(Dr Sudhir Waghmare is a founder & Innovator who is into manufacturing New born life saving devices since last 31 years under the name of Shreeyash Electro Medicals in Pune. The manufactured equipment’s are essential to save life of New born babies who are either born Premature or who are born with certain deficiency or who develop deficiencies after birth. )
Once while attending an important overseas conference in USA , a young doctor asked me “Doctor Waghmare, you are a cancer survivor. How come you manage to have a very happy and cheerful disposition at all times? What is your recipe for a happy life?
I looked at the young doctor, smiled and told him. “ I pursue a cause which is greater than myself. This shifts my focus far away from my own problems”.
People who are mission focused are always happy in life. In fact such people do not even have time to think whether they are happy or unhappy. On the other hand, people centric persons are often unhappy because they constantly seek validation from others. They look at their own life through the prism of others.
Their actions are not motivated by their inner conviction or purpose but by the urge to impress others. This makes them lead a hollow and purposeless life.
People who find fulfilment in their lives by contributing to someone or something have no time to worry about what others think of them. They are too much focused on their vision and mission. They may be scientists working on finding a cure for life threatening diseases, astronomers trying to unravel the mysteries of interstellar world or entrepreneurs trying to find a solution for some vexed social problem. It is not necessary that the cause or mission has to be big. It may be as simple as doing something every days to take care of injured street dogs, planting more and more trees or spending ones life to educate or uplift the lives of underprivileged . Having such purpose in life not only makes a difference to others, but also makes ones own life more meaningful.
I am a cancer survivor. Once during the promotion of my product outside Pune, in 2019 I received a devastating news from my doctor that I was suffering from the cancer of esophagus. There was a large tumor found on my food pipe. I was finding it difficult to sip even a glass of water leave aside eating food.
It began with swallowing problems. Initially it was difficult to swallow hard food, then it aggravated day by day and after few weeks, I was not even able to swallow water. Whatever I swallowed, I used to vomit. There was a great pain in swallowing which was unbearable. It was diagnosed with re Stage 2 squamous cell esophageal cancer.
After the treatment I am back to my work and my mission which is to save people through my innovations.
Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, Victor E Frankl devoted his life to exploring the meaning of life and its links to happiness. Viktor who has written a book Man’s Search for Meaning stated that: “Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it.” Though for Frankl, joy could never be an end to itself, it was an important byproduct of finding meaning in life.
There are many people who have made it a mission to live for a cause which is bigger than oneself. Dr Prakash Amte and his wife devoted their entire life for the betterment of the tribal people and local wildlife of the Gadchiroli region. They worked hard to bring awareness among the tribes people of the region, teaching them agricultural techniques and considerably reducing their dependence on hunting for survival.
Nature lover Shyamkumar M. has more than 23,000 trees to his credit, befriended thousands of birds, and saved many human lives through his timely interventions in society.
Animal rights activist Claude Lila Parulekar (81), daughter of eminent editor and founder of the Marathi daily ‘Sakal’, Nanasaheb Parulekar, who passed away in 2016 spent her life in the welfare of stray animals.
Do you have a purpose bigger than yourself? If not try to find it. You will find everlasting happiness.
