Daily Positive Thoughts: January 15, 2016: PRESS ON!

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 15, 2016: PRESS ON!

The Triple Crown of horse racing consists of winning the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes.  The first winner was in 1919, and 

American Pharaoh, in 2015,   became the 12th Triple Crown Winner.

PRESS ON!

If you feel you just want to quit,Try again and again.
Never give up... Press On!

If you feel you don't have the patience,Try again and again.
Never give up... Press On!

If you feel you just can't win,Try again and again.
Never give up... Press On!

If you feel life is too hard,Try again and again.
Never give up... Press On!

If you feel "I Can't Do That",Try again and again.
Never give up... Press On!

If you feel you'll never reach your goal,Try again and again.
Never give up... Press On!

Never give up on something you want, You will build patience,
 You will win and reach your goals,
Things will become easier,
You can do anything you want.
If you try again and again, never give up and...

PRESS ON!

Self-respect

To be seated on the seat of self-respect is to use virtues in life. It
usually seems very difficult to use the virtues within us when the
people around are not doing so. At such times using negativity seems
much easier. In spite of not having that particular weakness
predominantly, say of anger, when there is provocation from the
outside we tend to react with that weakness. In order to free
ourselves from weaknesses and work with the virtues within us we need
to make sure we are seated on the seat of self-respect. For this we
need to recognise and appreciate some speciality within us. When we
are in the awareness of this speciality of ours, we will be able to
stabilize ourselves in the state of our self-respect.

Churning Spiritual Knowledge (Part 2)

We had discussed a few benefits of churning spiritual knowledge yesterday. Some more are as follows:

3. The knowledge that we have becomes more real: and so can give more effectively to others. We can use the jewels of knowledge in serving others. This knowledge will have much greater power and be of much greater help to others than any form of scholarly or bookish knowledge.
4. Our personality changes: Limited views and thought patterns which give birth to various obstacles can be finished by churning. Our outlook towards life becomes very broad and we become completely content internally so that name, fame, respect, insult, etc. don't affect us, they seem totally insignificant.
5. Natural bliss: By churning, spiritual knowledge becomes a source of bliss. Because of the spiritual happiness and intoxication that comes from churning, our faces will become radiant and we become instruments to attract other people towards spirituality.
6. Our concentration power increases: By acknowledging and not suppressing impure thoughts we will easily clear negative thoughts within a short period of time. Our concentration power will increase. We will be able to clear and burn impure or waste thoughts, and easily become an embodiment of positivity.

Soul Sustenance

How Does The Mind Work? 
We can compare the mind with a screen, where thoughts, images, feelings and associations are constantly appearing. Thoughts manifest themselves in the mind in the same way as images on a film are projected onto the cinema screen.

The mind often interprets negation as affirmation. Therefore, when we tell you not to think about something, it is as if we were saying, "Think about this" and these thoughts are produced with even more force in the mind. Therefore transforming negative habits and personality traits becomes a struggle. The most effective way of fighting is to ignore these unwanted thoughts, but we should then immediately focus our mind in another direction, thinking about something positive. Thus useless or negative thoughts have no space to grow in our mind. Thinking positively is not a battle against negativity but by imbibing spiritual knowledge, we transform the negative into positive.

We can compare the mind with a naughty child who is playing with a dangerous object: if you take it away from them they will cry until they get it back again. Perhaps a more effective method would be to offer them something that would be of more interest to them and in this way, by having a new inoffensive toy in their hands, they will leave the dangerous object alone.

Message for the day

Become free from the illness of the body by filling your mind with positive thoughts. 

Expression: When you have any kind of trouble with your body, check whether you are able to have positive thoughts or if your mind is filled with the difficulty you are facing with the illness. When you are caught up in the bondage of the illness you will not be able to be free from it.

Experience: At the end of each day, practice filling your mind with positive thoughts, those that make you happy and you will find that you are free from the tiredness of the body. The more you practice in this way you will be free from the bondage of the body.
In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 14, 2016: Maturity

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 14, 2016: Maturity

Maturity

As we mature spiritually there is less need to have our self-respect bolstered by praise and special attention. As our thought processes become more compassionate and less self-obsessed, we feel increasingly satisfied with ourselves and with our lives. We relate to people more easily and feel no need to draw attention to our successes or complain about our problems.

