A holy person asked, “What do you want?” and the devotee responded, “I want peace”. The holy person responded “Remove ‘I’ and remove ‘want’ and ‘peace’ is the only thing left”. It looks like a word puzzle on a peripheral vision but when one carefully reviews the depth behind this statement, one can understand that invariably one refers to body conscience when he/she refers to “I” and ‘wants’ are unfulfilled desires that one keeps adding every day. These two are the root causes for us losing peace. When I contemplated on this subject, the following practical solutions came to my mind. This is more of sharing my introspection with all of you than advising anyone about how to conduct life.
Life is never going to be ideal as projected by my mind. I don’t control 90% of what happens in my life and only 10% I can control. However, it is 10% of what I control makes significant contribution in changing my life. Therefore, my initial objective towards peace is to know what I can control and change. I have to build my life based on opportunities presented to me. I have to set realistic and achievable goals that I can attempt to fulfill. While I practice contentment in what I want, I should relentlessly pursue what I need to accomplish.
Most importantly, I have to learn the good habits of role models I idealize in my life but I should never compare my life with others. Whenever I compare my life with that of others, my mind will set unrealistic goals for me and when I try to accomplish them, my life invariably will end up in disappointment. I have to constantly be grateful for what I already have in life and feel good about those blessings. When I have nice pair of shoes to wear, I should think of those who have nothing to wear and for that matter even think of those who don’t even have feet to walk. My blessings are the ones that show me the way to achieve peace in my life.
I have to take one day at a time and live always in the present moment. Thinking too far ahead is dangerous and living too far into the past is meaningless. Going into the past should be only to do introspection and identify the lessons learned and going into the future should be only to plan the best use of my resources. I have to find time to relax and conserve my energy. To the extent possible, I must be able to enjoy the nature around me. The nature around me teaches me how to accept the reality and achieve peace.
I have to understand the life is not independent and it is interdependent. While my character development, spiritual growth and peace are very important, I have to realize that most valuable contribution for all of that comes from my relationships/friendships. It is my friendships/relationships with others that make the difference in my life. I must be able to help others who are in need without expecting anything in return and I have to keep nurturing my relationships/friendships consistently. Wherever necessary, I have to speak my mind to my friends, relatives and acquaintances and accept their criticism respectfully with determination to change myself. Keeping our surrounding and network of people we have friendships/relationships with happy, we can achieve happiness and peace.
In the company of right people, my life gets influenced by right thoughts resulting in good actions, and in the company of nature around me, my mind synchronizes with my heart to achieve peace. While self improvement is my goal, it is inclusion of essential others in my accomplishments and exclusion of my excessive passions that will help me achieve peace in life.
Life is never going to be ideal as projected by my mind. I don’t control 90% of what happens in my life and only 10% I can control. However, it is 10% of what I control makes significant contribution in changing my life. Therefore, my initial objective towards peace is to know what I can control and change. I have to build my life based on opportunities presented to me. I have to set realistic and achievable goals that I can attempt to fulfill. While I practice contentment in what I want, I should relentlessly pursue what I need to accomplish.
Most importantly, I have to learn the good habits of role models I idealize in my life but I should never compare my life with others. Whenever I compare my life with that of others, my mind will set unrealistic goals for me and when I try to accomplish them, my life invariably will end up in disappointment. I have to constantly be grateful for what I already have in life and feel good about those blessings. When I have nice pair of shoes to wear, I should think of those who have nothing to wear and for that matter even think of those who don’t even have feet to walk. My blessings are the ones that show me the way to achieve peace in my life.
I have to take one day at a time and live always in the present moment. Thinking too far ahead is dangerous and living too far into the past is meaningless. Going into the past should be only to do introspection and identify the lessons learned and going into the future should be only to plan the best use of my resources. I have to find time to relax and conserve my energy. To the extent possible, I must be able to enjoy the nature around me. The nature around me teaches me how to accept the reality and achieve peace.
I have to understand the life is not independent and it is interdependent. While my character development, spiritual growth and peace are very important, I have to realize that most valuable contribution for all of that comes from my relationships/friendships. It is my friendships/relationships with others that make the difference in my life. I must be able to help others who are in need without expecting anything in return and I have to keep nurturing my relationships/friendships consistently. Wherever necessary, I have to speak my mind to my friends, relatives and acquaintances and accept their criticism respectfully with determination to change myself. Keeping our surrounding and network of people we have friendships/relationships with happy, we can achieve happiness and peace.
In the company of right people, my life gets influenced by right thoughts resulting in good actions, and in the company of nature around me, my mind synchronizes with my heart to achieve peace. While self improvement is my goal, it is inclusion of essential others in my accomplishments and exclusion of my excessive passions that will help me achieve peace in life.