Reflection - 45

Let us be here in the presence of our lord with a thankful mind for he had allowed us to see this new morning and experience the presence of our lord in and around us, in the breeze that flows nearby, in the air that we breathe in and in the light sounds occurs around us…

In Acts of the apostles we read When peter and john were passing through the gate the lame man asked for alms but they had nothing with them so peter turned to him and said “I have no silver and gold, but what I have I give you; in the name Jesus Christ of Nazareth stand up and walk” immediately he was healed and he left the place praising the Lord.  Dear friends the name of Jesus is powerful and able to do innumerable miracles because Jesus himself says “if in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.” 

“Life at any time can become difficult: life at any time can become easy. It is all depends upon how one adjusts oneself to life.”

Adjustment- one of the inevitable parts of life. In psychology, adjustment refers to the behavioral process of balancing conflicting needs, or needs against obstacles in the environment. In day to day life we come across with many adjustments these adjustments happen knowingly or unknowingly. Adjustment could be considered as the one of the best decisions that one ever make in his life. Let me narrate a story Malik Dinar, a Sufi saint had his neighbor a Jew, who wish to annoy the saint constantly. So he constructed his toilet just outside the entrance to Malik dinars house and kept the toilet deliberately unclean for days together. But the saint did not feel irritated or upset. When he cross the place he just held his handkerchief across his nose and moved away quietly. In fact the Jew fell in sick and there was no one to look after him, seeing his miserable condition Malik went and served him. The Jew was naturally surprised and asked “don’t you feel annoyed when you have to pass by my toilets every day?” he replied “upset??? What right I have to feel upset? I only have to cover my nose with a handkerchief – that doesn’t take much” that was one way adjustment at its best. When we learn this art of adjustment, we can turn every tragedy in to a triumph.

As practical tips:

To adjust to difficult people and situations first we need to make an adjustment in our minds. Once our mind is set it will surely reflect in our actions.

 To grow in this spirit of adjustment, every time we are faced with a negative emotion, instantly replace it with a positive one.

When we feel anger and resentment instantly start thinking thoughts of compassion and empathy.

When we face greed, infuse the mind with thoughts of gratitude.

When we are judging other, change those thoughts to thoughts of acceptance and understanding.

All these kinds of adjustment surely will help us to have a positive attitude toward the life and this positive attitude will make our life easy. So friends let us try to cultivate an adjusting attitude surely this will bring a good norm to our life.

Bro. Naveen Varghese