It’s been a while since I’ve put my thoughts down on paper. As I gazed at my laptop screen, I struggled to come up with ideas to write about. I yearned for inspiration to strike. When we’re focused on a task, cues guide us on what to do.
While setting the date on my desktop calendar, I came across a quote that struck me as particularly profound. I read it multiple times and found it to be a testament to the difficulty of conquering oneself and the true wisdom that comes from those who have experienced it.
When we pursue a meaningful life, we gain experience in doing what we’re good at, which paves the way for us to control everything around us and ensure success. However, even the best professionals often need help handling life situations. So what goes wrong in such cases?
As Swami Vivekananda famously said, “One who conquers themselves conquers the world.” He attained this realization through spiritual learning, experience, and reflection on his life. To achieve this, we must have the discipline and grit to follow through, even when immediate gains aren’t visible. Is that stop us not to try it?
Our responses to life situations are the start of this learning process. By reflecting on our reactions, we can better handle similar situations in the future. The mind is like an AI tool, constantly learning and adapting to respond better. With consistent practice, we can improve our perceptions of any situation.
Emotions can be a catalyst for our response. High emotions can lead to an unconscious state of mind, causing us to react impulsively and regret later. Low emotions help us respond appropriately. Improving emotional intelliegnce becomes the key. The capacity for recognizing your own feelings and those of others, for motivating yourself and managing emotions well in yourself and in your relationships
What it amounts to conquering oneself? Conquering oneself means taking deliberate and conscious actions that center around our mind, which becomes the source of guidance for all our actions. Our mind is a reflection of ourselves.
What we preach, we do not follow. All philosophical thoughts heighten our excitement to speak about it. It creates an identity to differentiate from others to talk good about us. Labeling to be a good person with great ideologies and one should be like him. All this becomes an illusion to follow, creating self-doubt in our confidence to do any action. Putting us dependent on others for every small decision one must make. That brings us back to rethink whether we can revamp our thinking and build our source of power from within.
Every smile screens the difficulties one has. Pretending to be happier than we are. It is more challenging to figure out where we are going than to figure out someone else. There is a consistent effort to reduce these challenges in one’s life. The life that we create is the result of our thinking and actions.
Our thinking and actions shape the life we create. To conquer oneself, we must first accept to the things we cannot control, creating capacity in our minds to direct our energy towards things we can control.
Overcoming adversity gives the impression that one struggled through the process, and although one may have reached his goal, it was unpleasant, and they are just happy for it to be over. Conquering a challenge means working so hard and passionately that you almost enjoy the inevitable struggles when facing obstacles. That strengthens us to meet every challenge with grit and boosts our confidence. And every time one does, the triumph beckons.
“To Conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others – Buddha”