WHO IS HAPPY? A PEACOCK, A PARROTT, A SWAN OR A CROW?

A crow living in the forest was happy

and satisfied in life till it saw a Swan
one day. “This swan is so white, but, I
am so black. This swan must be the
happiest bird on earth” it thought. It
expressed its thoughts to the swan.

“Actually,” the swan replied, “I was

feeling that I was the happiest bird
on earth only until I saw a twin-
colored parrot I now think the parrot
is the happiest bird.” The crow then
approached the parrot. The parrot
explained, “I lived a very happy life
until I saw a peacock. I have only two
colors, but the peacock has multiple
colors. I am always kept inside a
cage. Though I am able to speak, I am
asked to only mimic others without any freedom to speak on my own. My
chirp is considered as a nuisance by others. Hence, the peacock is definitely
the happiest bird in the planet.” The crow then visited a peacock in the zoo
and noticed hundreds of people gathering to see him. After all the people
had left, the crow picked a conversation with the peacock. “Oh my dear pea-
cock,” the crow said, “you are so beautiful. Every day thousands of people
come to see you. I think you are the happiest bird on the planet. When peo-
ple see me, they immediately shoo me away. I am the most unlucky crea-
ture who should never live on earth.”

The peacock replied, “I always thought I was the most beautiful and happy
bird on the earth. But because of my beauty, I am entrapped in this zoo. Al-
so, I cannot fly very far. Due to my larger body, I need a lot of effort even for
the shorter flight. It would be challenging for me to fly for more than 100
meters of distance at a time”, it said. The peacock further continued, “I have
examined the zoo very carefully, and I have realised that the crow is the on-
ly bird not kept in a cage. It can also fly a long distance. So for past few days,
I have been thinking that if I were a crow, I could happily roam everywhere.”

This is the problem or situation in our life too. We generally make unneces-
sary comparison with others and become sad for things that we don’t have
but that we find with others . We don’t value our uniqueness and what God
has given us. This leads to the vicious cycle of unhappiness. We should
learn to be happy in what we have instead of looking at what we don’t
have. There will always be someone who will apparently have more than
what we have. We have no clue of what difficulties or problems they
have . A person who is satisfied with what they have, is by far the happiest
person in the world.