Daily Positive Thoughts: May 14, 2017: The Power of Co-operation

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 14, 2017: The Power of Co-operation

The Power of Co-operation

No matter how capable, talented, efficient or extraordinary an individual may be, without co-operation from others, no single person can develop their personal skills. Neither can we implement a task without the assistance of a parent, a teacher, or mentor. For example, an actor or singer needs musicians, producers and directors and especially an audience in order to express themselves successfully, despite their innate capacity for creativity and entertaining others. Being able to appreciate the contribution of others and being open to that influence always facilitates the fulfilment of task or a talent. It is said that even God - as powerful as God is- cannot accomplish a divine task without the assistance of His angels.

The Psychosomatic Effects Of Fear

The human being is psychosomatic by nature – what that means is that our health is deeply influenced by our behavior, thoughts, emotions and social relationships. Therefore, in order to experience good health, we should care for our life style, our mental, sentimental, emotional and relational world, as well as our communication. Fear is bad for our health. It manifests itself in the form of anger and promotes coronary diseases. Fear suppressed for a long time ends up producing diseases such as cancer. Apart from cancer and heart attacks, there are other illnesses brought on by fear: addictions, anxiety, arthritis, asthma, irritability, nervous breakdowns, memory loss, gastritis, back pains, baldness, diarrhea, sciatica, crying attacks, alcoholism, constipation, hypertension, cystitis (bladder inflammation), vomiting, palpitations, digestive disorders, ulcers and migraines.

When we get old, our neurons do not die, but rather the connections between them disappear, that is what recent scientific research suggests. The neuronal connections or synapses keep us lively and young. When we have pleasant experiences, such as during meditation or when we are on a holiday or are surrounded by friends or while working in a team, some examples of activities in which we feel happy, the neuronal connections are more fluid. However, the lights go out when we feel fear. It is an emotion that is capable of slowing down and blocking the electrical impulses between the neurons. With fear we are less creative and we get older more quickly. If we do not want to suffer illnesses (or want our illnesses to get worse) we should learn to manage and overcome fear.

To never get angry is a tall order for almost any human being.

So, when we see anger as failure, and we try not to be angry and fail, it is so easy to turn the gun on ourselves when our anger comes. 

We blame ourselves and put ourselves down for not being able to control ourselves. Don't turn the gun in yourself. Don't give yourself a guilt trip. We spend our lives learning anger, so we are not going to unlearn all the beliefs and habits which create our irritations, frustrations and angers in a few days, or even a few weeks. (though some who really do 'get it' can change that fast). So be easy on yourself.

Healing the inner scars, forgiving ourselves, transforming those habits, are all aspects of this inner work, and they take a little time. Be patient, be gentle and merciful with yourself. And if you do decide you want to forgive and heal yourself, if you do decide you don't want to be a slave to others words and actions, if you do decide you want to be free of your negative feelings, one of the secrets is not to fight or struggle with those old habits. Accept them when they come, for whatever reason, and you'll be amazed how quickly the habit of those feelings is dissolved. All healing begins with acceptance, including the healing of our feelings.

Message for the day

To be a trustee of God is to use all treasures well. 
Thought to Ponder: When I understand that all that is mine is truly God's, I can use all that I have sensibly. I would not want to waste anything that I have - not my money, resources, thoughts or words and actions. I would use all that I have sensibly as an instrument of God. I would also be detached, whilst doing everything. 

Point to Practice: Today I will take up one resource I have, for example, the resource of thoughts. I will remind myself throughout the day that I am a trustee and God has given me these so that I can look after it well and use them for the good of myself or others. When I do this, I will not let negative or waste thoughts to come in.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 13, 2017: Be Here Now

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 13, 2017: Be Here Now

 

Be Here Now

The past is history, so let it go. The future is a mystery, so let it come. The present is a gift – be truly in the present today and release all your fears (based on the past) and your worries (imagined futures) – this is the work of someone who truly wants to awaken, and break free from the anchors and burdens of dead yesterdays and speculative tomorrows. Be here now they say, easier said than done, I hear you say. But no one can stop us, except for ourselves. There is only now – everything else is avoidance.

The Limitless Mind

If we compare the two entities – mind and matter – the most obvious difference between the two that comes to the forefront is that one is non-physical and the other is physical. Another very important difference between the two is that whereas on one hand, matter has limits, in the sense, that’s its fixed in time and space. The mind, on the other hand, is beyond limits, in terms of physical parameters. It’s not fixed in time and space.

