important – A Value Creating Life

All this week, I have had to visit hospitals for various problems. Yesterday, I received news about the glaucoma in my eyes- that an operation might be needed earlier than thought (I have had three operations already). This made me both anxious as well impatient to do as much reading and writing that I could. Of course, I felt depressed too. This morning, I got up and went for a walk. The sun was shining and I looked down at an avenue of Victorian brick houses, washed in the rain and glorious in the early daylight. Those houses had been standing there for more than a century- and I thought of the loves, the lives, the fights and the illnesses of the people that would lived there, now gone and unknown. Then I thought, ‘I am alive and that is all that matters. Not what has happened and what may come. Now is the moment to live. Now is important’ So I walked back, in a happier mood than I started. The treasures of the storehouse of my belief in myself are more important than anything else. That is all I need to celebrate today.

‘As the Buddhist teacher Nichiren states: “More valuable than treasures in a storehouse are the treasures of the body, and the treasures of the heart are the most valuable of all.” “Treasures of the storehouse” refer to money and other forms of material wealth. “Treasures of the body” are skills and abilities, as well as physical health. “Treasures of the heart” are the riches that we build within our lives. This indicates the kind of inner strength that cannot be defeated by any tribulation. It refers to the power to live out our lives in a creative way, with constant joy, fulfillment and vitality.’ Daisaku Ikeda.

When I am tired, I can be very forgetful. Yesterday, after attending a very inspiring conference on a subject dear to my heart, I left all the handouts somewhere. Typically we can do the following things when we lose stuff-

1. Berate ourselves

2. Forget and let go

3. Try to find them again

Well, the first option is never a good idea- only of course, we must never be so tired that we don’t know what we are doing. The other two options are interesting. With my lost papers, I could have just let them go- after all, yesterday I had written about acceptance. I did remember the most important points from the papers that were memorable to me, so it was fine. I think, sometimes instead of things, we have to lose people too- people who have become toxic to us. It is not a loss- it is a gain then.

In this case, I decided to see if I could either find the papers or get duplicates. The process was most interesting. I emailed some people who I otherwise would not have and and received nice messages from them. I learnt about the valuable work these people were doing. I realised that I had connected to some nice people only because I lost some papers. I learnt what I valued about the conference and remembered what I had to without any paper reference. Great stuff- I think. We all have heard those stories when people deliberately leave something in someone’s house when they really want to get in touch with them on the pretext of finding their lost things. Now I see lost things in a different way- a positive thing, a way of making connections and finding out about myself.

So next time you lose something, do think about doing the last two options- that is creativity!

Tag: important

Celebrate today

about lost things