Neelam’s Blog

The word “power” has many meanings attached to it. Its mainly what how you define it. Below is the philosophy of a couple of wise people.

“There are two kinds of men who never amount to much: those who cannot do what they are told, and those who can do nothing else.” 

-Cyrus H. Curtis

“Compassion, caring, teaching, loving, and sharing your gifts, talents, and abilities are the gateways to power.” 

- Jamie Sams

As long as we choose to cling onto the hurtful past or unfair /cruel events in the past, we cannot move forward. We need to let go of the past and embrace the future. The best thing for this is to keep a journal, write down all the thoughts that come to your mind and then read it. You will be able to see where you stand and what’s bothering you. After you acknowledge your hurdles, let go of them and seek wisdom.

“Even though you may want to move forward in your life, you may have one foot on the brakes. In order to be free, we must learn how to let go. Release the hurt. Release the fear. Refuse to entertain your old pain. The energy it takes to hang onto the past is holding you back from a new life.”

– Mary Manin Morrissey

“In truth, to attain to interior peace, one must be willing to pass through the contrary to peace. Such is the teaching of the Sages.”

– Swami Brahmanada

Sometimes we ourselves create the biggest hurdles on our road to success and betterment. We are most of the times enslaved by our cultural/regional/social standards without even knowing it.

” We unconsciously use defence mechanisms to shield us from situations we perceive to be scary or painful. A part of you may want to grow and change, but another part may be resisting because change always moves you into new territory in your thinking and emotions.

If you find you are getting anxious, fearful, angry, frustrated, dismissive or unmotivated, then defence mechanisms are at work. Watch for them and know them to be signs of fear that wants to hold you back. Then courageously move through them”.                                                                         (unknown source)

“If you play it safe in life you’ve decided that you don’t want to grow any more.”

– Shirley Hufstedler

“I have never been contained except I made the prison.”

– Mary Evans

Every now and then, I hear people saying ” … a voice in my head was telling me not to do this, blah blah blah, ….. something was telling me not to trust that man etc etc”. But did we listen? NO (most of the times that is). Why dont we listen to that voice? Who is it anyways?

Well, that is our higher awareness, our true self, the “I”. We need to learn to trust ourselves and most importantly to listen.

“I trust so much in the power of the heart and the soul; I know that the answer to what we need to do next is in our own hearts. All we have to do is listen, then take that one step further and trust what we hear. We will be taught what we need to learn.”

– Melody Beattie

“I never know what the next lesson is going to be, because we’re not supposed to know; we’re supposed to trust ourselves to discover it.”

– Melody Beattie

“Woe to the man whose heart has not learned while young to hope, to love … and to put its trust in life.”

– Joseph Conrad

Here’s an old Zen story…..that relates to the moral title.

A farmer had a horse but one day, the horse ran away and so the farmer and his son had to plow their fields themselves. Their neighbors said, “Oh, what bad luck that your horse ran away!” But the farmer replied, “Bad luck, good luck, who knows?”

The next week, the horse returned to the farm, bringing a herd of wild horses with him. “What wonderful luck!” cried the neighbors, but the farmer responded, “Good luck, bad luck, who knows?”

Then, the farmer’s son was thrown as he tried to ride one of the wild horses, and he broke his leg. “Ah, such bad luck,” sympathized the neighbors. Once again, the farmer responded, “Bad luck, good luck, who knows?”

A short time later, the ruler of the country recruited all young men to join his army for battle. The son, with his broken leg, was left at home. “What good luck that your son was not forced into battle!” celebrated the neighbors. And the farmer remarked, “Good luck, bad luck, who knows?”

“Do not judge, and you will never be mistaken.”

– Jean Jacques Rousseau

Regular and frequent breaks are very important for our spiritual well-being and our physical body too. Maintain a balance between work and rest and see what wonders it can work for the health of all…..body, mind and spirit.

“A good rest is half the work.”

– Yugoslav Proverb

“The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.”

– Sidney J. Harris

“I still need more healthy rest in order to work at my best. My health is the main capital I have and I want to administer it intelligently.”

– Ernest Hemingway

Material things (required by money) are the necessity of our bodies but our spiritual bodies require only peace and freedom that come from higher awareness.

“What is [the role of money] in the search for meaning? Is our relationship to it one of the chief factors that keeps us in our prison, or could it also be a tool for breaking out, for awakening to a life filled with intensity of purpose?”

– Jacob Needleman

“Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul.”

– Henry David Thoreau

“View money and things not as something you create to fill a lack, but as tools to help you more fully express yourself and realize your potential.”

– Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer

Most of the times we let our life lead its way, the art of living though is to lead your way through life. Start to own your life then drive it for better or worse, Your choice.

“The meaning of life is to give life meaning.”

– Ken Hudgins

“I think of life itself now as a wonderful play that I’ve written for myself… and so my purpose is to have the utmost fun playing my part.”

– Shirley MacLaine

“Life is too short to be little.”

– Benjamin Disraeli

“Every man dies, but not every man lives….”

– Garth Brooks

“The only consistency in life is change”. Stagnancy is unknown to life, so stand up and come face to face with your problems.

“For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin — real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”

– Fr. Alfred D’Souza

“Every lesson is a widening and deepening of consciousness. It is a stretching of the mind beyond its conceptual limits and a stretching of the heart beyond its emotional boundaries. It is a bringing of unconscious material into consciousness, a healing of past wounds, and a discovery of new faith and trust.”

– Paul Ferrini