Progress

True progress brings progress in others as much as for the self. It is
usually believed that self-progress and progress of others is totally
separate. It is believed that where there is thought for the progress
of the self, there is selfishness and there is no benefit for those
around. In fact, selfishness in an extreme form can also have a
negative influence on those around. In whatever we do we have to check
and see if there is any benefit for others along with whatever benefit
we are getting. If there isn't we can check to see if there is a
better way of doing what we are doing which could have a positive
influence on at least one person. Then we will find ourselves
benefiting doubly. We will get the blessings from others along with
the personal benefit we get.

Churning Spiritual Knowledge (Part 1)

Churning spiritual knowledge or thinking deeply about it makes us a complete authority of that knowledge. What are some practical ways of implementing churning in our lives?

Take 15 minutes out of your daily routine every day to think deeply on any topic related to spiritual self progress (like e.g. each day's Positive Reflection or something else). You do not need to disconnect yourself from action to do this. You could do this while taking a walk, while driving to office, while cooking food, etc. By churning this way in isolation, the mind is able to concentrate immediately. Secondly if you read some spiritual knowledge and afterwards write down the essence (summary) of it for 5-10 minutes as it has influenced the mind, then you will find that essence will remain with you and deepen during the day.

The benefits of churning spiritual knowledge are as follows:

1. Churning makes the soul feel powerful: it makes you aware of your powers and increases your self-respect. Any inferiority complex ends and one experiences oneself as a great and powerful soul. Self-confidence awakens as weak thoughts diminish: I won't be able to do this. Will I succeed or not? Strong thoughts emerge instead: The Supreme Being himself is with me. I will definitely be successful. Such confidence and bravery is experienced which strengthens the soul to undertake any impossible task.
2. Natural and unruffled peace in my outlook: Churning takes us to the depths of the ocean of knowledge. The depth of knowledge finishes all our attractions. In the depths there are no storms, but only the peace and bliss of unlimited treasures.

(To be continued tomorrow ...)

Soul Sustenance

Connecting To The Qualities Of Others
Meditation adds immense value and depth to my relationships. It also brings closeness in them. Many obstacles and barriers, both on a physical as well as a subtle level, come between me and others when my consciousness and as a result, my perception are struck primarily in the physical dimension. If I hardly know five to ten per cent of myself, and that too mostly on the surface, my relationships are going to be similarly superficial. With my self-respect built on very weak foundations, it will tend to be delicate and I'll be prone to trying to maintain it by thinking about and focusing my energies on others' weaknesses, sometimes real and sometimes even imagined. I'll also find it hard to realize and appreciate their qualities. Such is the state of so many human relationships today.

In meditation, I go into the depths of myself, and deep within my inner being, I find the beauty of peace, love and happiness that is there inside me. I also realize that this same beauty lies inside each soul. Then naturally and very easily, without any effort, I get connected to the same qualities in others. I also find the strength to do the same. I am no longer judgmental seeing others’ temporary sanskaras of negativity. I find qualities that are basically there inside every soul: the original qualities or sanskaras of each spiritual being. It’s like a basic prototype for the whole of humanity, which I deeply see and realize.

Message for the day

You can have good wishes for everyone when you consider the ones who put obstacles in your way as your teachers. 
Expression: When someone puts any obstacle in your way, check what feelings you are having towards that person. Check if you are able to have good wishes for them or if your attitude is becoming negative towards them.

Experience: Even when someone does something wrong towards you, have the awareness that they are the ones who enabled you to learn something new and contributed for your progress. When you do this, your negative feelings will also change to positive and you will begin to have good wishes for them.
In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 13, 2016: Happiness

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 13, 2016: Happiness

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Happiness

It is the art of living, the purpose of our existence. Happiness is the true index of quality of life. Without happiness, life is dry and meaningless. With happiness, life immediately becomes fulfilling and wonderful. Happiness is an infectious feeling that immediately lifts the sagging spirits of people. Happy people keep themselves happy because they know the little ways to appreciate themselves and to see the humour and magic in each moment.

