Daily Positive Thoughts: July 15, 2017: React Positively

 

Paintings by Lisa Adams

React Positively

Our first reaction to a difficult situation is often negative. There is a tendency to be carried away in a storm of negative thoughts. Such thoughts are of no use and lead us further from the solution.

Thinking one positive thought everyday helps me to maintain stability. Constant practice will help me remain stable even in the most difficult circumstances.

Success In Your Stride (Part 2)

Success stories across the world are measured for their worth not just by what was achieved in a particular life sphere. They are also seen by how the people excelling in their field took success in their stride. Also, how much did they dedicate the success to the Higher Power with the wisest intellect and the one responsible for bringing them the success directly or indirectly. We commonly say Thank God in our thought prayers to him. This has been done since hundreds of years. But do we ever be an embodiment of that i.e. do we really, in our interactions with others and in our sacred space of our mind be completely sweet and humble in living our success. Our success should be filled with the fragrance of God’s love and a dignified and humble feeling of servantship dedicated to the Supreme. Only then, will we be called completely successful.
There was once a daughter of a farmer in a far off land, who was married to the richest prince of that particular time. She started ruling the kingdom with the newly crowned king with much pride and confidence. There was no one in the kingdom who did not look up to her. She controlled the treasure of the kingdom, which included ruling many far off lands. From a simple village girl, she had the whole kingdom giving her the respect and praise, reserved for the highest of the highest. All was good, until slowly over a period of time, she starting becoming arrogant and her relationship with the successful king and the people of the kingdom starting suffering. She forgot that this sudden change in her fortune was a gift of her noble actions that she had performed in her past births. Also to maintain the rich fortune that she had earned, she had to continue her noble actions i.e. she had to remain egoless and sweet because that is the first sign of nobility. Also, she forgot that a humble leader, before ruling people had to rule their hearts, which is the sign of a true leader. When that happened, people of the kingdom starting remaining away from the queen and she starting being seen with disrespect and she lost all that she had earned. So success can come crashing down in a few moments or days if not maintained by remaining noble and humble. 

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Quietness

Have you ever wondered why libraries have special atmospheres? They are places where many congregate but where silence is the code. Quietness in an atmosphere means there is the presence of quiet minds, and quiet minds are not only relaxed, they can concentrate easily and create more freely. Imagine you are in the library of your mind, browsing the accumulated wisdom on the shelves of your life - listen to the silence,
be aware of the stillness. Now you can really listen. Now you can
really hear. Now you can really think. Now you can create. And behold,
you are an artist. Did you not know that silence and creativity are
lovers?relax7

Message for the day

To have the right understanding is to have the ability to finish the past. 
Thought to Ponder: What happened in the past continues to bother me, unless I make an attempt to resolve it. When I bring understanding to the incident, I am able to finish the pain of the past. That means I need to learn something from it, or see some benefit that has come from it. Either way, once I resolve, I would find myself moving forward with lightness, without the burden from the past. 

Point to Practice: Today I will resolve one thing of the past that is bothering me. I will take some time and try and bring meaning to what happened. There is surely something that it was trying to teach, if I am open to learning. So, today I will get to the bottom of the situation and take the learning. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 14, 2017: Cheerfulness

Cheerfulness

Inner cheer is destroyed by a conscience which bites. Learn to do everything in a worthwhile way. It’s an art which teaches you to appreciate your inner beauty (It makes you think twice about ruining it, too)

Don’t be hard on yourself when making a mistake. It’s much more effective to be handled with love. Telling the self-off is a terrible habit, it subtly shapes a nature of sorrow.

Finish the business of thinking of rubbish and instead take delight in all that you’ve found.

Success In Your Stride (Part 1)

Reaching milestones or arriving at significant turning points in life bring with them praise and respect from different people whom we are connected with. Life does not remain the same as a fresh flavor of a pure pride based on what we have achieved is added to life. If spiritually defined, a pride based on soul-consciousness can be defined as being in the positive consciousness of the qualities, powers and skills of the soul. These are non-physical capabilities and are given a physical face by karmas, which involve words, actions and relationships. This pride is called self-esteem. On the other hand, a pride based on the physical body consciousness, which is called ego, can be defined as attaching yourself to your role. Also, the non-physical aspect is forgotten completely, forgetting that the qualities and the talents which are responsible for success are not exactly mine. They are a gift of my past actions, which were inspired by the remembrance of the Supreme. 

