It was a very dark night. It was pitch black with no moon or stars in the sky. A young man needed to travel for some urgent work to the next village but was unable to see anything in the dark. Thus, he stood there puzzled on how to get to the next village.
A noble saint passing by saw the puzzled young man and asked,” What’s the problem my dear?”
The young man replied, “I need to go to the next village urgently, but how will I get there? I can’t see anything!”
The saint lit a lamp and gave it to the man saying, “Here, if darkness is the issue then light is the solution. Now start walking.”
The man looked at the lamp, then around him and once again disappointingly said, “Sir, this lamp only spreads light up to ten feet and the darkness continues after that. This lamp will not help."
The saint replied, “You start walking, the brightness will walk with you”.
What does this story teach us?
Firstly, we need to understand the aim of our life from a great person or saint. What do I want to be? Which direction do I need to take? It is necessary to implement great thoughts and teachings in our life. It is important to receive one such inspirational thought from a great person that will spread brightness in our life.
But, the most important point is, do we have that intense desire to progress in our path?
Now that we know the aim and have the desire, we will achieve nothing by merely concentrating on the darkness instead of the lamp. This is where positive thinking and implementation is vital.
During my travels to America, I read this in a book which touched my heart, “Ten minutes of positive thinking has the power to balance out a whole day’s negativity”. This is why our scriptures advise us to pray three times in a day, known as trikāl sandhyā. If one prays early in the morning, remembers God in the afternoon and constantly recollects that God is with me, then one will always live in motivation and hope. Then, the day ends with remembering God; this way ten minutes of positive thinking will remove the whole day’s negativity.
When these ten minutes of positive thinking slowly increase with time, then how positive can one fully become!
This New Year, let us all understand the aim of our life and begin to walk with positivity and motivation.
A Happy 2015 to all of you!
With Love and Blessings,