Faith
When I am continuously being battered by the storms of
life, and my very spirit is ebbing away, then all I need
to do is hang onto that gift called 'Faith', that one
support which will weather the storms. Faith does not
depend on a clever head, only belief: belief in the self
and the strength that lies within. Faith is the seed of
victory and the foundation of making the impossible
possible.
Conscious Effort
As part of the daily routine, we do a lot of things, of
which sometimes we find ourselves having to do something
that we don't enjoy doing. Then we tend to force
ourselves to do these things. In spite of all the
effort, we really cannot find any benefit in it. And we
constantly look for something else we enjoy. We need to
make a conscious effort to pick out something that we
like in the task at hand. Only when we begin to love the
task will we be able to enjoy what we are doing and get
the
maximum benefit from it. This is how we can accumulate,
both with the process of the task itself and from the
result too.
Unloading Your Pressure Baggage (cont.)
Can we experience freedom only when there is an absence
of outside pressure? We feel pressured from many sides.
At work, we feel the pressure to do tasks as per fixed
guidelines of set systems and within boundaries of time,
of keeping up our performance as per others'
expectations and as good as our compatriots. In
relationships, we feel the pressure of experiencing
success in them, of satisfying others and gaining
respect from them. In studies, we feel the pressure of
having to excel in them, not only because that is
instrumental in building our future but because of the
desire to be seen in a positive light by others. We feel
the pressure of having to earn more and more wealth to
satisfy the necessities, comforts and luxuries of the
family and to maintain a certain image in society. In
the face of problems, we feel pressure when we are not
able to solve them quickly or in the way that we want.
Failure or its fear, in any sphere of life, generates
pressure in us. Sometimes we experience pressure because
the mind is not functioning as per our desires or
directions or we are not able to transform our negative
personality to a positive one as much as we want. When
we believe that something harmful can happen if we don't
reach our set objectives on time or in a certain manner,
we feel pressured. Physical illnesses or their fear can
also create pressure for some of us.
And so life turns into an endless amount of pressure
crests, like speed breakers that appear one after the
other, unsettling us and not giving us time to relax.
When we feel pressured, it seems that the life forces
rule our life and we do not feel free. In the long-term,
this repetitive habit of creating feelings of pressure
and carrying such baggage ends up leaving us exhausted
on an emotional and spiritual level.
(To be continued tomorrow...)
Soul Sustenance
Being Impressed By Others – Is It Beneficial?
To keep our self esteem intact, we need to make sure
that we do not have an impressionable intellect. Being
impressed by people, in itself, is not bad, but we can
fall into the tendency of staying trapped in the
superfluous (excessive and unnecessary) and in
appearances. What impresses us influences us and even
moulds our awareness at that moment. We lose the ability
to create our thoughts and feelings and these are
influenced by the impression that we have allowed the
other person to leave on us.
Sometimes the impression is such that we completely give
ourselves to it. We give up our power to the other, and
we allow them to dominate our emotional world. The
results of allowing oneself to be impressed are varied
and on different levels.
For example, when we are impressed by the other's
position; it is fine to respect the authority and the
position of the other, but when we allow their position
to impress us, our ability to relate to the person in a
smooth way is blocked. This can make it difficult for us
to be the authority in our own life.
Another example is when we are impressed by the
achievements of the other and put them on a pedestal. We
compare ourselves with him or her and have weak thoughts
of ourselves, such as that we are not as good or
effective as them, or we might feel jealousy or guilt.
All of this acts as an obstacle on the path towards our
own achievement. It is good to recognize and appreciate
the achievements and skills of others, but when we allow
them to impress us, in some way, we submit ourselves to
their influence and we weaken our self-esteem and our
respect towards ourselves.
Without realizing, we use the other to fill a gap that
we feel in ourselves. This will not always work. It will
not strengthen us; rather it will create a dependency
and dependencies weaken us.
Message for the day
Faith enables the creation of elevated fortune.
Projection:
Usually there is a tendency to leave things to destiny.
When something goes wrong, we blame fate for it. Then we
feel the situation to be totally out of our control,
which prevents us from taking responsibility for our own
life. And we will not be able to work in any way for
bringing about a change and improving the situation.
Solution:
Instead of blaming fate for whatever is happening, we
need to take up responsibility for creating our own
fortune for the future. When we have faith in ourselves,
we will take up responsibility for our own life. We
will, then, be able to work at making our each thought
beneficial, contributing to our success, making a better
future for ourselves.