Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live life.
Practice
Most of the times, theory and practice become two different things in
our lives. We know a lot of things, but we do not bring that into our
practical lives. We only tend to talk about it to those around. So
our valuable thoughts are wasted, creating a habit of wastage. We have
to make effort for ourselves. We need to start applying into practice
what is good and worthy. The first step is to understand. Having
understood we need to sustain these thoughts by bringing them to
action. Not only will our lives be enriched, but also there will be
power in every thought of ours.
Going Beyond False Identifications
The more I identify with the physical factors of my life, the more I become a prisoner to my destiny or the various up and downs of my life. E.g. if my self-respect is attached to my beautiful new car, how will I feel about myself when the car becomes old and its beauty and shine reduce? Or if I my car is stolen or gets immensely damaged in a road accident? Then, I shall find myself in an identity crisis. The same will be true if my business or job is everything to me. If one day, I am in a good financial state and I enjoy a very respectable and dominant position, and the next day I find myself in a dispute in my profession and I suddenly lose all of that, and nobody wants to know me, I will feel as if I have lost my soul and have almost died. The problem is sometimes so great that people do, literally, lose their desire to live. It happens, too, in relationships, when your partner leaves you either due to a separation, a divorce or even death – a partner in whom you have invested all your love and emotions. Or if my identity is tied to my back balance or property, and suddenly I am broke.
All of these are actually false identifications, and the crazy part of living this way is that I can never be satisfied, even if I succeed in maintaining my false identity. These kind of false identifications do not keep me placed stably on my seat of self-respect and either bring about an inferiority complex or a superiority complex – both of which are false, so both bring insecurity. Even while I am externally successful, having my identity based on that success means I am a slave to them. I’ve handed over my self-esteem to them. I become addicted to it.
Soul Sustenance
The Energy of Faith
What we believe becomes reality. It has been said that faith can move mountains. The highest mountains are our negative thoughts, feelings and ideas, which block our capacity to rise beyond our limits.
Faith is the energy of understanding that enables us to realize anything is possible even if it is not visible in front of our eyes.
The success that comes from faith is closely linked with ‘letting go’. It is only when we let go of what we are used to, or what we have learnt to depend on, that new perceptions and new possibilities will present themselves to us. All that is needed are a few basic facts and then we can take action. When we drive a car, do we insist on knowing how the engine works in detail before driving it? Do we know the mechanical details of a lift before we use it? Most people are only aware of the basic functions and this is all they need to carry out the action. However, they do have the faith that the car has been correctly constructed to do its job safely and that by pressing a few buttons the lift will raise them to wherever it is they want to go. In the modern life-style, there is a tendency to over-think, to want to control and direct every outcome, but such a life lacks spontaneity and simplicity.
Although we do need a framework, it must be flexible enough to allow space for the unexpected, the unpredictable and the great surprise. Such a space is the window through which the light of innovation can enter. When life is over-planned, we become cemented in, unable to grow, or flow, into new horizons. Faith allows us to realize that optimum results can happen without always having to structure or plan. Such faith is the basis for new vision and allows us to reach beyond our limits; because we believe we are more than what meets the eye. Such faith is the inspirational energy of every pioneer in whatever field.
Message for the day
To donate virtues is the greatest donation.Â
In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris
