THE INSOMNIAC PRINCESS

so, i couldn't sleep at night...tossing my pillow here and there, i finally gave up after 2 hours of trial and error and applying all psychological methods to try and fall asleep...

i got up from my bed and looked at the time

"2:30 am"

my sister was snoring, mom and dad were asleep too...i tried reading my novel ..but i just couldn't concentrate! i tried listening to my favorite edms but it gave me a headache! i tried jumping but i fell off the bed..VERY HARD! Something was going on my mind but i couldn't exactly place what was troubling me!

was it my uncertain future ? well who isn't?

was i worried about my career? thats my daily stress..why would it trouble me at 2 am!

was i suffering from insomnia? nah..i just slept like a horse last night 

were aliens invading my mind? they already had when i was born

was i overthinking yet again!? again! thats my routine..i function on overthinking!

was my bladder full and i wanted to pee or was i feeling thirsty and wanted to drink water?

i just couldn't sleep!

All my attempts failed! Helplessly i went to my parents room clutching a pillow tight to my chest ( i have this stupid belief that ghosts eat people who roam at night and thus i fear ghosts!).

For a minute i stood still...then 10 mins passed and i kept staring at mom without saying a word (NO! I WASN'T POSSESSED!) 

Mom suddenly woke up in shock (humans know when someone is staring at them in sleep)

"princess! what are you doing here? why aren't u already sleeping?" she asked looking concerned

"maa?"

"yes baby..answer me...its almost 3 what happened? did you have a nightmare?"

"well...my reality is no less than a nightmare!"

She got up from the blanket 

"what are you saying..if this is one of your philosophical truths then trust me i am going to spank you hard for acting like Socrates early in the morning...what! are you possessed!"

"sorry to disturb you maa, go back to sleep..ill find something else to do!"

Mothers have this sixth sense when something is troubling their child. so she pulled me in the blanket and stroking my forehead gently she asked "what is it dear?"

"i dont know maa....if i ask you something will you answer honestly?"

"yes sure..."

"maa..am i a bad person? i mean am i silly and stupid?"

"NO....why?"

"just tell na" i protested

"baby, you have never been a bad person...infact since your childhood you have been something different..always helping out people..making them smile...fighting with your dad when he didn't use to give alms to the poor (none of us had the courage)"

"no na maa...i mean ...i dont know...everyone is like this only..its not something different!"

i stayed silent for the next 10 mins 

"princess?...is that thing you told me yesterday troubling you"

i kept quiet. and then nodded my head slowly as if i wasn't even sure whether that thing was troubling me or not!

oh? you wanna know "that thing"

so basically i went to college and was busy doing some work when one of my friends came to me and told me that she heard one of my classmate speaking ill of me...and about something which wasn't true . How can i say it so confidently? BECAUSE I WAS ABSENT THAT DAY WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENED...I WASN'T EVEN A PART OF IT!!(it happens with all of us every-time ...doesn't it?)

hearing that someone was speaking behind my back filled me with rage and i wanted to hit back hard! but as always i kept it inside me thinking i shouldn't bother!

But you know it, when you try hard not to think of the pink elephant ....u think about it even more!

so i shared it with my mom who told me to just avoid such things and focus on the good things in life

But now somewhere i was so restless that it was affecting me .....without my even realizing it!

"princess? you wanna hear a story?" my  mother knows how much i love stories and i am always up for it..no matter what the time is!

so she began....

In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said, "Do you know what I just heard about your friend?"

"Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. That’s why I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

"Well, no," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and…"

"All right," said Socrates. "So you don’t really know if it’s true or not. Now, let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?"

"U mm, no, on the contrary…"

"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about my friend, but you’re not certain it’s true. You may still pass the test though, because there’s one filter left—the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"

"No, not really.""Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither true, nor good, nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"

"so tell me princess...the person who told you...was it good enough?"

"nope" i said smiling

" so the next time my little Socrates faces any problem, she would know how to handle it...right?"

"ABSOLUTELY RIGHT" and i gave a big bear hug to my mom

"well sometimes even a psychologist needs a mothers advice..." my mom winked

" well....not sometimes...ALWAYS! thanku maa" and i didn't know when the gentle stroking made me go into a deep lullaby of sleep .

So, now....when you all know this story..none of you are ever going to lose sleep over small issues!

KEEP SMILING ALWAYS