THREE WAYS IN WHICH I OVERCAME FEAR

 

    “Face fear and fear goes; avoid fear and fear grows,” says mahatria Ra, the Diviner of the Path, infinitheism.

Sometimes I think ignorance is bliss. Little children do not know the consequences of their actions and so they are daring. They want to jump from great heights, they want to deep dive, they are curious about a lot of things and so they try putting their little finger into the electric socket, they rush to the kitchen and grab the knife, they have several falls before they grow up, and meet with accidents within the house in their growing up years. Their memory of pain is short- lived and so they do it again and again. They don’t have fear in them.

Fear is an emotion that incapacitates and cripples us. It prevents us from progressing in life. It is a stumbling block. With all the capabilities we are unable to move forward and scale great heights because of fear. Even a bright student has fear of exams, which does not allow him to crack the paper, though he is capable. There are all kinds of fear in the world, including fear of the unknown. It is strange how we can fear about something that we have not even encountered. But that is how it is. Each one’s fear is unique and valid for them. To each his own.

“Why fear when I am here!” was God’s whisper in my ear.

When I was young, I feared God as I was always told, “God will punish you.”    As an adult, due to so many setbacks in life, at one stage, I even lost my confidence, and wondered what the future had in store for me. It was all, fear of the unknown. What if something happens to my loved ones! I used to imagine fearful situations and go to the extreme. Three ways in which I overcame fear:

1.     Firstly, I decided, come what may, I will face it when I encounter the situation. Till then I will stop entertaining imaginary fears.

2.Secondly, I told myself, just because there were setbacks in life, it need not be so for the rest of my life. I gained confidence in myself.

3.Thirdly, and most importantly, all my fears were vanquished progressively through my spiritual connect. Faith in the infinite gave me strength and I became more optimistic. Faith and fear cannot co-exist.

 

“The belief you hold in the beginning of the journey defines the journey.”

  

1.Identify what you fear most and keep facing it. Slowly you will overcome it.

2. Sports train you to face your fear. So, play a sport. Be part of a team or play an individual sport.

It is not what the world tells you. What you communicate to yourself makes all the difference. Ask life what you want. Don’t ask life what you don’t want. Live fearlessly!

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting

WORK IS WORSHIP

 

The fragrance of the incense stick came from the prayer room, as I went towards it. As expected, my mother was chanting her morning mantras, which was a part of her routine. I have been seeing her do this from my childhood. She had her routine at home. After this, she would go to school, which she started, to perpetuate the memory of my father, whom I lost when I was nine months old. Even during summer vacation, when we used to go stay at my cousin’s place, she would go for work. Her first vacation was twenty-one years after she started the school! School meant everything to her. The dedication and devotion with which she worked was unparalleled. Her life was a message to us. She never preached to us.

 

Everything that we get in life is from our work. All the comforts we enjoy are the rewards of our work. I realized this very in my life. It was so much ingrained in me that my commitment to my work could not be otherwise. It became my DNA and was a natural part of me. This is called subliminal learning. You learn certain things unconsciously in your growing up years. These are all blessings in our life. To have your parent as your role model. This vital lesson that I learnt has made me grow in my own eyes. One thing that I am proud of is my commitment to my work. There is no compromise whatsoever. I always touch the floor of my work place every morning and whisper a thank you to God for choosing me as His instrument to represent such a beautiful Cause of educating children and creating a future for them. Today I am enjoying holistic abundance in my life.

 

How do you see your work? What are your thoughts when you enter your work place? Is it a mere building where you earn a living, or is it a place of worship for you?  Your future will come from that. We need to bring reverence to our work. Whether you are a doctor, a teacher, an engineer, a designer, an actor, an architect, or even a cook or a driver. The more and more we do our work with devotion, the more we will grow in abundance. Money is only a by product of our work. We need to joyfully focus on process excellence and automatically we will see results. Success comes to us through work. Give yourself totally, that your work itself is your meditation and your prayer unto HIM. You will live a blessed life!

 

             “Devotion to duty is the highest form of worship of God.”

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting

THE FRAGILE ADOLESCENT YEARS

                                

 “We must not allow other people’s limited perceptions to define us.”

