Contemplation: November 02, 2020: Strength to Continue

 Contemplation: November 02, 2020: Strength to Continue

 

Strength to Continue

Determination brings the strength to continue, the steadiness to succeed, and the wisdom to slip past difficulties undisturbed.

Rising Above Limits And Mental Barriers (Part 2)

A significant reduction in our success rate in coming out of difficult situations is brought about by confusion or a lack of positive conviction. This lack of positivity is caused by different types of positionings of the mind which are harmful to our power of determination or faith. You know the story about the elephant whose one leg used to be tied using a small rope since the time he was young and he used to experience a lack of freedom in moving around wherever he wished. At that age, the small rope was enough to tie the elephant. As the elephant grew bigger, he possessed the physical strength to break the rope and wander around freely but instead of making use of his strength to break the rope, he did not do so and remained confined to the same small region where he used to be tied because his mind was conditioned that he cannot break the rope, which is an example of a mental limitation. In a similar manner, the inner region of our mind is the place where we as children got used to being tied with the different types of ropes of a lack of optimism or positivity – I cannot do well or I am not good enough or I am not as successful as others or I am low on self-confidence or I am an under-achiever. These ropes in many people are so strong that even when situations of success have arrived in their life in different forms as they have grown up and they have achieved reasonably in different spheres of life and they can easily break these different ropes, they still remain low on optimism. This lack of optimism restricts their freedom to succeed and ability to achieve bigger and up to the potential they possess and as expected by their friends and people whom they are close to.

The reason why our hidden potential remains untapped in most cases is a weak consciousness and this weakness is caused by emotional limitations in the form of weak thoughts and feelings over the years. These thoughts and feelings have been expressed sometimes without us realizing how each thought and feeling is having a powerful negative effect on the situations around us and coming back to us negatively in the long term. Limits are self-created and not imposed by society or circumstances on us as some of us might think and seem to experience from our life journey. We often say I feel I am weak because the following person has dominated me all my life. The dominating person is not the cause of our low self-esteem but it’s what shape we have given to all his words and actions in our minds since we have been with him, is the cause of us seeing ourselves in a poor light and feeling under-confident. 

(To be continued tomorrow …)

 

Do you track your success by others' achievements? 

Instead of thinking, you are less than anyone else, or that anyone else is less than you, be proud of what they've achieved.

Get enthused by others' success and learn all you can from how they got there. 

 

Not that you have to climb Everest, invent the internet or replicate what they've done.

Claim their inner resourcefulness, determination, courage, creativity or whatever else as your own. 

Feel empowered by their achievements and let that propel you forward to your own success.

 

Message for the day

To get a real award, avoid waste and negative. 

Thought to Ponder:  If there is a long time practice of avoiding negative and waste, I will be able to appreciate fully the gifts of life. This is the reward I get. Also, since I am not sowing wrong seeds, whatever fruits I reap are positive too. Even when life brings different situations, I still am able to receive positive fruits. 

Point to Practice: Today I will check my own thoughts at least 10 times today. I will check the quality of my thoughts. If I catch myself having negative or waste thoughts, I will create one single positive thought like "I am the master of my life" or "I choose my destiny with my actions" or simply "I am happy today". 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: November 01, 2020: Useful Things

 Contemplation: November 01, 2020: Useful Things

 

Useful Things

Remember only useful things and there will be no need to even think about forgetting anything painful.

 

Rising Above Limits And Mental Barriers (Part 1)

Rising above mental limitations, which are obstacles in our life journey and slow our progress towards our life goals, is an important spiritual skill that we need to be trained in. A limitation or a barrier is a self created thought which reduces our power of determination and power to succeed in any life sphere. Suppose I have a broken relationship with a loved one, like a parent or a sibling (brother or sister) or a life partner and that causes a belief to set inside my mind that I have been unsuccessful in handling a relationship well. The belief can result in a negative perception that all relationships are sorrow giving and that perception then starts flowing in our actions and people whom we are close to do not receive the positive energy from us which they should, the energy which will make that particular relationship work.

 

Also, sometimes we do not know why a particular person is distancing himself from us when our words and actions towards the person are what they are expecting? In these cases, our mind has been imprisoned by an incorrect belief like the one shared above and that has affected our perception of the other person negatively. The energy of that perception constantly travels to the other person and hits him or her which causes the other person to respond to us in a manner which is different from what we would like them to.  So, the mental limit is in the background in these cases. It is a self-limiting thought or series of thoughts which we constantly create either consciously or sub-consciously. Suppose, I have fared badly in a school exam in one year. As a result, I have formed a series of mental barriers in our mind like – I am not so sharp or competitive or I am a nervous exam giver or I am not so intelligent or I cannot succeed. Such barriers are strong mental forces which are like hammers hitting on our mind and personality and causing a negative impact on future events of the same nature, in this case the giving of another school exam.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

 

Don't engage yourself in thinking about others because of jealousy. 

 

If anyone tells you wrong things about others, then hear but don't hear. 

 

Don't speak about such things and spoil the hearts of others. 

 

Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil, and think no evil.

 

 

 

Message for the day

To pass with honor is to enjoy the journey of life. 

 

Thought to Ponder:  Just passing through a situation is nothing great. Even the most difficult situation has to end some day. But the one who makes effort and is prepared beforehand, passes through the situation with his head held high. It is like traveling in air conditioned class, that means I am comfortable. The journey is as important as the destination.

 

Point to Practice: Today I will sail through the day with the right consciousness. In all that happens through the day, I will keep my mind happy and comfortable. Even if things go wrong, I will not let anything go wrong inside. I will resolve what comes my way and if I can't, just for today I will make sure I'll postpone worrying about it for tomorrow. 

 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation : October 23, 2020: Quality of Thoughts

 Contemplation : October 23, 2020: Quality of Thoughts

Quality of Thoughts

An enlightened person understands that there is nothing to be gained by thinking about others. Pure thoughts and feelings will do all the work. There is no need to think any further. The quality of your thoughts will affect your spiritual endeavour. So keep checking them. If you don't, then at some point your mode of thinking will become quite ordinary, no longer spiritual. The sign of this is that your mind begins to; race and you start reacting sensitively to little things. You become vulnerable not just to the opinions of others but even to your own limited way of understanding. Thoughts can be your best friend or your worst enemy.

God And I – The Task We Share (Part 5)

Spiritual knowledge is given to us by God, who is the Ocean of Knowledge, and has the true knowledge of the soul, Himself as well as the history and geography of the world. This spiritual knowledge should be given to every human being in the world. That is what God’s pure desire is. But how will he fulfill His desire? It is through us that His knowledge will be given to each soul in the world, through our thoughts, words and actions. Have you ever dreamt of a world where every human being had the true spiritual knowledge of him or herself and thought, spoke and acted according to that? Such a world would be a beautiful place to live in and there would be no sorrow of either the mind or the body or your role and relationships. All the sorrow in the world is because of a lack of true spiritual knowledge in human minds.

Giving knowledge to the world is God’s primary act, which He performs when He is present in the world to change it, when sorrow increases. But, He cannot perform this action without our help, because He needs human beings and the words they speak to reach out to billions of people all over the world. So, do you ever think that I should be one of those chosen ones who will become instrumental in helping God at this particular time or do you think this duty is to be fulfilled by others and not necessarily me? The world needs the friends of God, who are extremely close to Him and are taking spiritual knowledge from Him to take out time every day to help God in His task and this is something that we need to do soon.World servers are God’s right hands who perform their daily actions related to their routine, play all their relationships of family and friendship work hard for a living and succeed immensely and inspite of that give spiritual knowledge to each and every one whom they meet and love. Loving someone means that I realize my duty of giving him or her knowledge that I have and they start experiencing happiness because of the knowledge.
(To be continued tomorrow …)

 

 

Restore Hope

 

Do you get disappointed with yourself when you fail to meet your own high expectations and standards?

The next time you fail to meet your own expectations, remove the bruise of disappointment with the balm of hope. 

 

Recognize that the road may be long, but at least you're on the road. Then work out the terrain ahead and your next set of steps.

Restore hope in yourself and feel the spring come back into your step.

Message for the day

When there is love, you can tolerate easily.

 

Thought to Ponder: Love makes you free from expectations, which enables you to accept people as they are. You can then go within yourself and discover your own strengths. You will automatically be a giver in all situations and you can tolerate very easily.

 

Point to Practice: Think of one person in whom you were not able to tolerate some quality. Now tell yourself that just as a mother accepts her child even with weaknesses, you will accept this person as he is. When you change your attitude towards that person you can be tolerant. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation : October 31, 2020: Purity

 Contemplation : October 31, 2020: Purity

Purity

 

A powerful, yet often misunderstood, aim of spiritual study is purity. Purity of the soul means to return to its original divine qualities. The soul has become so polluted with less than divine qualities, it can hardly enjoy being alive. Purifying the soul puts the higher self back in charge - useless and negative thoughts are removed and annoying habits finish. A pure soul cannot be touched by sorrow; indeed the power of purity is such, it serves to remove the sorrow of the whole world. Purity restores happiness - even bliss. All you need to do, in order to re-establish your purity, is want it. But you need to want it intensely, to the exclusion of everything else. The one thought, "I must become completely pure" sparks a fire of love between you and God. This fire melts away all the pollution, and your purity becomes such a power that it frees you from all battles for ever.

Negative Control And Positive Influence

The power of influence in relationships is extraordinary, but it practically disappears when we try to exercise control and force.

You can influence anyone positively in many ways:

- encouraging,

- sharing,

- listening,

- communicating in the right way.  

In negative control we generate stress, frustration and anger. In positive influence the energy flows in a relaxed way with harmony and is not threatening, respecting each one for their specialty and allowing each one to be as they are.

In order to influence positively we need the power of discrimination and judgement in relation to what to say and what to do e.g. when you believe that the other person is the problem; generally the problem is not what others say or do, but rather how you perceive them. The way  that you judge is what creates your negative feelings about them. We have the choice to perceive others as a threat, as a problem, or as an opportunity; an opportunity for learning, for change, for dialogue and understanding. We can choose to have compassion (kindness); to feel that the other is a problem indicates a lack of compassion.

 

 

 

Irrelevant thoughts come in abundance. 

 

 

They take your attention away from the present moment, into the past or the future, as you imagine problems, create doubts and confusions. 

 

And before you know it, you're caught in a spider's web of thoughts.

The next time you find yourself stuck in a web of your own creation, untangle yourself from irrelevant thoughts, and be free.

 

 

Message for the day

 

Faith in God gives you power to face the different challenges that come your way.

 

Contemplation: In the difficult situations that come in your life when you have faith in God, the power within you is brought out. With the faith that God is with you, you can transform negative to positive, and impossible becomes possible. 

Application: When any task demands strength beyond your capacity, make the all-powerful God your companion. With the power of His companionship you will find things a lot easier to handle. Because of your faith help automatically comes. 

 

 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/