Aim & Object

To keep the aim in front of us is to move forward with contentment.
Several times there are situations that are negative where we have to
face things that are not really what we are expecting or wanting. At
such times we tend to get disheartened and experience discontentment.
Our state of mind becomes such that we can no longer experience peace.
The solution at such times is to keep our vision clear on our aim.
When all our thoughts and energy are concentrated on our aim, we will
be able to consider any negative scene that comes our way as only a
side-scene. We can easily ignore all such situations and so our mind
is at rest or peace.

Performing A Spiritual Audit At The End Of The Day (Part 2)

Yesterday we had explained how self-evaluation at the end of the day is extremely vital to one's progress and development. A useful exercise in this regard is keeping a daily chart for about 3 personality traits or points and filling it up every night (lesser than 3 is also fine, but not more , because then you might feel lazy in keeping the chart after a few days and also you might lose focus and the personality traits may not transform as much as you want). You could either evaluate yourself with a yes or no or perform a percentage wise evaluation like 50% or 90% for e.g. We have mentioned below, some of the common traits from which you could select the traits to keep a daily chart for. You could incorporate some other specific traits (not mentioned in this list), which you want to change or develop, depending on your personality:

In the entire day, today; not only in my words and actions, but also in my thoughts:
Did I see everyone's specialties and keep good wishes for each one, in spite of obvious weaknesses being visible?
Did I remain free from all forms of anger, like irritation, frustration, grudge, revenge, etc.?
Did I ensure that I neither give nor take sorrow, hurt, pain from anyone?
Did I remain free from waste and negative?
Did I remain ego less?
Did I remain untouched by name, fame, praise, insult?
Did I remain stable?
Did I remain free from judgments, criticism, jealousy, comparison, hatred, etc.?
Did I keep a conscious of serving each one whom I met?
Did I bring the 8 main powers into practice and experience being powerful?
Did I remain in self-respect and give respect to everyone?
Did I practice being soul-conscious in actions and interactions?
Did I take a one minute break every hour to reflect, meditate and control the traffic of thoughts in the mind?

Soul Sustenance

The Filtration Process In The Soul 

The mind and its creation i.e. thoughts, in these times, in most people, are controlled by three main factors:

i. their habits or sanskaras 
ii. their past experiences, and
iii. information which they are exposed to and which they imbibe. 

The intellect is like a filter which has the function of discriminating, of judging the thoughts and deciding which ones to put into practice and which ones not to, basically filtering them.
Presently the filter of the intellect has become weakened, confused and unsure; it has become blocked by many incorrect beliefs, due to which this filtration does not take place properly – as a result many wrong thoughts get converted into actions. A lot of times during the day, thoughts become actions so fast, that the filter of the intellect does not even come into play i.e. thoughts become actions bypassing the filter.

The beliefs that we have today are related to our cultural, physical, social, religious, political identity associated with our age, gender, occupation, wealth, role etc. of our body. Beliefs connected to materialism, to having rather than being, are living based on the perception of the sense organs, and not on the intuition and the wisdom of the spirit. There are beliefs that block you, or brake you, others break you, they bring about fears in you and a limited perception of reality and of yourself. However much you try to generate positive thoughts, if you do not change these beliefs, their influence on the intellect will be so strong that it is almost impossible to maintain a positive state of mind. Even if you experience it, it will be short-lived and temporary. 

Message for the day

By removing the curtain of negative thoughts from your mind you can see the best that is hidden behind in every scene. 

Expression: Throughout the day when thing s go wrong, check if you are able to remain unaffected. Also check how far you are able to see beyond each situation and see the positive aspect that is hidden within.

