Once upon a time, there was a little girl. Let us call her “She”.
She was born in a middle-class family. She went to a school and she was privileged to be educated. She’s mind never rested. She had dreams. She was so inward focused that people around her called her “names”. There were a lot of perceptions around She. She simply looked at them and found them untrue.
All the outside talk, only made She more and more resolute.
One day, She told herself quietly, ” I am going to fly. I am not going to be bound in this society”. At an early age, She had a goal. And much to the surprise of She herself, her goal was to have a loving family. She could visualise how she would be as a mother on the numerous bus rides to her school. She was not on the moon – but in her future, in her dreams.
She grew up, met a kind young man, got married and had children. Now, She had a family.
Soon, She started to screw up.
Unknowingly, She hurt others with her words. No matter, how much she persisted and worked, She found herself short of her own expectations. She was lost.
And as the universe would have it, She fell apart with one experience.
And then, her story started taking a complete U-turn.
She found God. And in God, She found a “purpose” in her life.
She started living the experiences with a renewed understanding of being a human.
Here are the 5 things She understood.
1. Imperfection – it is our “imperfections” which make us perfect human beings. Once you give yourself the leash to be imperfect, you become compassionate towards others’ imperfections.
Loving others with their imperfections is the litmus test of your love.
2. Words – are powerful. Words can break and make things. Words have the power to encourage and discourage others. Words have the power to heal and destroy.
It is better to be silent than utter unkind words.
It is better to be kind than to be right.
3. The illusion of the mind – our reality is based on the state of our minds. The mind has no definition and structure. But it has the power to guide our actions and enslave us with the snare of the afflictions. In almost all times, we are slaves to our minds.
Cleaning the mind is as important as cleaning the physical body.
4. Power of knowledge – is often misunderstood. Knowledge is about uncovering and understanding the nature of the things as they are.
All things exist in nature, but only with light, we can see them.
At night, the things do not disappear. But we cannot see them because there is no light to illuminate them.
Similarly, with the light of knowledge, we can understand things better. If knowledge clouds our sights with arrogance and other afflictions, a part of the light will not meet the eyes of our minds. That would leave us with an incomplete knowledge.
5. Forgiveness – is a virtue.
“We live forgiven, we forgive so that we can live”.
This is the hardest thing to practise. Forgiveness allows oneself to leave the baggage and move on. Most often, we live in the present recounting the past and living with the wrongdoings against us. We take therapy and allow someone else to have a look inside our minds with a partial personal account. If only, we can accept the imperfect experience, take our share of the mishappening, and forgive, can we live in our present?
You see,
“past is a place of reference and not a place of residence” ( not my quote).
This is the list of the 5 things She found helpful to find her purpose.
She is still discovering and one thing she knows now.
To live the fullest potential of a human is not an easy feat.
She is not looking to find a purpose and announce it to the world.
She just wants to be human and does her best to fulfil her potential, in mind, body and spirit.
She knows, once in a while, she will screw up and that is Ok.
She also knows, she is not alone. She is working along with the universe, in the presence of God.
Try out the first 5. This might get you to closer to your purpose.
Stay blessed, keep exploring and be happy in your journey. May you be blessed.
Signing off with gratitude and love