Brahma Kumaris

13.01.17 African Lion Trust Yourself You must begin to trust yourself. If you do not then you will forever be looking to others to prove your own merit to you and you will never be satisfied. You will always be asking others what to do, and at the same time resenting those from whom you seek such aid. Unloading Your Pressure Baggage (Part 1) On a spiritual level, pressure can be defined as an external force acting on us divided by our ability to bear the force or resist it. Thus, force and resistance capacity are two variants in the equation of pressure. Everyone has different resistance capacities. Two people with different resistance capacities will experience different amounts of pressure on being subjected to the same magnitude of force. A feeling of pressure absorbs our freedom and gives us an experience of being ruled by an external entity. There are a lot of people who hold the belief that they can experience freedom only in the absence of an external force, which is almost impossible, since there is almost some force or the other exerted on the soul by ups and downs that takes place in the role that it plays through the physical body; which includes the physical body itself; profession; family; wealth, all types of relationships, etc. Even our own personality, thoughts, feelings, emotions etc. exert pressure on us at times. Apart from the resistance capacity, the other variant in the equation of pressure is not only force but our perception of what the magnitude of the force is. This depends primarily on the beliefs that we carry. Two people will perceive the same situation in their role (as explained above) as forces of different magnitudes. While we hold the belief that life events, people and their expectations from us, are the forces that are the causes of our pressure, we will be able to do little to change the habit of being pressurized. It is we who pressurize ourself and allow the outside to pressurize us. We can either go through our life journey while experiencing feelings of being emotionally imprisoned, confused, rushed and hurried, or we can do the same with the power of faith and determination, at the same time remaining patient and maintaining our inner emotional stability. In some cases, some of us put pressure on ourselves, because we carry the belief that a bit of pressure is good in order to achieve what we want; it provides us with positive energy and motivates us. So this is an example of perceiving a force in our life, a force which does not exist. Such kind of pressure can deceive us and give us a feeling of being beneficial in the short term but it can have harmful effects on us in the long term. Some others might not experience this pressure because they do not carry this belief at all and don't invite this force. (To be continued tomorrow…) To understand the importance of my actions is to create a fortune for myself. I usually blame my fortune when something goes wrong. I either feel it to be unjust or curse my past actions which have brought me this fate today. To curse my past actions is to lose the present moment too. Instead of cursing my past actions, I need to make the most of the present. Whatever I do today, I get the fruit of it right now and for the future too. So I need to pay attention to do the right actions always. Message for the day The biggest gift is the gift of virtues. Expression: Throughout the day, each individual is involved in a series of activities. A simple thought to give the gift of virtues makes even ordinary actions special. Each act becomes special and the fragrance of this speciality spreads around and touches the lives of others too. Such an individual is able to contribute to every task with his own speciality and bring success in the task too. Experience: When I am able to express and give the gift of my virtues, I am able to attain satisfaction with whatever I get to do. This satisfaction brings in me the inner urge to contribute some more. I achieve success outwardly too since I have actually been able to experience inner success. My relations with others are also harmonious and whatever task I do along with the others brings a productive result.