THE ZAHIR: Thoughts from real life

I had been filling up my time with books, COELHO, GIBRAN, lately. The most recent read was "The ZAHIR" by Paulo Coelho. I had picked up this book at an airport bookshop. I have read the book twice now.
Skimming the pages again, I wont dwell much into the plot or the characters or genre.

What I need to write is the journey of being a reader of "The ZAHIR".
As the story unravels, I cling onto portions of the written text, and my thoughts tumble on.

The word Zahir, a feeling or thought that refuses to leave our mind, may be even an obsession.
Very often, this does happen, in our lives  at certain points where we are fixed at a space, emotionally, mostly with no control of the situations leading to it. Why does it happen and for how long, no one can judge that. The Zahir may be positive or negative. The circumstances we find ourselves in, is largely because of the Zahir we decided to act upon or the ones we did not act upon. Sometimes we barely even realise it, the thoughts that lie in the depths of our heart, is the Zahir. It is never forgotten. Mind and heart are two very powerful mediums.

True freedom, stems not only being free of others control, but also one's own. If the Zahir in our lives is positive, freedom may not be the right choice. But it is the negative thoughts that grapple us, we deserve freedom from. The past, bad memories, our fear, our comfort zone, don't we deserve freedom from these?

Inspiration strikes our life at various junctures. Its so powerful and engulfs our thoughts and emotions, compelling us to act on it, fleetingly. Then it fades to procrastination. The first step to achieving a dream should never be taken tomorrow. No matter how big the task is, how huge the hurdles are, even if at the moment it all seems impossible, the first step should be taken today, because there is never a tomorrow.

Not 5 feet or 150 centimetres, why? Does it have to be constant? Something that may have been perceived the best for that time period, may not necessarily be the best when times have changed.

Humans are evolving beings. Everything about us is in a state of constant change. Our relationships, our likes, our circumstances, the very society. Is it not befit that we spend few moments often evolving our thoughts too. To adapt to the new change. And that change has to start with us, within us.

Misplaced souls?! Have you ever watched a child during play? They are mind, soul and body immersed in it. Something happens along in adulthood and we misplace our souls. It damages work, relationships, and one's own self. Is it too hard to keep one's soul where we are physically, without any distractions? To play with our child without fiddling with our smart phones, to be at work when working every moment. If our souls' find it hard to stay, it is probably an indication that we are at the wrong place doing the wrong thing.

Counting our blessings is becoming a dying habit in the present world. It seems easier to complain and grumble. If we can actually sit down and write two columns, one of blessings and the other of our complains, it is for sure that the list of blessings is far longer. But then why do we dwell more on our complains than our blessings. Is it not right to enjoy the graces and be thankful of them? Instead of channelling our energy to our meagre list of complains. 

Many things in this book, even devoid of plot and characters, made me think. What are my thoughts? Which of these would take me to a better place from today? Which were those that are better discarded? How free am I from the situations around me, from the webs of my fear? The present day should be my priority. What are the changes in me that I need to take with the change of a place, age, situations and relationships? I must remember to keep my soul where my body is and if my soul is happy elsewhere I need to take myself there. There is no halfway in between. Of  all, gratitude to God, to my loved ones and to every kind soul that passes my way. Is it that hard? Life is simple. It is we who complicate it.

So there it is, my ramblings from a book I just closed. These are a chain of thoughts, that struck me as a humble reader. The power of a written word is great...in no way is this a review of the book.

FARZ

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