Present Sir, Absent Sir

I am reminded of my 5th standard.I was the class leader.I had to go to school 15 mts earlier, clean the black board ,keep the chalks and duster ready for the teachers..
The teacher used to call our names and the student stood and said'present Sir/teacher depending on the gender of the teacher.
Now let us visit a class room '50th standard' in a school called 'Life'.The teacher calls out the names one by one.

All students are above 50 years)
Agony--Present Sir
ANGER - Present sir
Anxiety- Present Sir
ARROGANCE - Present sir
Black leg--Present Sir
BOREDOM - Present sir
Childish --Present Sir
Criticism--Present Sir
Desires--Present Sir
Depression--Present Sir
Doubtful--Present Sir -
EGO - Present sir
Envy --Present Sir
Frustration--Present Sir
Future Tension--Present Sir
Greed--Present Sir
Half knowledge--Present Sir
Haste--Present Sir
Hurdles--Present Sir
Hurry--Present Sir
Irritation--Present Sir
Jealousy-Present Sir
Monthly EMI--Present Sir
Nagging--Present Sir
Office Tension--Present Sir
Past Tension--Present Sir
Present tension--Present Sir
Problems--Present Sir
Regret--Present Sir
Stiff -- Present Sir
Struggle - Present sir
Trouble- - Present sir
uncertainties--Present Sir
Worries-- Present sir

Regular absentees
Contentment--Absent Sir
Generosity--Absent Sir
Happiness--???
Happiness ???
Happiness---Absent Sir
Honesty--Left Sir
Hope--Left Sir
kindness--Absent Sir
Love--Sleeping Sir
Loyalty--Left Sir
Maturity--absent Sir
Meaningful-Absent Sir
Patience--Left Sir
Peace of mind--Absent Sir
Trust--Left Sir
Wisdom--Absent Sir

Interestingly some of the absentees in 50th Standard like contentment,wisdom and maturity
were found to be present in 73rd class.However happiness was absent in both the standards.

In life, there is nothing called sadness. Either Happiness is Present or Happiness is Absent.I am reminded of a famous saying in psychology
“Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.”
For most people, feeling happy and finding life meaningful are both important and related goals. But do happiness and meaning always go together? invariably one is 'present Sir' and another is 'Absent Sir'.

It seems unlikely, that many of the things that we regularly choose to do – from running marathons to raising children – are unlikely to increase our day-to-day happiness. While happiness and a sense of meaning often overlap, they also diverge in important and surprising ways.

There is a key difference between a happy life and a meaningful one.Research shows that
people’s happiness levels are positively correlated with whether they saw their lives as meaningful. However, the two measures are not identical – suggesting that what makes us happy may not always bring more meaning, and vice versa.

Feeling happy is mostly associated with seeing life as easy, pleasant, and free from difficult or troubling events. Happiness is also correlated with being in good health and generally feeling well most of the time. Feeling good most of the time might help us feel happier, but it doesn’t necessarily bring a sense of purpose to our lives.

Recent researches and findings show that money, contrary to popular sayings, can indeed buy happiness. Having enough money to buy what one needs in life, as well as what one desires, were also positively correlated with greater levels of happiness. However, having enough money seemed to make little difference in life’s sense of meaning.

This same disconnect was recently found in a multi-national study conducted in Japan.People from wealthy countries tend to be happier, however, they don’t see their lives as more meaningful in contrast to economically weaker nations.. Although the reasons are not totally clear, this might be related to greater religious belief, having more children, and stronger social ties among those living in poorer countries. Perhaps instead of saying that “money doesn’t buy happiness,” we ought to say instead that “money doesn’t buy meaning.”

Not too surprisingly, our relationships with other people are related to both how happy we are as well as how meaningful we see our lives.Feeling more connected to others improved both happiness and meaning. However, the role we adopt in our relationships makes an important difference.
The'takers' reported higher levels of 'happiness' whereas the givers revealed high levels of 'meaning'--though it cannot be expressed as 'happiness'.

When it comes to thinking about how to be happier, many of us fantasize about taking more vacations or finding ways to avoid mundane tasks. We may dream about skipping housework and instead doing something fun and pleasurable. However, tasks which don’t make us happy can, over time, add up to a meaningful life. Even routine activities — talking on the phone, cooking, cleaning, housework, meditating, emailing, praying, waiting on others, and balancing finances — appear to bring more meaning to people’s lives, but not happiness in the moment.

Pure happiness is about getting what we want in life—whether through people, money, or life circumstances. Meaningfulness, in contrast, seems to have more to do with giving, effort, and sacrifice. It is clear that a highly meaningful life may not always include a great deal of day-to-day happiness.
Do you want your life to be happy or meaningful?Which one you want to be present?The presence of both may rarely coincide,though not a total impossibility-unless the definition we give to'happiness' is totally altered.

We only wish that the 34 students who are always present are slowly replaced by a lesser number of normal absentees so that 'happiness and'meaningful' have constant presence.

jayasala 42
.

 

Dear muruga,
Thanks for your appreciation.Your response means a lot to me.
jayasala 42

 

Thank you Kamalji for your nice observations.On many occasions we long for things which we don't have or may not be able to get at all notwithstanding great efforts.This lands into depression and sadness.Perhaps after 70 we realise the reality and try to bring the absentees back into our system.But Lo! it may be too late for some people.

jayasala 42