Inner Strength

When a person is injured, the first thing one seeks is help. Injury to the mind or the psyche is not seen physically but is felt within. Often we do not realise the extent of the internal wound till later on. Even then we are not sure whom to turn to for help. Many people put on a brave face and a pretense of not being affected by it. But all wounds need kind attention.
First it is important to realise the need for help or the need to do something about it. A wound should be recognised and not allowed to fester. The best help for wounded feelings is quiet introspection and slow understanding of every one involved. One should try to go beyond one's emotional sphere to others. The wounded feelings of others should also be taken into account. If that is not possible in the present frame of mind, time should be allowed to elapse.
A physical wound is healed when the entire body cooperates to help heal it and this too, takes time. Time heals the mind when we allow it to, by not going over the negative feelings again and again. We have to go within and seek to realise the latent inner strength. We all have the capability to rise above the chimera of percieved weaknesses.

The Healing Process

A disturbed mind tends to view everything and every one with suspicion. It gets filled with negativity and refuses to see anything positive in a given situation. The fact is that a tender spot has been bruised. Healing is needed and a person can attempt to heal by one's own efforts and if that is not possible, to go to a healer. Otherwise the wound festers and the seeds of retaliation are sown. Pouring your innermost feelings in a diary cleanses the mind. Speaking to a close and understanding friend gives comfort.
The important thing is to take out the angst from within without harming your own self or the person who hurt you. Let the law of nature take care of the person who inflicted the hurt on you.
No one can escape it.

Be Gentle with Your Mind

The faculty of the mind is such that it seeks to relive the past---both pleasant and unpleasant. The mind is always full of thoughts. It is very difficult to tune in to the right frequency and to block the trash. We have to learn to handle our own mind very gently, with love and patience. Love for any of the arts such as reading good literature, painting, listening to music or playing an instrument, writing etc. all help to tune the mind towards peace. For others physical activity or sports is a healthy form of recreation. The mind has to be constantly engaged pleasantly and usefully to be cheerful and healthy.
The mind needs a space of its own, away from people where it can express itself freely. Any activity should be chosen with care.

Precious Childhood

Childhood is the most precious period of every one's life. Yet the irony is that every one is helpless at this time. The memories are deep and resurface either to pacify or to torment. We cannot undo the past, yet we can selectively tune in to the happy zone and block out the painful one. As adults, that is in our hands. When ever we think of the past, we invariably relive the same old emotion. For our own peace, it is better to forget unpleasant incidents and the emotions attached to them. To forget is to actually forgive ourselves and others.
Another way to atone the past is to fill the present with beautiful thoughts and acts. The past should not be allowed to scar the present. That too, is in our hands.

Fair means

When we set out towards our goal, the question arises, do we resort to crooked means when being straightforward appears to fail? The old question of ethics, of wrong means to achieve right ends is relevant today. It is common place to fudge truths here and there. The one who does not do so is considered foolish and unworldly. In an individual capacity, a person can say any number of half truths. It will affect him or her only. But when fudging becomes part of professions many lives are affected.
The moment a person enters the realm of half-truths, the mind is clouded by the fear of being found out. Discrimination vanishes slowly and one is caught in a vicious cycle of cover up. The seed of hiding the truth is sown in childhood. The responsibility of the parents in monitoring their children
is very high.

Joy on reaching the top

Not everyone is able to reach the summit even if the capability is there. In fact all of us have the ability to achieve if we put our heart and soul in it. But somewhere along the way, we feel it is not worth it and we become content with whatever we manage to accomplish. But that is because we are constantly eyeing the pinnacle of achievement and not the requisite effort needed to reach there. If we stop brooding over the past failures or the future difficulties, we will be able to concentrate on the effort needed.
The most important factor is to stay focused, use fair means and maintain a balanced frame of mind for any eventuality. Only then will you feel elation and joy on reaching the summit. Again, it is always better to help others along the way, otherwise it can be lonely at the top.

