The Bad & the Good

Times. Good times and bad times. Somehow we all have this tendency to classify time in these two categories. How many times have we said that, “my luck seems to be going against me” or “it’s one hell of a time”. These lovely bad times that we all hate so much, have a nag of showing up at our doorstep ever so often. They seem to enjoy seeing us miserable and exhausted. So what can be considered as a bad time? I can list a whole lot of examples from my personal experiences and from what I have seen. An accident on the road, failing in an exam, being rejected in an interview, problems in a relationship and eventually being dumped, which seems like the end of the world (at least it seemed so to me).

But what we tend to forget is that, bad things don’t just happen automatically. I mean, they can happen suddenly, but the reason lies somewhere within us. Probably we were not cautious enough while crossing the road and got hit by a vehicle, or didn’t study at all and were bound to flunk, were not confident/presentable/suitable enough for the job, so had to face the door, or were a complete jerk to him/her and so deserved being dumped (and no it’s not the end yet, there are many jerks out there suitable for us). What I am trying to say over here is that, most of the time (99%), we are responsible for things not going quite right. Like Sylvester Stallone said to his son in the movie Rocky, “Stop pointing fingers at others and saying – you ain’t what you wanna be because of him or her or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain’t you, you’re better than that.”

So why do we hate these bad times so much? Well, because each person likes things to go his or her way. That means we have created a comfort zone for ourselves. When we are made to leave that comfort zone, then it causes discomfort/frustration/irritation. Fact is, that we cannot avoid these times, because, for the expansion of our comfort zone, it is essential that we first step out of it. And in the process we extend our limits and really get to explore ourselves. Running away from these times is pointless because ‘you can run, you can hide but you can’t escape these times’.

Barack Obama, in his book- ‘Audacity of Hope’ says, “My father left us when I was 2 years old. My mother and I, we were very poor. But she gave me an education and most importantly she gave me HOPE.” Hope has the power to light up even the darkest corners of hell. Hope can bail you out of any treacherous situation. If we are willing to hope then somehow a small window will definitely open up for us. So harbour hope, have faith even when you are biting dust, times will change, you will rise and see the sunshine.