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.