When we take a close look at what is going on in our mind, its power becomes visible to us. Since its not fixed in space, it can link me to a friend in, as far as, Washington or Singapore in less than a second. My mind can even move in many different directions at once. Since the mind is not fixed in time, I can think about yesterday, or about fifteen years ago; about tonight, or the next three years. That’s the reason we can say that the mind is limitless, hence powerful.

Thoughts also have different levels of power. Sometimes they fly past the mind leaving hardly any impact on us. At other times, they are accompanied by such feelings so as to influence our entire perception, even our complete inner mental state. Thinking about a visit to Kashmir I made last year, for e.g., I could find myself carried back mentally into the beautiful experience and its attached emotions. Filled with happiness, I will even radiate this happiness to others nearby, through my thoughts, facial expressions, words and actions. On the other hand, thoughts about the death of my close relative a few years ago will have an opposite impact on me in the present moment.

The mind is where everything starts, the good, the bad and the ugly.  To get the best out of your mind, learn to harness it.  How?  Make it your friend.

Befriend the Mind

Good friends are honest and they very kindly tell you when you might be messing up.  But they certainly don't call you every morning with a list of everything that's wrong with you.  So don't let your mind tell you things that you would probably never accept from a friend.

Start befriending the mind and your mind will be a good friend to you!

Message for the day

To be fortunate means to do everything with love. 

Thought to Ponder: Life gives opportunities constantly to express my qualities or to gain new skills. When I understand this, there is no effort in doing things. Each and every action is done with love. Such a person is truly fortunate, because where there is love, everything becomes easy. No new challenge or demand from the external situation is seen as a threat. It, in fact, becomes an opportunity to express my qualities or discover new qualities from within me. 

Point to Practice: Today I will move forward with courage. Whatever situations life brings me, I am going to welcome them with love. I will deal with all those situations with the right spirit. With love I /find things becoming easy. I also win the good wishes of others, helping me to move forward with more ease.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 12, 2017: The Illusion of Dependency

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 12, 2017: The Illusion of Dependency

The Illusion of Dependency

The more a person depends on a pattern of thinking, a particular person or a particular role, the more there is fear of loss. The security created by dependence is illusion. The reality of life is that anything external to us can, at any time, vanish. What will we do then? Where is our life's anchor? If it is not within, we will suffer.

Steps Of Determination (Part 3)

 

Almost every single day, our determination will be tested, which is a common experience of many of us. Every time, we make a promise of determination to ourselves, there will be a difficult situation which will try and break the promise that we have made to ourselves and try and make us emotionally unstable and weak. We have to ensure that does not happen and continue on the path of determination and achieve our desired objective in the shortest possible time. Being determined means not a single thought should be there in our mind, which has weakness or a lack of power; only positive thoughts and thoughts of victory, which you tell yourself, is certain. 

Thus, in this way, we will not only become more successful but also the thought that victory is like my birth-right, which can never go away from me, for even a single second, will be like the fuel which will run all our actions with a lot of strength and there will be positive success at every step. There cannot be constant success without determination. Sometimes, even when we had negative thoughts in our consciousness, we are successful. It can happen at times that what you did not even anticipate or expect, suddenly happens, in spite of a weak state of mind. What this can do at times do is that we become used to that and expect that to happen every time. But, that will not be the case every time. Finally, we have to empower or strengthen ourselves so much as to weaken situations through our powerful thought and not let them reduce our determination. We need to do this so that the next time we have a difficult situation, we are mentally prepared for it and we change the situation from a negative one into a positive one successfully.

The Problem

Solutions are never necessary because there are no problems, only our perception makes it seem so, and only our minds make our perceptions seem real. If there is a problem it is our perception. That is hard to see in a world that celebrates and rewards the finding and solving of ‘the problem’. When you decide that you will no longer perceive the problem, you will see only the facts or a situation. Facts are just facts and any and every situation can always be improved, unless it is in the past, then it’s just a memory, and memories are never a problem, are they? If you can cancel from the patterns of your perceptions, the very idea of ‘problem’ then you will not only be a positive thinker and positive proactive actor, you will be a leader.

Message for the day

To finish weaknesses from the seed is to ensure they don't come back. 

