Smile baby!

The hottest topic these days is about the great economic slowdown that's spreading like a virus all over the world... The "developed" countries are having it quite bad as it is, but even we in India who thought that our country would be "buffered" from the recession, are being proved wrong, as we see lay-offs, a freeze on new recruitment across industries with bright young graduates passing out from premier institutes not finding a job, and a general atmosphere of panic and caution all around us. The mood's really sombre with the realization that this recession is a lot closer to us that we earlier believed, and we could very well be its next victims.

And what are we doing to cushion ourselves from this? We have already started behaving like victims, playing cautious by spending less, saving more and worrying more... In short, we are already "preparing" for doom to befall us. Now it's quite easy to get obsessed about things that aren't going right, and centre our lives around it.

But I'd like to ask you, can we do it the other way around? Instead of centering our lives around what's not working, why not focus on what's actually working (what's going right), and be happy about it?

And there are a lot of things we have here... For instance, the fact that I can eat 2 (sometimes more) square meals a day, go home to a caring mother and a playful grandmom, sleep on a warm bed, the fact that I have good mind and an able body to make my life what I want it to be, and even the fact that I have a comfortable pair of footwear! These are just a few things that I am really thankful about. And I am sure that you'd have a lot of things on similar lines as well. It does take effort to count your blessings, but trust me, the effort is well worth it. And if you find it difficult, think about all the things that make your life better... even if it is something as simple as a a paved road to walk on!

Now I am no expert economic observer or anything, but all I'd like to say is this. The economy has gone down, and it's not gonna help if our spirits go down with it. So cheer up folks, it really isn't that bad. So what if the money's low? We don't need to depend on any external facets or reasons to be really happy... 'cos happiness is simply a choice we make. So smile baby, aren't you happy to be alive? :-)