Daily Positive Thoughts: March 11, 2017: Natural Flexibility

Daily Positive Thoughts: March 11, 2017: Natural Flexibility

Outdoor Tree Cathedral

Natural Flexibility

With humility and love, flexibility becomes natural. When I come across someone who is not being co-operative I need to become humble and try to understand what the other person is communicating, if not through words at least through actions. When I am able to listen with love and understanding, I will not be rigid anymore but will be able to adapt to communicate and co-operate with others.

When We Change Others Change (Part 3)

While being involved in action, make it a point to remain connected with your inner centre of peace, love and bliss which is the spiritual centre or the soul. Also, feel the presence of God or the Higher Power in your life at each and every step without which we cannot succeed in our actions, especially in our relationships and interactions, where powers from both the soul and God are required. So, satisfying others with your behavior and through the energy that you share with them, will only be possible when you first carry positive energy inside yourself.

You can try and do everything possible to make people’s ideas similar to yours and make them work the way you want them to, but a single action of yours which is full of goodness can achieve that much faster than you can if you tried through other methods. Say for e.g. a person in your family constantly has a habit of disobeying you and going against your requests and he or she does not believe in being on good terms with you and will always find a reason to differ with you in opinions. You have tried for many months to come to good terms with this person, but you have not succeeded. Now, you make yourself a sweeter and more tolerant person and work on making yourself more humble. Suddenly, what you could not achieve in such a long time becomes very easy and gets done in a few days because seeing your practical change, the other person gets inspired to change him or herself much faster than by just persuading the other person constantly, to change. Remember when we change, others will change and until we do not do that, changing others will remain the most difficult thing to achieve and in fact it will be impossible. So, change yourself and set an example for others to follow.

Think for Yourself

When we hear something negative about someone, the negativity seeps in & easily influences our perception, attitude & behaviour towards that person, even when our experience of that person is not negative.
The next time you hear something negative about someone, rather than go by hearsay, keep an open mind & make up your own mind. 

Message for the day

To understand is to be understood. 

Thought to Ponder: When there is a difference of opinion, we try hard to convince the other person of our point of view. However, since they are doing the same, there is no meeting point. Our effort needs to be in trying to understand the other person first. Even if we cannot understand the logic, we need to understand the emotions behind the argument.

Point to Practice: Today I will go upto one person whom I had an argument with and tell him I understand. For this, I will first change my own thinking and see how well I can understand the other person. I will then find that, because I respect people's opinion and feeling, they too are able to understand us. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: March 10, 2017: Best Help We Can Give

Daily Positive Thoughts: March 10, 2017: Best Help We Can Give

Best Help We Can Give

To help others discover their talents is the best help we can give. Sometimes people are unaware of their talents, or afraid to use them. But if we do not use the gifts we have been given, we can never be truly happy. Throughout our lives, people help us grow.  As we grow older, we can help others too. Making others aware of the things they do well and subtly encouraging them to use their talents is the best way to help them progress.

When We Change Others Change (Part 2)

Handling people with different natures requires a lot of spiritual strength and can be the most difficult thing to achieve for some.It’s not just about physical skills like a way of speaking or presenting yourself, which are some measures we take in our office or in our personal relationships but its more about virtues and powers as well as wisdom of different types of actions and their results. 

E.g. if you are preparing for a meeting in your office with many different office colleagues, then you will take different steps on a physical level, like seeing what is on the company’s agenda to discuss, what are the different complaints of the different people in your group, where is the company lacking and things like how best my outer personality should be so that everyone is satisfied with me. But do we ever think of how is my inner personality, am I good natured, am I able to fulfill everyone’s inner desires with my love and good wishes and have I spiritually empowered myself so much so that I can tolerate each and everyone even if their behavior and way of working is different from mine. Otherwise when we see different personalities of people and different intentions as well as aims and objectives which everyone possesses, it disturbs us and that unfocused state of mind does not let us act in a positive way and our decisions can become incorrect. Of course, we cannot always think that people will be easy to deal with and also our efforts to please them can be unsuccessful at times. But, to bring harmony in relationships, we also need to have spiritual skills like good judgment power, discrimination power, the ability to mould, power to accept and the ability to give respect to each one’s opinion, which will make it easy to succeed.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Energize Meals

Our moods not only affect the food we cook, but they also affect the people who eat the food. 

So if you're not in a good mood, take a moment to clear your emotions or put on your favourite feel-good music.

Cook peacefully, cook happily, and then not only will you fill the food with good vibes, but you'll also enhance the flavour and energize the meal for yourself and the people who eat what you cook. 