Experience: Each day take the thought that whatever happens is for the best. Even when things go wrong make the practice of seeing the good aspect in the situation and if you are unable to do so, remain with the faith that everything happens for the best.In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 12, 2016: Silence

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 12, 2016: Silence

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Silence

Silence is not a lack of communication. There is a subtle language that connects us to one another through the eyes, with a smile, or a gesture. In moving into an inner space of silence, we are attuning ourselves to the spirit of nature and letting go of the tendency to be critical. Silence provides the opportunity for me to identify the qualities in myself that have the capacity to transform me. In silence I can connect to the highest quality of my lightest, clearest thinking. In silence I can listen to the call of God, the call of nature, the call of others in need.

Be a Donor

To be a donor means to give at each step and increase one's own stock.
Usually it seems very difficult to be a donor - to give from whatever
resources we have. The thought often arises in the mind that we cannot
give because we are ourselves not complete or full. We find ourselves
constantly trying to fill ourselves and we then have no time or
thought for giving to those around us. We have a lot of treasures
within us which we can give to those around us, our virtues, our
specialities etc. Even if we have just a little and give to the
others, we will find ourselves benefiting. For having given from
whatever we have, we find that these treasures begin to increase
within ourselves too.

Performing A Spiritual Audit At The End Of The Day (Part 1)

Our normal day at the office or/and at home is filled with lots of actions and interactions. On a normal day, without realizing consciously, we create almost 30,000-40,000 thoughts. So, not only are we active physically but extremely active on a subtle or non-physical level also.  Imagine sleeping with all this burden of thoughts, words and actions which have been created throughout the day, many of which have been waste and negative in nature. What would be the resulting quality of my sleep? So it is extremely important to perform a spiritual/emotional audit or evaluation at the end of each day.

In a lot of professional sectors of life today, people recognize the need for reflection and audit, not only of financial records but also a general evaluation of the respective sector, to maintain and improve both the service to customers and the job satisfaction of people working in the sector. Checking my own behavior, as a daily exercise; not just checking, but also bringing about respective changes for the next day, enables me to continue to develop and grow, as a human being and in the quality of my work and personal and professional relationships. Have gone through the self-evaluation, it is also advised to become completely light by submitting the mistakes made and heaviness accumulated in the day to the Supreme Being. Doing this helps me put a full-stop to the same and settle all my spiritual accounts at the end of the day. I need to put an end to all commas (when looking at scenes that caused me to slow down and reduced the speed of my progress), question marks (when looking at scenes which caused a why, what, how, when, etc.... in my consciousness) and exclamation marks (when looking at negative or waste scenes, which were unexpected and surprising) which were created in the day's activities. Along with remembering what all good happened during the day, what did I achieve and what good actions did I perform, there is lots to forget at the end of the day, which should not be carried into my sleep at any cost. Disturbed, thought-filled, unsound sleep, will result in a not so fresh body and mind the next morning, which will cause my mood to be disturbed, adversely affecting the following day.

(To be continued tomorrow...)

Soul Sustenance

Comparing Atom And Atma 
The knowledge of the laws of the physical universe is based on the atomic theory. The atom is seen to be a point-source of energy, and different energy levels and vibrations between neighboring atoms give the appearance of form, color and heat. It has been established that the entire material world we see around us as a variety of forms and colors, light and heat, is formed of these point sources of physical energy or atoms. The most beautiful scene in nature is merely a pattern of energy waves and vibrations. The sense organs select the vibrations and relay a message to the mind where all images are formed. The eyes see some of these patterns as light forms and colors, the nose pick up odors. In the same way sounds, tastes and sensations are detected and all of these are transmitted to the mind.

Atomic theory appeared originally in Greece and in India. The English word atom came from the Greek word atomos meaning indivisible. This word is similar to the Hindi word atma which means self or soul and refers to the conscious energy of the human as being an indivisible and un-destroyable point of non-physical light.

The human body is also a complex pattern of physical energies. Atomic particles build together to form the organic structures and inorganic minerals which perform the body's chemical interactions, thus forming the basis of the hormonal and nervous control of the body. What we see as old or young, ugly or beautiful, male or female, is also the effect of these differing levels of physical energies between neighboring atoms. However marvelous a machine the body may be, it is the presence of the soul which makes it function.