Thought to Ponder: When I don't understand the real cause of my weakness, I cannot get rid of it fully. It, then, keeps coming back again and again in some or the other form. So, the first thing I need to do is to understand why that particular weakness is coming up again and again. For example, if my weakness is laziness, I need to check if it is because of escapism or fear of failure or any other weakness. This practice helps me to work on my real weakness. 

Point to Practice: Today I will pick out one weakness of mine, which I want to do away with. I will then, try and discover what the real cause of my weakness is. I will then try and work on removing that weakness first. I will also do this with a lot of self-respect without any negative feelings. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 11, 2017: Comparison with Others

Comparison with Others

Comparing yourself with others will leave you vulnerable on three counts: you'll either feel inferior, superior or impressed. All three of these states are dangerous because they all disregard the underlying principle of our true connection with each other - mutual love and regard, based on independently generated self-esteem. To protect yourself from this vulnerability, make sure that your attention remains turned within, towards the spiritual experience of pure pride. Staying centered in your elevated self-respect will help you remain undisturbed by others around you. Keep asking yourself, "Who am I?" "How would my spiritual personality respond to this event or person?" this will help to center you further, and allow you to enjoy the successful efforts of others.

Steps Of Determination (Part 2)

Determination is a power of the mind, which is present inside each one of us to some extent or the other and we all can increase it as much as we want. First, the realization needs to be there that I need to become determined and challenge my life’s negative situations or even improve my nature as a person or become successful in every sphere of my life or give love and keep good wishes for everyone or make my relationships more beautiful and full of peace, love and joy or make a rich career or shape up my role in a positive manner. These are some of the different aims and objectives we may have at different stages of our life and the start to fulfilling these objectives, apart from doing something or the other on a physical level and on an external level, is an internal thought and deep feeling of determination.

Without determination, anything we do on an external level, we will not be able to achieve its desired aim and objective because the moment we begin our journey of fulfilling our aim, there could be an obstacle in our path and the moment we see the obstacle, we may not have the spiritual power to cross the obstacle. The spiritual power that needs to exist in our mind should in the form of thoughts and feelings as well as an attitude full of hope, patience and of course, determination. So, the start has to be made in any purpose with our minds oriented very very consciously towards determination and then that determination should come into action. And this determination will then become the secret key in opening opportunities, which will lead you to your desired destination of success.

A New Recipe

We benefit from enjoying the company of the people around us.  Not only do we learn other people's life lessons but we also learn to improve our ability to communicate, tolerate and collaborate.

But we don't always get to choose the company we keep.  So even if we don't like someone, we can always find a way to enjoy their company.

Maybe be less critical and more appreciative.  Maybe find a common interest or show a genuine interest in their hobbies.  That way you can share interesting tidbits you've picked up, a new exhibition at a gallery, something new…

Message for the day

The method to be easy is to be busy in the mind with right things. 

Thought to Ponder: If I don't keep my mind busy with the right things, it will just wander and maybe even go to those things that are harmful. The mind is like a child. I need to know the art of keeping it busy, so that it is not attracted to anything harmful. So, it is important that we keep a schedule for the mind too, just as we keep a schedule for the activities of the day. 

Point to Practice: Today I will make a schedule for myself for the mind. My schedule for the mind would be that which inspires me to change my consciousness while I am doing what I am doing. I will remember one quality or specialty of mine and keep it as a background in all I do. For example, I take the thought, "I have a special role to play in the drama of life. I am a good actor using all my best qualities and abilities" It could also be a thought like, "I am contributing my sweetness (or any other value) in all I do". 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 10, 2017: Positivity

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 10, 2017: Positivity

A shark in the waves

Positivity

If my mind is still enough, I can see the deeper meaning behind each situation. No matter how bad a problem may seem on the surface, if I remain positive eventually I will see how everything has worked out for the best.

Steps Of Determination (Part 1)

A very important and influential aspect of our lives which we sometimes do not give adequate importance to, is how determined we remain at every step of our lives and how we use that power of determination to conquer different types of obstacles. It is commonly said that – faith can move mountains and faith is nothing but a strong thought of determination at every step of your life, telling yourself that you will remain free from negative and unnecessary thoughts. And you will also fill your mind with positive thoughts which are required in every situation, to overcome difficulties and achieve success in them.

Also, determination means that no matter how strong the winds of different negative situations may be, remembering that my stable internal state of mind is more powerful than the external situation and if we remain strong, the situation will weaken and go away within a very short period of time. So it’s not about fighting the situation in different ways but it’s about changing the different scenes of the situation so that they become as per what you desire, with the help of your inner power. Very often situations are not as per our desires and we can keep fighting externally to bring them to what we want. Sometimes we may succeed and sometimes we may not, largely because our internal state of mind is not powerful enough and also the power of determination inside our minds is lacking. So, bringing yourself to a stage of power, which is not external power, but internal power, the power of the mind, based on mental strength and not physical strength or the strength of our role or position which we might possess, will make us free from the influence of difficult situations of varying intensity. And it will also change them in a short period of time or make them positive soon. 

(To be continued tomorrow …)

How are you going to handle people's opinion of you?

Everything about you speaks volumes to others.  And everyone is going to have an opinion about you.  

You can't stop people having their opinion, but what you do with those opinions is entirely up to you.

Are you going to let it bother you, be offended, worry about it, do something to change their opinion...? 

Message for the day

To leave weaknesses is to decorate with virtues. 

Thought to Ponder: True decoration is to decorate ourselves with virtues. For example, happiness and peace brings decoration to my face. In order to be decorated, I need to leave attachment to weaknesses. When I am able to give up weaknesses, my virtues too are uncontaminated. In order to give up weaknesses, I need not give too much importance to them. Instead, I need to focus on working on my strengths.

Point to Practice: Today I will decorate myself with one virtue. I will start with happiness. When anything happens to take away my happiness, I will remind myself that I cannot spoil my decoration. I will do all that I can to make happiness a natural part of my life. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 09, 2017: Good Relationships

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 09, 2017: Good Relationships

Good Relationships

In order to create good relationships...

• with your mind, think about what you have to learn from others,

• with your eyes, look into good qualities of others,

• with your words, recognize, value and appreciate their accomplishments,

• with your actions, cooperate and do something for others.

Letting Go Of The Branches Of The Life Tree

A very common habit that has become deeply embedded inside us is the habit of possessing, to which we succumb repeatedly. We come in contact with different people, material comforts, roles, positions, experiences, achievements and of course our own physical body etc. on an external level and our own thoughts, viewpoints, beliefs, memories, etc. on an internal level  etc. throughout our life. All of these are like branches that make up our life tree. Possession is like clinging on to one or the other of these different branches from time to time, as we fly from one branch to another, while covering our life journey.  The spiritual point of view on this habit is clear and very straight forward. It is not possible to possess anything. If we do try to do so, we lose our freedom. To experience the freedom, we need to dare to let go of the branches, which does not mean to lose or leave them because the branches are always going to be there. We can return to any of them to rest or pause whenever we want. But, it is about being aware and alert, because the moment a pause on a branch turns into a stop, the stop turns into a brake and, after that, the brake turns into a blockage. As a result, like the bird whose flying agility degrades on a physical level if it does the same; our intellectual and emotional agility starts to degrade.

When we learn to let go of one branch at a time, we are always welcoming new positive and empowering experiences in our life, one at a time. Like the birds, by letting go of one branch, we are then able to spend the rest of your lives trying and discovering many other branches, one branch at a time, and so we can enjoy the view from each new vantage point. We can choose between a life of flying and soaring or be stuck on one or the other branch, seeing others as they fly past and enjoy a life of freedom where they do visit their life tree from time to time and their life does revolve around the tree but they don't try and possess it or any of its branches.

Trust life  

Being trusting doesn't mean not being careful.  Be careful and be sensible.  Just trust life a little bit more.

Trust that life presents situations for you to grow and develop.  Trust that life knows your potential for greatness.  Trust that life wants to nurture you into being a better person.  Trust that life is there for your happiness and fulfilment, no matter how else it may seem.

Message for the day

The way to be healthy is to have the nourishment of happiness. 

Thought to Ponder: The best nourishment for both the body and mind is the nourishment of happiness. The one who is able to be in happiness under all circumstances is truly healthy. When I have the aim to be happy, I will start finding reasons to be so. Happiness brings a lot of other qualities that help me empower myself to face challenges. So, I become stronger mentally, thereby becoming physically healthier too. 

Point to Practice: Today I will be happy whatever the situations or challenges I may have to face throughout the day. Instead of finding small little reasons to be upset, let me today find small little reasons to be happy. Even when everything seems to be going wrong, there is surely something that is going right or could go right with my effort.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris