Grass
is always greener on the other side, they say. Almost all of us go through that
moment when we think – “oh, how lucky the other is to have such a life; I wish
I had that too.” This is a story of one of us who went through the exact same
feeling. Her name was Maria.
Maria
had a busy life – full of stress. She had a family – her husband, and two young
children: 6 and 10 years of age. She had a brilliant professional career - she
was Vice President of Marketing at a packaged juice company. She drew a high
salary, wore the most expensive clothes, used only branded products, drove a luxury
car and overall, had a life that many would envy. Her husband Steven was a high
achiever too – he was CEO of a large technology company, and had a pretty busy
life.
Maria’s
day would be – as you can imagine – a hectic one. It started early –getting her
children ready for school, dropping them off in her car and heading straight to
work. The nanny would then pick the children up from school in the early
evening and look after them until Maria returned from work.
Maria’s
work day would be full of meetings, presentations, international conference
calls, and a number of high-impact decisions. She would almost never have the
time for a lunch break. She had the global responsibility of building the
company’s brand and developing the core product line across the world. Very
often, that would mean travelling across the globe, working with people from
different countries & backgrounds, staying on top of thousands of issues and
always facing every music from the executive team with a broad smile – be it a
compliment or a complaint.
With
everything that Maria had – a lovely family, plenty of financial resources and
a superb career, there was one thing she lacked – peaceful happiness. You
wouldn’t say that Maria was an unhappy woman, but behind her charming, smiling
face, there was stress and lack of peace. She always complained to herself
about how hectic her life was, and how she wished it had been simpler.
Every
Saturday morning, Maria would take her younger kid to the bakery next door –
this bakery was well-known for its freshly made soft brown bread. Maria loved
the very smell of it. So every Saturday she would visit the bakery and spend a
few minutes there. She would purchase the bread, and a few cookies for the kids
and return home.
The
bakery was run by Miss Ani - a sweet, middle-aged woman. Miss Ani did not know Maria personally, but
both women exchanged broad smiles whenever they passed each other. Maria was
Ani’s weekend customer, who came to the bakery every Saturday – without
exception. And to Maria, Ani was the baker who made the best bread in town, and
probably the happiest person in town too – Ani always smiled and appeared so
full of life.
Often
times, in the morning when Maria would be stuffing her children in the car, she
would see Ani ride away on her bicycle waving her hand with a broad smile on
her face and a “Good Morning” that would only make you wonder – how do you
manage to be so happy every day!
September 19th 2016
It
was a typical work day, and Maria completed her regular morning duties at
school and drove to the office. As soon as she reached there, she was summoned
for and was given the news that the company’s competitor had announced the
launch of a new juice recipe – an organic one, at the same price. The company
had to take a few fast decisions, and launch their own organic variant as soon
as possible to protect themselves from the competitive pressure. Since Maria
was heading the global marketing team, it became her responsibility.
The
rest of the day was a roller coaster ride – meetings after meetings,
brainstorming sessions, talks with agencies, market trend analysis and so on.
Maria’s brain was running a marathon at full speed. At the end of the day, she
had it all under control. However the stress she had gone through the day made
her look a year older.
She
drove back home, and out of exhaustion she decided to take a short walk in the
park next door, before getting ready for the kids at home. She walked for a few
minutes and then sat down on a bench. She tried to think clearly – she was not
happy – why was life so stressful, why was there no peace.
Just
at that moment, she could see Ani – the baker at a distance shutting down her
little bakery and picking her bicycle up to head back to her little apartment
in the village nearby. Ani was still smiling, and looked so happy. As she
started approaching Maria on her bicycle, Maria thought “Oh how I envy her – I
wish I had her life. She is always smiling – I wish I could do that – I wish I
was her”. Just then Ani passed her on her bike and waved a “Good Evening” wave
with a broad smile. The two women exchanged a smile and a glance and Ani rode
away.
That
evening – the evening of 19th September 2016, an amazing event
occurred in Maria’s life. As she was sitting by the window sipping a glass of
wine, an angel appeared.
He
said “I grant you your wish Maria. You want Ani’s life – and you will have it.
You will have it for the next week. If you like it, you can have it forever.”
“Oh,
really? But what about Ani? What would happen to her?”
“She
will have your life dear Maria”.
“But
will she agree to do this?”
“I
shall convince her – you don’t worry about that. Tomorrow morning when you wake
up, you shall not be Maria, you shall be Ani – I grant you your wish”.
September 20th 2016
Maria
woke up in a tiny apartment. It smelled of bread: yes the same smell she loved.
As she looked into the mirror, she smiled to herself – she was Ani. She would
now have to run the lovely little bakery. She would have the pleasure of riding
that bicycle around. As she was absorbing the happy thoughts, the phone rang –
she answered it.
“This
is Ani” she said.
“Ani,
this is Merkel, calling from the kitchen right now” a high pitched voice said.
Merkel
was the young girl that worked with Ani at the bakery. She was calling her partner
from the bakery, to give her some bad news.