Message for the day

To keep the mind calm and clear is to find solutions to problems. 

Thought to Ponder: The more my mind is calm and peaceful, the more there is a chance to find solutions. But, when faced with a problem, our mind which is like a plain paper is filled with unnecessary things, so much so that we cannot even see the solution that is right in front of us.

Point to Practice: Today I will be silent when faced with a problem. I will calm my mind too, before I even attempt to think of a solution for the problem. This will help me find solutions quickly. Also there would be accuracy in the decisions that I take. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: March 09, 2017: Busy People

Busy People

We live in the age of ‘busy’. Busy people not only do a lot, they think a lot. Being lost in thought, is not only tiring and a brilliant way of waste energy, it’s as if we have forgotten the very ground of our being which is still and silent. Learn to meditate and turn the eye of your attention and awareness within, let your mind be quiet and allow your being to be still.

When We Change Others Change (Part 1)

Living a life full of many different types of relationships sometimes brings with it different types of challenges and relationships can become a test of our mental strength when what we expect from others is not what we receive. Expectations from others can sometimes burden us so much that at times we can find people extremely difficult to deal with and also we may loose interest in our lives to an extent, difficult to imagine. There was once a king who ruled a very big kingdom, which was full of different types of people, who were not only different in their roles but also very different in their natures and personalities. The king sometimes wondered that I am not able to satisfy so many different people because everyone has different expectations from me. At the same time, his different expectations from the people of his kingdom were immense and at times it became difficult for him to experience peace and inner stability while handling their concerns and demands. A minister of the king gave him a suggestion that instead of trying to focusing on everyone’s desires and what they wanted, you be your good self and focus on playing your role in the best possible way and leave the rest to happen as it happens.

Many a times, it’s not about making the effort to change others but it’s changing yourself which brings positive results because it is your change which inspires others to change. Remember everyone will not act or behave as we want and sometimes it can be difficult to cope with this but if we remain determined in our positive behavior and change, they will, after seeing our change, over a period of time, begin to realize their mistakes and become the way you expect them to be.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

How you start the day sets the tone for the rest of your day! 

When the alarm goes off in the morning, do you drag yourself out of bed, jump out of bed or hit snooze, again, and again, oversleep and then end up rushing around because you're late?

Here are a few tricks to get out of bed and stay out:

- Place your alarm out of reach, so you have to get up to turn it off.

- Do a few stretches in bed, to energize you to get out of bed.

- Put a glass of water near your bed and drink it as soon as you switch off the alarm. It hydrates and wakes your body up.

- Make your bed when you get out of it, so it discourages you from climbing back in.

Message for the day

To be free from past is to take the gifts of the present. 

Thought to Ponder: When my mind is continuously dwelling on the past, I miss out on the opportunities and gifts of the present. I need to remember that if my past has helped in shaping up the present, then this moment would be the past of tomorrow. So, I need to use the present moment well, so that I can make both my present and future beautiful.

Point to Practice: Today I will do something that will make me happy. It could be a simple thing like resuming with a hobby or saying hi to an old friend or even spending time with nature. This will enable me to spend time fruitfully with the present moment. By making it a practice to use of all these moments in the right way, I will be enriching myself each day. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: March 08, 2017: I am Love

Daily Positive Thoughts: March 08, 2017: I am Love

I am Love

We seek it here, we seek it there, we look for love everywhere! We expect it to come to us, usually through another person. All our conditioning says it is something that happens to us. The mythology of our fables, legends and modern day entertainment industries say it is something we 'fall into'. And yet...and yet real love cannot be acquired, possessed or accumulated. It cannot be known when we think it comes from outside ourselves. The ultimate paradox is we are it. We are love. Each one of us is a source of love that has forgotten that 'love is what I am'. Say it now "I am love". Doesn't feel right does it? That's because it’s been so long since we knew and experienced ourselves in this true way. And yet we all know that the deepest trust and the purest love is known and experienced only when we give it, not take it. As we give love in whatever way is appropriate, we are the ones to experience it first, on the way out. Falling in love is impossible. It is only infatuation, obsession with an external object which appears to fill a gap in ourselves. As soon as the object or person is remembered when they are not present and when they do not need to be remembered, it is simply attachment which, if sustained, will become a dependency. And attachment and dependency are not love. But you already know that...don't you?

