Quotes Tagged "fall-like-a-rose-petal"
Intelligent living is not about applying your human intelligence, your cleverness, to your Life. It is about living intelligently, it is about choosing wisely on what, how, where, and why to invest your time and energy! You know you are going to die some day, so, do only what is worth it, what is worth your time and effort, and what gives you unadulterated, unparalleled, indescribable joy, a.k.a your Bliss!!!
The untrained human mind is like an untrained dog. It is constantly pulling at the leash. It will run amok. And the dog's master is only reacting; they are never in control. Similarly, when your mind is untrained, you are never in control. The untrained mind will constantly pull you in a zillion directions. It will mix up unrelated issues/contexts/situations and paint horrible worst-case scenarios that are yet to/may never happen. Thoughts of worthlessness, what-if, anger, grief, guilt, cluelessness, fear, stress, anxiety...all of these are a function of the untrained mind. Your untrained mind is the only villain in your Life – not people, not events, not destiny, not fate...the truth is the mind cannot thrive in the now, it becomes powerless; so, it runs back into the dead past or races forward into the unborn future. Which is why you must use your Life experiences, such as the one you are going through right now, and train your mind to be in the present, in the moment. In the now, you are in control. When you are in control, you simply are. You are happy!
We are all a product of our experiences, of what happens to us, of what we go through. We make choices, we stumble, we fall, we endure pain, we go through intense strife, suffering and yet, eventually, we do awaken to what we believe is a greater understanding of Life. Each of us is a miracle in that sense – it is indeed a miracle that we have survived what we have been through! Clearly, I wouldn't be able to do what I am doing, or even say this with so much conviction, without going through what I have gone through. This is so true for you too. Isn't it a miracle that Life curates such unique experiences to help us be who we are, to do what we do, so people may learn and benefit from each of us, one way or the other?
Every experience that you go through is part of the process of the unfolding of your myth. If you sit back and reflect on your own 2019, on how Life dealt with you this year, you will see how every upheaval, every scar in your Life, is precious in its own way. You will realize how you have emerged stronger and wiser from each experience you have been through. You will be amazed at how you have learnt to cope, how you have moved on this year too, just as you have done, all your Life. This is why it is pointless to label a year as good or bad (or ugly). A set of events simply happened to you this past year. And another set will happen in the year coming up. So, instead of over-analyzing and labeling the year gone by, embrace what is, and train your mind to be non-worrying, non-frustrated and non-suffering. This holds the key to your Happiness.
The truth is that this Life is a miracle, every moment you are alive is a miracle…the sunrise, the sunset, the dew drop, the moon, the stars, the birds chirping…every thing, and everyone, around you is a miracle. But you miss these everyday miracles because you are steeped in grief, in pining for what is over, what is dead and isn’t there or you are gripped by anxiety and fear, worrying about the unborn future, about what is still to arrive. You are so consumed by imagining that your Life is one endless saga of problems that you don’t see the magic and beauty of your Life, of your miracles. In fact, this human form you have is a miracle; despite your frailties, your circumstances and your vulnerabilities, “you are the miracle you seek”!
To be sure, there is no method, no single way, to anchor in Faith and employ Patience. Letting go, trusting the process of Life and living with Faith and Patience, is the way. Living through our crippling bankruptcy for over 12 years now, Vaani and I have realized that Faith does not always solve our problems immediately. But having Faith in the process of Life – that what goes around, comes around; that what goes up will come down some day, only to go back up another day – certainly helps us to cope with our problems better. Keeping the Faith also teaches us Patience. Unless you embrace these twin philosophies, and live practising them together, you will not see the miracles in your everyday Life.
Undoubtedly, you will be subject to the pulls and pressures of everyday living. You will feel angry, left out, let down, jealous, disturbed, fearful and insecure. Events, people, things – any of these can trigger off these debilitating emotions. Don’t resist any of these feelings. Hold them up. And examine them closely. What do they make you feel? Don’t they make you intensely unhappy? If they do, let them go. Anything, or anyone, that makes you unhappy does not have a place in your Life. Know that you have a choice to walk away from them or throw them out. Exercise that choice. This is personal leadership. This is why happiness is an intensely personal choice.
If it is meant for you, it will come to you. It will find you and reach you. So, don’t despair when, despite your best intention and effort, something does not happen the way you envisioned it and planned it. Take it easy. Of course, you have every right to have an intention, put forth a plan and execute it, but you have no right to insist that just because you did all that you must get what you want. The outcomes are never in your hand. The idea that you deserve something is what you have grown within you. So, drop that idea. Just do your bit, and do it well, in any situation. And leave the results, the outcomes, to Life. If you must get it, you will. When you do, be grateful for Life’s compassion. When you don’t, be accepting of Life’s verdict.