Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Stress Management Story

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

This story has been on my mind for a long time now:
A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised aglass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it."

"If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but thelonger I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. As with the glass ofwater, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden."

"So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can. Relax; pick them uplater after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy it!"

I think I'm finally ready to let go of you, not because I want to, but because I have to. After bearing the burden for the last few months, I've become very weak and tired and I can't do it no more. I'm very sorry.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

3 comments:

Mr Singh said...

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh,

Thanks Veerji. Guru Ji is so amazing. He's the only one who will always be there, no matter what. He will never be late, he will never ignore us, he will never abandon us, he will always stand by us, and most importantly come what may, he will always love us.

Sadly the same can't be applied to people. And its attachment to people which I think is my biggest problem. But I don't think its only me who has this problem. I think a lot of people around the world suffer from this. More often than not our trust in a person exceeds the trust we place in Waheguru. Its sad, but true. And alot of people would deny this. But look at everyday life.

As children we go to school, and we learn about all sort of amazing things waheguru has created. The teacher gives us a brief lecture and we take that as the 'truth'. We never question it and our belief in what they said never wavers. We just accept it because 'our teacher said it'.

Now our beloved guru ji has told us many things, such as the beautiful shahbad by Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji that you posted. But still, despite the king of the world, the saint of all saints telling us this, we still don’t believe it. We question him every chance we get. Always asking why, always trying to understand…always questioning his sweet hukam.

In relationships, two entities exist; ‘I’ and ‘Him/Her’. However the relationship with Guru Ji is completely different. When 'I' exists, 'He' cannot, and when 'He' exists 'I' cannot. This relationship can only be built on love; it can be built on nothing else. But before this relationship progresses we need to understand that there is no 'I' in it, its all him. Its just Him. That’s all. I don’t exist, its just sweet Waheguru. To love Satguru Ji, we need to die while living, we need to kill ourselves, we need to kill our wants, we need to kill our attachment to the world, so it’s just him. We need to live for him, and not for us.

The comment at the end of the story was just me being me. I really hope guru Ji blesses me and the world with the ability to let go and accept all that comes our way as blessings from that most amazing Guru Sahib.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Mr Singh said...

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Another thing Veerji, Im sorry, I won't be able to play squash for a while as I'm not very well at the moment. But I will be back soon I hope. Thanks Veerji, hope guru ji keeps you and the whole world in Chardeekala.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Otpreka Singh said...

Waheguru, I hope you feel better soon veer