Ever wondered if a happy moment can actually make you feel sad eventually?
(No, I am not talking about smoking, drinking or drugs :D )
Don't get me wrong here.
My motive is not to discourage people from celebrating and from feeling happy.
My motive is to shed some light on the possible dangers (eventually) caused by some apparently happy moments.
Here is the list of the top 5 happy moments that might eventually cause pain and suffering...
Who doesn't like to be the centre of attraction?
Who doesn't like to be clapped at and greeted by others?
Who doesn't like to be an important and special person?
And, the critical thing about a Birthday celebration is - it wont last more than a day.
Sure, we definitely feel good when people make us feel special -
not because we have donated our blood,
not because we have planted a tree,
not because we have helped others,
not because we have performed well in a sport/event,
or not even because we took a resolution that helps us
- but just because a number changed.
But, any idea what happens later?
.
.
.
NOTHING !!!!
NOTHING happens latter.
How many of us have the ability...
There is no problem in celebrations and sharing joys.
But the problem arises when a person starts expecting others to behave in a particular way.
If a person expects others to treat him/her special, it means that he/she has some identity issues.
Some people call it identity crisis.
Some people call it attention freakishness.
Some people call it ADHD/ADD.
People with this problem often have troubled relationships.
They might end up choosing few wrong friends - just because they(others) have wished/gifted them(self).
And they might end up losing few good friends - just because they(others) forgot to wish/gift them(self).
Lets face it. We are good at something. A celebrity is better at that same thing. And we end up admiring/hating him.
We get connected to the celebrities easily.
If a celebrity(whom we admire) does a great thing, that we can not do, we feel as if we ourselves has achieved that.
If a celebrity(whom we hate) does a bad thing, we spend dozens of hours to EXECUTE our verbal attacks.
If a celebrity(whom we hate) does a great thing, we spend even higher amounts of time in digging the history to dwarf the current situation.
Of course, it gives us a lot of pleasure if we claim the greatness of others
- but it gives even more pleasure in rating down others(especially the celebrities).
And the ultimate happiness is caused when we blame a celebrity for the disadvantages/current condition of our group.
It makes us feel that we are otherwise perfect. So far, so good.
But... what happens when we are beside someone who don't have the same opinion about a celebrity?
Cult wars, mail wars, internet groups, hate groups all these are the results of our celebrity obsession.
For example, a person A and a person B have an argument - if a particular soccer player is the greatest ever.
At the worst possible case, A might punch B's nose - and they play a game together after a while.
But when a person X and a person Y have an argument about the greatest cricket player ever,
chances are likely that A might tie down B to a big tree and list down all the cricket match statistics till B's ears bleed.
Ranging from the movies to the brand loyalty to the sports to the politics to the patriotism -
All these are supposed to make our lives better.
But, because of our celebrity obsession, we end up arguing with the people next to us.
And, when it comes to the arguments, how many of us have the ability to differentiate between...
"What is right? What is wrong?" ... and ... "Who is right? Who is wrong?"
Imagine a beautiful garden, a big building, crystal clear beaches, an escape from the daily chaos, a peaceful calm serene holiday-spot.
What is the next thing that your brain thinks of ?
"How much is the package?"
Congratulations!!! You have just become one more victim of the capitalist tourism industry.
While not everyone is born with a silver spoon in their mouth, some of us might argue that there is no point in earning the money if we can't spend few thousand bucks for our peaceful life. Some people might even plan for an early retirement so that they can go on a world tour.
Its not just a matter of money. Travelling is not only just over-priced.
It is also over-rated. Just Google "Travelling is overrated" and you will find thousands of blogs and complaints.
With photography getting better and better everyday (and so is the population, and so is the inflation),
the "REAL WORLD" might not be as interesting as the way it is portrayed on a website.
In other words, the reel world is limited only by your imagination; whereas, the real world is limited by the reality.
Apart from the expenses, the hurried adjustments for the last-minute-changes, the waiting period for the vehicles, the crowds and noises at the boarding points, the long journeys, the not so good connectivity, the health and hygiene habits of our co-travelers, the risk of air based infections, not-so-home-like food at the hotels... and the list goes on. Is all this trouble worthy enough to experience something that gives you at max half of what was promised/portrayed?
Even if we take the expenses, the comfort levels, and the aesthetics out of the equation, one more question still remains. "What is the purpose of the travel ?". Is it because we need some relaxation? or is it because we need an escape from the daily chaos? As long as a person treats tours and travels as a break from the daily routine, it is fine. But if the person seeks an escape from the daily chaos through the means of a travel/tour, the daily chaos might look much bigger once the travelling is finished.
After all, trying to escape from the daily duties is called "ESCAPISM" !!!
Whatever escapism is provided by "travelling", the same escapism is offered by "partying" along with few more risks.
Well, may be not just a few risks... may be a lot more :D
For the starters, non-smokers get converted into smokers in a party. Most of the times, "first-time-drinking" happens in a party. Whatever diet restrictions we have followed throughout the week goes down the gutter in a party. Whatever event might be the reason for hosting a party, if we face the same event, we feel obligated to throw another party - and push the guests to go through the same obligation. Irrespective of our situation, the hosts expect us to honor their invitation by attending the party.
Oh dear! Should I stop here after covering the damages done by the parties to your health, wealth and time?
Wait a minute! I'm not done yet.
Over-drinking, over-eating, over-smoking, over-dancing, over-screaming, over-acting, over-emotional, over-exaggerating, over-showoff, over-comparing, over-intimate, over-pleading, over-aggressive, over-obsessed, over-bragging people might not always be fun to hang around with.
The friend finding, the birthday reminding, the news carrying, the colorful, the connected living of social networking is just like an extension to the party life. Everyone among the netizens (cyber-citizens) seem to be either bursting with energy or too tired of bearing the weight of the Universe. Every small event in their lives is portrayed as a sensation in their status updates. They feel great about themselves (and their creativity) after copy pasting a bunch of words.
Apart from this narcissistic/self-pity behavior, netizens also exhibit public emotions like blaming their spouses, cursing their lives, hating the celebrities, worshipping their (false?) role-models, spreading the fake facts (like the dangers of Di-Hydrogen Monoxide) etc.
The above mentioned things are very tiny when compared with the real problems like the comparisons done by the netizens on noticing the updates of their peers about their holidays, their new purchases, their party lives, their engagements, their break-ups, their pets, their houses and properties.. what not?
When someone does something once in a blue moon and poses as if they do it on each and every day, how many of us have the ability to ignore it?
Even if we fail to ignore, how many of us have the ability to refrain ourselves from comparisons?
Even if we compare, how many of us have the ability to resist the temptation of doing a similar(or better) activity and updating our profiles?
Even if we fail to control our temptation, how many of us have the time, money and energy to actually "DO" those activities?
And even if we actually do those activities, how many of us do those activities for the fun in them, but not as an attempt to improve our popularity (or appreciation from our peers)?
And finally, how many of us have the ability to smile, even if we get trolled by a comment like...
"I wish that, one day your real life will become as interesting as you claim it on your Social Network" ?