Spark 13
ARE YOU EXTRAORDINARY?
If we think we are extraordinary, we are not. If we are sad we are not extraordinary, that may make matters worse for us. If we are jealous of somebody, who we imagine is extraordinary, we are again in trouble. If we want to become extraordinary, such a goal is sure to bring us disappointment.
The major milestone comes up when we do not anymore make this an issue, and forgetting all such personal goals – of becoming this or that – we engage lovingly in our chosen field of activity. “Engaged in one’s own work, man attains excellence,” says Lord Sri Krishna1.
First it looks like a Catch 22. Unless we become something, we are not happy. Unless we are anchored in happiness, we underperform! How do we break this puzzle?
The good news is that all of us do have the special skill of paying full attention to the job on hand, to such an extent that we forget the self. We must train ourselves in doing this, after having taken care to choose the right field of action. What we choose to do – in the next one hour or in the next five years – should not be out of some fancy or personal ambition. This choice should be the outcome of some noble thinking, marked by neither impossible ideology nor utter underestimation of our own abilities. “What is that, by doing which I can on one hand bring happiness to others and, on the other, gain true satisfaction of having done something I really love?” – This can be the question that helps us decide the course of our action in life.
“Small victories lead to big victories,” says Eknath Easwaran2. When we take up some piece of work, our mind may start complaining in many ways. “Oh, this is boring; why did they give this work to me? I have other things to do! Let me enjoy some coffee first and then get down to this job. Let me start this tomorrow.” A friend of mine was so distracted by his own thoughts that he could not do 30 minutes of yoga in the morning without self-interruptions. He would do two surya-namaskars (sun-salutations) and check Whatsapp messages; do another two and take a look at the headlines in the newspaper, and so on. He slowly trained himself to stay put with one activity at a time. He could now perform well, better than before, in everything that he took up.
We emerge extraordinary when our obsession with ourselves ends. The best in us comes out when the burden of self-importance leaves us.
Swami Chidananda
July 19, 2015
Notes:
1 sve sve karmani abhiratah samsiddhim labhate narah – Geeta 18.45
2 See easwaran.org for getting to know his works.