How much do you live for yourself? How long do you travel for your inner happiness? How long do you follow the joys of your heart without hurting anyone and causing no harm to yourself?
Many men and women think that they must set apart a major share of their happiness for others; these people think that rejoicing for themselves is a sin! This is not a right practice. We need to find time and circumstances for living for ourselves just as we live for others.
They forget to live for themselves as they are deafened by the dictums that praise living for others. How many of you still retain the friendships that you had during your school days? Do you make a phone call to your old friend? Do you meet your schoolmates once in a while and go with them for a trip? Have you sat alone and watched the rain? Have you sat alone in peace and listened to your favourite song? Have you travelled alone to a place which was once your favourite spot? Didn’t you lose your personal joys amidst your attempts to live for your family and to be an exemplary family man or woman? Does your life partner or your children bother about your right to enjoy your personal happiness? How many of them are ready to leave you alone in your own world?
It is true that your family gives you great joy and peace. Your life partner is a lovable person. Your children are good-natured. When everything is going well, if you experience a feeling of loss and sadness within your inner being, it means that you have not lived out your personal joys. Only those who live their life well can live for others. Those who do not live their lives happily, pretend to live for others and keep complaining about it.
Each one of us has a life of our own. That life has a purpose and meaning. It is important to find out that meaning. That goal of life need not be fulfilled by living for a hundred years or multiple lives. We must live out that purpose and goal in this life, in the gravity which it deserves.
We should not live the lives of some others that do not suit us. Live our own lives that are a perfect fit. For that, first, you need to understand what you really need. Until I understand what I need, my life will be like a ship without a captain. Once you have understood what you need, your life will get a goal. Then you will think about the ways by which you can achieve that goal. You will start trying for it. Thinking about oneself is not selfishness. It is a sign that we have started working for ourselves.