We might argue that the skills are mine and are the only reason behind the success story of my life. But we do forget that all good actions performed by us over many previous births are the reason why we are gifted with specialties today (as a result of those actions). These actions were directly or indirectly related to the remembrance of God and performing pure actions or punya karmas  in the name of God. Both were an absolutely common part of our lives just about 100-150 years ago. Do you know that all of us, even the most advanced personalities amongst us presently, remembered God every day for quite some time till a few hundred years ago in different physical costumes or bodies? We did that not only in the form of prayers but also thanking him many times each day for everything he gave us. It’s only after the advancement of science and technology that we starting remaining away from the Supreme. Also, instead of taking success in our stride as a God-given gift, we start taking it as only my destiny, with no role of God to play in the same. That’s when self-esteem starting changing to ego.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Courage

Courage is taking a step forward into an area of difficulty without a
solution in mind, trusting that whatever help you need will become
available.

Message for the day

To accept advice is to ensure self-progress.  

Expression: The natural state of the self is to ensure progress. Everything that is done by the self is for its progress. But the one who rejects advice rejects the progress of the self. To accept advice means to take the chance for whatever benefit that comes my way. 

Experience: When someone corrects me or gives me an advice or suggestion, if I accept it in the right spirit, I'll constantly learn from it. This will enable me to experience constant progress. I am also naturally able to give regard to everyone I come into contact with and remain in constant happiness. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 13, 2017: True to the Best

 

True to the Best

Real honesty means being true to the best that is within you. This is more honest than simply speaking your mind.

Radiating Positive And Powerful Energy

You will notice many people in your life who are very much in need of love but they attract the opposite energy. This is because the negative energy of lack of love for the self and low self-esteem which they continuously radiate causes them to attract that same negative energy from others. In the same way, there are many people who are very much in need of success but they attract failure repeatedly. Failure is directly related to the quality of energy we radiate i.e. how positive and powerful our expectations of success are. Once we set the goals that we wish to reach, we need to be careful that we move towards our aim without creating the negative energy of fear inside our consciousness. Failure appears when we make an effort to achieve those goals and we damage the result or attract failure without us desiring so, simply because of our fears of failure.  Even then, if at that step we feel that we have failed, we need to have a positive and constructive attitude.

We need to emerge the power to face and power of acceptance inside us. That way our creative energies will flow and we will carry on going forward without the failure (whether real or only perceived by us to be real but actually not real) becoming an obstacle in our path from doing so. Although at that time it may seem as though we have missed an opportunity or that some openings have closed for us, have faith and be fearless. If we are fearless and radiate positive and powerful energy, other possibilities will open up. We have this deep rooted belief that our fear will keep us safe, and we treat it like a comfort zone, a red signal that tells us that we should stop. Creating a time every day to do something that you fear, helps you to re-condition yourself internally to begin to see the fear as a green signal and to develop inner courage, so that you can move towards your goal of success. Each day, do what you fear and the fear will soon be removed.

Patience

Patience is a virtue and a power too. Patience tells us that the
journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step and that we get
over there one step at a time. Patience teaches us not to rush. Knowing
that there is a reason and a season for everything it enables us to
smile at the challenges, realizing that there is an answer to every
problem. And, even though we cannot see it, yet there is awareness that
within every crisis lies an opportunity.

Message for the day

Humility enables one to serve others. 

Expression: The one who is humble is the one who is complete and full. So just like a tree which is laden with fruit, bowing down and offering all it has humbly, the one who is full is ready for service. He is available for others to take benefit from whatever resources are there with him. This humility earns respect from others and gives happiness to all.

Experience: When I am able to bow down with the awareness of what I have, I am fully in the stage of my self-respect. The more I am able to bow, the more others also bow down with regard to me and respect my fortune. This enables me to be a giver to those around me and experience contentment - constantly. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 12, 2017: Power of Positive Thoughts

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 12, 2017: Power of Positive Thoughts

Power of Positive Thoughts

The positive is more powerful than the negative. The positive is innate. The negative indicates what is missing inside you. Light exists and its absence is darkness.

Never forget you are a human being who can decide the attitude you take in life. You have an enormous positive inner potential still to be discovered.

These thoughts will help you face any circumstance in life with a different perspective.

Understanding And Overcoming Ego (Part 2)

To conquer ego, humility and honesty are required. We need the courage to look into the self honestly and acknowledge that the characteristics of I know and I control exist and have to be removed, if there is to be truth and happiness inside. We need to remember the original I am e.g. I am a child of the Supreme Soul, similar to him in qualities and powers, I am the soul which is seated on the Supreme Being’s (God’s) heart throne, I am a knowledgeful soul, I am a blissful soul who gifts everyone with the treasure of happiness etc.

