HOW TO BE FREE FROM EGO (DON'T BE A SPIRITUAL DONKEY !)
Idol of a goddess
Once a sculptor in a village made a beautiful idol of a goddess and thought of selling it at a good price in the city. So he loaded the idol on his donkey and started towards the city. When he was going through the village, the villagers bowed in front of the idol as it looked like a real goddess. Whichever street he crossed, a crowd would bow in front of the idol.
Thrilled with the newfound respect
But a strange thing happened. TheDonkey, which was carrying the idol, thought that he was special and that was the reason why people were bowing to him. He was thrilled with his newfound respect.
Angry people
Soon the sculptor returned after selling the idol. While he was crossing the village, the donkey stopped in the middle of the road, expecting a warm welcome. But nobody paid attention to him. The donkey felt insulted and started braying, so much so, that the villagers drove him away.
Realized the truth
The same mistake, what the donkey did, is what most of us do. When we are on the divine path of self - realization, with God's grace, a glow enters our demeanor and we stand out in the crowd. People respect such persons and often bow in respect. But we should realize that people are bowing not to us but to that glimpse of God whom they realize resides within us. So the credit of this respect goes, solely to God, not to us. If we start taking the credit, we cross the thin line of demarcation and enter into an area of false ego, which God dislikes most.
The basic difference between material and devotional lifestyle is that, in material life the more we progress, the more ego we develop. In a devotional lifestyle, the more we progress, the more ego we shed.
It is said that everyone has a dream but relatively few people believe that they can actually achieve it. Nevertheless, some people do achieve their dreams while others live lives of regret. Some are inspired and follow through with transformative action, whilst others delay or even give up entirely; settling, in exchange, for whatever comes along.
So, what are the factors that make that difference between the person who achieves and the one who ends up with nothing but regrets?
Here are three simple keys that can help you on the way to getting to live the life of your dreams:
1. Get Yourself Motivated
Everyone has their own motivators so consider what benefits await you when you finally do achieve your goal. It might be financial freedom, more free time or a second home in the Caribbean. Whatever it is, remind yourself of those things on a daily basis.
Having pictures of your dream Caribbean home hung on the fridge or in your work space will remind you of your dream and fire your mind with motivation.
When you suffer inevitable setbacks or frustration, a visible reminder of your dream will help motivate you to do what is necessary to get back on track toward your goal.
It is also important to give yourself rewards along the way. Rewarding yourself after making a breakthrough such as acquiring a new client or learning a new computer skill is absolutely necessary to keeping your spirits high along the route to your goal.
Treat yourself to a nice dinner, take the day off for a game of golf or reward yourself with something else you like. Your reward will give you a refreshing break from the trials and tribulations on your path to success and bring you new energy to continue working toward your goal.
Giving yourself a reward as you reach important milestones along the way will reinvigorate your determination to succeed.
2. Remember the Peas
As they they particularly poor planning produces particularly poorperformance! You might have heard a variant of this expression
Although developing a proper plan may seem a rather obvious step if you want to achieve your goals, many people overlook or downplay the importance of the planning process and then wonder why they aren’t moving forward. So be sure to take the time to plan your path toward greater success.
Once you have a broad plan to reaching your goal, you must fine-tune all the details. Get it down on paper and determine the steps necessary to make that goal a reality.
Put a time frame on it.
Put all excuses aside and set a deadline for each step.
Be realistic with regard to your own competencies.
Creating a realistic step-by-step plan with a deadline will bring your dream to life. Setting definable, measurable little steps will energise you and enable you to follow your plan to success.
3. Stay in Motion
Lastly, no dream or goal can be achieved without action. When you’ve developed your plan, you need to commit to following those little action steps on a daily basis.
Your little steps are the route to your treasure.
Stay in motion and follow your plan.
Each step you complete brings you closer to your goal.
Evaluate your actions and revise your plan as necessary.
If a particular step fails, then be adaptable and change it until you find a method that works for you.
Motivation, planning and action are three keys that can enable you to create and live the life you’ve always wanted. It may take you some time, but so what? Better to be on the right path than to be a victim of circumstance. Remember, as one wise person once said, “a person going nowhere … usually gets there!”