An Unforgettable Year And The Way Ahead.

An Unforgettable Year And The Way Ahead

Learnings From 2021

Part-2.

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Previously, we discussed three lessons from 2021 which we should always remember. Here is Part-1 for you if you haven’t read it already. 

A Short Recap

Life is unpredictable and uncertain. And life is very short. We should try to live in peace and with love. We really don’t have time to waste our precious life fighting and hurting each other. As Swamiji says—Live, Love, Laugh and Give. That’s all really.

The second lesson is to always know the difference between life and lifestyle. Lifestyle is just the arrangements to make our lives more comfortable and convenient. Life is something else. Know what is important and what is not. To know life, go to the core, don’t live on the surface. 

And the third lesson that we learnt from this year is that small things and practices hold much significance. Personal hygiene, keeping the immunity strong and doing regular yoga, exercises, pranayama and meditation are all very important practices to inculcate in our lives. 

Now, let’s continue our discussion further. 

Personally I felt, spirituality is a great antidote to all the sufferings and uncertainties in life. People who lead a spiritual life were much more steady and resilient, even in these unprecedented times. Spirituality personally helped me to remain calm and out of anxiety. In uncertain times, it becomes more important to have a right perspective about everything, not to be influenced by any situation. And spirituality gives us this strength. It anchors us firmly. And only spiritually strong souls can even think of helping others in these difficult times. Others only become concerned about themselves. Difficult times test us. In these times, who we actually are gets revealed. we get to know what we are made of. We get a reality check. And it’s necessary. 

Among all these death and disruption, suffering and despair, there was still hope! Hope is always there. Didn’t we see how many positive stories of hope emerged even in these dark times? Many came out to help others, not thinking about their own lives. Doctors, nurses, sanitary workers, police force, delivery boys, scientists and army force, and factory workers engaged in manufacturing medical equipment—they all were our hope-bearers. They kept the flame of hope burning all the while. Many took the initiative to reach out to poor and needy people and provided them with food items. I myself was a part of a friends’ group that did this volunteering work. We went to different localities, identified needy households, procured food items, packed them and supplied to as many people as possible. People were doing amazing things. So many positive stories gushed forth. So, hope is always there. Everyone may not be fortunate enough to receive timely support. That is a sad reality. But, so many received it. And that’s what we can always hope for. 

Last Words

There were deaths. There were financial losses and disruption of livelihood. There was widespread suffering. All things considered, we should not bang our heads and whine. It’s life! Life is like this! Life is impermanent! This is the reality of life. So, what is there to complain about? We should have this wisdom that all these are natural ebb and flow of life. We only suffer reality because we choose to ignore reality. We live in our worlds of illusions. If we are in touch with reality, we’d not suffer. It’s as simple as that. Why can’t we accept reality as it is? This is something we should really look into. 

Don’t live an illusory life. Life has no inherent quality to it. How we experience life is how life appears to us. And how we experience life depends on what level of reality we’re situated into. If we always live on the surface, all these are great things to us. But if we live in the core, we see all these like small and big waves. So, go to the core of life. And with this I end this post. 

Have a great life! 

And once again, Merry Christmas to all of you! 

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Thank you.

Image Credit: Times of India.