The Three Ingredients

I offer my gratitude and obeisances to my Swami, with whose grace and love alone I write every single post. You know! Yes, You do:)
 

If I said that I did seek approval from others, would you believe me? And if I added that I would sit with my friends or on my own and  constantly dwell in my own misery for hours, how does that sound? Funny?:)

I had all these ideas about how life should be and what others should do for me; endless expectations and endless blaming games. I certainly was so stuck in my own mind. Despite having all of Swami’s wisdom at hand and the intellect to put it to good use, I felt stuck. Month after month, I wondered why my life wasn’t changing and how much longer I had to wait before ‘I get there’. Whether that was social acceptance, relationships, confidence, recognition, praise, I kept waiting. Except, as they say, if you keep doing the same thing over and over again, you will keep getting the same results. 

For the longest time, I didn’t think that there was a way out. I even tried outsourcing; leaving it to God or to time. These are just ways of giving up and this attitude is a clear message to the universe that transformation doesn’t matter to us. It’s more common than we realise, but unfortunately outsourcing never leads to any transformative change.

Have you also tried transforming? Did you start but eventually got stuck in the same sticky gum? I hear ya! Read on!

When I took my life in my own hands, only then was my transformation set into motion. Upon some contemplation I realised that transformation happens in three steps. And I firmly believe that if I did it, you can too.

So, let me share the three ingredients which contributed towards it:

1. Divine Grace.  

The first step is undoubtedly Divine Grace. However, before anyone outsources, please know that it’s not a far-fetched concept at all. 
If you are reading this post here on os.me, you already have Divine Grace in your life. His Divine blessings led us here, no questions asked. Grace can also take many forms, e.g. Being found by Swami, recognising Your Self or your Deity or even being soaked in devotion, etc. 

Reading any post on os.me, we know that we already have divine grace and we can tick this ingredient off the list! Our efforts and our desire to transform are first and foremost seen by our own Self. So, the blessings for our transformation come from our own Self, after IT witnesses our burning desire to transform. And here we are, on the blessed platform lovingly opened to us all by our Swami:) 

2. The tools.

Subsequently, after our pure and honest intention to transform has seen light, the Universe then manifests the right circumstances in our life. It so happened in my case.

Once I was opened and determined to change, I was ready to do anything for the next step towards a blissful me. By your guru’s grace (Our Self), you meet a co-traveller. This person has been in your shoes with similar challenges. They cross your path and are willing to guide you, in fact they owe it to the universe to guide you towards bliss. But we don’t see this more often, because most of the time, many of us back off as soon as we find out that it can be challenging. This person guides us truthfully.  When you do get there though, this guide becomes a close friend. As Swami said in Give a damn about something! we need to find a mentor or at least hang out with the right people. (His words are gold:))

This person is a bit like your teeth, they help you chew the food which your guru/mentor lovingly fed you. The food is super tasty but sometimes we are way too lazy to chew, ya know?:) So, bottom line is that this person provides us with the tools and holds our hands to put His guidance in practice.

3. Relentless practice and commitment.

You see, most of the time the first two present themselves in our lives. But out of let’s say 200 people, only a small percentage do transform. Why? Because no transformation can happen without the third step. The tools may be given to us, Divine Grace is definitely here, and in fact, we even learn how to be more open to Divine Grace, yet without relentless practice we will remain the same.

I remember how I persisted day in day out with immense commitment. But here’s a trick for you, even when things went well, I didn’t give up the practice, because a few days later a bad phase was bound to come. The secret is to persist in good and bad times, only then can we rise with life!

In fact transforming and being free meant so much to me that it’s one of the rare things I worked hard at. I dedicated myself to my transformation and as I applied it all, I trusted the tools, Swami’s guidance, and Divine Grace. Because I knew that change is inevitable if I persist.

All three of the above-mentioned were essential to my transformation.

We need all three ingredients for a nice successful meal. I am now enjoying every minute of life. And what’s the best thing about transformation? I can make people suffer with my jokes!!! Just kidding!:) I cruise through life, livin’ it up. Well, now you know my secret! 

Photo credits

Note: Deep gratitude to Anew, without whose contribution and fun input was  crucial for this post!:)