It was a chilly Saturday night in the month of September. I was alone at home. Something or someone was moving outside — I could hear a scraping and scratching noise. Suddenly, I felt a wave of cold air come in from somewhere. Oh god! Did I leave a window open or was there someone in the house? And then, BOOM — there was a very loud crashing noise. I jumped up startled, and almost fell off my couch as my eyes darted back to the murder mystery movie I was watching on Hallmark Channel. The killer was chasing the protagonist as she ran away from him stumbling and bumping into things. And, the rest was my imagination playing tricks on the mind. I had indeed left a window open and the culprit guilty for the commotion outside was an innocent tree branch that had fallen on the roof.
Our beliefs are mired in superstitions and suspicions. These beliefs are the cornerstone of our perceptions — it is the lens through which we see the world. I vividly remember the day of my sister’s wedding when en route to the venue our driver suddenly pulled over to the left and refused to budge. He had seen a black cat crossing the road in front of him and based on what had been instilled in him, he was certain that misfortune would befall on him if he continued. Only when his boss threatened to sack him without pay did he move but not without taking a u turn and driving through another longer route. Similarly, I even remember one of my aunts sporting a small white paper on her right eyelid so that it would stop twitching and not bring her bad luck.
It’s because we are looking at life with fogged lenses that it tends to cloud our mind and judgment, which results in negative and sometimes creepy experiences. Notably, my husband was traveling out of the country for work for two weeks. The barrage of phone calls I got from my mother following this news was unbelievable. I was reminded again and again that I would be alone at home and it would be very difficult for me to manage on my own. Now that my knight in shining would be away in far far land how would a helpless defenseless woman like me survive in a deserted ranch in the middle of a temperate jungle. I am a brave woman at least I think I am, but the constant reminders of being alone did get me a bit rattled or maybe more than I thought. And to think of it I do live in a house where the producers of the movie Conjuring would love to make sequel number 3. Following my husband’s exit, to my consternation things did go awry.
My car started behaving oddly — I had just got new car tires installed but the dashboard kept showing the tire pressure low sign. I took it back to the dealer at least twice but to no avail — the sign kept on coming back. Moreover, one of the hinges on the bi-fold door of my kitchen cabinet, where I stored most of my utensils, just snapped and came off. I couldn’t get access to them without holding the door with one hand, and grabbing the things with the other. And, then out of the blue, my keys that were simply hanging on the key rack just fell down and the key fob (of my security alarm) that was on it, broke. I was petrified beyond belief. Was this really happening to me or was I in a bad dream? Pinch me please!
Be careful what you think as life has a habit of mimicking your thoughts. Have you really wondered why one really has a bad day after reading a not so favorable horoscope in the morning? Is the forecast really true or have we actually driven ourselves towards it by believing in it? Well, I set a perfect precedent for this irrational thinking after my husband left for his trip. As it turns out, new tires sometimes come with excessive air pressure. The tires are inflated over the pressure limit to seat the bead of the tire into the rim and afterwards the extra air is removed to equal the recommended air pressure. But I suppose the shop floor technician just skipped that part leading to the warning sign on my car dashboard. I realized this in one of my enlightened moments and when I removed the extra air, voila, everything was good. Also, I found a note from my husband saying a couple of screws from the hinge had fallen off and I should call the handyman to fix it. I guess in his hurry to leave he forgot to tell me. And, I remembered banging into my key rack with my shopping bag, which I figured made the key ring come off the hook and fall down. What can I say? I am human and immune to falling prey to superstitions or other people’s parochial beliefs setting my own alarm bells off. I let my emotions get the better of me. And, this was not the first time. I remember when my cousin’s comments on how good my hands looked set me into a panic mode. So that my hands don’t get jinxed, I went overboard with applying numerous moisturizers so much that overdoing things led to me having rashes on my hand. See how we set our own course of action by falling prey to the demons in our minds.
And, will I ever change, I thought to myself, as I sat there staring at the movie coming out of the last three day’s fog. I switched the tv off and got up to make hot chocolate — the perfect sinful decadence to calm my over frenzied nerves. One thing I learnt from my last few days’ experience is that there is always a rational reasoning to everything that happens. Things happen not because we are destined to doom or jinx but because we have set ourselves on that path due to our very own ill-conceived ideas and thoughts. But the pertinent question to ask ourselves is why do we really believe in the negative when it would be so much simpler to believe in the opposite? Are we too scared to be happy and positive?
Good old memories flashed through my mind as I continued stirring the scrumptious hot beverage steaming in my sauce pan. Imagine the squeals of sheer delight of a ten-year-old(me), and a 5-year-old (my baby sister) who have just been introduced to this delectable drink for the first time at their aunt’s wedding reception: it was like we were handed a lifetime membership to Disney World. Well then, there you have it. How in a fraction of a second my mind swapped from a fried mode to a cheerful state. We cannot stop ourselves by getting sucked into the panic and paranoia that we inflict upon us, and truth be told, by things that are beyond our control. I guess it’s just a defense mechanism for our brain to be prepared for a calamity and be less affected by it emotionally in the likelihood something untoward does happen. But life is short. Would we rather not spend every waking minute of it making new joyous fond memories that we can be nostalgic about every single breathing moment of ours like I did? Imagine the health benefits — the instant joy in our hearts and smiles on our faces destresses us, thus alleviating our mental state. We can capture these beautiful times on our cameras for a lifetime of bliss to share with our families and friends. No time stamp required.
Doesn’t your heart ache for that infinite bliss and makes you feel absolutely divine even thinking about it let alone when you are in that elevated state. So, do yourself a favor, every time you feel vulnerable and despondent, take charge of your lives, steer the gear of your brain to a happy memory and indulge in activities that get you out of the funk and make your lives worth living for — happy, positive and content. It can happen with a snap of a finger. Following my own advice, I poured hot chocolate in a mug, put on my favorite music, and pulled out my favorite photo albums to browse and have a wonderful and beautiful night to go down my memory lane. And yes, I snapped a lot of photos for me to enjoy in the future.