The snow-covered pavement along with the cool breeze here in NYC paves the way for Happy Holidays. Aaliyah and I were enjoying our time with Fred who was here to share his experience with the publishers and the new projects which were coming his way.
“Hey Fred what’s your plan for Hanukkah?” I asked. “I have no plans. I got an invite from my uncle at his place but I won’t be going there,” he replied. “Why so?” asked Aaliyah. “I don’t get along with his son and my cousin, Jonas. Three years back we had a tiff and ever since then, we don’t talk to each other. I am in touch with my uncle though. Every year they invite me but I let it be. I don’t wish to talk to Jonas ever again,” he answered.
“You are not this kind of a person! What is holding you back?” I asked. “I don’t know what is stopping me. I was very hurt back then and now I just don’t feel like going ahead with our brotherhood. I somehow can’t get back to how things were before,” he replied. It was ego which was preventing my friend from going ahead. The festival of lights, Hanukkah is here. The best time for illumination.
“It is not you speaking but your ego. It is making you miss out on the beautiful relation of brotherhood that you both once shared,” I expressed. “He too never wanted to reconcile. Then why should I?” he asked. “Maybe because you should rise above such trifle negative emotion and value the bond that you both share,” I suggested.
I narrated to him the story of Hanukkah. In the end, I explained how the miracle, the candle, and the wick all signify how we must overcome ego when it comes to uniting with love and harmony. “When we are egoistic, we are not being our real compassionate self. We don’t act sense and our mind gets locked in this negative box. We should look beyond ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘mine’. It just takes the graph down. It is good for no one. The desire to feel superior is only up to the surface level,” I expressed.
“You are right! Why let go of thirty years of brotherhood for a small fight? Why drag it? I will go this time. Also, I will try to mend everything. Thank you so much for making me realize this,” he said. “That’s great! I’m glad that you discerned it,” I replied. Meanwhile, Aaliyah got us some waffles and doughnuts and we rushed to indulge.
We often let few undesirable events with our close ones affect us so much so that we sever ties with them. Learn to let go of such moments. Never let the past experiences come in the way of your day to day interaction with people and life in general. However, this doesn’t mean that we are losing our own gravity. It only signifies that we value the relationship and the person more than anything. We must get rid of the need to win and prove ourselves right. It will help us to have a beautiful and enriching experience of life.
Let the light of Hanukkah always help you to overcome the ego and live a happy life. Happy Hanukkah everyone!