“We
have the same issue again. Our old oven has broken down again Ani! We have 10
orders for birthday cakes today. What will we do now? If we don’t deliver this
we will have another week low on cash. I am afraid, Ani. I need some cash this
week. I can’t go on like this Ani. Remember what happened yesterday? Our long
time customer Mr. Knox was mad at us for not meeting his order well. Soon we
will be out of business Ani!” Merkel was almost weeping.
“Listen,
don’t worry. I will be right there, okay? We will fix this”. Maria, uh, I mean
Ani replied.
Well,
now this was not expected, Ani’s life was supposed to be so simple, Maria had
hoped to go biking that morning. Well, perhaps tomorrow. Let’s solve the broken
oven issue today.
She
hurriedly started getting ready – as she entered the shower she realized there
was only soap – a very low grade one, no shampoo, and certainly no conditioner.
She decided she would go shopping in the evening. Once out of the shower she
realized there was no hair dryer either! That was rough.
Inside
Ani’s closet she found only a few clothes – all of them were gaudy and none to
Maria’s expensive taste. Well, she had always seen Ani inside an apron or an
over-coat, so she had never realized what she wore underneath. “No worries” she
thought – “I asked for simplicity, and this is probably what it looks like”.
She
got herself into a blue ill-fitting outfit and red boots and then wore the
overcoat on top. Inside the kitchen there was very little breakfast – only
bread – leftover from the bakery the past evening. She found a bit of marmalade
and some coffee after some searching. That was definitely not what her usual
breakfast looked like – no fruit, no cereal, no yogurt. Ani certainly did not
have a healthy, balanced diet.
She
ate what she could and rode away to the bakery. Merkel was waiting for her.
“What
on earth took you so long Ani? You are usually never so late, and especially
when we are going through such a tough time.”
“I
am sorry. Let us look at the oven.”
It
was not running – they obviously did not know what to do! It was an old oven,
and clearly needed to be replaced. And replacement would cost money, and there
was none.
They
had to think fast and take decisions. They made a few calls to all their
friends in town asking for help – to use their home ovens. There were 10 cakes
to be baked for that day and 20 more over the coming 2 days. They were able to
find 8 homes – homes of their friends with good ovens. They divided the work
between them and over time, fulfilled these urgent orders for the 10 cakes –
they were working every minute all morning until late afternoon. They did not
even take a lunch break!
It
was very stressful to manage these orders while managing the day-to-day bakery
customers. Given their situation, they were also unable to take orders for the
following week, as there was no oven. This was obviously not sustainable.
So
they approached a bank later that afternoon, to ask for loan – to invest in
bakery equipment. The bank always asks for collateral. The only collateral
available was the bakery itself. But there was no choice – they had to go for it.
This
was indeed one of the most stressful days that Maria had experienced – this is certainly
not what Ani’s life had looked like from the far, but so be it. Hopefully it
will get better – Maria thought. At the end of the day as she rode back home,
she was exhausted to the core. She ate some bread and simply fell asleep on the
damp sofa.
The
following morning had a decent start – she and Merkel visited the bank and
their loan was sanctioned. In the next few hours they were also able to make
their oven purchase. Without the oven, the bakery had to be kept shut down, and
they had quite some lost business. Merkel was certainly not happy about this.
Ani (Maria) was also disturbed – she wanted to shop for shampoo and conditioner
however, they were rather low on cash and she did not feel she could make
personal luxury purchases when the bakery and her partner were in so much
stress. So she postponed the shopping plans.
The
following day seemed a more regular day to as she woke up. She had an early
start, and together with Merkel she got the new oven all set up. And then, the
baking all started. She was so far enjoying being in the bakery with the smell
of bread around her. However, by afternoon she started feeling exhausted. The
job of a baker is not an easy one. The baker has to stand all day, and pay
careful attention to details. If a recipe goes wrong, the whole item would have
to be discarded – and that would mean losses.
The
bakery is a hot place – there is not a lot of cool air around. And during peak
hours of the morning, there is very little time to breathe!
She
thought late mornings around 10:30 AM, or 11 AM would see the beginning of a
calmer period – but she was totally wrong! At 10:30, Merkel informed her that
they had to start getting the lunch combos ready – sandwiches had to be made,
salads had to be mixed and put into boxes and desserts had to be organized.
Lunch time, from noon until 2 PM were busy hours when people visited to buy
take-away lunches.
After
that tiring morning and afternoon, she finally had a breather around 3 PM to
eat her lunch. But there was hardly any appetite. Being in the middle of food
all the time made her not so hungry anymore. But she had to munch on something
to get back the energy for a busy early evening! So she quickly ate a salad and
a yogurt and got back to work. 4 PM until 7 PM was another busy time for the
bakery – lots of customers coming over to buy cakes and pastries. There were
also a few birthday and anniversary orders that they had to fulfill.
