Everything for Good

A King went to the forest for hunting with his troops. On the way, the chariot overturned and the king fell down, breaking his arm. Everyone lamented the ill fate. But the scholarly minister said, “there is no need to be sad, everything happens for good.”

Enraged at this unsympathetic comment, the king cut off the minister’s forefinger and asked how it felt. Wincing in pain, the minister replied, “I stand by what I said. This is also for good.”

A few hours later, the troops were captured by tribes. They decided to sacrifice the troops for pleasing their deity. They found the king’s arm broken and the minister without a finger and decided they are not fit for sacrifice.

They killed everyone else but let the king and his minister go.

We are mostly pessimistic like the king in the story. When faced with adversity, we tend to lament our ill fate and try hard to avoid it. But once we are able to see the big picture, we will appreciate everything that happens to us.

Being Positive

Life is an ongoing process of happenings. We categorize them into positive and negative, unmindful of the truth that we cannot wishfully control them. This division creates stress and conflict within us.

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”
― Confucious

Life is like a game. It becomes boring and repetitive if we win always. The difficulty of it makes it worth playing.

Moreover, the failures and loses make life entertaining and mysterious. Once we indulge in it with a sportsman’s spirit, living becomes engaging. So all we have to do is regulate our response to the situations as positively as possible.

Perceiving the Big picture

The inability to see the big picture is indeed unsettling. It makes us unsure of our decisions and hence we stumble on different roadblocks. But the optimism that life brings in everything for ultimate good is very reassuring.

Our experiences are like the shades in a painting. The sorrow and happiness mix together like dark and light shades in the painting which ultimately make the art aesthetically appealing.

In order to bear through the hard and easy times, a detached mindset should be cultivated.

The Sun which looks blood red at rise

appears the same at set.

Great minds bear through pain and pleasure

with the same mind likewise

(old Sanskrit saying)

Sailing the rough sea

Like a boat which moves in the direction not with the blowing winds but according to how the sails are set, our lives are influenced not by the happenings but by our attitude towards it.

What counts is our mentality towards adversity. An optimist can turn adverse situations to his advantage. For him, failures are learning opportunities and losses are great lessons.

Like a Captain of the ship who waits through the storm and hopes for calm the next day, we should be perseverant enough to wait for the darkness to pass.

The Mystery of Life

Every day we face many unexpected situations. Some of them happy, some others sad.  But all of them are significant as they ultimately help us to grow.

Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.

John Lennon

Cultivating faith in the causality of the universe is necessary. As we are but a figment of the universe, its flow towards ultimate goodness will help us too. Only with time can we surely know the importance of everything that happens to us

If we can see life as a whole and understand that everything contributes to ultimate good, as the scholarly minister in the story, we will always see light at the end of the tunnel and will be satisfied and happy with our lives.

Thank you for reading. Please post your valuable opinions in the comment box below.