A Muddy Puddle Mind & A Filtered Still Mind
View(s):The struggle to live has never been this chaotic for us Sri Lankans. A lot of middle class families are skipping one meal and living on only two meals a day. Parents are committing suicide due to the inability of handling this immense pressure. Even the most educated are struggling to live. Above all this, the generation that is due to take over the country are so sensitive that they easily give up amidst pressures. Seventeen year olds are suiciding due to stress.
One of the key ingredients of winning is remaining still amidst the pressures in life. Stillness is a powerful mental strength which must be grown over time, so that we will not be shaken when times of trouble attempt to invade us. Knowledge and paper qualifications will not give our mind the mental strength it requires to be still during storms. Daily transformation is what matures us to be still. In order to achieve this we must thrive daily. Most of my friends are highly educated but not in life transformation. They run and grab a glass of alcohol the moment a storm confronts them.
They have failed to develop stillness, which is the most important weapon at the battlefield. The first thing I would do whenever I face a challenge is, sit in my chair and stay still. A disturbed mind cannot make healthy decisions. Unless your mind is still, it will take only impulsive decisions based on the emotions. If someone attempt to stir up a natural well, its water is sure to become murky, making it non consumable. When the water stays still, you can take some water from the topmost layer and drink it, as the mud and other substances have settled at the depth of the well. In making decisions you need to deposit your emotions to the depth of your mind and make sure your conscious mind makes decisions to evaluate the situation and analyze the available options.
I sit quietly until my mind settles so that it is not moved by emotions. Sometimes this may take up to an hour. Even so, I would sit on my chair for an hour until I calm down and tame my mind. Once your mind is still and tamed you will have the ability to see the clear picture just as you would see the clear water when it is still after being stirred up. Mostly I look at the sky and tame my mind until it reaches stillness. When your mind is still, the aim will turn out to become unwavering. At times when a hand is weak and shaky, the arrow may easily miss the target. Many have lost competitions merely by shifting their focus unto their competitors for a split second. That split second steals a part of your total energy. We must live in the present moment to its fullest. Many have met with accidents just by trying to overlook an accident that has taken place in the street. You cannot turn around the damage that the accident has caused by trying to look at it, but you can certainly avoid getting yourself into an accident by not looking at the incident. Moreover, you can avoid the damage by being well focused while driving.
Even during this highly turbulent time that Sri Lanka is going through, people can be more productive by focusing 100% on themselves, it will assist them to derive their total energy level. Unfortunately, people consume their energy focusing on the past and other irrelevant aspects. Be still and focus on the present so that you could cultivate for the future. This generation needs very careful transformation. Therefore, they must be trained to hold on, stretch the extra mile, absorb pain, fight back when you are down, be content and accept and move forward whenever the need arises. Many young children do not have a purpose in life.
They have constantly been doing whatever they want whenever they feel like doing so. Many of them are reluctant to take the actual route as it requires sheer commitment. Everyone seeks the shortest route and the quickest fix. We have not got into this mess overnight, we have rather forced ourselves into this mess over the generations. What the country requires at this point are transformative minds.
Just think for a moment what you have secured in your hand and what you could do with it, rather than thinking of what others have and what they can do. Argentina scored two early goals in the FIFA World Cup finals and everybody thought that it would be an easy walk for them. Yet, the French were unwavering. They continually believed in themselves and equalised during the very last moments taking extra time. A mind that is unshaken can extract the best in you. A distracted mind will only produce decisions covered in mud and grime. Every decision you make has a risk but you can minimise the risk by taking it with a calculation. A disturbed mind cannot calculate or evaluate effectively.
One evening whilst I was reading my favourite book my daughter was playing at the same place, all of a sudden she asked “Thaththi (father) am I disturbing you?” And I said “Oh! I didn’t notice you were playing here”. I did not hear her jabbering as my mind was so still and deeply implanted into the reading. This is not something I achieved overnight. Your mind tends to shake when you shift your focus from yourself to another.
Just like our mothers sieve the rice, we must possess a strong filtration system around our mind. I have seen signs in front of buildings stating “Parking only for this Business”. Even though people prevent other vehicles from parking in their premises, they easily permit people to park in their mind premises. They easily allow junk thoughts to reside within their minds.
Mostly you are not disturbed by your problems but by what you see in the news and social media. Why would you allow the external aspects to stir up your mind and make your mind a muddy puddle? You can never fetch a cup of clear water out of a muddy puddle.
Let us clear our minds. Just open your drawers and see if you possess everything and anything in it. Is it similar to your mind? There are certain things you need to store in your mind as well as some things that must be taken out. Do not allow the acts of the politicians to take control over you or stir up your mind which ought to be still. Do not allow the wickedness of your neighbours to come and glue your mind and steal the space it has for stillness. Similar, Do not allow the words of the people who talk badly about you to stir up the stillness in your mind.
If you do so, you are meant to lose control of your mind. As heaps of garbage have been dumped into it. I have seen many wells that are netted from the top so that no dirt could get into the well and make its water murky. We are extremely keen on filtering our water. Yet, we are least interested in the filtration we should have in our minds.
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