The Missing Red hat
An old lady, along with her grandson, was strolling on a sea beach. Suddenly the sea went violent, and huge waves started beating the shore. Amidst a lot of mayhem, people began running away to safe places. That’s when a tragedy happened – one huge wave gulped the small kid and sucked it into the sea.
The lady started crying profusely. She was an ardent believer in God. She sat on the ground and started praying to God. God appeared, and the lady pleaded for the little boy to be brought back to her.
God said the kid has no more breaths in his destiny. It is not easy to bring him back to life. However, when the old lady was relentless in her demand and insisted that she wants her grandson back at any cost, God agreed. All of a sudden, one mighty wave surfed, and the boy was thrown back to the shore along with it.
God smiled at the little boy and then looked at the old lady to inquire if she was happy now! The grandmother said, “God, this boy was wearing a red colour hat. Why did you not arrange for that as well?”
In our daily life, many of us are drenched into a similar shower of ‘deficit thinking’. It not only drains our energy but also deflects our efforts in an unproductive direction.
A sportsperson excels on the field, an artist performs her best on stage only if he/she has had put in enough hours of focused practice into the sport/art. On an average, we human beings sleep for about 7 – 8 hours a day + a couple of hours in commuting. That leaves us with about 12-14 hours of conscious thinking. Every thought that we think amounts to repetition and leads to practice in a specific direction.
When you reach office late and find your boss in a firing mood – what thoughts do you practice? Do you say, this man is too harsh and not- compromising! Or do you say, ‘well, I am late, so I deserve this punishment but then thank God, my job is safe!”
In place of cribbing over an opportunity lost, concentrate on the next moment and be on the lookout for new avenues – be hopeful.
In place of crying over the pain/sorrows you may be experiencing right now, shift your thoughts to the areas of peace and possibilities – bear gratitude. In place of looking at the missing red hat, be content and thankful for having saved one life.
written by Dr Ajit Varwandkar
