What looked like a life filled with nothing but misery a few years ago is now filled with happiness and mirth and the sound of laughter rings in every hollow in my brain. But all this happiness was not a result of endless praying or begging. Living every minute of my life with love, grace and gratitude, I can tell from experience that happiness cannot be owned, earned or consumed. It is rather a boundless energy that springs forth once its wellspring is stirred. Have I then found the ultimate truth, the path through which one and all can be happy? No, I have not. What I have learnt is that, joy or sorrow, a little smile never fails to warm your heart and produce those positive vibes.

As a child, I would think about how wonderful it would be to live like adults. You could do whatever you liked, you had wads of money to dish out and you were in control of your own life. What could be more wonderful? But when I entered adulthood, I encountered a very different adult world.

There were struggles for existence going around everywhere. Struggle for a good career, for a firm financial footing, home, modern luxuries...et all. There was nothing but stress and

more stress on every turn. But one wonderful thing about being an adult is that you are in control of your own life and get to shape it the way you want to.

“Your mind is a garden in which you plant seeds, you can plant flowers or you can plant weeds”. So I never waited for some almighty god to turn his magic wand. I decided to take the reins of my life into my own hand and forge ahead ... whatever might lie in the path.

The satisfaction of seeing the people I love happy cannot be compared to anything else. No material possession can make do for a smile on my father’s lips, a grin on my mother’s face. My point is: In the end, it all boils down to your mindset.

It is for each of us to decide what kind of a life we want to lead. Some choose happiness, while some sorrow. It is really our choice. It might not seem so when one’s in utter gloom, but if thought rationally, that is indeed the case. My life is a portrait of criss-crossed threads, many fading yet equally beautiful. Dreams fulfilled and those that were never bound to be. It is my masterpiece. My Mona Lisa. What’s yours?