Brahma Kumaris

04.10.15 Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter Presidential Debate Oct 28, 1980: In his closing statement, Reagan asked the American people a question that has resonated for over two decades: “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” Assertiveness Assertiveness is the ability to directly and honestly express your opinions, feelings, attitudes and rights. It is to do so without anxiety and in a way that doesn't infringe on the rights of others or violate another person's integrity. Pressure Often, it's not really people or having too much to do that creates pressure in life. It's your working and living habits that need tweaking. No one and nothing can make you feel pressured without your permission! Work out why you're feeling pressured and what easy changes can you make to take the pressure off. Self Conversations A very important subtle activity that we all indulge in for a lot of time in the day is having conversations with the self, sometimes consciously and a large number of times without even being conscious of it. We need to be extremely careful about what the quality of our conversations are because self conversations very strongly influence our perception i.e. the way we see ourselves, others, situations as well as our personalities and also mould them. If channeled properly, they can be constructive i.e. ones that empower the self; if not, they can be destructive i.e. ones that bring the self down or weaken it in some way or the other. They possess immense potential, both positive and negative, if we want we can use them to liberate us or they can even limit us. We can judge, criticize and threaten ourselves or praise and encourage the self in a positive way. It's important to create thoughts of acceptance, respect and approval for ourselves, even if situations don't go the way we desire or expect. Such positive conversations help rise above the dependence on what how people see us and what they think and talk about us, making the self extremely powerful. Positive self conversations are not fantasies or disconnecting from reality and a few minutes given to the activity do a lot of benefit and no harm at all. They can be done by detaching oneself from actions when we have an emerged conversation and our complete focus is on the conversation and we do nothing else at that time or whilst being involved in actions. Some actions like going on a drive, cooking, having a meal or simply taking a walk or going on a jog allow self-conversations to take place alongside. At these times we give less mental energy or attention to the conversations i.e. we can have a merged conversation so that the respective action is not affected adversely in any way. We can choose how much mental energy to give to the activity, depending on the karma alongside. Soul Sustenance Benefits Of Realizing The Law Of Action Suppose a person from India goes to America for the first time and rents a car over there. He then parks his rented car on the wrong side of the road. He will be charged a fine because parking laws are different in both countries. He cannot simply say ‘I didn’t know, I am ignorant’. It should have been his responsibility, if driving, to find out the laws of the new country but he didn’t take enough care. In ignorance, we have done many things against the universal laws of creation – especially the Law of Karma. We did not have the complete knowledge of what are good/bad karmas, what are right/wrong karmas; what different types of effects different karmas would have on me, others and nature. But we cannot just say 'I didn't know'. It was our responsibility to know. If we look at the state of the world now, there may be a few sparks of light or spiritual enlightenment but, generally, there is a great amount of darkness. That gives us an indication of the sorts of karmas the vast majority of us have been performing, due to ignorance, to have produced the situations or circumstances in the world. The complete knowledge of the karmic process, which we learn when we are introduced to spirituality, helps us: • reduce the burden of the past • remove any type of suffering or sorrow in our present life • change our future as well as that of the world, to make it better and more positive • experience a positive return from our spiritual efforts • understand all the why’s, how’s, what’s and when’s which surround our life Message for the day Speciality lies in experiencing one's fortune. Expression: When there is the awareness of one's fortune, there is speciality seen in every word and action, because of wanting to make the best of everything. There is also the pure desire of sharing with others which also makes one special. Experience: When I have the recognition of my own fortune, and am aware of what I have, I find myself content. I have no expectations but continue to make the best use of what I already have, for my benefit and that of others. So I find myself being special and making my own fortune.