Minding your own business
Recently, the popularity of mindfulness has taken off and reached a whole other level. But are we mindful about minding our own business? With the advent of the internet and social media, other people’s business always seems to be much more interesting than our own!
And as we troll Facebook and Instagram, how are we left feeling by the end? Are we inspired or do we feel that our energy has just been expired? Do we come away saying, “Wow! My life is great!?” Or “Ooooh! I wish I had that, and that and that!?” With millions of videos of everyone’s second by second hyper-achievement, or underachievement in life, it is all at our fingertips. Sadly, after that we are often left with a gaping hole and a feeling of a lack in our own life, rather than a sense of fullness. The internet is an endless black hole that just keeps sucking us in. It begins to shape our views, form our beliefs and opinions, and this is often simply on the basis of hearsay.
Gone are the days of ‘real’ news; the news agencies today are creating their own news. Often, they are the news themselves! We now have ‘fake news’. What is this? Where do fact and fantasy meet? It is very difficult to tell one from the other today. And decisions made on the basis of these intangible and moving realities can be very hard to erase and put right. If ever! So, be careful who you let into your mind, because it may be hard to get them out.
At no other time in our world history have we had so many opportunities to compare our lives with and to the lives of others. In the past, grandad would have ploughed the land and saw the neighbour’s tractor and may have thought: “Oh I wish I had that. It would make my life easier….” And then after a glass of some alcoholic beverage, sitting in his rocking chair, perhaps on the veranda, he would have gone to bed and gotten over it.
Grandad would have simply forgotten that thought and literally would have put it to bed. But now, every time we turn on our social media, we are bombarded with repeated images of everyone having everything (or so we believe), and we fare as losers in comparison! After all that cyber surfing, we may feel we have been hard-done by, with everything in our lives and we may start playing the “poor me” records. Yes, we have to say at this point we have lost the plot.
That’s exactly the problem right there! When we stop to compare ourselves with others, what is the standard we are comparing ourselves to? Is it social media? Well, don’t. Half the time we never know the truth about most of those stories, so do not be carried away by the glitz and glamour of what you see and hear.
And when it comes to a standard of perfection, seek out the people around you who epitomise some of the qualities that you admire. Make connections and get to know them personally before you press the like or dislike button in your mind. This is the real life, not the one on your phone or computer! And what you do matters. You may not think it matters today but just wait until you are on the receiving end of the cyber-bullying and then you will realise the impact of all those dislikes on your self-esteem. And in some cases this has proved to be fatal. So think twice.
The internet can be a good thing for sure. There are Adenium commonly called Desert Rose originated in Africa, specifically in the desert, hence the common name.
The original plant bore basically a pink or white single flower made up of 5 petals with a yellow centre on a swollen trunk.
However, the Desert Rose was subsequently crossbred and new varieties were formed in various shades including pinks, whites, reds, pink and white and red and white. Thailand and Indonesia have raised and grown some awesome bicoloured varieties that have spread across the world.
Plant Desert Rose in well-drained sandy soil in full sun. It is best suited as a potted plant.
Desert Rose gives out a white milk sap if the leaves are broken, avoid touching your skin or face with it.
Until next week, Happy Gardening. lots of things to learn from it and there is knowledge and information at your fingertips. But, just like with everything, it can be a double-edged sword.
Learning to mind our business is not an expression for money management, but more to do with mind management. We need to pay attention to our thoughts, to take greater care of what is going on in our mind and life. Spirituality encourages us to take a closer look at our self. To find ‘thyself.’ To focus on our strengths and to appreciate and give value to these. The more time we spend minding other people’s business, the less time we have to mind our own. At the end of our life, we do not want to be feeling that we have hardly lived our own life. Like we were almost not even there! And we do not want to be left asking the question: How did my life pass me by?
It’s time… to take the time to manage our own mind and to mind our own business. To check in with reality, to get off that computer or gadget and do something constructive and positive, to make it a virtue reality and not a virtual reality!
Prepared by the Brahma Kumaris Raja Yoga Centre. If you would like to learn more, you can call 592—2272538 or email georgetown@gy.brahmakumaris.org or visit www.brahmakumaris.org.