Every one of us, poor or rich, frail or strong, disabled or fully able, ill or healthy, has the atomic shakti - the inner strength, which, when awakened, can help us face every obstacle, meet every challenge and overcome every difficulty. Successful men and women have used this inner strength and achieved great heights
The highway of life hardly gives anyone a smooth ride, although we are all apt to imagine that others have it easy. If truth were to be told, the journey of life is beset by obstacles, difficulties and challenges. There is none here who can say his life has been a joy ride, without bumps, without ups and downs.
Difficulties and misfortunes too, come with a purpose. For whatever happens, there is a reason! There is a hidden meaning, a meaning of mercy in all that happens to us. All incidents, events and accidents happen according to a divinely ordained plan. If we make mistakes and are forced to pay a heavy price for them, this too has a learning purpose. Problems and challenges are thrown our way by the Divine Power to test our inner strength; to help us grow in spirit, and discover the true meaning of life.
Perhaps we are not aware, that within every one of us there is a source of spiritual strength, which, when tapped, can move mountains. Every one of us, poor or rich, frail or strong, disabled or fully able, ill or healthy, has the atomic shakti, the inner strength which when awakened can help us face every obstacle, meet every challenge and overcome every difficulty.
Successful men and women have used this inner strength and achieved great heights.
Consider the well-known and well-loved story of Helen Keller. For her and her parents, her disabilities must have been unbearable burdens, severe handicaps, as they used to be called in those days! But Helen Keller discovered her purpose in life with great struggle and perseverance, with the help and support of her parents and teachers. At the age of 24, she graduated from Radcliffe, becoming the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. She went on to become a world-famous speaker and author. She is remembered today as an advocate for people with disabilities, amid numerous other causes including women's rights, anti-war protests and socialism. In 1915, she co-founded the Helen Keller International organisation. In 1920, she helped to establish the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In every way possible, she made her life productive, focused and deeply useful to others. Her life gives all of us this vital message: "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched; they must be felt with the heart".
Yes, life may be for some of us, a heavy burden that is difficult to bear; life can be a rough ride, hurting at every turn of events; life can be a load of misery and we can crumble under its weight easily. But equally, life has a balancing force, a built-in-support, that we must make use of. This is what I have described as your inner strength, spiritual shakti, which you can tap from within to break the negative barriers and open up the vast vistas, the new horizon of opportunities that life has to offer you.
At times, the miseries of life may overwhelm us! The famous inspirational writer, Norman Vincent Peale, tells us about a friend of his who came to him utterly defeated and depressed in life. "I've had enough of New York, Norman," he said to the writer. "I'm fed up and my will to fight has dwindled. I only want one favour from you. Please tell me a place where there are no problems to solve, no obstacles to overcome, no difficulties to be faced. I would like to go there and settle down for life. Do you know of any such place?" Mr Peale replied, "As a matter of fact, I do know of one such place." "Please, tell me where it is," said the friend. "I want to go there." "The graveyard, just round the corner," came the quick reply. "I know several people who have gone to dwell there permanently, and none of them has had any complaints so far." How many volunteers do you think will offer to go to this tension-free location?
We are sure to find several challenges in life - physical, emotional and spiritual. They will always be there in the battlefield. We have to fight the battle; with faith in God
When we are in the business of actually living life, we are sure to find that it poses several challenges, physical, emotional and spiritual. Challenges are bound up with life. They will always be there in the battlefield that is life. We have to fight the battle; with faith in God. Struggle is the true manifestation of life. A life without struggle would be like the dead. Such a life is only worth writing in an obituary in the newspaper.
In my opinion, struggles are not at all bad for us. Every struggle helps us to grow in the strength of the spirit and to rise above the superficialities of material life. I will even go so far as to say that struggles strengthen our moral muscles and open the door to spiritual life for us.
By Dada JP Vaswani
