Attracting Abundance

The Law

Two Doors to Success

Happiness - III

"Be the small rivulet" is what my mentor had taught. Every river starts its journey as a small rivulet. It knows that it has to travel a long distance to reach the sea. It does have the strength to push aside even small boulders and fallen tree trunks in its path. So it skirts the obstacle and moves on. As it flows, more such rivulets join it and it gains strength. Soon a stage comes when it becomes  much stronger and pushes away the obstacles in its path by its force. Gradually it becomes more strong as smaller rivers join it. It gains so much strength that nothing can stand in its way and prevent it from reaching its goal - the sea.

So you may be. When you start your journey, you may not e strong enough. But do not stand in one place. Flow like the river. Keep yourself focused on your goal. Step around the obstacles. learn from you journey. Gain skill. Gain knowledge. You will be stronger. Gradually you will be strong enough to push your obstacles away. 

"Be the small rivulet" my mentor had said.

Raymond Holliwell in his book 'Working with the Law" says that the faculties possessed by all great and successful men are the same faculties that you possess.The difference between the great men and others is the process of pursuing success. And that brings me to the conclusion that success does not happen by luck. Success is driven by process.

How do you define success? If you poll one thousand persons, you will get one thousand ways in which success is defined. For one it could be owning property, for another it could be tons of money in the bank to his name, for a third it could be winning a gold medal in the Olympics, and so on and so forth. True success, quoting Raymond Holliwell is "on results obtained, harvest reaped and distributed so that our fellow beings at large are benefited and the world enriched. For it is good to remember that true success does not lie in the accomplishment, but in the motive behind the accomplishment". For most of us this definition sounds to be too holistic, but that does not make it wishful thinking. Let us narrow down the definition to a very simple one and define success as achieving what one had set out to achieve. 

Success gained by moral depravity, cowardice, by changing principles and standards as the wind changes, by being insensitive to others' needs may give you a false impression that you are successful. Such a success may even be true for a short while, but will not last a lifetime. For a successful journey to success, your heart must be clear.

A question that is often asked is can riches and principles go hand in hand. Remember that riches made on principles can only sustain and grow. Riches gained by other means are fickle and temporary. We are also advised that living on principles alone does not beget success. The character of one's psyche is another critical factor for success. Fear - of failures, of protesting against injustice, of raised voices, of reaching out to the unknown etc.- is the most damaging emotion which can undo all good. Without exception, fear always trips you. It retards the thinking process, clouds vision and allows opportunities to pass by. It makes us retract our step from the final leap that was necessary for success. 

I am reminded of a story narrated by one of my mentors. 

Three friends were strolling down a village path. They came to the river bank. They decided to swim across the wide river to the other bank, where there was a mango grove with trees laden with ripe, sweet mangoes. All of them undressed to heir shorts came near the water line. That is when doubt crept into the mind of one person. He started doubted his ability to swim across the wide river. He did not jump into the water. The other two friend jumped into the water and began swimming in right earnest. When one friend reached the other bank, he turned around to see the progress of his friend who was swimming with him. To his surprise he found that his friend was standing on the bank from where they had started swimming with the third friend who had not joined the adventure at all. This friend ate a bellyful of mangoes and carried a few for his other two friends. He could not carry much because he did not have anything to carry the mangoes ans swim at the same time. He swam back to the original bank and met the second friend who had quit half way. On enquiring, as to why he had quit half way, the second friend replied that he had become apprehensive about his ability to swim over to the other shore and had decided to swim back. Instead of swimming half way more to the goal, the other bank of the river, he retracted and swam back to where he was. 

Success is a gradual process. It requires practice. It requires gradual raising of the bar. It requires the willingness and perseverance to succeed. And the common denominator is that it requires a positive state of mind which activates the "I can" switch in your mind. The ruling state of the mind determines whether you are willing to do all that are necessary to be done to reach your goal. That positive  state of mind makes your work light, keeps you focused on your goal, makes you give another try, picks you up when you are down and makes your vision wide and clear to spot opportunities. That positive state of mind can be defined by one single word - happiness. 


Namaste


See you again


Prabir