Are we really content in Life with whatever we have?

      Good morning, friends, I hope you all are enjoying this beautiful Sunday morning. I just thought of sharing an important incident with you all. Today one of my friends called me after a long time. (Almost after 2008 when we used to work together at ICICI Bank). The conversation lasted up to 54 minutes. He was surprised to know when I told him that I am working as a professor in a private Institute in a town as he used to know me as an ‘Aggressive Sales Manager in India’s best bank’.

            By the way, my friend now is a Branch Manager in India’s top nationalized bank located in Mumbai. He appeared to be very depressed from his talk and he started complaining about the work pressure in his branch. He wished he could join any institute like me even in a small town as he was equally depressed with Mumbai’s Local train’s pick-hour rush & crowd.

            He was convincing me how bad a life he was going through. I listened patiently. When he finished complaining about almost everything in his life, he started praising me for my life and career. How good a life I am living! No target, no work pressure, no conference calls, no professional burdens, and just a few lectures, and every evening till the next day is totally free. He agreed to be jealous of my life with just one word ‘Professor’. Isn’t it a common scene with most of my professional colleagues here?

            Then I requested him to allow me to share what I am going through and how ‘happy’ I am (according to his view) although I do not have any regrets about my present life. I just tried my level best to convince him that his job was better than mine. I told him that we always think that the other person is having a ‘more delicious dish’ than the one we are having on our plate, isn’t it true?

            I asked him to do a quick SWOT analysis of both jobs. He finally agreed that he was well settled in a central govt. a job with a senior level position in bank management having no extra financial burden and; with dozens of nonmonetary benefits from the bank as well as the government, whereas in my case I told him that I am working without a salary for many months (with a fear of being fired at any time due to private trust’s own policies, we never have a fixed date of salaries. In short, the entire concept of Human Resource Management in the journey of professional life is absent in my case) still he thinks about how great my life is...!

            We then continued to compare our lives on various parameters and finally, to my surprise, he totally agreed that he is good in his position and life whereas I am in mine. This is the situation with almost all in their lives irrespective of what age or job they are in. We must learn to be content with whatever we have in life. If it’s not so we immediately look at those who have the things that we lack or desire. This natural act itself unknowingly makes us compare our lives with others.

            In short, this all matter can be concluded in just a single line- ‘’Anyone is depressed and stressed when he/she realizes that how others seem to have more money, success, luxuries, etc. than him/her in certain aspects.’ So, the best solution is to focus on what we have in hand and stop to get jealous of what others have with them.

            Amul.