Mirror today 1.

 

What Would the Ancients Tell Us Today?

1. Why Am I So Stressed?

We live in a world that has given us extraordinary comforts.

We can communicate instantly, travel quickly, access almost unlimited information and solve problems that would have taken our ancestors months.

And yet, somehow, we are often more anxious than ever.

We worry about the future.
We replay the past.
We compare ourselves with others.
We want success—and fear failure.
We try to control things that were never really in our control.

Perhaps this is why a teaching given thousands of years ago still speaks so directly to us.

The Bhagavad Gita has an answer

On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna is overwhelmed.

He is not physically incapable of fighting. He is mentally unable to decide what he should do.

His mind is pulled in different directions—duty, fear, attachment, consequences and uncertainty.

Krishna does not promise him that everything will turn out exactly as he wishes.

Instead, He teaches him something far more useful:

Do what is yours to do. Do not allow the result to possess your mind.

This is the essence of Karma Yoga.

We often misunderstand the famous teaching:

“Karmanye vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana.”

You have a right to action, but not to the fruits of action.

It does not mean that we should stop caring about results.

It means that we should not allow our peace of mind to depend entirely upon them.

Think about our lives today

A student can prepare sincerely for an examination—but cannot completely control the result.

A businessperson can work honestly and intelligently—but cannot control the market.

A parent can give the best guidance to a child—but cannot control every decision the child will make.

We can take care of our health—but cannot control everything that happens to our body.

We can be kind to someone—but cannot control how they respond to us.

The ancient lesson is simple:

Give your best to what is in your hands. Release your obsession with what is not.

Why do we become stressed?

Often, it is not the task itself.

It is the mental burden we add to it.

What if I fail?
What will people think?
What if something goes wrong?
What if I lose what I have?
What will happen tomorrow?

The present task may be manageable.

It is our attempt to live tomorrow, next month and next year—all at once—that exhausts us.

The Gita asks us to return to dharma—the duty before us now.

Do that duty well.

Do it with sincerity.

Do it without constantly calculating the reward.

There is another beautiful teaching

Krishna tells Arjuna to remain steady in success and failure:

“Samatvam yoga uchyate.”

Equanimity is called Yoga.

This does not mean becoming indifferent.

It means learning not to be thrown completely off balance by life's changing circumstances.

Success comes—remain steady.

Failure comes—remain steady.

Praise comes—remain steady.

Criticism comes—remain steady.

Gain comes—remain steady.

Loss comes—remain steady.

That is an extraordinary form of inner freedom.

What would Krishna tell us today?

Perhaps this:

Do not spend today's energy fighting tomorrow's battles.

Do what is yours to do.

Do it as well as you can.

Accept that some things will remain beyond your control.

And when the result arrives, meet it with the same inner balance with which you began.

The world may not become less uncertain.

But we can become less disturbed by its uncertainty.

A thought to carry today

I will give my best to what is in my hands—and give the rest to God.