Sometimes a situation may get so exhausting that you don't even know what to do next! Well, when stress threatens to overburden me as I have said here many times, I usually just lie down in the middle of it and sleep off.
Well such may be true thanks to the story I was told of Buddha! One day back at the Primary school, after writing an exam in which I messed up, my whole day was thrown into mud! It was a mathematics exams and as we came out, everyone was so excited discussing the exams and I thought, damn, I might have messed because how can all these guys be wrong?
I know I was one bright student but come on, I was only 8 years old, sometimes the confidence was still low. I went home with this bitterness.
My uncle saw me devastated and asked what was wrong. I told him about the exam and instead of getting grim he smiled. "How is he smiling about this?" I thought.
Then he narrated the story of Buddha;
One day, Buddha was on a journey with his followers across a rocky terrain. After a couple of miles, they got thirsty yet there was no water on site.
They kept walking and after some hours, they happened to pass by a lake. They decided to rest nearby but not too close to prevent animals from drinking!
Buddha asked one of his disciples to get some water from the lake.
The disciple walked up to the lake but noticed two bullocks making a mess in the water. The water turned all muddy and the disciple thought they was no way they could drink that water hence he was afraid they had to walk even more on dry throats!
When he returned, he narrated to the group that the water was too muddy thanks to some bullocks hence they was no way they could drink it. One of them suggested they should get going immediately so they could get to a better river to quench their long-standing thirst.
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Buddha smiled and asked " are you not tired too?" "why don't we rest a little longer so we can be stronger for the journey ahead?" he continued. The group agreed and after a while, Buddha again asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water.
The disciple was thinking hard in his mind about this but obediently went back to the lake. To his surprised, this time he found that the mud had settled down and the water was clean. After a few gulps, he fetched the water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.
Buddha looked at the water then looked up at the disciple and said, “ Have you seen what you did to clean the muddy water? You let it be and the mud settled down on its own. It is also the same with your mind. When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time and it will settle down on its own.”
Most often than not, it is our reaction to situations that hurt us than the mere situation itself. We make panic decisions under stress and this does not often end well!
In the end it was only two students that passed the Maths exams and I was one of them, in fact, I had the highest mark! So what happened to the pain I was bearing? Was I not hurting myself for no reason?
And even if I were to failed the exam, could my grieving help any situation?
The next time you are faced with a tough situation remember this story and keep calm, everything finds its place with time! Happy Easter festivities and thanks for your attention!!!!