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Life is not a bed of roses. It is full of ups and downs and keeps oscillating between good and bad, pleasure and pain, gains and loss, winner or a looser. Those who look at the dark side often lose confidence and faith in life. They get upset and believe life to be a curse. Life is meaningless - they say. Such thoughts further deepen and make one feel helpless. They lose faith in themselves. They are always depressed and become pessimist. No ray of hope can be seen to transform life. The darkness around further drowns one into the deep well of failure, with no way out.

Here is an instance which advises us how to think and act in adverse situations. A person named Parth started a business of dry fruits. Within a short span of six months he was forced to shut down the business due to heavy loss. He was too upset to restart any other kind of work. He couldn’t overcome his grief and so the future remained uncertain. The news of Parth’s failure reached his Spiritual teacher (guru) Shreevatsa Krishnaji. He at once called him. Parth told him that he had worked hard but failed in business and also expressed his inability to restart any kind of work. He also confessed that he was unaware of the reasons about his failure.

The Spiritual Guru held Parth’s hand and led him to a garden. Pointing at a withered little tomato plant he said, ‘‘I planted it carefully. I looked after it. I watered it regularly still it died. It couldn’t bear the untimely hail, a natural calamity. This factor was beyond my control and also quite unpredictable. We work but within our limits. It’s the Lord who rules the world and decides the results.

Parth eagerly asked, ‘‘Why should we strive hard when the result is uncertain and beyond our control?’’ The teacher explained, ‘‘Many of us think likewise and lose faith in God as well as ourselves. We don’t attempt to do what we really can. Before the truth unfolds itself in front of you, open the door to your right.’’ Parth opened the door. He was still, his mouth and eyes wide open as he saw a heap of fresh red tomatoes. Krishnaji then explained, only some of the tomato sapling had withered, not all. When we keep trying, the chances of our being successful increase; but when we don’t try at all or give up at an early stage of a trial or two then chances of being a loser are high. The doors of success are shut down. You begin deciding your own destiny. You reject fortune. You accept misfortune in the deal. That’s unfair.”

he story imparts a good lesson - that failure doesn’t mean the end of success. One shouldn’t stop and repent over it. Rather one should set his feet strongly on the paddle and begin soon to make up for the loss. Change your working style; think differently. Execute the same task with new tact and vigor. This changes the thought process and makes the mind strong and creative.

Our mind is basically ruled by two major traits - the positive and the negative. When we decide to begin a task the positive trait supports it and fills us with enthusiasm and confidence. We are happy, contented and efficient in the beginning but when we encounter any challenge the negative trait begins to show its effect. Inability and inefficiency cloud the mind leading to dejection, anger, tension and frustration. Its impact is so strong that it shakes the confidence, shatters the dream. It gives no way to the positive thoughts to balance themselves again; but this doesn’t mean the positive thoughts are weak or feeble. It’s time to be cautious and careful not to uproot the positive thought but to strengthen it soon shedding away the negative ones before they spread stench all over. The moment you realize that the negative one is on the slightest backfoot, start driving it out without any hitch. Drag it out and push it away as far as you can. The negative thoughts are like weeds. The moment they appear they start growing intensely. Their impact is too deep and strong. In the beginning they can be uprooted easily but once they gain strength they cannot be uprooted or destroyed.

Both the traits dwell in a common home. It’s our own mind. They originate from it on the basis of previous knowledge or experience of the past. By our conscious effort we can train our mind so as to control their growth in adverse situations, demolish the negative ones as soon as they begin showing up. Cleanse the mind regularly and timely to be a person rich in positive thoughts. In the clear mind and clean heart dwells the pure soul which is a blessing of God.

Sometimes life appears to be a battlefield full of foes but sometimes it’s quite easy and comfortable, full of joyous and jolly moments - no challenge, no problems, and no hurdles at all. If we forget the past and don’t bother about the uncertain future, slowly we will gain the strength to fight the odds of life. Actually the challenges or hurdles in the journey of life refine us. They compel us to rinse our thoughts, mind and way of thinking. The change leads to the right direction that ends in success. Without controlling the ongoing thought process in our mind we can’t progress or achieve anything worthwhile. Hurdles in life are true teachers. The fear to accept great challenges vanishes as we handle little problems confidently. The thought process changes, experience gained makes us mentally strong and tactful to face adverse situations. We gain maturity and stability to face various unpredicted and unwanted situations in life. Our weaknesses are visible to us. We learn to overcome them as we move ahead. That is why the renowned clinical psychologist Dr. Ron Breazeale considers that facing the odds in life has its own meaning and one has to prepare oneself for it; it can be done.

Problems, tensions and hurdles of life toughen us. Failures dishearten us. We feel dejected and are lost in the race of life but if we gather courage and accept challenges, face them confidently with optimistic outlook, then life can be shaped and set in the right direction according to our own desire. Nobody can defeat us.
Our Revered Gurudev has rightly said: ‘Man is not the slave of circumstances. He is the creator, controller and master of them.’

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