Seeing the glass half full...

Since the day I arrived in Sri Lanka the most common question I have had to answer is ‘Is it difficult adjusting back to Sri Lanka after staying for four years in Switzerland?’ or ‘You must be missing Switzerland a lot'. My reply is always, it's your attitude towards the location rather than the specific place. Of course if you are in a place where you don't have the basic necessities like food, or water, then its a different fact all together, but as long as you have the basic necessities and try to make the most of life, it does not matter where you're located.

Everywhere you go there will be wonderful things and problems it’s upto us to focus on the good and ignore, or try to change the negatives whenever it is in our power. It was the same even when I left Cambridge, though I thought I would miss it, after I came back to Sri Lanka I loved being back home. Again it was the same when I went to Switzerland; I really enjoyed the experience as you would already have seen from my earlier posts even though many people called it a boring sleepy town. I loved the mountains in the distance, the amazingly efficient transport system, and meeting all those wonderful people from all over the world, not forgetting the chocolates of course. Now the same people ask me how can I leave such a wonderful developed country and come back home? Its the usual 'grass is greener on the other side' syndrome... 

I tell them, that in Sri Lanka I love spending time with friends and family, I like the fact that I don't have to wear layers every time I want to go out, understanding what people say and being able to get things done and seeing the beautiful beaches everyday, and I like to think that I can be part of the development of this lovely Island that has been ravaged by war for over 30 years! Sure I can think of thousands of annoyances here too, but not dwelling too much on them is the secret to stay happy.

I think its similar with people too, no one is perfect, but then no one is all bad either, most of the time there's good and bad in all people, so in order to enrich your relationships it is important to focus on the good, and if it would help, try to give feedback in a constructive manner, to help the person improve. 

This post also ties back to my earlier post on Stopping the spread of negativity. It's important to realise that there are problems, and try to improve them if possible, and if not ignore them and focus on the positive sideof life. So I'll end this post with my favourite 'Serenity Prayer'.

God grant me the serenity 
to accept the things I cannot change; 
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

Is there really an 'Adjustment Bureau?'

Yesterday some friends and I met up for a lovely pot luck dinner with International food and while chatting watched the ‘Adjustment Bureau’. I had watched it already some time ago, and a few of us started discussing it’s concept… Whether there really is something called ‘Free Will’ or as in the movie whether we’re all living predetermined paths leading to a destination which has been planned by ‘The Chairman’ as the movie puts it, or God.


In a nut shell the movie revolves around an up and coming Politian running for the US Senate (played by Matt Demon) and a lovely dancer whom he meets by chance and he falls for her, but according to the ‘plan’ they should not be together. The ‘Adjustment Bureau’ is the agency with men who ensure that all people's lives proceed according to the predetermined ‘plan’ which has been set by ‘The Chairman’. So he sends his ‘caseworkers’ to ensure that this relationship does not happen, but in the end, due to the unrelenting pursuit of the couple ‘The Chairman’ changes their predetermined destiny and they are allowed to be together.

The movie raises the question whether God or any other supernatural force has a plan and uses angels to ensure that we live according to it. If so what about free will, are we just some puppets moving through life according to ‘the plan’? Does God plan for some people to murder and rape and hurt others? But if God does not have a plan, is God simply a silent observer watching the world go around and people in their distress? Or is there no such higher power? With our limited intellect and knowledge of the world we cannot know with certainty, but this is my theory based on my own experiences.

I think that’s God exists and he does have a plan for each of us, an optimal plan which would lead us to become the ‘highest form of our self’ not only in terms of personal development, but also spiritually… to follow the example of Jesus Christ. But at the same time He has given us Free Will and choice. So we can wonder off that path that God had in mind. I think he tries to lead us on the correct path through our conscience as well as through signs along the way. In my life, I think my decision to come to Geneva was based on such a sign (which you can read about from my previous post). I think God is like a GPS navigation system in the car after you have input the destination. It will show you which way to turn when you come across a junction, and if you ignore the advice and turn the other way, it will tell you the next possible turn so that you can get to the destination and so on until it is shut off. In the same manner I think God will continue sending signals through people, friends, incidents, to show you the correct path, which you can ignore, and then he’ll send more signs until the day you leave this world, of course people can choose not to heed the signs… Its like the parable of the drowning man who had asked God to help, and when a boat passed by asking the man to get on board, he said ‘I have faith God will rescue me’ then a ship passed by and the same thing happened and finally a helicopter sent down a ladder and he still said ‘God will rescue me’ and drowned in the end. When he asked God why he didn’t rescue him, God said, 'I sent you a boat, a ship and a helicopter and you didn’t get into any of them! '.

If God has a plan the other question that comes to mind is what about all the bad things, the natural disasters, the diseases where they all part of that plan? It seems that many of these things are caused by years and years of human abuse of nature rather than any plan of God… We’re not only individuals we live in this interconnected web, so one person going off the path could impact someone else’s life too, how would that work? I think that even if we get off the path momentarily due to another’s actions, God will show us how to use it for our advantage and get back on our path… In the end I think as long as we focus on being the best people we can be and follow the example of Jesus Christ and the signs God sends us, we will have a great life on earth.