The weather this month has been quite varied. It has been bright and sunny on some days and on some others there have been violent storms. The picture above depicts how the same scene can look different depending on the colours you decide to add to the scenery. Likewise your life! To really carry a bright sunny weather inside of us most of the time, we have to live our life by our commitments. Our life has to become bigger than our feelings and emotions. That is where a commitment comes into play. When laziness, lethargy, anger, jealousy distract, remembering a commitment allows me to recover faster.
But I broke my Early Days commitment! Sometimes a commitment may be a hindrance to a bigger commitment. For instance waking up early means going to bed early if you don’t want to punish yourself. This month I was teaching an Art of Living Happiness Program which meant I could not get to bed before 11:30 p.m. on a couple of days after the program. I also caught a ‘bug’ which has made me very weak over the last week. And so I consciously broke the Early Day commitment to be kinder to myself. Not only that, I also took a rain check on a workshop I was supposed to facilitate at work which is probably the first time I have not turned up to speak for an audience after committing. I did have some one fill in for me though. I really needed the rest to continue on my path to physical recovery in a month that has been really hectic so far.
“Wisdom is to strike a balance between convenience and commitment because both bring comfort to the body, mind and spirit” – Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Sri Sri Ravi shankar’s response on when commitments can be given up.
- A smaller less important commitment can be given up for a greater commitment
- Commitment to the means can be given up for the sake of the commitment to the goals
- When your commitment brings misery to many in the long run, it can be given up
But I am grateful about the #31EarlyDays commitment which brought out commitment in others who have since become a source of inspiration to me. I intend to continue using the technique of #EarlyDays to bring about a greater awareness into what I think of as soon as I wake up. Fulfilling that commitment allows me to take life into my own hands rather than letting life take me over!
Shailesh Venkatesh 