Through meditation and remembering the true I am (shared above), the pollution of the selfish ego is gradually replaced by the remembrance and the experience of the pure self: the I that is not attached to anything, or anyone, but is completely whole within itself. The expression of this pure entity is not selfish but selfless and the person begins to share with others, everything that he/she possesses – knowledge, specialities, talents, virtues etc. where necessary, facilitating the awakening of the true potential of others, just like sunlight. Light is a great facilitator. It steps in, awakens and then moves on. An egoless person acts, interacts and expresses themselves in this way.

Let go of Attachment

Just as the bird has to find the courage to let go of the branch in
order to fly, so we also must let go of our branches if we are to know
the exhilaration of soaring to the highest potential of our life. The
branches we hold to are our inner attachments - our beliefs, ideas and
memories. And then there are the outer attachments - people,
possessions, positions and privileges are a few. But as long as we hold
on to them we will live in fear (of letting go and loss) and we will
never be free. And just watch those birds, by letting go of one branch
they are able to spend the rest of their life alighting on a million
other branches, and they enjoy the view from each. Are you flying and
soaring in your life, or are you stuck on one branch, cursing others as
they fly past. Go on, try it ...let go!

relax7

Message for the day

A single step of courage brings a lot of progress.

Expression: The understanding that one can do a lot and reach great heights enables one to take courageously a step forward. With each step taken with courage, there is a hundred-fold help received. Also courage means to understand the accurate method of achieving things. When there is this kind of courage, there is a lot of progress in whatever is being done.

Experience: The aim to achieve the best enables me to have the courage to take a step forward in all situations. So I am able to be light yet powerful under all circumstances. Because I also find myself receiving help, I am able to further increase my own courage. There is nothing to stop me, but I continue to experience progress, in both the positive and negative situations of life. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 11, 2017: Giving

Giving

 

With habits, never give in or we lose our dignity.

With the self, never give up or we lose our destiny.

With others, never give your worst, or you will never develop your best. 

The saying, "what we give is what we receive".

The lesson: Just to give.

Understanding And Overcoming Ego (Part 1)

Identification with the ego and the external self creates a false identity and extremes of feeling inferior, or superior, depending on the circumstances and people. It brings with it the thought of I am, which is based on gender, religion, nationality, achievement or talent, creating an attachment to the self, which always compares and competes with others. This insecurity leads a person into forcing others to act and think in the same way as them. An egoistic person, rather than recognizing that everyone is unique with a unique personality and has a right to express his/her respective personality, sees difference in personalities as a threat to himself/herself.

Where there is such ego, only yes people (who have the same opinion as yours) are allowed to come close: anyone with a difference of opinion is rejected. With ego, the original uniqueness of the self is denied, unrecognized and buried deep in the layers of wrong identity. This is why, these days, there is such an identity crisis - humanity has lost its soul, or rather, sold its soul to external traditions and attractions.

With ego, then: is the idea of I know best and consequently such a person tries to control and manipulate others. This results in the spoiling of the creativity and uniqueness of others.

(To be continued tomorrow…)

Spiritual Battery

Each day we all need to recharge our spiritual battery, otherwise the
light of our consciousness becomes dim, thoughts become fuzzy, and
decisions are impregnated with doubt. Power is available inside and
outside. Inside us we have a spiritual centre, at the core of our
consciousness, pure radiant spiritual light. This is what we are.
However it is now blocked by our attachments, the record of all our
life experiences and many learned beliefs and perceptions. Outside us
we have the sun of spirit, the source, invisible to our physical eyes
but only one second away when we are able to quieten and focus our
mind. Meditation connects us to both sources of power - that's why
meditation is the way to access the real vitamins and the minerals that
spirit craves. The vitamin of pure love and the minerals of truth and
wisdom. Take time to empower yourself today. Sit quietly and connect
your mind to each source and allow yourself to recharge and renew.relax7

Message for the day

Life's situations are a game for the one who is prepared to face challenges. 

Expression: For the one who is a skilled player, every situation, however challenging it may be, seems like a game. Even the most difficult situation is faced bravely, knowing that it has come to teach something and increase the skill within. So such a person becomes a source of support to those around during difficult times. 

Experience: When I am aware of my own skills and specialities, I am able to face all life's situations with lightness and confidence. I enjoy everything that comes my way. I also am able to experience progress as I use all situations as a means for further increasing my own potential. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris