Lessons from a Rose

Lessons from a Rose

Introduction: Which flower is considered to be the king of all flowers in the nature? Well, even a kindergarten student would be able to tell the answer- Rose. One of the writers said that Rose is considered to be the king of flower not because of its beauty (for there are many more other beautiful flowers than rose) but because of its ability to spread happiness around despite the fact that it stands on the thorns. Friends, this flower that has caught the imagination of numerous poets, writers, artists can help us to glean valuable lessons from its life. Here are some of them:

1. Life’s not fair: If someone has the right to say, “Life’s not fair” than that right goes to the Rose flower. It stands on thorns all of its life. It is born on thorns, it buds, blossoms and withers on thorns. People may complain that, “Life’s unfair” when they encounter some problems in their lives but look at the rose, it is surrounded by problems all of its life. But the lesson we should learn from it is this, “Life’s not fair but don’t forget to blossom.”

2. Life’s momentary: That’s the second lesson we learn from the rose flower. The average life span of a rose flower is some few hours only. It is very short lived. But though the life span of rose is momentary it leaves a mark on our life that is eternal. The beauty it shares, the joy and fragrance it gives linger in our memories long after it withers away. Shouldn’t our lives reflect some of it ennobling qualities?

3. Life’s not about complaining but spreading joy: The rose is a courageous flower. It stands on the thorn and gives joy, it does not complain like us mortals. We go on in life complaining, whining, cursing God and all. But the rose is proactive flower, it takes responsibility, it chooses to respond nobly. It chooses to spread a smile, joy and beauty. Does that teach us something about life? You bet!

4. Life is all about giving ourselves fully: The rose is a perennial flower. It blossoms in every season. It gives its 110% in every season. Come rain, sun or winter it doesn’t forget to blossom. Moreover, we give roses to each other on different occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, special moments etc. It is a perfect symbol of giving. It is a flower that gives. The law of the Universe, “What you give out is what comes back to you”, is perfectly characterized in the Rose flower. The flower is the king and most popular flower because it gives itself fully without inhibitions. When we give out love, hard work, dedication we reap success, joy and fulfillment. So next time you see a rose, it is teaching you the blessedness that lies in giving ourselves fully.

Conclusion: Friends, rose speaks not words, yet tells us so many valuable things that we ought to consider and follow in our lives. Rose is the king of all flowers and till it continues to blossom despite the thorns and till it continues to be a symbol of generosity and love, it will rule the kingdom of flowers, it will always be crowned and a crowning glory to behold and to learn from.

May you have rosy days ahead.

Sohan.

Faith Vs. Fear

Faith vs. Fear

Introduction Two opposing forces are always at work in our lives whether we are conscious of them or not. One of the forces is positive and called, faith. When you believe that events are ultimately going to turn for your benefit and good in the long run, the force that’s exerting a force on your life is called – Faith. But when you believe that events are not going to turn in to your favor or your life will be a mess at the end of it, you are under the clutches of the force called - Fear. The outcome depends on our choice what do we believe and give attention to. Let’s look at them.

Faith: When you learn to look hopefully beyond the perception of your five senses and believe that the end would be better than the beginning you are in other words keeping faith. As the Victorian Era poet, Robert Browning said, “Grow old with me; For the best is yet to be.” The Bible, gives definition of the term faith, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things unseen.” To put in simple terms, ‘Faith is touching the intangible; seeing the invisible, hearing the unheard, smelling the un- smelt and tasting the un- tasted.’ We should remember that what we experience with our five senses is just a fact, not the truth. By that I mean, it is just the present situation that we see, but it is subject to change. “Change is the only constant in the Universe.” So the facts are subject to change. Let me illustrate, at present your situation may be tough one to say. You may be in financial debt, or you may be out of a job or you may have failed at a business venture. But this situation is subject to change in coming days. It won’t remain the same, you may strike a deal and clear all of your debts and be well-off, you may get a better job in all respects or you may try a new venture and succeed at it. The further outcome could be better or worse and that is where Faith and Fear come into picture. So it is very important that we look beyond the facts to the truth and we look at it with eyes of Faith and not Fear for what you see in the eyes of your mind, you will one day see it with your physical eyes too.

Fear: Faith inverted is Fear. Fear is also looking beyond the fact that your five senses present to you. But it is looking with dismay, hopelessness and expectancy of failure. Fear will attract your future but it won’t be desirable. Many of us go out in the world expecting worse things every day. We fear that we will lose our jobs due to recession, or we will fail in the business venture, our relations won’t work, somebody will take disadvantage of us etc. We then imagine strange things with our minds. We see the picture, hear the sounds, smell the aroma, but our imagination is bringing to our notice all that is bleak and dark. What you expect is what you get or as Jesus said, “According to your faith be it done unto you.” So, if you have your faith inverted (Fear), you will get accordingly.

Conclusion: Now there’s a time period between you keeping faith in something or fearing something and thing to manifest. This gap is what gives us second chance to change our outlook so that we can change the outcome. So if you don’t want to be in debt or you don’t want to lose the job or you don’t want to relation to break, you got work yourself from fear to faith. You got change how you look with your mind’s eyes. It’s like changing the channel of the T.V. if you don’t want see a certain program, you switch on to something else. If you don’t want your fears to come true, you switch on to faith.

There’s a story of a Chinese farmer, He lived in small house with a small family. One day a horse came near their courtyard. According to the law of the land, the horse now belonged to them. So the farmer’s son was delighted and over excited. He exclaimed to his father, “Look father, we’ve got a new horse!” The father calmly replied, “We don’t know what will come next.” After some days the horse ran away to the dismay of the son. He sorrowfully exclaimed and cried, “Oh! I’ve lost my dear horse. The father calmly replied, “We don’t know what will happen next.”After two days the horse returned with four more horses! The son jumped with joy and exclaimed, Wow! We are rich. The father calmly replied, “We don’t know what will happen next.” After some days when the son was enjoying his ride on one of the horses, he fell down and broke his leg. He lamented, “Oh father! I am so unlucky I’ve broken my leg in this young age. When people at my age are active and running, I have to be on the bed.” The father calmly replied, “We don’t know what will happen next.” After some days the king of the land went for a war, he ordered that all the young men of the country should be recruited in the royal army. When the soldiers came to this farmer’s village and his house, they found his son to be invalid for the war. So they did not recruit him and his life was spared.

The moral of the story is that things that you see at present are just facts and can change. Nothing is permanent. But you can influence the outcome by trusting the good, keeping the faith.

Keep the faith
Sohan.