Daily Positive Thoughts: May 20, 2014: Freedom

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 20, 2014: Freedom

Freedom

True freedom means to be beyond the influence of others and of possessions.

Fire Extinguisher

The one way to finish the force of anger is to fill with the power of
peace. The one who remains peaceful in times of chaos is the one who
acts like a fire extinguisher. So such a person does not get angry
because the other person is angry, but speaks such words that finish
his anger. When I maintain my own inner state of peace and calm, even
when someone is angry, I am able to be powerful. The power within me
becomes a big asset during such times. My light (power) of positivity
helps to finish the darkness of negativity. All I need to do at that
time is to take a firm thought not to let go of my inner peace.

Role Induced Stress - Part 2

It's not at all wrong to treat what we do seriously, but it's a mistake to believe what we do is extremely extremely important and we are extremely busy people living an extremely busy lifestyle. This kind of consciousness makes us over-serious. A very common sign of this is carrying a lot of thoughts of one role into the other. E.g. Aarti, a young mother, switches roles from a software executive in the corporate sector, a role which she plays in the entire day, to a parent and wife in the evening. If she is over thinking about her day-role while playing her evening-role, it is a sign she is over-identifying with her day role and there is a lack of detachment. As a result she starts becoming over-serious and suffers from role induced stress as a result. There is a deep connection between seriousness and fear. E.g. In this case of Aarti, as a result of attachment to her role, there are lots of fears that she carries regarding her role of software executive - fear of loss of position; loss of love, respect and reputation - either in her company or in general in society, not succeeding, not getting promoted etc. because of which she is over-serious and she carries the role in her head almost all the time, even when she sleeps. That is why so called extremely busy people sometimes complain of sleep problems.

This can happen with us, with any role we play. This kind of stress, just like in the case of the actor (explained yesterday) is generally made up sorrow, anger and fear - one of these three different negative emotions from time to time or more than one at the same time - phases of dejection or feeling low or a lack of enthusiasm or a general disinterest in life events; phases of frustration and experiencing a lack of control of events and people, due to which there are frequent outbursts of anger and phases of immense worry regarding the future, all of which affect our mind, our physical body, relationships and even success of our role; although it is our role itself (our over-identification with it) which is the root cause of this emotional turmoil inside us. So instead of benefitting our role, our over-concern for it starts affecting it adversely.

Soul Sustenance

The Causes of Fear (Part 1)

Fear can be caused by:

• Ignorance - When you don't know how your colleague in office is, or when you don't know the intentions of the other, you are afraid. When you don't understand, you are afraid.

• A lack of inner preparation for the situation- For example, if you go unprepared to an exam, you will be afraid of failing it.

• A lack of clear knowledge on how to avoid or recognize actions that bring about situations which are dangerous for one's wellbeing.

• Insecurity in general and specifically, about your qualities and your own capacity.

• Lack of faith in yourself.

• Mistrust.

• The inability to open oneself.

Tomorrow we shall discuss some more causes of fear.

Message for the day

The best comparison is the comparison with oneself.

Expression: The one who is comparing oneself with what he was and seeing how he can improve or how he has improved is the one who is constantly bringing about progress in his own life. On the contrary the one who is comparing himself with others is the one who is constantly finding excuses and leaving behind the opportunities that he gets for bringing about a change.

Experience: When I am free from excuses and free from comparison with others, I am able to be light even in the most challenging circumstances. I am not caught up with my own mistakes or those of others, but am able to constantly add on to my treasure store of experiences and be richer and richer with every new challenge faced.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris