The role of Values in Life

When one does not realize the worth of the assets present within one, one’s mind develops a tendency to live on future hopes. Hope is when your mind is lingering on future happiness in advance. Most of the time we are living on future hopes forgetting the present blessings. Most people have an unrealistic approach towards happiness. They invariably use the fatal conjunction “if” as a condition. “If I get a degree, I will be happy”, If I get married, I would be happy”, If only I had more wealth, how wonderful life would have been”, and this “if” goes on and on. Often they attain their goals only to discover new “ifs”. Or there arises next deadly conjunction “but”. They believe, “I now have a degree ‘but’ I have no job.” Having found employment, they discover a new ‘but’, or I have enough wealth ‘but’ I have no peace in the family. Thus, throughout our life we live on ‘if only’ and ‘but’.

Everybody believes they will acquire wealth and then retire and enjoy the wealth, but that never happens. Perhaps, it will be impossible to find one who amassed wealth actually sat and enjoyed wealth!

Contentment, however, does not mean that you have no aspirations in life. It does not mean that you do not set a goal or ideal in life. You could be content now and yet maintain the aspirations to grow in life. The desire when controlled becomes goals. Uncontrolled desires develop into avarice, greed or obsessions. To a man who has no legs, his happiness is in “having legs”. Ask a man who has two legs and he would say: “What is life? I am walking three kilometers a day. If only I had a bicycle, I will be very happy.” The man who owns a bicycle believes happiness lies in a scooter. Having acquired a scooter, he desires a car. After buying a car, he wishes he had a designer car. There is no end to the cravings of the mind. The principle of growth is when you convert your desire into an ambition, an aspiration. You could have a very high and lofty aspiration and yet remain content in the present. That is an art. It is a skill to be cultivated.

If you observe the trend of thought of such people, you will find they are constantly focusing on their rise at the cost of others, their happiness at the expense of others. Such a mind-set will keep your mind constantly agitated. Peace will always elude you.