Life is beautiful and varieties make it interesting. As a child we all have heard someone or the other tell us..
"If wealth is lost, nothing is lost
If health is lost, something is lost
If character is lost, everything is lost'.
I heard it for the first time from Ma (mom), who had this usual way of teaching me things about life, while walking with her or while just playing some games. Of these three lines, the last formed a strong pillar and I somehow neglected the first two completely. Fair enough, I abided the third with all devotion.
But there was something else Ma told me:to perform in whatever I do, to excel rather. If I came second she would not scold me but sweetly tell that it meant I flunked by the number of marks. Once again I took her words in all seriousness and put my attention to perform and excel. It seemed so correct to me and from her viewpoint I knew she wanted me to do everything and make a mark for myself. Coming from a middle class family in India, life of a child is all about education and career. There are other things also she taught which I will talk about later.
So where did I get lost... In the run to excel, with time what I accumulated were accolades in grades and along with a huge mountain of stress. Didnot realize that I was walking amidst the path of unhealthy life style, where competition led to wrong thoughts, unhealthy setup of mind as a result accumulation of stress which didnot find any way to vent out. Our body which is like a machine that functions through various pumps, motors, fluid pathways like any other mechanical instrument at the physical level. Stress is like a pressure which creates leaks within the system, resulting the whole mechanical system of the physical body go hay way. Talking in medical terms it is a well known factor that stress increases the secretion of the hormone cortisol and if one looks closer to what it does, increase in cortisol disbalances the whole endocrine system (production of various hormones necessary for our physical body to function) of our body resulting is many diseases. So that is the power of stress.
So that is where I lost. My pump and motor system gave up to stress and made me terminally sick. Such a simple thing to understand but still the medical terms makes it so complicated. I lost but then I found....
I found myself back, the self which is not just the mere physical existence but much beyond. I found myself through the courses I did in Art of Living. I knew theoretically the importance of present moment, but through the course I learnt it at the experiantial level. I knew the power of breathe but once again in theory and the Art of living course , YES!+ etc.. made me learn through my own experience. Such is the power.
Today while I type this I still excel, I do lot more than I ever did before but the burden of stress is not noticeable. The things that would take me few hours to accomplish, today I get it done in much lesser time. My lifestyle when it comes to competing is much more healthier...I donot think I have to excel by pushing others or but not sharing, rather I move forward in whatever task I do taking everyone with me. Where I used to doubt others intention, now I see positive vibes in everyone I meet. Its amazing and at times I wish, had I got this key to the 'success without stress" formula earlier...ha! ha!...But then I got it which is beautiful in itself...
I will continue this in my next post so come back.....
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