Stop trying to be perfect. Try to be a better person!

GUEST COLUMN: Dr N Prabhudev

Bengaluru Express
Bengaluru, May 6: I am simply trying to be better than the person I was yesterday.
What we are is God’s gift to us. What we become is our gift to God.
If you continuously compete with others, you become bitter, but if you continuously compete with yourself, you become better. I am in competition with no one. Nobody is perfect. It’s okay to make mistakes. We Discover the Power of Learning, Growth, and Resilience in Our Mistakes!
Have you ever wondered if God is perfect? In Hindu philosophy, the idea that “perfection exists only in God”! The perfect state in Hinduism is known as Moksha, which is the ultimate spiritual goal. It is a state of liberation and freedom from the cycle of birth and death.
The best part of Hinduism – it prescribes eternal duties such as honesty, non-violence, patience, self-restraint, virtue, and compassion. These values guide individuals in leading a righteous and fulfilling life.
From natural disasters to personal tragedies, suffering often feels at odds with the belief in a loving omnipotent God. God created us with the power of choice. It’s up to us to believe in Him or not! Free will accounts for many of the suffering brought about by human actions – wars, violence and greed.
Nobody is perfect in this world but we are perfect in our own imperfections. We should always try to grow and change for the better and perfection will follow.
Life can get busy and overwhelming at times! Life can be understood only backwards but has to be lived forwards. The mistakes are clothed under the name experience. I am convinced People are more of what they hide than what they show. We see many virtues that we do not have. I have embraced life without fear and without regret.
Life is eating, drinking and sleeping! A little laughter! Much weeping! Is that all?
What is Life?
Religions have preached about it, philosophers have pondered over it and ordinary mortals live through it. But the eternal mystery of Life still eludes us. I have learnt that in life Respect is earned. Honesty is appreciated. Trust is gained. Loyalty is returned. In life I have learnt -never regret anything that once made you smile. Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, Life is about enjoying what you can and endure what you must! I sum up everything I’ve learned about life- It goes on
“YOLO”-you only live once! Simple but true. Time passes, Memories fade, Feelings change and People leave. The only thing that remains at last is the loneliness. I find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think. I find each day too short for all the walks I want to take, and all the friends I want to see.
If I were to propose a way of looking at the world I would single out an ethos of symbiosis – mentality that favours harmony over opposition, unity over division, “we” over “I.” Human beings should live in harmony with others and with nature. We seek peace. We desire that calmness, tranquillity, and serenity- be the heart at peace.
Humility!
No pretentions! Be upright! Keeping the mind and body clean, tranquil and steadfast! No ego! I love the word and all that it stands for! Humility is perfect quietness at heart! I have learnt to be Tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak!
Humility is being strong, quiet but not speechless; sure but not arrogant. Humility does not mean false modesty. Humility does not mean taking a back seat.
Measured against eternity, our time on earth is just a blink of an eye. Many people believe that they don’t have what it takes to make a difference to the world. You don’t have to be a Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Albert Einstein, or Bill Gates, to make a difference. Every one of us can contribute and make a difference to the world in our own unique way. It need not be anything out of the world. It just needs to be something you do with the intention of ‘doing good’.
The purpose of life is not merely to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honourable, to be compassionate and to make some difference that you have lived and lived well. Suffer, learn, and grow! Suffer calmly, with dignity, with serenity. Try to make suffering meaningful; Pain is the feeling. Suffering is the effect the pain inflicts. No pain that we suffer goes wasted! All that we suffer and all that we endure, builds up character, purifies heart, expands the soul, and makes us more humble and tender!
May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy and enough money to keep you comfortable! Have courage for the great sorrows in life, and patience for smaller ones. Laughing faces do not mean that there is absence of sorrow. But it means that they have the ability to deal with it.
When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile! Don’t trouble- trouble till trouble troubles you! Worry has become a global epidemic. Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.