‘I quit’…. or, ‘Do I?’

Many a times we feel that life has become too difficult for us to handle… Not getting the perfect grades, having a troublesome boss, a relationship gone sour, some nagging health issue, not getting the perfect job, fight with best friends… these are some of the few reasons that make us conclude that “life is difficult”, and we act irrationally. In short, we lose hope and quit.

At times, even I used to think the same, until a person I met at a railway station and some thoughts from within changed it all!

The person I am referring to was no professor, no saint, and no, he wasn’t another common man! He was a mendicant. Yes, you read it right.

This person had some issues with his spinal cord, which did not allow him to stand up, sit straight or even bend properly. He was asking for alms by dragging himself and his bag throughout the length of the platform. When people refused him alms, he would quietly drag himself away. Those who were generous to him were greeted by a warm smile and blessings.

It was a pitiful site, and after watching him for over 15 minutes, I wondered, “Why do we get so desperate?” There are so many moments ranging from frustrations of a job and low grades in studies to fights with people whom we care about, that make us wonder how sad life is and what’s the point of it… Some people even take get depressed and take extreme steps like suicide. Put simply, we lose hope, and quit.

Think again friends, is life really so difficult for us that we need to indeed lose hope? The mendicant I was referring to had the simple option of quitting: he could have dragged himself to the edge of the platform and jumped in front of any train. Even he chose to fight and not lose hope or quit. May be, he thought life had something better in store for him.

Let us think the same. Why cannot we at least hope that things will get better and hence not yield? I am sure, in the past too, we each one of us has overcome situations which we thought were impossible to recover from. Let us take some inspiration from the difficult times we overcame and the mendicant. Let’s make a small promise to ourselves, that no matter how frustrated we become, we are not going to lose hope; and fight every issue with our best efforts. How so philosophical it may sound, just as a thirsty man is able to better understand the importance of water, we will indeed be able to appreciate the goodness of life and others only once we have seen a few not-so-nice moments and met some not-so-nice people.

Taking a leaf out of the famous saying by J. M. Keynes: “In the long run, we are all dead”; may be it would be apt to say “In the long run, we are all happy”.

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