Happiness in an uncertain world

Uncertainty is a feeling of doubt about something that may or may not occur. In other words, you are not sure of what is going to happen. The feeling of uncertainty is quite common to homo-sapiens who can think and reason out. Most probably, animals are not suffering from this malady.

However much you are secure in your health, occupation or environment, uncertainty is all pervading.

Uncertainty begins even before your birth. When a foetus is in its mother’s womb, the parents are uncertain whether it is a boy or a girl. Another uncertainty is whether the baby is malformed or not. In order to get over the uncertainty, they consult medical specialists who scan the pregnant woman to know whether she is going to give birth to a healthy baby. The next uncertainly is whether the mother would be able to deliver the baby without any complications. Some people go to the extent of praying to numerous gods for a safe delivery.

Even when the baby is born, parents are uncertain of its future. Again they consult astrologers to find out whether the child would live long and become a useful citizen.

When the child reaches the school going age, parents face another uncertainty. They are not sure whether the child would be selected to a prestigious school. Instead of appealing to gods and consulting astrologers they go behind powerful people who might be able to help them.

Even when the child is admitted to a good school, parents are concerned with his safety. Will he get into bad company? Will he suffer from some incurable disease? Will he meet with an accident? So the parents have to take many precautions to protect the child in this uncertain world.

Then the child is groomed to sit the Grade V Scholarship Examination. Even children attending Grade II are dragged to tuition classes to prepare them for the scholarship examination. Although most Government schools are of the same level, parents want to see that their children attend a well-known school in the city. Obtaining high marks in the Grade V Scholarship Examination is the only way to have a child admitted to a prestigious school.

Even some bright students fail the examination and they have to find a less prestigious school. Parents have the wrong notion that if the child did not attend a prestigious school, he would not be able to pass examinations and get a highly paid job. But there are many children who have failed the Scholarship Examination and doing well in life.

When the child is ready to sit the G.C.E. Ordinary Level examination, another period of uncertainty begins. This is the time they attend tuition classes for almost all the subjects. As a result, the child finds no time for recreation and begins to study for his examination like a robot.

The next period of uncertainty is when the child is ready to sit the G.C.E.

Advanced Level examination. Again he has to attend jam-packed tuition classes with the sole idea of passing the examination with high marks.

A few students are selected to the university. Parents are now under the impression that half their problems are over. But this is not to be.

Ragging, picketing campaigns, and various other activities prevent undergraduates from completing their degree courses in time. Even when they pass out, the private sector is not ready to employ them. So, the graduates demand jobs from the Government. All this is frustrating to students and parents as well.

Uncertainty looms large even in work places. Sometimes, employees lose their jobs for various reasons. Even the most conscientious worker is not sure whether he would get his due promotions.

So, in modern times, employees do not work for a long time in one place. Some statistics shows that they change jobs every seven years or so. This creates unhappiness among employees and employers as well.

When you reach your twenties, you look for a partner. The chances are that you never get the right partner. This leads to frustration and family disputes. Marriage proposals published in newspapers show how many young men and women are waiting to enter wedlock. Fat dowries, highly paid jobs and family connections have become the norm when it comes to arranged marriages.

Only a very few people fall in love and marry.

Apart from all these problems, human beings are subject to many diseases.

When you reach your fifties or sixties, most of us are afflicted with heart problems, diabetes or paralysis. Although medical science has advanced in an unprecedented way, there are long queues in Government and private hospitals seeking treatment for various ailments.

Road accidents, drug abuse, contract killings and various other crimes take their toll from time to time. Sometimes, nature too strikes back with tsunami, landslides, and floods. All these are reasons for us to worry because they take away our happiness.

With all these problems man has to face, there is still hope. Modern psychology tells us how to remain happy in an otherwise hostile world. This can best be done by building up your self-image.

Look at yourself in a full-length mirror. Are you satisfied with your physical outlook? If you are not satisfied with your own image, you have to develop it somehow. Men and women can change their physical looks through plastic surgery.

Even clean clothes, make-up and perfumes coupled with good manners will improve your self-image to some extent. Unfortunately, physical looks alone will not help to face life’s mounting problems.

Let astronauts be concerned with outer space. Your business is to be concerned with your inner space.

Astronauts orbit around the earth and come back to the earth. But you orbit every day around your self-image. This is something fascinating when you know that your whole life depends on your self-image.

If you look at life realistically, most of your worries and fears will vanish. Look inwards everyday and you will find some areas that need attention.

This is a voyage of discovery. It will ultimately help you to develop your inner certainty that will guard you from recurring uncertainty.

Pliny the Elder, the illustrious Roman writer, once said, “The only certainty is that nothing is certain.” This does not mean that you should give up hope. A highly-developed self-image will help you to face all kinds of disasters until your last day on this wonderful planet.