Vedantic Wednesday: Take up One Idea
Today is the 1st of another calendar year – 2014. Every person is thinking of what the New Year resolutions should be! Many are drawing their new list of goals for the coming year! While this is not in itself a new exercise, even the way we do it doesn’t seem to have changed too much. Surprised? Ask yourself how you went about the same exercise last year? Did you set goals? Did you make resolutions? And also ask yourself if you stuck to them? If yes, go ahead and continue. But if you feel the approach has not worked for you, then try this new approach.
“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life.” – this was Swami Vivekananda’s advice to live life. If you look at the many successful people in the world, this seems true. But why is it that the vast majority are not able to implement it? The answer seems to be in the way we organize our lives around our top priority. Even before that is to fix that priority. It is important to find that one idea that is essential for us. This is where many of us falter – we don’t take the effort to find that most important thing for ourselves. Once this has been identified the second point of error is that we don’t take the effort to organize all other activities around that singular goal or priority. If we reach a point where compromise is needed, then it has to be other aspects of life, not the singular priority. If we have not structured everything in their right places around the top goal, when decision points arise, we get confused and often tilt towards the side that provides the short term benefit. This leads us over time to compromise on our top priority – eventually making it look like it was not what we wanted at all in life. The side effect of this problem is that over time the top priority keeps shifting and this gives rise to dissatisfaction and envy.
To avoid so many problems in life, let us take the time needed to find our top activity or goal or priority in life. Once you believe that is the right thing, let us protect it with all our life. Let us give up everything else that comes along the way to live the cause of our life.
Think about this on this New Year Day and enjoy the benefit of clear thinking. Finding one idea for your life brings focus, energy and achievement. It fills our life with activities that energize us and inspires us to do more. Let us hope to live a full, happy and peaceful life.
Season’s Greetings and New Year Wishes 2014!
