Even our best race to the end will require the Best’s grace in the end
We all work hard to achieve whatever we need to achieve. Still, sometimes, despite our best efforts, we fall short. At such times, we recognize [...]
Be terrified about how terrible you can be, to never become that terrible
Suppose we read about some people doing terrible things, such as terrorists murdering innocent people. We may feel revolted, “What kind of human being would [...]
To free yourself from the burden of self-consciousness, become conscious of a purpose bigger than the self
Self-consciousness can be a big burden for many people. When they interact with others, especially in public settings, they are choked by their self-consciousness: “I [...]
To keep small things small, keep big things big
Suppose we are driving on a crowded lane and we notice someone driving wildly on an adjacent lane. If we get angry at their irresponsible [...]
Even if your better choices don’t create a better world, they will create a better you
The daily news of destruction, deceit and death can dishearten us: “In this big bad world, I am so tiny; I can’t make any difference.” [...]
Everyone has values, but not everyone’s values reflect real value
Many people lament the lack of values in today’s world: “So many corrupt people sacrifice higher principles for petty pleasures.” Actually however, everyone has values [...]
If we don’t give the devil his due, he will take more than his due
The devil is envisioned in some traditions as a malefic being who tempts us toward wrongdoing and then traps us in distress. But beyond such [...]
Humility frees us from dependence on our own power and grants us access to God’s power
Some people think of humility as weakness, “If I am humble, people will walk all over me.” Such an understanding arises from a misunderstanding of [...]
Determination is distilled desire directed decisively
To achieve anything challenging, we need determination. How can we develop this elusive thing called determination? To understand, let’s divide determination into its components. Essentially, [...]
The capacity to trade the present for the future is the defining human characteristic
All living beings live at the fleeting junction of the past and the future. That junction is the present, which is there at one moment [...]
The mind overvalues things it doesn’t have and undervalues things it does have
Suppose we are selling something to buy something in exchange. If we undervalued what we had and overvalued what we didn’t have, we would end [...]
Our mind is constantly hiding – and is constantly ready to give us a hiding
On our daily path, suppose someone waits hiding for us. Catching us unawares, they bully and beat us. As long as they are hiding, [...]
To be dissatisfied with the material is ordinary, to be so dissatisfied as to look beyond the material is extraordinary
During the course of life, we often feel dissatisfied – with our phone, vehicle, house, salary, looks. Essentially, we feel dissatisfied that some material thing [...]
To be brave, we don’t need to be free from fear, we just need a purpose bigger than fear
Whenever we are called to do something that is difficult and dangerous, we may feel apprehensive and think, “As I am feeling so much fear, [...]
To regulate your eating, listen to your body, not to your mind
Our body is like a car. Both cars and bodies give signals when their fuel tanks or stomachs respectively start becoming empty. We respond to [...]
Find your own story or you will become a bit player in someone else’s story
Suppose we have a significant part in a story being enacted in a mega-theater where multiple plays are going on simultaneously. But suppose someone misleads [...]
If we don’t fix the broken doors to our consciousness, we will be robbed
Suppose our home has a broken door. If we don’t want to be robbed, we need to fix that door asap. Our inner homes often [...]
Stronger than what faces us is what graces us
Life sometimes hurls at us overwhelming obstacles that we feel utterly unequipped to deal with. If we have a materialistic vision of life, we feel [...]
Even if the mind is not shrill, it is still a shill
A shill is someone who enthusiastically pretends to buy something from a shop so as to allure others to also buy. Our mind is sometimes [...]
We are not masters in our own house, but we don’t have to be slaves
Suppose we are living in a house where the doors suddenly creak open and bang shut, and lights randomly turn on and off. Suppose we [...]
Perfectionism is a serial killer in high heels
When we try to improve ourselves, we often desire to become perfect in that area. Such perfectionism or obsession with perfection is a deceptive and [...]