This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they are a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice. meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes. because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.
~ The Guesthouse, By Rumi ~
I thought this poem by Rumi was rather profound. It is also something that we are increasingly hearing around us with the topic of mental health slowly peering its head from behind the veil.
Thoughts are thoughts. Try not to classify them as good, bad or ugly. They come to you for a reason. They don’t necessarily require a label.
Do not shy away from them. Face them ! Ponder over them and understand them for your own betterment.
Nothing in this universe is a coincidence. If you look deep enough and delve into the nooks and crannies of your mind, you will find meaning in everything around you. The universe has the ability to speak with us in innumerable ways. Be it in the form of people, situations or our own thoughts and feelings. Nothing is without purpose.
Your thoughts are capable of carving a pathway for you to achieve your life vision and soul purpose. All you need to know is how to use it to your advantage.
The learning curve in itself has a lot to give you if you choose to invest in the journey and not the outcome.
Even if you fail, at a later juncture, you at the very least will not start from scratch but a plethora of experience.
It is human to have all sorts of thoughts trying to take root in your mind. Don’t run away from them. But you must try to comprehend and acknowledge why did that thought come to you and then channelise it in the best way possible.
Lets take a small example, you walk into a friends house for a house warming party and feel this sudden pang of jealousy. Your glazed eyes are finding it difficult to fathom the expanse of the house. The twitch of envy is making you wonder what he/she really did to deserve this luxury.
One part of your mind will tell you, what is wrong with you ? You should feel happy for your friend. Aren’t you being shallow ! But if you choose to assess that feeling of jealousy, you would evidently realise that the jealousy is not for or against the friend, it is rooted in your own desire to own a house like that. If you so choose, you can direct that jealousy in a constructive manner and work towards your own dream.
So you see, the thought of jealousy isn’t bad. We are conditioned to label it that way. A thought is just a thought. Use it to master your own dreams.
House your thoughts, emotions and process them. Understand where they take root from. Why do you feel a certain way. Symptomatic treatment or superficial escape can never be the cure.
You need to welcome each thought like an opportunity in your life. Each feeling that makes you envious, or curdles your blood, causes a pinch of guilt or makes you gush with joy has a purpose and lesson.
Will it matter 10 years later ?
After you successfully overpower your envious streak by purchasing a house akin to your friends, what then !!
Most of us live our lives on this fantasy land called - “if then”.
On this land, the world is as dreamy as you would like to make it out to be. It is a world that you see with rose tinted glasses. The only hiccup is that nothing is real. Poof! It is a world where happiness is always contingent on your dream coming true.
The problem of this make believe land is that it takes the horizon of happiness further away from us. We need to embrace the “NOW”. That is all there is.
Purchase that house. But don’t wait until that purchase to feel happy. Enjoy the process in life that got you to that point.
Happiness is your birthright. It is your choice to grab it or let it dissipate into an unknown horizon so distant from you that it becomes inaccessible or even unreal.
Trust me, when you buy that house, you will most likely already have another wish list waiting on your desk with your mind churning out ways and means of achieving it.
Do not make that mistake.
Happiness is not typically controlled by external circumstances. Studies have shown that external events only count for a 10% contribution to our happiness quotient.
For the rest, we are all a part of the hedonic treadmill. This basically means each person has a happiness set point, which refers to one’s genetically determined predisposition for happiness. The theory of the hedonic treadmill states that regardless of what happens to people, their levels of happiness will eventually return to their baselines. Take this theory with a classic example: say you get married, move into a new house, get a promotion, lose a job, suffer an accident, etc., over time, you’re likely to return to your set point of happiness.
So why wait for these self made milestones to be achieved to feel happy. They will come along. It is just a feeling. You can feel what you want to feel, when you want to feel it. No one is levying taxes on how you feel.
No life is perfect, no journey is devoid of obstacles. What may seem like a yearning desire today, may not even count in the scheme of things 10 years from now. Life has a funny way of steering its course in a way that is best suited for us. We just don’t know it sometimes.
I am also cognisant of the fact that one can’t feel elated all the time, it isn’t humanly possible. But as long as the idea embeds itself in your mind that you are the only one that can steer and interpret your thoughts for your own advancement. You would have won the hardest battle of them all. Rest will just fall in line.
Have faith in your own abilities. Though a dash of patience wouldn’t hurt anyone.
Keep Going.
You will find your destination and your destination will find you. It is a simultaneous journey. The universe is conspiring to help you in every way that it can. It is benevolent and has a generous heart.
Let me tell you it works very hard to send you its messages with all possible means and modes. Try to notice it and you will find out for yourselves.