A Caring
Heart
I express my care and concern by responding to
situations with a cool head and to people with a warm
heart. If I remain aware that as fellow human beings we
are all part of one family, and that even the smallest
of gestures can make a difference in people's lives, I
am always blessed with a caring heart. It takes so
little to show that I care yet it can mean so much.
Negativity
When someone relates something to me about another
person's negativity, I tend to listen to it with great
interest. I then find that the other person is greatly
encouraged to speak about it. But such waste talk is not
really useful for anyone and I find that there is no
solution for the problem at hand. When someone is
talking about the negativity in another person I need to
question myself if listening to this is of any use to
me, or if I can do anything about the situation. If I
cannot do anything I need to remind myself that there is
no use listening to such waste talk. Instead I need to
make an attempt to look at the positive aspect in the
other person so that the other person can see that too.
The Art Of Stepping In And Stepping Out In Relationships
(cont.)
In the same way as the gardener (referring to
yesterday's message), we have the duty, or rather the
honor, of planting positive seeds of good intentions,
love, respect and tolerance, at the same time allowing
others and the forces of the universe to be given the
space to work and respond according to their time and
inclination. Very often we plant those seeds but want an
immediate result:
* I have shown so much patience, but he doesn't change
or
* How much longer do I have to tolerate? I feel
suppressed.
We become attached to what we do, so there is no space
for things to happen at their own appropriate time.
Sometimes we have the wrong type of mercy, or we want to
take control, thinking we know better, so we step into
people's lives too much. This interference and lack of
free space provokes hatred, resentment and conflict with
others.
At other times, we get fed up with others; our tolerance
and empathy is completely reduced and we say, * I've had
enough, or * I have got to do my own thing and so we
step out, but in a selfish way, that is, we isolate
ourselves from others, or situations. We justify, or
disguise, this isolation and rejection and dislike
towards others with such phrases as, * I need my own
space or * Let them stand on their own feet. In actual
fact, we aren't bothered anymore; we have stepped too
far out of the picture because we have not cultivated
the patience which allows the good and positive to
germinate and grow in its own time. It is an art to know
when to step back and when to step forward, but a very
necessary one if well-being is to be achieved.
Soul Sustenance
Bringing
Your Dreams Alive
Each one of us has dreams that we nourish right
through our lives. Some are short-term dreams and some
long term ones. Dreams keep changing as we progress
through different phases of our life. Some are achieved,
some are not. Some of us possess the ability to realize
our dreams more than the rest. The most important and
influential factor in this process is how much we
believe in our dream and believe that it will be
realized. Some of the factors that hamper this belief
are:
* The influence of the past - the memories of our
past failures, which sow seeds of doubt in our mind;
as well as successes, which keep us in an illusionary
consciousness and distance us from the present moment
and our present actions. Also, sometimes we associate
present temporary failures or ups and downs which may
come in our way, with failures of the past.
* Lack of inner strength or power, when faced
with obstacles in your path. Tendency to get dejected
very easily and creating weak thoughts like we do not
deserve it or we are not capable of it or are we not
lucky enough or it is not in our destiny or maybe it is
our negative past actions which are influencing our
dream realization process adversely, etc.
* The opinions or comments of people surrounding
you who sometimes, are not in tune with your
consciousness and are not able to empathize with your
purpose. Their comments easily de-focus you from your
purpose.
* Lack of ability to mould or adjust during the
dream realization journey. Any journey is always full of
twists, turns and sudden changes. A rigid state of mind,
which is not able to change its tactics as required, may
make the path seem more difficult than it actually is.
* It is very good to dream but excessive attachment
to the dream also may make the journey towards the
dream stressful and bring down your self-belief at
times.
Message for the day
Wisdom is to learn from one's experiences.
Expression:
Things do not always go smoothly. In spite of the
difficulties that we are faced with, the wisdom within
us enables us to learn from all that happens. Naturally
with this learning we would experience progress. If not,
we will only be caught up with the past and lose the
present too.
Experience:
When we find ourselves thinking about the past, or
caught up with it, we need to redirect our thoughts
towards a more constructive goal. We have to see if we
have benefited in some way with the particular
experience of the past. Our wisdom enables us to learn
from everything that happens.