One of the basic differences between souls and atoms is that while souls can exercise choice of their movements, where and when to go somewhere, atoms cannot obviously exercise such choice. In a way you could say that a soul is a point-source of spiritual energy that has awareness of its own existence. Atoms do not. 

Message for the day

The way to accumulate the account of blessings is to remain content and make others content. 
Contemplation: While you are doing something, check if there is any limited desire for name or fame. The instant fruit of the service that you do is that you are happy, it is not what you get later that is important. So check how much you are experiencing this fruit and remaining content.

Application: Whatever you are doing for yourself or for others throughout the day, make sure that you are enjoying it. When you start enjoying what you are doing you'll stop expecting anything thereby you can remain content.
In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 11, 2016: Why Worry

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 11, 2016: Why Worry

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Why Worry

I can make a hobby out of worrying. It is useful to take an interest in what goes on around me, and of course it is always wise to analyse a situation and take the necessary steps to avoid being influenced by anything negative. However, if my mind is tense and burdened from worry, I may not be able to function clearly enough to arrive at a suitable solution to a problem. Maybe I should just do the best that I can and beyond that leave it in the hands of God. To have faith in the self, faith in God and faith in God's plan is a sure way to remain clear and free of burdens.

Master of the Self

The one who is the master is the one who creates positive thoughts
under all circumstances. The one who is the master of himself is
always able to create the right kind of thoughts according to the
circumstance. Never is there the dependency on situations or people
for the right kind of responses. Since there is mastery over thoughts,
there is also mastery over all words spoken and everything done. When
we are able to be a master of ourselves, we are able to constantly
create positive thoughts. We are in touch with the inner resources and
we are able to make use of these resources in a timely way. We never
get confused or pressurized with outside situations, but are able to
be in control in all situations.

Meditation For Overcoming Fear (cont.)

This meditation commentary is a continuation of yesterday's message.

Create the following thoughts:

I continue to go forward... I only observe feeling who I am... I am a being of light... a peaceful being... like a small candle that lights up a dark room I radiate light and remove the darkness inside. Conscious of who I am... I imagine that I am in the presence of a generous Being of Light that radiates infinite love, peace and happiness... It is a powerful ocean of love that can dissolve all my fears, the pain and suffering that there is inside my soul...

I open my heart... and mentally I say: "here are my fears... They are yours... They are no longer useful to me... I hand them over to you... I absorb your light... I absorb your love and let it reach each dark corner of my inner self... I feel how your powerful light, full of love, touches my fears... they dissolve and I am freed... I let go of all worries... The weaknesses and problems no longer have power over me... I feel that the Supreme Being is with me... that He accepts me as I am... He comforts me... I feel safe... at peace... in an immense peace... and free of worries..."

I enjoy this present moment in His company and I share this peace and love with the world.

Soul Sustenance

Meditating With Open Eyes 
It is advised to practice meditation with eyes open. When we sit to meditate, if we close our eyes, what we do is that we send a signal to our mind, intellect and our physical body that sleep is close and that signal, in turn, induces sleep. That is the last thing we want to induce inside ourselves, while meditating. Meditation is a way to wake up and stay awake, not only physically, but in terms of being conscious and alert about what is happening internally and externally. It is therefore good to practice with eyes open, so that during your meditation, you can become used to going beyond the physical inputs of what you see, hear, feel and smell and at the same time, remain exposed to these inputs.
By practicing with open or semi-open eyes, it becomes easier to create the accurate state of consciousness while still being faintly aware of our surroundings. This will be essential in day to day activities when we want to stay connected to our inner peace while others around us may not necessarily be very peaceful. It will also help us to move deeply into our peaceful consciousness during conversations which at the same time, require alertness to go into the depth of ideas and concepts. When we are established in our peaceful, spiritual state (as a result of meditating), it is as if we are keeping our third eye, the eye of our intellect, open, which gives us the ability to see, in actions and interactions, what is true and false, and to make the right decisions without being influenced by others or our own emotions. All the above abilities are required many times during the day. We obviously can’t keep closing our eyes to meditate each time any of these abilities are required. 

