A moment of ‘Bliss’
At this moment I realized that life is bliss
It was a time when I was in New Zealand. It was the season of spring and everything around me was beautiful and cherishing. But sadly I was working too much. Those days I used to work around 12 hours a day. I didn’t even have the time for a decent meal. It was like everything was just slipping by. There was not a single moment when I was at peace with myself. Working too much was driving me crazy. I was earning a good amount of money but I was not happy because I was giving up so much for that money. I needed a break. As we all do when we stretch ourselves too much.
It is not worth it when you are sacrificing too much of your life just to earn money. Maybe people feel differently. But I agree to disagree.
I used to live with one of my friends. We worked together for the same number of hours. One day I was so frustrated with my life that I decided to skip a day and introspect the life I was having. One of the biggest problems was that our manager was not approving our leaves because my friend and I were asking for the leave at the same time. It was a disaster asking him about the leave.
Sometimes managers don’t understand what their subordinates need at the moment. They think of us as working machines. They forget that we have a life outside the office.
After fighting many times with our manager we decided to go for it. We decided that we have had enough and now it is time to rejuvenate. Then we planned a two day holiday. We were going to Pahia. It is one of the most beautiful places in New Zealand. We booked a good hotel room with a spa and a stunning view of the islands. We also booked a cruise to hole in the rock in the pacific ocean.
We were so happy that finally, we are going on a vacation. I was so excited that I couldn’t even sleep the night before. But almost every time things don’t go as we plan. Pahia was about 500 kilometers away from our place. We rented a car and chose to drive there. But, when we were halfway I got a call from the cruise management company that our cruise got canceled because of the bad weather conditions because it was raining cats and dogs.
We were so disappointed that for a moment we decided to go back to our place. I asked the cruise management company to cancel our tickets. but, I was so eager to have this vacation I called the lady again and asked her to book our ticket for tomorrow. I didn’t want to go back.
After this, we pretty much enjoyed our little trip to the bay of islands. We went on a cruise. We saw the hole in the rock in the pacific ocean. After this, we went to an island for lunch. It was a 1.5-hour stay to have lunch in a one and only restaurant. It was a very small island. It was beautiful, though. We were not hungry so we decided to explore the island a little bit. There was a little gate just behind the restaurant. There was a way just after that gate which was leading to the other side of the island. We clicked some pictures and started moving upward.
It was a nice walk with lots of trees on both sides of the track. Then we reached the place. At that time there were no trees on the side of the track. We could see the beauty. It was heaven. I have never seen such a beautiful place in my whole life. It was a sunny day with a little bit of cold. It was perfect. I could see the sheep lying on the ground peacefully and eating the grass. I could hear the birds chirping. Maybe they were singing something and trying to tell me something. I don’t even know If I got it right or not.
My friend was walking a little ahead of me. So I sat down for a moment. I was just sitting there and looking at the view peacefully. It was like I was seized by that moment. There was not a single thing on my mind. I was just there. I was present at that moment. I was just living. For the first time in my life, I felt how it feels to be alive. It was a moment of bliss. At that moment, I felt like I was connected to everything around me sheep, grass, trees, birds, and the ocean. They were singing rhymes together. The rhymes are just meant for me and only I could listen.
This was my first experience of this kind. I sometimes crave this feeling. I even went for another vacation just to get this kind of feeling but I couldn’t get it. Maybe one of the main reasons for this experience was my work because I was working too much and It made me forget the beautiful life around me. It made me forget how to live. But after this experience, I was a changed man. I went to work the other day and I was happy. Maybe it was because there was music in my heart playing all the time.
The philosophy of life is this: Life is not a struggle, not a tension… Life is bliss. It is eternal wisdom, eternal existence. — Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
