Gratitude is the only way :)

I read this story sometime back and thought I could share it with you guys. “A rich man was passing through a desert towards his destination. It was a new experience for him to travel alone without his luxuries and comforts that he was accustomed to. The hot sun rays were piercing through his skin and the sand was also so hot that it was slowing him down. The hot air ran past his skin and slapped his body. It was getting difficult for him to proceed because his water reserves were already depleted and he was dehydrated completely.

As he struggled further on, inch by inch, his eyes fell on a small hut in the distance. Gathering all his reserve energy, he somehow managed to reach the hut. He saw an old man inside and dropped down at her feet begging for some water. The old man immediately filled a dusty, cracked, mud bowl with water and offered it to him. The man readily drank the water in the bowl and thanked the old man and continued his journey.”

Under usual circumstances, he would never have taken to drinking from the bowl. The most important thing for the man at that moment was the water and not the bowl in which it was given. Life is no different. Every event that happens in life is only a vessel carrying a lesson for us, whether favorable or unfavorable.. The condition of the vessel is not important.

Rather, wisdom lies in taking the lesson it has to offer and leaving the vessel behind, with all gratitude for it having served us. At times, the experience will be something we enjoy, but sometimes, it may be the opposite of what we want. In fact, it can be hurting, cause us pain and even shake us up pretty badly. But ultimately, the utmost purpose of it is to teach us to learn from our mistakes and continue to move on to the next level.

Instead of looking at the vessel causing the change in us, IF we look at the change it has caused in us, we learn faster. Look at it this way. If we learn faster, we progress. If we abstain from it, we will somehow manage to get over THIS particular problem but similar experiences continue to happen to us until we eventually learn from it.

If this is the case with life, then the case is no different for the people surrounding us. Because, invariably in the end, they are also part of the system. Then how is it fair of us to blame them? They are simply playing the role they were assigned to. So, we need to be grateful to them too for having helped us in our learning process.

Holding on to gratitude helps us understand the reason behind every experience and learn from it. Every time we are upset or filled with disdain, we should understand that we not aligned with gratitude because, gratitude and disturbance can never co-exist.

Till the next time,

With love,

Karthik Venkatachalapathi