Festivalsare such a wonderful time to be happy, to rejoice, to be thankful for what wehave and they bring with them a fabulous opportunity to share our happiness andgratitude with our friends and family, who mean the world to us.
Wesometimes, however, do forget the true spirit of a festival and find ourselveslost in the worldly interpretations that people around us create for us.
Welose our perspective on life and spend loads of time and money shopping forclothes we may never wear or buying candles we might never light or jewelry wemight never wear or procuring food we may never end up eating. We tend tosplurge, hoping to find our happiness in the material pleasures of the worldonly to feel terrible about the wastage at some point in time later in life.
Atthe end of the day, it is not really about the clothes we wear or the food weeat or the process we follow to celebrate the festival, as it is meant to be celebratedas per our tradition. The true spirit of a festival, instead, lies in the thoughtsthat we choose to bring forth and the positivity we create for ourselves andfor the people around us.
Itdoes not matter if on a festival day, we find ourselves alone or dejected ordrowning in a sea of challenges, which, for the moment, seem quiteinsurmountable. What matters, is our ability to keep our past and current worriesaside and to think about the actions we can take for a better tomorrow. Whatmatters is that we remember that the ability to choose a new beginning lieswithin each one of us, at all times.
Whenwas the last time we thought about making the person who matters so much to us,happy, on a festival - someone, whom we know we have not had the time for in along, long time, yet somehow hoped they found their happiness, almostmagically? When was the last time we did something special for our family on afestival “ something that they would truly find meaningful and something thatwould be imprinted in their memory as a happy time for many years to come?
Whenwas the last time we chose to play our part of being a socially andecologically aware citizen and initiated a new and better way of spending ourtime and money? When was the last time we spent a festival with ourselves,celebrating life and all its gifts?
ThisGanesha festival, lets pray to the Ganesha within ourselves and start a newjourney, a journey towards spreading happiness, within ourselves and all aroundus? What is your way of celebrating this Ganesha? Do share with us “ we wouldlove to hear from you. Here’s wishingyou a Happy Ganesha!
Namrata Arora is a talent strategist and workswith many women as a life coach and guide
