Find Your Corner

There is no doubt that this universe is a beautiful place to live in; but more beautiful is the universe that lives within us. Sometimes we forget the universe within us & become more outer-centric. We start looking for the reason of every problem outside us instead of looking within. And after a continuous ignorance of many years the universe within us starts decaying slowly. The day it dies, we experience our first near-death experience.

We also pollute the universe within like we do with the universe outside. Outside universe is polluted by hatred, power-struggle, war-cries & many such ideas. The universe within is polluted by selfishness, greed, ego and connected ideas. When we think in terms of cleaning the universe outside and making it a better place to live in, we get scared by the enormity of the task. We argue that we cannot mend the whole world as it is a task beyond our control. We leave it as it is & continue with our struggle for survival. But the universe doesn't stay that way; the decay continues & we reach to a situation that we are facing now. 

This happens because we forget an important fact about ourselves or are never made aware of it. This fact is expressed succinctly in following quote-

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

If we understand the fact that we are spiritual beings, these ideas that pollute our mind won't enter us. These will be nipped before they take shape. But, because we accept that we are limited, small & transient, we try to achieve maximum in this 'minimum' life. We struggle to get everything & in doing so we compromise with our ethics, character, soul & everything that forms the universe within us. The light that forms our being starts dimming & once the light within us dies down we cease to become human beings- we become human doings. Then on, we exist not to be, but to do. This transition from spiritual being to human being to human doing to nothing is smooth & we don't even realize it. 

It might be an enormous task to clean the universe outside & might seem beyond our control, but cleaning the universe within us is in our control. And once we do it, we will certainly make the universe outside a better place to live in. Your emphasis should not be to clean the whole universe but to clean only one corner of the universe- and that corner is 'you'.  

The Gift Of Present

One thing that is associated with the advent of any new year is making New Year resolutions. We resolve to quit some obstinate habit or to start a new one in current year. We resolve to try our hands at something that we couldn't accomplish last year. But most of the resolutions are forgotten as the year passes by & we get busy with the same old routine. Have you ever paused & pondered why most of the resolutions fail to bring positive results? And if this be the case, why do we make resolutions?

The basic problem with the New Year resolutions is that these are made for future; not for now. They have their base in some moment in future; not in the present moment. And the fact is that 'now' is the only moment that we have. Rest all is a mirage. Resolutions only reinforce our notion of living in the future & life is not in future; it is now. So, the most important resolution that you can take is to live in 'now'.

Another mistake that we make is that we carry our luggage of past into future & what we miss most in this journey is our present. As a result, we live either in past or in future & living in past or future is like killing our present. Yesterday is something that we can do nothing about today;and tomorrow is not something that can be lived today. Today is the day that I have full control on; today is the day that can be altered. Regretting our past mistakes will only instigate us commit some more mistakes & spoil our future.

 The only resolution that one should make is to ask daily,"How am I going to live today so that my tomorrow is better than today?" When you live in present you see the changes taking place immediately & that gives you more strength to move into your future with confidence. Remember, anyone can do anything for one day & if he can do it for a day, he can do it again.

If you still want to travel back to your past, go there only to live some extraordinary moments when you did something remarkable; recalling any past moment should give you strength not rob you of it. Similarly, if you want to think about future, imagine something that you want to achieve. Don't think of future as something that scares you or stops you from achieving your objective. The best gift that you can give yourself this new year is the gift of present.  

Be The First Class You

Most of our life we try to achieve hard what others have achieved, to be what others look like & to copy what most others do. In the process we lose our own identity which by far is our most precious possession. We live in a world full of copy-cats & also-rans. But there are few who don't belong to this category. They are different in their approach & that is the reason they are different in their achievements. 

There is nothing wrong in modeling your life after someone who has been a success in some field. In fact, this is one of the secrets of a successful life. Following someone is not bad as long as we don't lose our own style. Choosing someone as a role-model is altogether a different proposition. A role model inspires you while someone you copy kills you. We start valuing the person more than we value ourselves. If we don't value self, we don't value anything that belongs to us-our time, our relationship, our uniqueness & most importantly our self-esteem. The other problem with this kind of life is that we become what others want us to be. In short, we give control of our life to others. The world is continuously trying to make us someone else & the real achievement is to resist the pressure of the external world & listen to the voice of the world inside you. Emerson said it quite succinctly when he declared, 

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

When we try to copy someone, we kill all our creative & intellectual resources. We start seeing the world from the eyes of someone else. And after a prolonged exposure to someone else's vision, we start living his life. We think & act on the commands of others. We become the genie in the lamp that has immense powers but can't do anything for himself as he is always busy pleasing others. The only original words that you hear from him is, "Your wish is my command." And when we live this kind of life we waste the most beautiful gift given by God- our life.

         "Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are."- Marilyn Monroe