The women’s majlis: Vent your emotions and find happiness

Keeping a positive mind and venting your emotions will help you find happiness.

There was a story about a person who was always pressured, stressed and tired by his problems and people. He was advised to visit a wise old man.

The wise old man came into the room where the troubled man was waiting for him. The wise old man was holding a tray with a kettle and a full cup of tea.

He asked the troubled man: “Do you like tea?” The troubled man replied with a yes. The wise old man started pouring more tea from the kettle and the cup started overflowing, leaving the troubled mansurprised.

The wise old man stopped pouring the tea and said: “Empty the cup first.” I heard this story yesterday and it has stayed with me.

The moral of the story is to empty the contents of one’s heart and not let things build up inside.

It is easy to be negative, to pluck flaws out of people and collect them. It is easy to look at the dark side of the moon and forget that the moon itself is the light in the night.

It is easy to put bricks over bricks of dark thoughts into one’s mind and build a wall that cannot be broken. It is easy to lock one’s heart instead of pouring the vicious emotions out.

Negative emotions come to people easily. It is as if your mind is wired to “survival of the fittest” mode.

Your mind tries to protect you from ever living through a negative situation again. It keeps reminding you of those negative emotions.

The more you think negatively, the gloomier you are and the less happy your life appears to be.

In order to be happier, you should express your feelings. You should try to wake up with a more positive attitude and always remind yourself that life is only for those who see it from a beautiful perspective, and see the beauty in everything.

Life is not worth sinking into dark, murky waters. Lotus flowers grow out of muddy ponds; something beautiful comes out of that mud. So, beautiful moments are bound to happen, no matter how dark life gets. It is not easy to be positive all the time. Happiness is not a feeling or a temporary phase, but a way of living. Being happy is something that needs to be acquired, something to discipline yourself with.

Accept people for what and who they are, give them excuses for whatever attitude they meet you with and never carry anything against them in your heart. That way, you learn how to really forgive and forget. Life is a big bowl of combusting particles of confusions, mishaps and events, but we don’t have to go through it alone. You learn how to be grateful for the people in your life and how to live with a lighter heart and a happier mind.

That was what I learned this Ramadan. How to be more forgiving of people, because no one is perfect, and to always empty my cup before meeting or judging people. An empty cup means a better life, a more carefree one.

Mariam Al Qubaisi is a journalism student at Zayed University.

If you have a good story to tell or an interesting issue to debate, email Melinda Healy at [e-mail].