I find its better to implement Rancho's logic in life than complicate situations uselessly.