Reaching the Summit

When we aim high and find the going tough, we wonder whether we will ever reach the summit or is it even worth the effort. I would like to narrate a personal incident.
We set out to climb the hill on which the Shankaracharya Temple was located in Srinagar, India. I am not much of a climber and would have preferred taking the vehicle at the bottom of the hill. But as everyone else wanted to walk up, I perforce agreed and regretted the decision within fifteen minutes as I found the hill pretty steep for me to climb. But there was no going back. We simply had to go on climbing because midway no vehicles were available. Really angry with myself for having agreed to walk in the first place, I prayed silently and climbed on. When I was at the end of my tether, a jeep stopped on its own, the occupants realising that this person is finding the climb difficult. Not only myself, the others also piled in and the last leg we reached in comfort.
It was an important lesson that when we aim high and put in the requisite effort, we may get help from an unexpected source to reach the summit. Who knows who will airlift us when we find the going tough. We just have to carry on.

Spirit of Sacrifice

When we are in love with anyone or anything, we should be prepared to give ourselves sincerely. We can freely give our time, emotions and money too. The spirit of sacrifice is the bond of love. Learning to sacrifice is the more difficult part. Sacrificing without any expectation of return is actually the acme of achievement. The spirit of sacrifice should be free from pride.
The summit always appears impossible to reach but climbing the mountain in good faith is as praise worthy as reaching it.

Love

Love is a deep feeling within ourselves. We all share our love with people, pets, books, plants or any thing else. No one that lives or breathes is without love. Expansion is love. A tiny seed expands to a giant tree. Various species survive and continue to exist as they multiply themselves. A person living as a recluse will also have love in his or her life, be it a garden, pets etc. It is impossible to survive without love. The expression of love should be genuine and heart felt, not fake or artificial.
Insincere expressions of love sap our own energy first, while the recipient ultimately turns indifferent. Fake feelings can never be camouflaged for long.

Love Youself a Little

As a toddler happily we are care free and happy,
the whole world is ours to play and seek
scanning nooks and corners out of sheer curiousity.
Somewhere along the way, we shut the door of welcome
and eye others suspiciously.
If the seed of venom sprouts,
put it out immediately
or it will corrode the love of a child's curiousity.
If you love yourself a little,
continue to pamper the child within.

The Purpose of Birth

Sometimes we feel the futility of our work, of our relationships and wonder at the purpose of our birth. Getting no answer, we push such questions under the carpet, away from our conscious minds. We feel uneasy at both the questions and the lack of right answers. But if we make an attempt to at least think or talk about it with like minded people, we will at least move in the right direction. Reading also helps. Each one's purpose of birth will vary but what we all have in common is our search for peace and joy.
Tranquility of mind comes from having a clear conscience.

Clouds and Sunshine

Today money has become synonymous with happiness and pleasure. A sudden loss of fortune bewilders a person, who is unable to cope and often feels that life is not worth living. But if we just look around we will notice that natural calamities are part of nature. Cyclones, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes come and go, wreaking havoc definitely but life always continues. We have all evolved from the single celled amoeba which survived despite all odds. If we focus on our grit and determination and not on our loss, our instincts for survival will surface. We can then move on without looking back.
Misfortune for some may mean loss of face in society, but society is like the weather which is always changing. Clouds and sunshine are part of life.

Misuse of Money

Today when we face problems, we first look for a solution which is linked to the use of money. Problems related to health, friendship and even love have become linked to money. We feel that many issues will solve themselves with sufficient spending. In the process we overlook sensitive feelings and the heart to heart connection. Money buys short term pleasures and not long term peace or happiness. For good, long term relationships, money should be set aside and one should invest in understanding and caring.
Health, too, will blossom if we are free from emotional stress.

At Cross Roads

Sometimes when we are at cross roads, it is difficult to understand the direction we should be moving in. Confusion prevails and the chaos bewilders us. If there is a lack of clarity of thought, it is best to wait. The dust has to settle down before the path becomes visible. One has to drive slowly and carefully in the dust storm and in the fog. Waiting is not an easy task when important decisions have to be made. One can ready a list of alternatives for a vexing problem but reach a decision only by slow careful thought.
One must also keep in mind that all decisions have a positive and a negative impact.

Relation ship with our own self

Our relationship with our own self determines the relationship we have with others. If we are open and honest with our self, we will be the same with our friends. Even if we find it difficult to acknowledge our mistakes with others but do so with our own self, we will be moving in the right direction of inner peace.
We must seek to be happy with our self and learn to tolerate our own failings. This is the only way to accept and tolerate others. This will help our relationship with friends.