Missing Tile Syndrome

Feb 3

A hotel had a very beautiful swimming pool made of Italian tiles, but one tile was missing. People would come and appreciate the beauty of the pool, but their eyes would be fixed on that missing one among thousands of tiles. They would finally leave unsatisfied.

We have 32 teeth, but our tongue goes only till the broken tooth. If a chair is removed from the drawing room, our attention will go only to the absence of that chair.

We focus on what we do not have, but are not satisfied with what we have. Just one shortcoming snatches all our happiness in a moment.

This tendency of humans is called the "Missing Tile Syndrome", a term coined by Dennis Prager. It is a very big obstacle to happiness, as the mind gets preoccupied with imperfections and anomalies.

This is a psychological problem that may give rise to both mental and physical diseases.

We are all human beings who can never be perfect. Every person has negative things and shortcomings. Instead of feeling sad, we should think about how you can get better without comparing ourselves with others.

To overcome this, first identify your missing tile, then either work to get or replace what's missing, and if that's not possible, just forget it.

Thank God and nature that we have been provided with so many things and reasons to be happy. Let me enumerate 10 out of them:

1. Be happy that you can see...
because there are about 40 million blind people in the world. Of these, 49% are in India and China alone.

2. Be happy that you can hear...
because more than 75 million people in the world are unable to hear and 80% of them live in developed countries.

3. Be happy that you can walk...
because according to WHO report, more than 60 million people in the world do not have functional legs and 75 million people are on wheelchairs.

4. Be happy that you have a roof over your head...
because according to the report of Habitat of Humanity, around 150 million people are homeless in the world, and about 1600 million people are forced to live under dilapidated roofs.

5. Be happy that you have food....
because according to the study of World Food Program, 48 million people in the world have reached the brink of death due to lack of food.

6. Be happy that you have a family...
because according to UNICEF report, 153 million children are orphans in the world. More than 168 million children have to earn their livelihood by working as labourers.

7. Be happy that you can read and write...
because UNESCO report says that 260 million children in the world do not have the luck of going to schools due to financial crunch.

8. Be happy that you are drinking clean water...
because WHO-UNICEF figures say that 2000 million people in the world do not have access to clean potable water.

9. Be happy that you have shoes…
because according to the report of World Health Organization, about 600 million people in the world do not even have a pair of shoes, and 30 million of these people are children.

10. Be happy that you can smile...
because with exceptions of some monkeys, apes and quokkas, no animal smiles, and you can smile, only when you are happy.