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Happiness is a choice

Happiness is a choice

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 Auto-generated transcript:Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen. Wa salatu wa salamu ala ashrafi al-anbiya wal-mursaleen. Muhammadun Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi sallam. Tasliman kathiran kathiran. Amma baadu, my brothers and sisters. I was talking to a friend of mine, and we were talking about the different kinds of things that are happening in the world, almost all over the world, and everyone seems to be in some kind of problem or the other. For someone it's financial, for somebody else it is political, for somebody it's health, it's old age, it's, you know, all kinds of stuff. And the conversation was kind of going towards, you know, a lot of negativity. And I was, then I remember I said, I said to them that I was really repeating something which I read many years ago and which I try to hold on to because of how beautifully it's done. And the story was about this lady who, an old lady, this Uber guy gets a call. And when he goes to pick up, there's this very elderly woman. And she just comes to the door. She says, will you, can you help me with a bag? So he comes, he goes up there. There's one single bag. And as he picks up the bag, he sees that it's a small little house. And he sees that it looks like she is vacating the house. The house seems to be, you know, completely empty. And so he takes the bag. Takes her, helps her down the stairs. And then they are going to the car. And this woman seems to be very happy. Absolutely, you know, top of the world. So he puts the bag in the car. And then she gets into the car. And he says, he has the address. So he knows that he's taking her to a sanitarium, an elderly care facility. So he asks her, you know, just, you know, a conversation. He says, you're going to this facility. And, you know, who is there? Anyone in your family? She says, no, I have nobody. I'm alone in the world. And I got to a stage where I can't really stay alone by myself. So I need to go. I need to take this. I need to go to this facility. Now, this Uber driver, he doesn't know me. Should he sympathize with her? What should he say? So he says, spontaneously, he says, you know, that's terrible. I mean, there's no one here. Even to go to this facility, you have to go on your own. She says, well, you know, I'm not going to go. I'm not going to go. I'm not going to go. You know, you are there. I mean, I'm so happy that you're there. And thank you very much for being there. So the man says, of course, absolutely. I am honored. I'm very happy to be with you. And so he said, how are you able to maintain this kind of equanimity, this kind of, you know, there's no anxiety. You're not upset. Nothing, you know, you seem to be so happy. And really, I mean, what is there to be so happy about? So she said something which is fantastic and which has, Anandila stayed with me. And I'm sharing that with you because I think it is such a beautiful thing. She says to him, every morning when I get up, I'm at an age where I get up, I have aches and pains. And every day I wake up, I think I have a new one. And so on and so forth. But she said, every morning when I get up, I realize that I have a choice. And my choice is, that I can either think about this new pain I have. And I can think about the fact that I can't remember things too well. I can think about the fact that sometimes because when I need to go to the bathroom, the need is so urgent that sometimes there is an accident. I can think about all kinds of things. Or I can look out of the window and I see this absolutely beautiful, glorious sunrise. I see this absolute glorious, you know, sunny morning. I see it's now winter, so I see snow everywhere. It's beautifully white. And then there is a cardinal sitting on a rock. It looks like a ruby which is on a bed of white silk cotton. I can listen to the thrilling, beautiful sound and song of the skylark. I can think about the fact. I can think about the fact that while it is true that I am old and I have these aches and pains and stuff, but alhamdulillah I am able to walk. I am able to move around. I am not in a wheelchair. I can think about the fact that I am able to more or less eat whatever I like to eat. I don't have any crippling diet restrictions. I can't even go to the doctor. I can't even go to the doctor. And so on and so on. So meaning that she says that I have a choice to think about many, many things. And she said that I thought to myself that all of those things are true. While it is true that I have aches and pains and the rest of the list that I mentioned to you, it's all true. It's also equally true that there are so many positives. Right? That I am not in a wheelchair. That I am able to move around and so on and so forth. And a whole lot of them. It's not just these things. There are more and many more. So she says, I therefore have in my life all these choices. Now, my thing is, which of these choices do I want to focus on? Right? Which of these choices do I want to focus ...
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