 Would you believe if I said that, what I am today, bears no semblance to my past? Yes, I was diffident, unsure about myself, had no great achievements to my credit, had a low self-image, was constantly compared with others, I was repeatedly told how lousy I looked. Surprised?  But today, my confidence defines me. How did I achieve this transformation? Well, one small victory led to many more. That was the beginning. It made me believe in myself. In course of time I realised that beauty was only skin deep. I began working on my inner beauty, which is eternal. I also started excelling in my studies. All this created confidence in me. I discovered the area of my strength and worked on it.

You must understand that adolescence is the most vulnerable phase in one’s life. Most of them do not get their life right when they don’t get their teenage right. This is the age when you crave for identity. You seek the attention of the world. You want to feel like a hero. You will mindlessly do anything to get attention. Right or wrong is not the question. What matters is, you wish to be noticed. So, you tend to develop herd mentality and you are ready to do anything that your gang of friends do. They will appreciate you for everything. They will accept you even if you are a failure and it makes you feel good.

Do you know that all habits are formed very early in life? Your habits can either create you or destroy you. You will not hesitate to pick up a cigarette, or consume alcohol, or do drugs, in the company of your friends. What you don’t realise is that, adolescence is a vulnerable period in your life. The choices that you make will have its impact on your adult life. Friends have a great influence on you than your parents. So, surround yourself with friends who will lift you up in life and not pull you down. This is the phase when you tend to get into relationships of infatuation as your body goes through physical & hormonal changes. You will feel like a man or a woman. But you are not old enough to know life. That is where the problem lies.

Developing a strong will power alone will help you to make the right choices in life. The power of the man is the power of his mind.  How do we achieve this? We can start with a simple practise. Decide to wake up early every day. You fix the time and check if you are able to wake up at the time decided by you. Tick every day when you wake up on time.  When you achieve it, you will start believing in yourself. Success in one aspect of life will lead to many more. This will be the beginning of a disciplined and glorious life that you will start living life, based on right and wrong and not by pain and pleasure.  

“The greatest pride is to grow in your own eyes. Live….to look up to yourself.” 

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting

PAIN AND PLEASURE

                                                  

 I remember the mother of a student telling me, long back, that her daughter was in awe of my position in school and that she envied me for my status as the Correspondent of the school, as she felt that I lived a privileged life. I smiled on hearing this and I told her, being an educationist is a responsibility and not a status. To reach a place of eminence we have to be willing to go through pain. The Purpose is always greater.  All achievers would have had to face challenging situations in life to reach where they reached. Going up is tough, but coming down is a lot easy.

“The only pain in pleasure is the pleasure of pain.”

A mother is willing to go through her labor pain for the sheer joy of seeing her bundle of joy. Nothing matters to her. All the nine months she relegates her needs to the background and prioritizes her baby’s needs. This is the case with all those who have a purpose in life. Be it Roger Federer or Sundar Pichai or Narayana Murthy or Mark Zuckerberg, none of them came from a background they could boast of.  Closer home, we have our Esteemed Prime Minister and the Honorable President, who come from a very humble background. Yet, they all were focused and driven by their passion and vision. They attached the right emotion to whatever they did. They did not see work as pain, rather, they enjoyed it. The process of achieving their goal was a joyful and pleasurable experience for them.

“Subordinate your likes and dislikes to the purpose of your life,” says mahatria Ra, the Diviner of the Path, infinitheism.

Some of us see studies as pain, so also, being honest, avoiding the wrong gang of friends, exercising or waking up early, and playing or copying in the exam or indulging in vices, as pleasure. Our life is driven by instant gratification. Momentary pleasure is what we seek, not realizing that success is all about delayed gratification. What is most important should not be at the mercy of what is least important.  If we desire everlasting pleasure, we should be willing to go through temporary pain. If we wish to sleep peacefully for the rest of our life, we have to spend sleepless nights today. Whatever you do, should take you closer to your goal. Be selfish for yourself. Don’t give your time to anything except to your own growth. All those who distract you now will leave you when you become a failure. The world respects only champions. Aim to be a winner, nothing less.

 Fix a goal

Plan your day with your goal in mind

Be consistent

Attach the right emotions.

 You can go through anything in life if you can become what you can become. Giving up any momentary pleasure should be seen as a go up in life. Attach pleasure to moments of growth. You will not feel the pain, rather, it will be a pleasure to indulge in what is right. This approach will help you to do everything joyfully. Visualize your life as a mediocre student. How would your future be? On the contrary, how would your life be if you secured high marks and developed the right habits? It calls for a high level of discipline.

 

                         “Discipline is the most pleasurable pain.”

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting