Story: Thief and Lock (Source: Google Baba)
Once upon a time, there was a thief who was extremely popular to open any lock. The rich businessman was always afraid of him as they knew that any day a thief could come and open the locker in a few minutes.
The thief also started feeling proud of his competence and started challenging everyone to create a lock which is very difficult to open. No one knew how to accept the challenge of the thief.
One day, the thief learned that a businessman had challenged him to open a locked door which many people have tried and failed. The thief decided to take up the challenge to prove his worth.
On an appointed day, the thief went to the person who had announced the challenge and offered a huge amount of reward. The thief was never under any pressure while opening any lock but for the first, he was under intense pressure to prove his worth. Moreover, so far, he has always opened the lock when no one was around but today he has to show his skill in front of hundreds of people.
As soon as the competition started, that thief started trying all his tricks. To his utter surprise, even after spending hours, he could not open the lock. After accepting the defeat, the thief asked that person to tell the secret of that lock.
The thief was shocked after hearing the response from that businessman. He said that the door was never locked!
Don’t you think that something similar happens in our life too? Many times, we try too hard, we create a mountain out of a mole and later we realise our folly.
Life is simple but we complicate it. There are 5 basic traits to be followed in life. These five basic traits include.
- Wake up on time.
- Sleep on time.
- Eat on time.
- Always speak the truth.
- Talk to everyone with respect.
From our childhood, we are reading and hearing about it from our scriptures, parents, elders and teachers. The more we follow these 5 basic traits, the better will be our life and closer to reality. The farther we go away from these 5 traits, the more we will be entangled in the problems which are imaginary but will appear as more real!
We will justify our imaginary reality (problems) by using different quotes like
- Life is not easy.
- To win something, you need to lose something.
- Everything is fair in love and war.
- I do not have time.
- I do not have enough money.
Since the majority of the people around us are like us, we will justify and be convinced of our fake identity. Whenever we question our altered identity, our surroundings give us ample justifications and reasons that we convince ourselves that the problem is with other people and we do not have any choice but to fight the unfairness in life.
Example: In the office, we often think about what my boss is thinking about us, whether we will get a good increment or not, if anyone is doing politics against me and giving wrong feedback to my boss, how can I impress my boss, what if someone else will take the credit for my work and much more. Surprisingly, the boss may not have that much time to even think even a single thing about you (good or bad!) or even if the boss is thinking negatively about you, what you can do? But this imaginary storyline keeps us down, demotivated and depressed.
Something similar happens in personal relationships too. Example: Both mother-in-law and daughter-in-law create their own imaginary story about each other. Based on that fictional story, both of them decide their actions even before they start living together and knowing about each other!
Returning to the 5 traits that can help us lead a fulfilling and contented life based on facts and not on assumptions. It is just like watering the root of the tree and not each leaf. When we nourish the root of a banyan tree, automatically, the nourishment reaches thousands of leaves. But when we start focusing on cleaning and watering every leaf (managing everyone like siblings, spouse, children, colleagues, relatives, and neighbours) rather than focusing on the root (me, mine, myself), we get tired, we feel that people are not kind with me, we think that it is so hard to please everyone, we convince ourselves that it is a big, bad world outside!
But the day we start watering the roots like focusing on the basic things of life (waking, sleeping, eating, speaking, treating), we create heaven around ourselves. Rather than creating imaginary problems around us, we start seeing life more clearly and factually. The best way to water your roots and remain in reality is by.
Practice Self-Talk: A key element of living a fulfilled life is being grateful for what you have. Practice self-talk in your daily life and learn to appreciate all of the good things in your life.
Meditate: Meditation can help you to focus your mind and clear your thoughts. This can help you to give/receive blessings of self-empowerment that are more powerful and meaningful.
Practice Mindfulness: Mindfulness can help you to be more present and aware of the blessings in your life. Practice mindfulness regularly to help you to receive/give blessings of self-empowerment more easily.