Handling difficulties in life
In life, everyone goes through pleasant and unpleasant times. Just walk ahead with courage. Whenever there is a problem, we either deny it, saying there is no problem, or we sit down to worry about it and make it bigger. Neither helps. A problem doesn’t disappear when you deny it, and it doesn’t get solved by worrying about it.
The first thing is to acknowledge that there is a problem. Then see it as small and solvable. If it concerns people, keep in touch with them rather than avoid them. Talk less and give time a chance. Get together and celebrate. When you put the problem on the back burner for a while, you often find that it gets resolved in time.
When a problem comes, instead of looking at the solution, we often keep looking at how big it can become and imagine the worst outcomes. But every problem that comes in front of you is an opportunity to discover the skill, talent, and ability within you. It is there for you to uncover your true potential.
The second thing is to see life from a broader perspective. Look back at your own life. How much time have you spent worrying? Even though you worried so much, things still happened as they should have. And you realised there was no need to worry.
Looking back at your own life gives you strength. You have overcome many difficulties in the past. This remembrance gives you confidence that you can overcome challenges in the future too. Challenges may come in new forms, but challenges have always been there.
Have confidence in your own ability and in your own fortune. Know that only the best happens to you. Life moves in the direction of the best. On the way, you may find rough roads, but they are taking you towards something better.
If these two things don’t work, there is a third option: invoke the valour in you. Tell yourself, “Come what may, I will handle it. I have the power to overcome this.” Know that you are never given a problem that you cannot handle. When you invoke this energy, this spirit to counter a challenge, fear vanishes.
Trying times bring out the best in you. Rewarding times give you the best of the world. Life is a combination of both.
Life is often caught in storms. In those moments, all your spiritual practices and philosophical ideas may seem to fall apart. But remember something very important: you aren’t alone in those trying hours. No storm can last forever. Waves come, and for no reason, turmoil is created in the mind. The storms rise in you, but they never stay forever. They subside after a while.
When the mind cools down and you experience that inner softness and delicate aspect of yourself, a big relief dawns in you. Peace and love are significant aspects of your true nature.
If the ocean thinks, “I am blue and nice only when there is no storm,” it is under the influence of a wrong idea. Even when the storms are there, deep inside, the ocean is still calm.
Every storm that has come into your life has widened your horizon and deepened your awareness. It has destroyed some smallness inside you. A storm comes into your life, whether you like it or not, and pulls you out of your likes and dislikes, your cravings and aversions.
When there is chaos, and you are surrounded by problems, you need calmness the most. When everything around is peaceful, being peaceful is easy. But when everything is falling apart, remaining peaceful has real value.
Uncertainty can produce fear and anxiety, but it can also bring enthusiasm, joy, and a sense of thrill. When you know you are on a roller-coaster ride, uncertainty itself can become part of the experience. The uncertainty may remain, but your relationship with it changes.
There are four ways to overcome a tough situation. One is to have faith that this tough situation too will pass. Everything changes, and chaotic situations also change. The second is your own experience. Just as you have had the energy, courage, and strength to handle problems in the past, you have them for the future too.
The third is to share and serve others. If you always think about yourself, your problem becomes insurmountable. When you open up and see what is happening in the world, you realise that you aren’t the only one dealing with problems. The fourth is faith in a greater power. What you cannot do by your efforts, you can do by your prayers. You aren’t alone in your trials and tribulations. There is a higher power with you. Have faith in that.
Wisdom from past experiences, spiritual practices, valour, and faith help you sail through the rough patches of life. Problems and challenges are there in everyone’s Life. Wisdom and Devotion give us the strength to overcome these easily. During hard times, take special care of your overall well-being. Keep the body active. Go for walks; practise Pranayamas, Sudarshan Kriya and meditation. These practices give you enormous prana, or life energy, and strengthen the mind and body, helping you overcome difficult situations. And don’t skip prayer-genuine, heartfelt prayer.
There will always be some flaw in worldly activities. Don’t overthink or try to find perfection in them. When we go deeper on the spiritual path and in meditation, we learn to rise above the challenges.
Having this, you can move ahead in life with confidence. That is why it is said in Sanskrit: “Charaiveti! Charaiveti! Charaiveti!”-Keep moving. Keep moving. Keep moving!
In 2016, we organised the World Culture Festival on the banks of the Yamuna. Why did we choose the Yamuna? In 2010, through the ‘Meri Dilli Meri Yamuna’ campaign, thousands of our volunteers had come together to clean Delhi. We removed nearly 700 tonnes of waste-jerkins, slippers and all kinds of rubbish-from the Yamuna. Seeing the state of the river, I thought that if people from all over the world came to its banks for the World Culture Festival, perhaps the attention of the authorities would turn towards cleaning and restoring it.
We obtained the required permissions from all the concerned authorities. And then we created something extraordinary: a seven-acre floating stage, with 36,602 artists and people from 155 countries. Hundreds of dignitaries, heads of state, and 2,500 religious and spiritual leaders came from across the world. Representatives of the Pope, Dharmacharyas, the Grand Mufti of Syria, leaders from Egypt, the US, Cuba, Russia, Ukraine, ministers, Buddhist monks from the Far East-people from different faiths, cultures and nations came together on one platform. Around 3.7 million people attended the three-day celebration.
We took utmost care of the environment. The stage was constructed using metal sheets and pillars, without digging into the ground. When we dismantled it, there was grass still growing beneath the plates. Yet, even before the event began, allegations were made that we had damaged the Yamuna floodplains. The National Green Tribunal ordered us to deposit Rs 5 crore as environmental compensation, even though the event had not yet begun. There were only two days left and international dignitaries from across the world were arriving. I did not want to pay for something we had not done. I said I was ready to go to jail, but I would stand for the truth. Eventually, with the programme at stake, our people requested that we comply with the order, and we deposited the amount while continuing to contest the allegations.
The matter continued for years. There was a media trial, and the allegation that the World Culture Festival had damaged the Yamuna was repeated again and again. But we did not lose heart. We stood by the truth with patience.
Today, after 10 years, the Supreme Court has upheld the truth. It has vindicated our stand. It set aside the NGT judgment and all consequential and interim actions against us, and directed that the `5 crore deposited in compliance with the NGT order be refunded. More importantly, the Court found that the material on record did not establish the necessary causal link between the event and the alleged environmental degradation.
This was a reminder of what I had shared in 2017. Truth will always Triumph; however, before that, lies will have their dance.