Message for the day

You can always be successful when there is a desire to serve others. 
Checking: At the end of each day, check if you have done anything for others. Also check if there is any consciousness of 'I' in all the things that you do for others. When there is even the slightest trace of a desire for benefit for yourself you cannot experience either contentment or success.

Practice: Each day take up at least one thing that would bring benefit to others, irrespective of whether it will get you anything or not. When you serve with no selfishness you will find yourself succeeding in all you do.
In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 10, 2016: Appreciate the Gift

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 10, 2016: Appreciate the Gift

Appreciate the Gift

When you open your eyes in the morning, sit for a moment and appreciate the gift of a new day, create a peaceful thought and enjoy some moments of silence throughout the whole day.

Self-respect

Every reaction to situations is a reflection of one's own self-
respect. To the extent that there is a high degree of self-respect, to
that extent there is a positive response to even the most negative
situations. If there is low self-respect, even the smallest situation
brings forth a strong negative reaction. This reaction only makes
matters worse. When I am able to maintain my own self-respect even in
the worst situation, I am able to have a hold, control over these
situations. But if I have a low self-respect I continue to blame
situations and use them as excuses to feel helpless. So I am not able
to do anything about these situations and just continue to have
negative feelings.

Meditation For Overcoming Fear

Breathe deeply. You should say to yourself - "relax, calm yourself." Repeat until you are peaceful and centered. Become serene and feel a sensation of peace and well-being. Maintain this serenity on breathing. Free yourself of worries on breathing out. Now slowly create the following thoughts:

I sit comfortably like an observer in silence... I let go of every-thing around me... objects, people, responsibilities, places... I focus my mind on the present moment... I let the serenity... the peacefulness... envelop me... In this calm I can see the dark corners of my inner self... Like shadows, I can see the fears, anxieties, guilt, unhappiness, weaknesses that lie hidden there... Fear has poisoned my being; it has stolen my peace, my happiness and my self-respect...

I accept that there is fear within me... I observe it and I realize that I am not that fear... I am not that weakness... it is not real, it is a shadow... I focus now on what is real: it is love... it is peace... it is well-being... it is the purity of the soul, what is real, authentic and true... I only have to access these original qualities and allow these energies to heal and strengthen my soul... To do this, I continue to observe calmly... with patience... I do not allow my mind to judge, or analyze what is happening to me... everything that has happened to me forms part of the past... I have learned from my mistakes... I forgive myself... I forgive others...

This meditation commentary will be continued tomorrow.

Soul Sustenance

Making The Journey With The Right Realization 

It’s so easy to become caught up in my physical role - my name, physical personality and looks; the social setup or family I’ve been born into, my friend circle, the school I went to, the person I married, the organization in which I work, the various material objects I own or possess. I forget my true identity, the spiritual being, and that it is me, the spirit or soul, who is experiencing life through this physical body and surrounding circumstances. The physical, human side is essential, but it’s the spirit, the being, the energy, which makes the journey. The physical body is the vehicle through which the journey is made. The people who exist in my life are also energies making their journeys through their respective vehicles. Looking at myself and others, when I realize who is making the journey and I remember this and maintain this spiritual consciousness throughout the day, I'm able to access spiritual treasures of peace, of power, of love and joy and see the same in others. It is because of not remaining in this remembrance; I remember and identify with the vehicle and experience my false identity. That is why we find ourselves empty of these treasures today. As a result there is a tremendous increase in interest in meditation throughout the world. Unlike in the past when this interest was seen primarily in the East, today relaxation and meditation is a blooming industry in the Western countries.

The more I become trapped by a materialistic consciousness, and the more I lose contact with my inner self, the less freedom I experience. The search of happiness through the physical senses brings temporary, short-lived gains. My life lacks depth when the only things I know, realize and feel are related to the loads of information I receive from the physical sense organs, and I become disconnected from the spiritual dimension.

Message for the day

Where there is zeal and enthusiasm, success is guaranteed. 

Expression: If you are not able to experience success in all that you do, check if you are filled with enthusiasm or not. Also find out the reason for not being enthusiastic. This helps you to realize and overcome your weakness.

