A part of my daily routine is to watch motivational videos after my morning yoga session. More often than not, I simply listen to the most inspiring speeches that have previously motivated me, again. This week, however, I chose to listen to new youtube recommendations instead.
Here are three precious gems that stuck with me.
A Can of Soda or A bottle of Water
For many years now, I have been practising how NOT to react to unfavourable situations or people’s hurtful words easily. It is the second hardest thing I have been trying to master. The first one being Active Listening. I have been comparatively successful in the latter than the former.
Gaur Gopal Das’s React or Respond speech was something that stayed with me throughout the week. In more than three situations I stopped for a few seconds before reacting and asked myself “Am I a Can of Soda or a Bottle of Water?” This little retrospection helped me handle the situation better. Of course, in about seven other situations I failed to stop and think and ended up feeling irritated and angry. But, I guess, it is a part of the learning process. (And yes, I kept the count hoping to include it in this post :D)
So what is this analogy about? We often come across people and situations that can shake up the otherwise calm mind. In the heat of the moment, we then say or do things that more often than not, we regret. A Can of Soda here represents your reaction to an unfavourable situation. The Bottle of Water represents your response to the same. When you shake a can of Soda, it bubbles up and pressure builds inside which is released all at once when you open the can. A Bottle of Water, however, steers a bit and quickly settles down. Opening the cap then does not make any difference – to the bottle or the environment.
A Glass of Water
Being the compulsive overthinker that I am, I have often found it hard to let go of things. I am the definition of overthinking – I can take a trivial issue, think, re-think, overthink about it and create problems in my mind that are much larger than the issue in reality. In the end, the issue is somehow resolved (Mostly on its own or with minimum effort) but the problems I have created in my mind does not go away until several days after. A glass of water speaks about this.
The actual weight of a glass of water or even just a glass does not matter. What matters is how long you hold on to it. 10 mins? Doesn’t really matter. 1 hour? You will slowly begin to feel the muscles ache and your hand fall asleep. A day? – fortunately, holding on to a glass of water for that long is not physically possible. Your body has its limits. Your mind does not. It can hold on to things for months or even years (Heard of regret or vengeance?)
And that is why this is simple to understand but difficult to master.
Hundred Birds in the Sky, A Nest in the House
Why is it that we never keep count of how many birds fly by our houses but always keep going back to that one bird who built a nest somewhere in the house?
Because, of those hundred birds, this one made an impression on you. Just like the hundreds of thoughts that come and go in our minds but only a few make an impact. The good ones leave you feeling better, enlightened and sometimes with a life-changing idea. The bad ones keep coming back to you at unexpected times and stir unwanted emotions. The idea here is to develop the ability to consciously decide which ones to keep and which ones to Delete. Gaur Gopal Das’s (I think I am becoming a fan) What The Delete Button In My Photos Folder Taught Me – hints at this.
Fortunately, the Internet is filled with gems like these from around the world. If you really wish to look, the treasure chest is only a few clicks away.
Featured image by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels
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Love,
Ashwini
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