The Seven Relationships With The Supreme

Every soul has a close relationship with the Supreme (God), but we simply forget it as we become over-involved in, attached to and distracted by our life on the physical plane and our different relationships with different physical beings during our journey of births and rebirths.   Spirituality makes us realize the need of restoring our connection with God, which has either broken or has become loose. It also makes us realize that this connection needs to be a very deep and personal one.
God plays many roles, just as a good parent, being one, but will play many roles while bringing up his or her child.   Each role consists of different spiritual characteristics and virtues of God, expressed by Him. Take a few moments to think about the main roles that God plays in our life and identify the main virtues and characteristics which He expresses e.g. in the role of Father He demonstrates the art of living to us and how to perform right karmas.  In the role of Mother He gives spiritual sustenance, in the form of virtues like peace, love and joy to us. In the role of Teacher, He showers us with true knowledge of the spirit or the soul. These are just a few examples. We suggest you do your own thinking about seven different roles that God plays: Father, Mother, Teacher, Guide (or Guru), Companion (or Beloved), Friend, Child and how he plays them. Once you have done this inner thinking exercise, experience each of these seven roles on each of the seven different days of the week, one role per day.   Feel Him being in that role for you and then note what you feel exactly and how you relate to Him.   Also identify the spiritual characteristics and virtues that it brings out from within you.

Refocus on what's important. 

We're not going to agree on everything so there's going to be disagreements.

. 

And it's so easy to rush from a disagreement to an argument. But arguments rarely accomplish anything. 

In fact, put energy into an argument and it takes more energy to reconstruct that relationship.

The next time you find yourself rushing into an argument, take a deep breath, slow down and refocus on what's important. 

Get your point across clearly and calmly, and work towards an agreement on what you both want to achieve and gain.

Breathe deeply and you'll improve your relationships!

Message for the day

Cooperation creates space for learning and growth.

Expression: The one who cooperates and inspires cooperation is able to create a conducive environment for the progress of all. To inspire cooperation means to be able to relate to the positivity in those around. Relating to the positive aspect naturally inspires others to use their specialities for the success of the task. Their good wishes for the task too emerge very naturally. 

Experience: Since I am able to relate to others' positivity, I find myself enriched with it. I subconsciously imbibe what I perceive. I get a chance and a space to learn and progress. The journey towards success in itself is a joyful experience and there is harmony in working with others. Thus I find success too easy to achieve as there is the contribution of each one's speciality for the task. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: March 07, 2017: New Response

Movie: Star Wars: Yoda was a legendary Jedi Master and stronger than most in his connection with the Force. Small in size but wise and powerful, he trained Jedi for over 800 years.

New Response

If you can see and accept that you create your own stress according to how you are responding, you will then see that there is something you need to unlearn as well as learn. The old response needs to be unlearned, and a new response needs to be learned.

Providing Emotional Support To Your Loved Ones

What do we do when friends and loved ones come to us for, and expect emotional support from us? Spirituality teaches us the right technique of providing emotional support – the technique of detached involvement, which is the technique of not being overawed, of not being affected ourselves by the emotions of others.  If a friend, colleague or any loved one is upset and we also get upset (because we love them – that’s what we normally say), we cannot provide them the necessary support or the assistance to see why they are reacting emotionally and how they might change the nature of their emotions by themselves.  True love for someone would mean that I am able to provide them that. While being concerned is fine, but by becoming upset, seeing them upset simply aggravates the situation and adds fuel to their fire.

By remaining detached, we can be more effective in our ability to care, listen and help them think clearly about the situation, they find themselves in.   Only if we are stable, and that can happen only when we are detached, will we be able to provide them stability.  We can encourage and empower them to change their negative reaction to a more positive response, and thereby generate a healthier energy.   If we become over-involved in someone else's problems, there is a risk that our own judgment will be affected negatively.  This is why making decisions and choices under the influence of your own and others' emotions is normally ineffective.

To become an embodiment of solutions is to be able to stay in constant peace. 

Situations do bring a lot of challenges for us, but where there is fear or worry while facing them, there cannot be peace. As long as we continue looking at the problem instead of searching for solutions we cannot remain in peace. Let us think of something that we consider as a problem, something about which we are thinking a lot. Now let us see if we can find a solution for it. If we feel we cannot, it is better to leave thinking about it rather than to worry about it. When we keep the mind free in this way, we will get the solutions automatically. 

Message for the day

The one who is virtuous is loved by all. 

Expression: The one who doesn't let go of his commitment to his values is the one who is loved by all. Such a person is not concerned whether the other person is committed to his own values or not. He continues to recognize and express his values in all words and actions. Hence the expression of his values is not dependent on others or situations and he continues to win the love of all. 

Experience: When I am committed to my own values, I enjoy using them in whatever I do. I am free from expectations - from situations and from people. I am able to accept people as they are and also appreciate them for their own value system. So I never expect people to change according to my expectations and I continue to win the love of all. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris