Trashy Entry #4: THE 21ST CENTURY EPIDEMIC TAKING PEOPLE BY STORM- II

REMEDY:

It is definite now that we’re knocking the wrong doors. The loneliness is the weakness persisting in our minds, and not of the surroundings. There are many notable moments when we feel all alone even in a bountiful gathering. Thus, it’s nothing wrong with the place, air or weather. The glitch is in the mind, a feeling that emerges from inside, like a void that builds when we believe that people or objects would fill it when we’ll need them to. Henceforth, the cure remains with us too.

Find a hobby today! Seek the things that make you happy, even after you’ve spent hours doing it all alone and continue the ritual. We humans are creators by nature. The bliss that we seek in building something is far comparable. So find the maternal instinct inside you that keeps you going even in dull times by creating a unique piece.

Social work: Develop a habit to do something good for the society or the environment. It swells our heart with pride and sense of worth.

Invest in the relations from the start: Family is the most blessed gift from God. Despise it or like it, but they’re the reality of our existence. The time now invested in those who are close to our hearts and try to be available in their needs, can build a strong foundation to a healthy family. This gives a great sense of belongingness.

Get a pet! The innocence and overwhelming unconditional love of a pet keeps us feeling loved and wanted.

Travel and nature: Learn to relax and enjoy the nature. Nature is our ultimate undoing. We are all designed for the wilderness. But during our little span of mortal life, we seldom steal moments to stop and smell the flowers. Thus, time to learn to breathe in the fresh aroma of the flora, bathe yourself in the purple light of the setting sun, and calm your mind with the sound of the flowing water. Go places, if you can, see the wondrous creation of the Mother Nature. There is no end or any boundary that can limit the thing of beauty that embarks the joy forever.

It’s true that we are all designed to play our roles in life. But in doing so, we often forget that we’re created by nature to mingle in it one day. We keep running throughout our youth and when we stop at the finish line, we stand there confused and wonder what to do next. The old age is not the stage of loneliness as we all fear that it is. It’s basically the stage to sit back and reap the investments that we made while running our way here.

After all, sitting in a corner and sipping a nice drink with a book or ipad is actually not a bad thing to do. But doing it all over again and every single day for the next twenty years is what scares us all. Train your mind to love the beauty of life rather than fearing about the future. “And if we die alone???” Well, we all die alone. It’s not a group thing to do. So, why worry about that yet? It’s an altogether different topic.    

Trashy Entry #4: THE 21ST CENTURY EPIDEMIC TAKING PEOPLE BY STORM- I

THE PROBLEM:

After all the hard day’s work, most of us dream to sit on the comfy couch placed on far corner of the house, with a cup of steaming tea/ coffee/ hot chocolate and maybe a book to go with. This ‘me time’ is a heavenly bliss for every person who drives oneself crazy the entire day working their butts off in the office/ kitchens/ running after kids. Oh! This peace and solitude seems far too delicious when we imagine ourselves soaking in it. How we wish an eternity of such beautiful moments!

Let me divulge you in a secret. This is the epidemic I’m talking about in this blog. The so-called ‘dreamy place’ would suddenly turn into a hell-hound when our imagination takes a ten- year leap. Let’s start all over again. This time we may take the liberty to place ourselves in our fifties and sit on the same couch placed in the lonely corner of the house and try to convince ourselves that the ‘me time’ took a longer turn. Not so tempting now, is it?

I’ve met a lot of people who are facing the so-called mid-life crisis that’s plainly indicative of their fears surfacing due to the loneliness they feel. Most part of their lives they’ve worked like mules, never getting enough time to seek any hobby or something to boost their creativity or built a sound relation with a true companion. Simply taking everything for granted except work. It’s a popular presumption that when we have lot money, we can buy anything to please ourselves.

 People work for comforts, money, house and status. But when they achieve it all, they try seeking the next venture. But oops! Nobody bothered to peek at the clock. It’s almost mid-fifties! Do we still have that much time in our hands to do something else? With all the cholesterol and diabetes thriving inside our bodies along with other imbalances, can we really reinvest our exhausted brains into yet another venture?

With these questionable realities, almost 80% of people give up and convince themselves that they’re now retired. Then they turn back expecting their families to entertain their boredom. Oops again! We forgot the clock yet another time. The parents have grown older and are more like kids than our once mature councilors. And our kids, on the other hand, have grown older and expect us to treat them like parents. It’s like Alice looking through the mirror!

The world that we once built is upside down now. We yearn to be with those we created so that they become the crutches of our old age. But sadly, they are helpless with the lack of time as they are following the same regime that we once chose for ourselves. Then we look for our spouse, (keeping in mind the current divorce rates and low human tolerance levels) who had probably in 25% cases lost interest in us years ago and separated their paths. Our siblings have nothing to help us (maybe it had skipped our minds countless times to invite them to our family get-togethers). Friends don’t remember us. Obviously, they are playing their individual parts in their respective struggles.

Gosh! We must now follow the path of the Great Gatsby and organize affluent parties for our past acquaintances to come attend and spend some quality time with us. But the question arises, was Jay Gatsby spared by loneliness? Absolutely not.

(To be continued...)