It’s time for holidays again & as we tread our way to close 2021, we all are anxious to welcome ‘that day’ when we all get to open our gifts!
The term gift puts up a smile on someone’s face & that smile is what chimes in with everyone who receives it, which becomes the common factor for the spread of joy!
(A tradition which was started in old times for a reason – to give back, to achieve a sense of cheer for those who were unfortunate as well as those who were fortunate)
Although, with time the meaning of the gift has materialized differently, history has shaped itself to keep those high moments in and leave the troughs out. The mere difference is that the troughs get forgotten over a period of time and one must always remember that though seemingly insignificant, troughs are the ones equally keeping the balance in for the wave to go through and reach many.
So, the question that comes to the mind every time – a gift – is received is:
A) What did I do to deserve one? Did I do enough?
B) Will it make a difference to my life over a longer period of time?
C) Does it serve a bigger purpose? How, will it effect, the lives of those unfortunate, who have never gotten a chance to get one?
Well, the fact of the matter is – except B) the other questions really don’t strike that much & many a times, the joy of receiving far exceeds the light which blinds the other questions.
But more added to it, is the fact that the questions revolve around set expectations & fulfillment & the expectation rises every time.
The people on the receiving end might get happy or not based on the expectation rather than the fact that did they do enough. There is always a competition to get more of it, that never seems to end.
The human instinct of feeling great and getting loved by the quanta and not essentially a deserving quality has been growing rapidly.
At a time like this, when the world has lost close to 800 million to something which was invisible & unfortunate, the question again comes back to understanding the troughs better. To make sure, we are not building domes in the sky which will ultimately crash with the swipe of a light wind.
And it all again goes back to understanding the difference between something which can be - ‘a gift’ - but when used without the deep thought and just appeal, provoking a feel-good factor for an instant but little positive use long term, can quickly turn into something which doesn’t look like a gift at all. Not that this applies to excessive unnecessary notifications, social media, electronics with appeal but no usage or a piece of code which just serves some purpose but doesn’t fit into the long-term ever-changing picture. We probably might not be doing the absolute right thing if we are just blaming the producer of technology, when the consumption is driven by us, so a little thought goes much farther. And this applies to anything which we are trying to change from climate change, to making earth a better place to live to preserving it from unknown foreign factors in deep space.
It’s just a small effort of thought – though might go a long way – provided the 3 questions might get more justice!
Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to all!
(Not that I have many (jokes apart) - but might I know the gifts that I have – earth being one)
(PS: The views & thoughts expressed in the blog above are my own and don't represent the views of any firm or organisation)
