Have faith to face the world
Mankind is passing through difficult times. With rising stress levels, terror attacks, environmental pollution, there are dangers lurking in every corner. When times get difficult, we need to renew our faith. It's faith that pulls one through difficult times. It brings out the hidden courage and potential in more ways than one.
Another thing you need to have in order to sail through difficult times is a calm mind. When the mind is calm and you are centred, it's much easier to face any situation. For this, you need to train the mind a little to live in the present moment and drop the stress. This can be done by attending to your breath.
Combine the inner calm with your faith, and then you have a formula to face any situation. Having faith is to realise that God's protection is there for you. This much faith is enough to move ahead in life.
During the time of reaping the harvest, the farmer holds a broad sieve and puts all the grains into it and stands on an elevated platform and shakes the sieve. If it is mere husk, it just flies away in the air and is lost. If grain is present, then it falls to the ground and stays. If your faith shakes very quickly and too often, then you are akin to being like the husk.
If your faith shakes quickly when difficulty strikes, you will not be able to face it with your smile intact. If you do not have faith, you will go into fear and depression. You will not have anything to hold onto. If you have faith, you will be able to find a ground. And when you have faith that everything will be alright, everything will settle down.
Once you realise that you are blessed, then all the insecurities disappear. Life is 80 per cent joy and 20 per cent misery. But we hold on to the 20 per cent and make it 200 per cent! It is not a conscious act, it just happens.
In this world, everything cannot be perfect all the time. Even the best, the greatest of actions, performed with the noblest of intentions, will have some imperfections. It is but natural. But if you are grounded in faith, then you will progress and maintain your equanimity in this world. If your faith is deep-rooted, everything else moves on its own.
The role of faith in the materialistic world is even more apparent as it saves one from suicidal tendencies and helps him or her see the cause of something beyond the apparent. When the life is based on faith, one follows the philosophy rather than getting caught up in revenge and hatred.
To face adverse situations in life, commitment is essential. Everything in life big or small, runs on commitment. Usually we think we should first have the resources and then commit. Greater the commitment you take, greater the resources you get. This is a law of nature. When you have the intention to do something good, the required resources simply flow at the time they are needed and however much is needed.
Another way to overcome difficult times is to expand your vision to include the entire humanity. When everyone comes from the point of contributing to society, you have a divine society. We have to educate and culture our individual consciousness to expand in time with the knowledge from "what about me?" to "what can I contribute?"
If you are committed to taking care of your family, that much capacity or power you will have. If your commitment is for the community, you will get that much power. More will be given to you only if you utilise properly what you already have! This is another law of nature. Why should nature give you more when you are stuck with your little mind? Be committed to serve the world, then you will be able to face any difficult time.