Experience: In order to increase your own enthusiasm throughout the day, create an aim for yourself and see that you work towards this aim each day. When you find yourself progressing towards the aim you will become enthusiastic. 
In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 09, 2016: Adjust

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 09, 2016: Adjust

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This palm tree bent over from a hurricane reached for the sun and kept on growing in South Florida

Adjust

The one who knows how to adjust is the one who knows how to survive.

The Spirit of Giving

To have the spirit of sharing is to be constantly happy. There are
lots of resources in each one's life that can be shared with others.
The more there is the consciousness of giving there is the ability to
give and share these inner resources with others. New treasures are
discovered and used for the benefit of all and also for the self.
There is constant satisfaction in our lives when there is the spirit
of giving. There are no expectations from others, but only an
awareness of what we have. Life becomes more and more satisfactory and
we feel richer for having given unconditionally. There are also
constant good wishes that we receive from others.

Detached Observation - A Spiritual Skill

Detachment is the basis of our ability to be positive and affectionate with others while we interact with them. This is what is known as commitment and the relationship of detachment and it begins with what is known as a spiritual skill: the skill of being a detached observer.

One needs to be a detached observer in two dimensions: one within and one outside:
The inner art of detached observation is the ability of separating ourselves from our own thoughts, emotions, attitudes and behavior. On the external level, the art of detached observation is the art of being witness to the scenes that take place around us. While we detach ourselves and observe how the game of life develops, without being active participants, we are able to see the big picture with greater clarity. That makes it easier to see clearly what role we have to play and where our contribution lies. We are creators, and our thoughts, emotions and attitudes are our own work.

In reality, detached observation is the first step towards personal strengthening. If we don't manage to detach ourselves from our thoughts and emotions, they will turn into our owners and will consume our energy.

Soul Sustenance

Spiritual Roses Of The Supreme Gardener 
The main features of physical flowers are their colour, form and fragrance, by which we judge their beauty. All these characteristics have their own unique importance. Introducing oneself to spirituality is like giving oneself into the hands of the Supreme Spiritual Gardener or the Supreme Being (God). Like a physical gardener who possesses qualities of patience, tirelessness, love, far-sightedness, faith etc. on a limited level, the Supreme Gardener possesses these qualities on an unlimited level, which he uses to bring us up. As we remain under his sustenance and care, over a period of time, we blossom and are transformed into beautiful spiritual flowers, and our thorns fall away. When we look at ourselves as spiritual flowers, our colour symbolizes spiritual knowledge. Depending on how we imbibe the wisdom shared by the Spiritual Gardener and bring it in our day-to-day functioning; in our thoughts, words, actions and relationships; the more beautiful a colour we take. Our form is shaped depending on the quality of our connection with the Supreme Being, the Gardener. The deeper and stronger the connection, the more beautiful the form. Lastly, our fragrance refers to divine qualities like sweetness, humility, tolerance, carefreeness, purity and many more, which we develop. Physical flowers with a good colour, form and fragrance, attract everyone around them. Seeing and coming close to them, gives one an experience of joy. The same holds true for spiritual flowers.

Roses are considered the king of all flowers, with the best possible colour, form and fragrance. Spiritual roses are those souls which continuously remain in a spiritual consciousness and spread the fragrance of that consciousness to others. Their thoughts, words and actions get shaped according to this consciousness. They have a deep relationship with the Spiritual Gardener and are always eager to ensure that others also experience that relationship and become spiritual roses, which is a deep wish of the Supreme Gardener, for every spiritual being. They help him in fulfilling that wish.

Message for the day

You can always be successful when there is a desire to serve others. 
Contemplation: At the end of each day, check if you have done anything for others. Also check if there is any consciousness of 'I' in all the things that you do for others. When there is even the slightest trace of a desire for benefit for yourself you cannot experience either contentment or success.

Application: Each day take up at least one thing that would bring benefit to others, irrespective of whether it will get you anything or not. When you serve with no selfishness you will find yourself succeeding in all you do.
In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris