No one gives joy or sorrow … We gather the consequences of our own deeds. Garuda Purana
The immediate reaction one has when reading the above is that we have so many troubles which legitimately should not be ours. In our view we have only done good and have scrupulously followed the law of the land and the beliefs of our faith and so the unbearable pain and troubles are definitely not the consequences of our bad deeds. Pause for a moment and focus on the joys that you are blessed with. Oh there are so many gifts and blessings that we may never really have deserved and yet we have been showered with them. Ask if you really did such extraordinary deeds that made you worthy of the bounty freely given to you? If you try to balance the fortunes and misfortunes, invariably we would feel that we could do with more of some fortunes; this is human nature for in our human weakness we fail to fully appreciate our good fortune be it material wealth, intellectual wealth, loads of friends, good health, good family background etc. We also tend to exaggerate our problems and troubles.
However if we attempt to examine our joys and sorrows that pepper each day of our life, then we would perhaps observe a more identifiable pattern. It takes a little effort to understand the pattern and we must be objective about it without attempting to rationalize our joys and/ or sorrows. Almost all of our joys, one would notice, have come about because we prepared ourselves for it by working for it, hoping for it, by doing our duty without any expectations or by praying for it. On the contrary our sorrows in most cases came about chiefly because we were casual, negligent, irresponsible, indifferent and / or undisciplined in our ways. Our exams marks is a good reflection of how we prepared and succeeded or failed. No doubt there could be exceptions where we did everything possible yet did not triumph or by a quirk of fate did very well in exams for which we barely prepared. On the work front too our growth and promotions or monetary returns is directly correlated to our efforts and hard work.
There is another angle to the whole business of being rewarded with joys or burdened with our sorrows and that is the short term view we take as opposed to the long term effects. On hindsight many of our joys and troubles seem to have been bestowed on us at the opportune time. Our joys have helped us strengthen our self belief and shaped our positive attitude while the sorrows have helped us better appreciate the riches we have. Sometimes the sorrows have been opportune for it has paved the way forward to a more rewarding path. Eg. Not scoring enough to get into medicine or engineering may have pushed us to change tracks and thereby enter a more rewarding and satisfying career. There is comfort in the knowledge that we are never ever burdened with more than what we can handle and always rewarded with more than what we deserve. It is for us to be able to cope with the pressures and handle our joys with equanimity and humility.
Remember: “Focus on making yourself happy and you’ll soon be miserable. Focus on bringing joy to others and your own happiness will quickly follow.” Roy H. Williams
Try this:
- Think of a time when you felt terrible because you were deeply disappointed. Ask yourself if that particular incident had a major bearing on your attitude, confidence, psyche. Now also recollect a couple of very special happy moments in your life. How did impact your future? Have you ever been falsely accused and punished in your life? How did it feel?
- Are you one of those people who feel that you will never win a lottery/ bingo/ lucky dip? Have you stopped enjoying playing such games because you feel you will never win? Don’t you think it is better to enjoy playing and have a chance of winning than not playing and always believing you will not win for you can win only if you play.
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