Daily Positive Thoughts: December 25, 2016: True winning is accepting not resisting

 

True winning is accepting not resisting

If you ever find yourself defending a position, explaining why, or justifying anything, it means you have been defeated. It means you have not been able to accept the others point of view, or the fact that you may be wrong.

Fear has conquered your mind and your heart. Your defenses are up and you are running scared. It’s not that the other person has conquered you, it’s the self-created fear that is in control.

Until you can accept the other (you don’t have to agree) and you are not threatened by the other, your victories will be delayed. It’s a funny old world when true winning is accepting not resisting, when victory is found in the wisdom to stop fighting and to begin engaging.

Practical Exercise On Intellect Reawakening And Empowerment

It has been estimated that for around 80% of our daily routine we are ruled by habits. This means that most of the time we go straight from thought (created by the mind) to action, without checking the quality of our thoughts. In this way, we bypass the intellect, and do not use our capacity to judge right from wrong and to make conscious decisions. What we need to do now is reawaken, use and empower the intellect, which is true spiritual empowerment.

Practical Exercise

Withdraw your attention from everything around you.  Create a simple thought in your mind.   Concentrate on the thought. Then use your intellect to judge to what extent the thought is right or wrong and what the quality of that thought is (is it a negative thought, a waste or unnecessary thought, a necessary thought, a positive one etc.?).   If you decide it is not a good thought, leave it and create a better thought. In this way, you consciously exercise control of your mind and intellect thereby strengthening your mental and intellectual capacities. This will also help you regain your feelings of rule over the self.

If thoughts or images come from your memories or from sources outside your own mind while you are busy in this inner exercise, don't give them any mental energy. Let them go and bring your attention back to your own conscious creation (mentioned above). Once, you have mastered this in this exercise; try the same process while you busy in your daily routine.

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.

Message for the day

To stand for what we believe in is not to fall before what we fear. 

Though to Ponder: When fear takes over, I need to focus more on what I believe in, rather than focusing on what I fear. To think of what I don't want or what I want to avoid is not the solution. Rather, I need to focus my energies on what I want. When I do this, I will be able to avoid negativity and use my potential and energy for what needs to be done. 

Point to Practice: Today I will think of one thing I have been avoiding. I will then see what I want to do in its place. If I don't want something, there would surely be something that I want. When I start working on what I should be doing, I will naturally be able to do away with what I fear or what I am avoiding. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 23, 2016: Not to think of or speak of the mistakes in others

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 23, 2016: Not to think of or speak of the mistakes in others

Not to think of or speak of the mistakes in others

When I notice a weakness or mistake in someone, instead of drawing attention to it by speaking to others, I need to make a special effort to focus on something positive in that person. 

When I think about this person's good qualities, my love for them will grow.

When I speak about the weaknesses of others, it spreads from one person to the next.  

Instead of speaking, I have to merge it into love. This then sends blessings to others, which helps them to improve.

Wearing The Crown Of Servant Leadership Gracefully (Part 2)

A good leader, before orchestrating (controlling) his team members will learn to orchestrate (control) his inner orchestra of thoughts, feelings, attitudes, emotions, moods and perceptions to create the desired tune or team result. When leaders become dictators or start orchestrating (controlling) their team members first, the fall of the team gets certain.  A good leader is characterized by the way he makes his fellow members work as a team with him being a part of it. Misuse of leader power has a negative effect on team members' perceptions of the leader's ability and desire to engage in open communication. Because open communication is vital to any project, these perceptions can hurt team performance. These negative effects of leader power can be virtually eliminated simply by clearly communicating the idea that every team member is individually instrumental for any given task at hand.

Traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the top of the pyramid. By comparison, the servant leader shares power and puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible. Servant leaders spread an energy of trust in the group, which catalyzes higher levels of engagement of team members, greater involvement of their effort and ideas and greater speed in change and creation of the new, which is the objective of every team. As a result, an excellent team culture is developed.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Surrender

The flower surrenders to the night & shuts up shop as the setting sun surrenders to the horizon of another day.

Geese surrender to the first autumn chills, & think of flying south.

  

Well the same opportunity is also available to all of us.

Realize: There's a time to push & make things happen, & a time to surrender our ego & our need to control everything.  Surrender is not about giving up or about inaction, it's about taking the decision to stop fighting ourselves, others & life.

When we surrender, we release tension & restore peace.  So go on, find moments to surrender, today.  See what happens & how things happen when you surrender first, & then take action.

Message for the day

To keep the mind free and light is to get a detached perspective. 

Though to Ponder: When I keep my mind free from the burden of negativity and waste, I am free and light. This lightness gives me the ability to rise above clouds of despair and mountains of confusion. So, I don't have to work hard to understand and cross over them. I automatically get a detached perspective and am able to understand and cross over all obstacles easily. 

Point to Practice: Today I will be an audience to my situation. I will see all aspects of the situation with detachment. I will then become a director and change the script in order to take it to a better conclusion. I need to make even the smallest contribution I can. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 24, 2016: Life will bring obstacles and difficulties

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 24, 2016: Life will bring obstacles and difficulties

Life will bring obstacles and difficulties

They do not come to stop you. They come to strengthen you and help you progress with more experience.

Keep advancing.

One day is not the same as another.

Sometimes you do not have to find a solution, it is enough to keep moving forward, leaving the obstacle behind.

Wearing The Crown Of Servant Leadership Gracefully (Part 3)

Very often in a group or team, while moving towards a common goal or objective or purpose, the leader of the group or gathering is required to give his opinion to make the objective of the team possible. Servant leaders are extremely active, positive and authoritative in giving their ideas, when they are required to do so, but are able to keep a relationship of detachment with their ideas. They maintain a right balance of authority (while giving the idea) and humility (while accepting the result of the idea, the result could be rejection or even acceptance of the idea). Also servant leaders are detached when accepting or receiving or listening to ideas from team members. The more the attachment to one’s own ideas, the more will be the tendency to resist or reject the others’ ideas, which they do not do.

Also, when a leader starts misusing his leadership for his own good and greed, and becomes egoistic, his team members start staying away. Servant leaders, through their humility, become an inspiration for others. Experiencing power and autonomy is healthy, but when a false sense of ownership sets up in leadership and the leader starts taking his role for granted, it is the time when a leader will experience great downfall in his role as a leader.

Altogether, a good leader is one who uses his mind or law to handle himself and his heart or love to handle others which ultimately brings justice to his role. Such a leader who maintains this balance of love and law wears the crown of servant leadership gracefully through various stages of life, enjoying the respect and earning the good wishes of all whom he comes into contact with.

Become a Trustee

Everything comes to us in trust.  This includes people, pets, time, mind, body, wealth, job, car, house, gadgets, as well as all the planet's resources.

When we become a guardian, a trustee and not an owner, then we worry less, stress less and fear less.  It's a much more relaxing way of living and relating to everything that comes to us.

Honour, look after and use all the resources with a positive purpose.

Message for the day

To travel light is to enjoy the journey of life. 

Though to Ponder: I can travel far in life when I am free from the baggage of the past. I also take only the essence from everything, packing up essencefully. So, I am light. I never stop because of anything. Instead, I learn from everything, pack up the essence and move forward. 

Point to Practice: Today I will resolve one thing from my past that I have been carrying as a burden. I will try and understand what learning I can take from it. Once I take the learning, I don't have to relive those feelings that I had during the situation. If I can't resolve it today, I'll at least believe and have faith that it will happen tomorrow. This finishes the burden of the situation and brings lightness. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 22, 2016: Chasing Limited Desires

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 22, 2016: Chasing Limited Desires

Chasing Limited Desires

If your mind has any limited desires, they will not allow you to become content. When you are walking in the sun, your shadow goes ahead of you and if you try to catch it, you won't be able to. When you turn around, your shadow will follow you. In the same way, desires attract you and make you cry. Let go of them and they will follow you. Those who ask for something can never become full and complete. To chase any limited desire is like trying to catch a mirage.

Wearing The Crown Of Servant Leadership Gracefully (Part 1)

It is commonly stated that perhaps those who are best suited to leadership power are those who never seek it. On the other hand, those who have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, find to their own surprise that they wear it well. This process starts as early as our school life, when we become monitors and prefects and are granted significant responsibilities. We learn leadership at a young age. The type of leadership skills we inculcate at that age are important. 

Importantly, a good leader, starting at an early age, should inspire and not aspire. Personal aspirations that are regardless (irrelevant) to others always convert a humble and successful leader into a failed one.  A good leader should influence, not control - controlling i.e. passing orders, policies, rules, goals, targets, reports, visions and changes to force team members to work the way they believe it should be done; failing to listen or listening with little interest; exhibiting the - Do as I say, not as I do - mentality and providing inadequate support. Negative thoughts, words, actions or inactions expressing emotions like:

Why aren’t they performing better?

What’s wrong with that person?

Why don’t they know their job?

They should know their job!

lead team members to believe that leaders disrespect them and do not care for them at all. It results in failure of an organization or the task in hand.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Life’s Anchor

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 ourselves can, at any time, vanish. 

What will we do then? Where is our life's anchor? If it is not within, we will suffer.

Message for the day

To believe in success is to have the power not to give up.

Though to Ponder: The power of determination combined with faith in the vision of success, inspires us to put in relentless efforts. It is these efforts which help us move towards success. Success is first in our minds. When I start with that, I will be undeterred with the little setbacks I face. I will be able to put in the right efforts for success because I believe in it.

Point to Practice: Today I will not run away from problems, but will race towards solutions. For something I have wanted to do and is not happening, I will try one more thing. Today I will try once more, one more new idea. I will not give up till I succeed, because I am destined to succeed. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 21, 2016: Good Feelings

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 21, 2016: Good Feelings

 

Good Feelings

Good feeling for others are like ointments that heal wounds and re-establish friendship and relationships.

Good feelings are generated in the mind, are transmitted through your attitude and are reflected in your eyes and smile.

Smiling opens the heart and a glance can make miracles happen.

Filling Myself And Others With Invisible Treasures (Part 2)

In yesterday’s message, we had explained how soul consciousness provides us access to the ocean of the qualities of peace, love and joy that lie hidden inside our consciousness. An important point worth noting in this regard is that along with quenching my thirst, I must also have a big heart, and pass on to others the qualities that I am receiving from my inner ocean. Otherwise, over a period of time my spirituality reaches a standstill and although I am making an effort to fill myself I do not feel as content and fulfilled as before. This is because; the vessel with which I fill from the ocean can’t be refilled unless I am also prepared to keep emptying it. That doesn’t mean I have to drain myself spiritually.

It is just that each time I give or donate a quality from my inner ocean with a positive intention to someone; it flows from inside me and then gets transmitted to the other. Before the person experiences and benefits from the quality, I experience getting filled with it myself. Also, each time the person benefits from or even remembers the benefit in the future, he or she sends me positive energy, which, according to the Law of Karma fills me with the quality that I had donated, further. Sometimes a person might benefit or remember the benefit after 10-15 years or even more than that. Even after such a long time has elapsed, I keep receiving a return from the pure donation I have made, and keep getting filled, even if I am not specifically or consciously aware of the same.

Eliminate Errors

Good leadership is based on skills which are incognito, like pure feelings, faith and trust. These keep both your frame of mind and the task moving in the right direction. 

It is human to err, but your high hopes for someone can actually eliminate errors. Doubting people exactly has the opposite effect. Believing in someone, extending feelings of trust, never telling people what to do but stepping aside and watching, with faith. This is what enables a task to get done in the right way.

Spiritual Skills like these are cultivated by avoiding complacency, learning to be sensitive and staying alert.

Message for the day

To honor others' identity is to win their cooperation. 
Though to Ponder: True leadership is about conquering the hearts of others with my own humility. Then I can place the honor of others in front. Thus, I can attract blessings and respect from others. Also, with this, I will only have the vision of bringing benefit.

Point to Practice: Today I will look beyond what I see in the present in people. What I may see right now may be negative or not so great. But I look at their potential and what they are capable of becoming. When I do this, I will be able to help them recognize their own potential. They would also then want to use this potential in the task at hand. Your respect also earns their respect and they give full cooperation. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris