We live in a culture where we believe in finding alternatives rather than finding solutions. Let us take some examples to illustrate this:

1) I have a pain in the body. It actually requires rest and care or a shift in my lifestyle to correct it. But we usually tend to go with the pain killer to address the pain.

2) My relationship is not working. I must try to identify what I can do to make it work. I must try to identify if my attitude or my approach or my behavior has got something to do with it but rather than do that, we drift towards someone else.

3) I am not able to find job satisfaction. It may be because of the nature of the job. But it may also be because of my nature. However, we are often so fixated with the idea of finding a new job that it never occurs to us that another way out is to find a new me.

I am not against finding alternatives or expanding the range of choices available to us but what we must not forget is that any problem on the exterior is actually an offshoot of some flaw within. I may be lacking in proper understanding of the whole situation. I may be oblivious to what virtues and powers I need to develop in me in order to be able to work with differences. What we need to understand is that embracing differences is desirable. One must not always try to find people and situations that are suited to one’s disposition. It is a very good idea to be with people and situations that are not in perfect alignment with my nature. It is a good idea to work with them and acquire that which is unlike me. If I start embracing those that are unlike me and start working towards likeness, it helps me grow into a complete being. A very good example to look at is the sharp stones that flow with the river when it originates. They are very sharp and dissimilar in shapes and sizes but as they rub against each other, they start become similar. They start smoothing out. And in the end they all look like perfectly rounded “Shaligrams” worthy of worship. So the way ahead lies in finding solutions and not in finding alternatives.

In Spiritual Service