Commitment Meter

While teaching the D.S.N. (Divya Samaj ka Nirmaan) program, I am sometimes asked questions like:

'We face corruption at all levels, the judiciary system is so slow & we live under a constant threat of terrorist attacks! How can I make a positive difference in my society when there is such a strong negative influence around me?'

I share this short story to answer this:

Once in a small village lived a good woman. She was very pious & lived a life of trust & faith on the goodness in the world. The good woman had an evil neighbour. The evil neighbour’s only task in life was to make a mess out of the good woman’s life.

As a ritual, everyday, the good woman went to the temple to light a diya / candle. As a ritual, the evil woman also went to the temple everyday, only to put out the candle lit by the good woman.

This went on for a long time & as time progressed, the good woman noticed that despite her bad intentions, the evil woman seemed to be doing very well. With every passing day, she seemed to be getting stronger.

One day the good woman went to the temple to fight with God. God in all HIS compassion asked the good woman what the matter was?

The good woman said ‘I worship you & have faith in you. But I have to struggle & work very hard to attain my objective. Whereas the evil woman gets all her wrong intentions fulfilled effortlessly!!’

God smiled & said ‘Look, its all about how committed you are!’ The good woman was confused.

God explained ‘the results of your actions depend entirely on YOUR own commitment levels. One day, it was raining heavily & you chose not to come to the temple to light the candle. But the evil woman braved the storm & came here to put out the candle. You see, she is more committed than you are!’

Message:

“A commitment can only be felt when it oversteps convenience”.

 – Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Are we truly committed towards fulfilling our positive goals? Or do we give up & easily compromise for more convenient options.

Wonder what it would be like, if a terrorist said 'Oh, its too hot & I feel lazy today. We should postpone our attack plans to next week!'

This entire universe works on consistency AND commitment. In nature, it is commitment that makes every bud blossom into a flower.

Our Society runs on commitments: a Milkman commits to deliver milk, a CEO commits to run a company.

Humans are the only species blessed with the ‘choice’ to keep or break commitments.

When humans break commitments, we have physical, mental & social dis-eases.When man exploits nature & nature breaks its commitments we have disasters like tsunami.

This week:

Make one personal commitment & One for a positive change you wish to make in your environment / society.

Keep your commitment towards yourself, keep checking your commitment-meter.