- I cooked a meal with a lots of interest and effort and it gets burnt
- On my way to office, I get stuck in a terrible traffic jam (a good tongue twister), and I am already late for an important meeting.
I found the following advice from Shri Nimishananda very relevant for such situations:
We are constantly thinking of negative things, having a sense of unnecessary fear and expecting the worst to happen. Adversities are attracted by our negative state and they come and settle in us, making our mind a garbage bin.
Many a times we feel that everybody is victimising us for no fault of ours, making us feel very pathetic and ordinary. Instead, when we don't unnecessarily assume the worst, we value and feel that life is precious and extraordinary. Meditation brings about this awareness to make our life extraordinary. Savour every moment of your life, even when it brings unexpected challenges to you, by treating them not as problems that obstruct your progress, but as opportunities that foster your growth.
Let us say that you are cooking a dish and it gets completely spoilt. Don't worry. Cook it once more if you can or cater it from outside. Don't brood over it and invite tension. Remember, for an extraordinary mind, the solutions are always striking and simple. When there is no interest, life remains mechanical and ordinary but when you are deeply interested in everything you do, every situation becomes a doorway to expansion. Your life becomes extraordinarily joyful.
When you enjoy every circumstance as extraordinary, the unpleasant elements of stress, strain and tension that torments each day of your present existence disappears completely. Never waste a single moment of your life in boredom and depression. These negative factors slowly choke off the bliss of your soul along with peace, contentment and creativity.
Even if you are caught in a traffic jam, relax and enjoy the respite from driving. Resolve that "I will now convert this traumatic situation into a blissful one." Then, evolve by chanting a mantra, singing a bhajan or praying for someone whom you think is suffering. Then, you convert an ordinary moment into an extraordinary moment of presence of mind and wisdom.
So, rejuvenate and refresh your soul. Don't worry about the traffic ahead or behind. Till the traffic moves, you cannot move, anyway! So, just relax and use this time to touch your inner core; accept the traffic jam as being inevitable.
However, if you have the habit of losing your cool in traffic jams, sorrow becomes your constant companion. Even if the delay means that you will miss an important appointment, don't allow this to stress you because it saps your enthusiasm and power to overcome obstacles.
