An erratic Monday

As always, Mondays are pretty unexciting when compared to other days, and the disliking would intensify if someone decisively adds dullness to the day.  Don’t get me wrong, because, now Monday blues don’t irk me much like before, and I make sure to wake up as early as 4.45 am, often making my dad wonder how his daughter can be so prompt even after being extraordinarily obsessive about sleep. Some days, or Mondays to be specific, I am head over heels in love with sleep, and hate waking up early and getting ready to take the morning bus to my workplace.  Right from the moment of hearing the annoying alarm, I would keep grumbling to myself and to god the very same question that I’ve been asking for years - Why can’t there by two Sundays in a week? But come to my home on a holiday, and you can see me enjoying a great sleep till ten on eleven in the morning, until my dad starts making fun of me for being irresistibly addicted to sleep.

Again came another Monday! I was in no mood to be lazy, and got up as fast as possible, and reached the bus stand at by 5.30 am only to know that my morning bus was no where found.  I ran to the bus station office asking if they had cancelled the schedule, but thankfully they hadn’t, and told be the bus number so that I can find it and occupy a comfortable seat without any struggle.  Gleefully I waved at my dad and hopped into the bus, happily occupying my favourite window seat. Time went fast and it was almost 6 am, but the driver didn’t reach. I worriedly ran back to the office again to know what happened, but to my surprise heard a hilarious reply from the officer in charge. Making me laugh my lungs out, he answered that the driver is taking bath and may reach in half an hour.  The ‘dutiful’ bus driver who should have taken us to our places at 5.50 am was happily bathing at 6 am and needed another long half an hour to do up! I felt that was weirdest of the excuses I could have heard. With a glum face, I went back and sat inside the bus, along with a handful of passengers. Time was running way too faster than what I have, adding stress and time to my commute, neither of which I can really afford to accumulate, especially on Mondays.

It was 6.40 and I saw our ‘handsomely bathed’ driver, lazily walking towards our bus, as if he was enjoying a romantic morning stroll, when all of us were wondering how to make up the time that we lost waiting for him. By the time we started from the bus station I had lost almost 45 minutes waiting for the driver to beautify himself. So after reaching the hostel at 8.15 am, it was like marathon run, and I had to speedily do everything, to reach my office by 9 am.

What a day! I couldn’t stop myself from saying this, because, I didn’t enjoy my travel, didn’t have a proper bath, and didn’t enjoy a good breakfast as well, all for no reason of my own! What more can make my Monday as worst as possible?

You may perhaps ask me the reason why I didn’t opt for another bus, so let me tell you that all the other buses were so jam-packed that I felt chocked even on the very sight of those crammed buses.

Take it with a grain of salt

How do you handle an insult; be it from a stranger or from someone who’s pretty close to you?Last day I happened to read a beautiful story of Buddha, and the way he handled an insult. Here’s it:

Once an angry man insulted Buddha. In reply, Buddha asked the man if people ever visited hi in his his home. Amazed at the change of topic, he replied yes. Later Buddha asked him whether his visitors ever brought gifts for him. The man again replied yes, and Buddha went on to further ask him what would happen if he refuses to accept the gifts, and who would the gifts belong to then? The man immediately replied that if he refuses the gifts, they would belong to those who brought them. On hearing this, Buddha replied calmly, "In the same way, since I do not accept your insults, they remain with you."

I think there’s a fantastic message in the story.

Heard someone hurl an insulting comment about you?  Take a moment & stop getting annoyed! Never roll your eyes and tap your fingers, because all these impulsive reactions won’t do any good, other than making your body and mind tired and worn-out, thus helping the other person feel that he/she has won in making you feel low and wounded.

If you ask me, the best way to handle an insult is to be silent and not to get offended. Facing an insult with patience is the best way to keep away your body and mind from all the unwanted stress and negativity that can take a huge toll on your mind & daily life activities.

Long back, whenever I used to be the soft target to shower insults and offensive remarks, I was often impulsive and  left no stones unturned to to burst out in uncontrollable anger, incessantly howling and shouting at the person in front of me, frantically trying to give a ‘befitting’ reply, which I felt would lessen the impact of the insult that I faced. But now I am not in to all those impulsiveness, and always make sure to take time to figure out things wisely, before giving my replies. A few minutes of silence and analysis helps me calm down, so that I can take a sensible move, instead of giving a hysterical scream in anger.

Often insulting remarks are never sincere opinions that are aimed at helping you become a better person.  So I don’t think we need to take time to find out the reason why people hurl such nasty remarks at us, as those verbal vomits would never have anything worth listening to. I think insulting remarks are nothing but  sharp thorns that people purposefully lay on your road to success, to make you trip and fall down as quickly as possible. So why bother to step on them and bear the pain unnecessarily?

The best way to avoid the catastrophe is to ignore them and take a deviation. This will assure your mind that no one else other than you can make your mind feel bad about yourself. I keep doing this whenever I hear rude remarks, and this helps me retain my confidence, instead of getting myself burned in the fire of irrational and offensive remarks. I am not saying that you should sit back and let people insult you repeatedly, thus giving them a chance to take undue advantage of you and your silence. On the contrary, make sure not to lose your mind over an unnecessary comment or remark made by an uncouth attacker. Instead, if you laugh aloud when someone pisses you off, you will feel better, and can give him/her a humiliating reply through your laugh. But if you think you cannot make use of your sense of humour, you are always free to distance yourself from that person. Only we can make the choice whether or not to get insulted, so why not make the right choice?