Think of a day. Like every day. Same as yesterday and exactly like tomorrow will be. It’s perfect. You’ll surely wake up and feel like this.
OR
You’ll wake to the sound of that old alarm tone or maybe a song you loved being woken up to, but since there are new songs, this old one has lost its effect. But, you’ll wake up anyway and move past that alarm and move on further to your toothbrush and toothpaste. And since it’s a day like every other day, you’ll understand that you’ve missed the most important thing. Plugging your phone into that charger port. But, that’s not a big deal as this day is like every day. Or maybe it’s different. Maybe it’s different because it’s already 8, and you haven’t got a single text on WhatsApp. A single like on your Facebook status, or maybe no one has double-tapped your Peri-peri fries’ picture on Instagram. You’ll think it’s no different as you must’ve had switched your WiFi off. But that’s not the case either. Everything’s okay. Everything’s perfect.
But this day, like every day, starts taking a bad turn after your phone has forgotten how to beep on those texts, the likes, and the comments. When your friends don’t understand how the red color of your dress looks better, and they never tell you how good you look. When that pair of jeans or shoes or that phone is a little too pricey for your parents’ pocket, and you’re just not allowed to buy that. When your code starts working in the first ten minutes of the lab session, your teacher assumes that you’ve taken help from the internet as no student could have that amount of brains. When your girlfriend doesn’t understand why you need to play video games with your buddies, and your boyfriend blames your tears and anger on the PMS, he doesn’t understand you anymore.
Everything’s still okay. Everything’s still perfect.
It’s weird when you’re told not to be sad about such small things as there are a whole lot of miseries in this big universe, and yours doesn’t even account for the size of a cell. You’d wonder how that’s not true, or you’d buy it for a while; but since in your world, your misery certainly counts, it continues to feel like hell. That little but adamant will to be approved by that family member, or friend, or maybe just a stranger, refuses to go away until you are, somehow. This perfect day leaves you lying on that bed wondering about this uncertainty called, pretty ironically, life. Questions, questions, and some more of them, all unanswered. It’s a wonder how you’re still alive in a world so sad where you *literally* have nobody.
Let’s take a hypothetical scenario, and let’s assume that you will be found dead tomorrow.
(I’m still not over it!!! *sobs* I can do this! Let’s get back to the article)
Or maybe something better, but we’re just assuming now. So, since nobody in the world approves of whatever you do, for example, not liking that duck face selfie, not impressed by the Angels and Demons guitar solo, or anything, they aren’t gonna come to your funeral. Not even your parents. But what if they do? Do you know what they’ll talk about? Your results and KTs, maybe? No. They’ll talk about how you were that miserable baby who kept them up all night or that cute toddler who everybody adored. And what will your friends do? Yeah! The same ones who didn’t text you the whole day but, let’s say that they show up. What are they gonna talk about? That time when you clicked that selfie? Or the time when all of you had the same profile picture because that is so rad! Or, do you think that they’ll talk about the time when you were walking on the road looking at them, and you slipped on a banana peel? They started laughing so hard that it took them (basically, all of you) about 10 minutes to realize that you have a sprain in your ankle now and you need to see the doctor. Maybe?
At the end of the day, it seriously is not the end of the world. Your Facebook statuses, Instagram posts, WhatsApp messages have no meaning. That constant need for approval cannot sabotage the choices you’re willing to make and the decisions you’re willing to take. The world doesn’t make a difference, and it never will. You will.
So, grab that mug of coffee, take your favorite book, or switch on your PC or TV or maybe go out. Just remember, everything’s always okay. And, it is a perfect day.
-Apurva Jain