I read a story a long time ago which was part of an anthology written in Bengali. I have forgotten the name of the author.
The story went like this :
A man was in the habit of buying a lottery ticket everyday with the hope that some day he’d hit the jackpot which of course he never did. Yet he was not deterred from buying the ticket.
Then one day the man fell sick. Days went by but his health did not recover. His physician said that he required a mental boost to regain his will to live.
The next morning his family bought a lottery ticket in his name. In the evening when the results were out the family was surprised to find that the man had won the jackpot.
They rushed to his bedside and gave him the good news.
On hearing the news the man died of a massive heart attack.
***
I have been thinking about the moral of this story for quite some time now.
Is sudden and overwhelming happiness equally unbearable as irreparable loss and inconsolable grief ?
I don’t think that winning the lottery necessarily equates to happiness. Seems to be a curse for some people.
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Perhaps not achieving is sometimes better than achieving
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I think so.
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Maybe so
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Thank you so much Derrrick 🙏
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Geeta Di,medical science calls it Happy Heart Syndrome.Though it is very rare, a person dies of weakening of heart muscles triggered by intense sudden positive emotions.
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Oh! 😯 I did not know this….Thanks Nusrat for this important piece of information. 👍
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Strong emotions, no matter which one it is, can affect our health. I’m not a doctor, of course, but it seems happiness and excitement can be just as hard on our hearts as sadness and grief.
If given a choice, I’d rather die of happiness. 🙂
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That is true. That is why I think the spiritual gurus tell us to be stoic. Not to be affected by happiness or unhappiness in their extreme measures.
I would like die in peace with the feeling that whatever I had come to do on this earth is successfully done , no regrets and no bitterness towards life or anyone.
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A very fine goal, my friend. 🪷
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Thank you
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Maybe he just had to hear that news to wait until he could die? We still do not know how the brain works.
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There are so many things which are unknown to us.
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I think in real life he would have recovered. 😂
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Hehh…Hehh … Undoubtedly 😂😂
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I would 😂😂😂
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Hehh….Hehhh….
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😂😂😂
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Perhaps the deeper message of the story is that extreme grief and extreme happiness can both test a person’s inner capacity to remain balanced. Grief may gradually overwhelm the mind, while sudden and extraordinary joy can also become difficult to absorb. Perhaps the real wisdom of life lies not in avoiding either happiness or sorrow, but in remaining inwardly steady through both.
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I was expecting an evaluative comment from you, Vijayji and you have with such simplicity and philosophically led the post to a deeper and wiser conclusion. Thank you very much. To remain balanced in every situation is key to good and meaningful living
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🙏🙏🙏
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Perhaps any shock affects the heart.
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One of my uncles had a heart attack and passed away after a cricket match when India won. It was a nail biting match but. The story now makes me wonder, perhaps too much happiness and yes sorrow can agitate the mind in equal measures.
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Yes you are right Parikhit. The extreme of anything is bad.
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