At
the end of the day Maria was exhausted to her core – how did Ani manage to
smile after a day like this she thought to herself.
The
following two days followed a similar pattern – they were full of activity.
Finally on Friday evening, she took a deep breath and thought “Aha the weekend
is almost here.” Again she was wrong!
Friday
evenings and nights were the busiest. Bakers had to actually work a lot of
extra hours every Friday, to ensure they were ready for a busy Saturday
morning. Being the start of the weekend, a lot of customers in happy moods
would visit the bakery with their children and make a lot of purchases for
their families. So not only did the bakers have to work extra-hard, but they
had to make a lot of extra effort to look happy and smile! If they did not
smile, their customers’ start of the weekend would be impacted negatively.
On
the Saturday morning as the bakers were serving the happy customers, a customer
with a little girl arrived – yes, you guessed it right – we are now talking of the
new “Maria” – this was Ani who was living Maria’s week. She came there with
Maria’s younger kid – it was part of the routine. She looked dreadful. Clearly
Maria’s stressful executive life had not suited Ani.
The
two women simply looked at each other and shook their heads as if saying –
“please give me my life back”.
That
evening as Maria (who was living Ani’s life) sat in her tiny apartment thinking
about the past week, the angel appeared again.
“Hello
Maria, what did you think of Ani’s life? Did you enjoy the week? Would you like
to continue? Or do you want your life back?”
“Oh
thank you for coming. Please do give me my life back. I cannot live Ani’s life.
Please take me back to where I come from. I want my own life back.” Maria
pleaded.
“Okay”
responded the angel.
Maria
said “But wait, what about Ani? You know, I saw her this morning – she looked
tired and not happy. I feel terrible for her. What have I done to her! I think
she did not enjoy my life. I feel very sorry for taking her week and giving her
a hard time living mine”.
The
angel laughed out loudly, and said “Oh poor Maria, did you think you did this
to her? Well the reality is very different my dear. In fact Ani wanted to live
your life as much as you wanted to live her! Let me tell you what happened…”
The
angel took Maria into a flashback – September 19th 2016
Maria
was sitting on the bench in the park after her hectic day at work. Ani was
still in the bakery, wrapping up for the day. Ani was not happy – it was Ani’s
birthday, and she was all alone. She was a baker who baked delicious cakes for
others. But on her own birthday she had no one to bake a cake for her. She was
sad, and was missing her mother.
“What
a life is this” she was thinking.
“It
is only about hard work and giving. Why am I not happy.”
Just
as she was picking up her bicycle, she saw the rich woman who visited her
bakery every Saturday morning. She was sitting on bench and relaxing. “What a
life this woman has” Ani thought.
“She
has everything! She has so much money! She always wears such lovely clothes and
shoes. And she has pretty hand bags. And she always smells of perfume – and
look at me, smelling of bread all the time. Look at her now! She is relaxing in
the park, while here I am all tired, just waiting to reach my tiny apartment so
that I can collapse on my bed.
How
I wish, I had her life – even for a little while.”
And
then as she rode on her bicycle she gave Maria a broad smile and waved her a
“Good Evening” while she imagined herself enjoying the riches that Maria had.
“If
I could make a birthday wish, I’d want that woman’s life” she murmured to
herself as she gave Maria the happy smile.
And
then in the evening as she sat by her window looking at the stars, the angel
appeared and gave her the gift she wanted – Maria’s life.
Little
had Ani known that Maria’s life was not an easy one – it was demanding, very
demanding. The stressful mornings at home and then at work, skipped meals,
meetings after meetings, painful discussions and never ending workload. She
would think of work all the time – she was restless. Yes there were lovely
clothes and shoes, but what’s the use of all those riches if you cannot enjoy
them even for a moment! Ani did not like this life – she truly missed her
bicycle. She missed baking with Merkel. She missed her apartment and the peace
that came with it. Yes she was poor, but she had her friends, she had her
bakery, and the smile on the faces of her customers would make her very happy.
She missed all that.
So
after five days of this craziness, as she entered her bakery on Saturday
morning she felt a deep happiness as she smelt the bread. She looked at Maria
and without saying a word, simply pleaded that she wanted her baker’s life
back.
“So
you see Maria – Ani wants her simple life back. Just the way you want your own
life back.”
Maria
smiled and agreed.
September
25th 2016
Maria
woke up in her large bedroom. It felt peaceful. She walked towards her dressing
table and smiled – yes, she was Maria again. She had her life back.
She
stretched a bit out of relief and walked out into the balcony. Down on the
little street in front of her house she spotted Ani, who was happily riding
away on her bicycle, with a large basket of baguettes. She turned back, slowed
down and smiled at Maria with her happy “Good Morning”. Maria smiled back too, and this time she knew there was no pain behind either of their smiles.
They
were both very happy women. They had realized that grass is indeed greener on
the other side.
Happiness
and peace never come to you – no matter how hard you try. Happiness and peace
are a matter of choice. You choose to be happy, you choose to be peaceful.