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A way to overcome weakness.
In Mahabharata, Duryodhana would repeatedly say, “I know what is right but I cannot indulge in it. I know what is wrong but I cannot avoid it.” As Mahatria was telling this I thought why it should be difficult to avoid what’s wrong and indulge in what’s right. But as days passed by, I realized it wasn’t as easy as I thought out to be. Almost everywhere we find examples of this gap, this mismatch – between what we want to do and what we end up doing. We invariably do what’s easy than what’s right.
Many diabetic patients know that eating sweets and not taking care of health would lead to severe complications. But there are such patients who yield to their temptations.
Proper maintenance of accounts will help in smooth functioning of the business and will make auditing easy. But how many businessmen do so?
Knowing very well that drinking and smoking aren’t good for health, many are not able to avoid them.
Proper planning and reaching the targets on time are the best ways in any area. But most of us procrastinate and end up causing misery at the last minute.
Parents do fight in the presence of their children, knowing very well that it would impact the children very badly.
Adults or children, many spend hours watching television, ignoring important works.
Knowing pretty well that sitting in the state of non-doing would help a great deal in quietening the mind, improving the memory and increasing the energy level, many are not able to make it an inevitable part of their day.
There are umpteen similar examples in our day-to-day lives that we can reflect upon. Postponing and avoiding what is right and going on indulging in what’s wrong is probably one of the biggest human weaknesses which almost all of us have. We are far from reaching a self-motivated stage where doing what’s right and avoiding what’s wrong become our nature. Many a time we falter against our own decisions. ‘Why does this happen’ was the question going on in my mind.
We live in a fast-paced world where we are surrounded by forces that influence our decisions. Most people have the tendency to avoid work and look for pleasure. The best way they find to avoid doing anything is to postpone it for the next day. And the next day remains the next day. Then a day comes when important becomes urgent, then becomes an emergency and then critical! Hence we’ve got to prioritise the essential things.
If we never check the oil in the car, don’t be surprised if the engine boils one day when the oil level becomes too low. If you ignore the symptoms from the body – like swelling, fever, etc., don’t be surprised if later you happen to get a bad news from your doctor.
You firmly decide what is right for you, get committed and do not stop until you are done. Once you stick to that decision, every day will be a day of commitments and it will further strengthen your decision. Whether it is going to the gym or sitting in the process of non-doing or showing that lump to the doctor, do not postpone or procrastinate. Stop thinking about your choices and go ahead.
Still if you find that you are unable to get over this despondency, then the best remedy is to associate it with your weakness. For instance, I know I have to exercise and I also know that food is my weakness. Hence what I do is the day I do not exercise, I won’t have my dinner. Now automatically, I find time to exercise as I cannot remain hungry while going to bed.
My son has taken a decision that if he doesn’t sit in non-doing on any day, he wouldn’t touch WhatsApp the next day.
My cousin Rita has the habit of hitting her six-year-old daughter very often. Now what she has done is, if she beats her daughter, the following day she would eat food without salt.
The point here is if you link your temptation to indulge in a weakness conditional to something, it will help you a lot in overcoming that weakness.
To make progress, monitor yourself. Assess what factors are hindering and make adjustments. Overcoming the weakness to indulge in things that we do not want to is a crucial part in the path to glory. Successful people make sure that they get over their weaknesses and climb the ladder of success quickly and efficiently!