Questioner (Q): Sir my question is, whenever we take decisions in life, we tend to take the easier path despite it not being beneficial to us. We like to stay in our comfort zone. So how do we come out of this? How do we push ourselves to take the difficult route?
Acharya Prashant (AP): You do that because you have been convinced that you do not deserve anything beyond a point, right? The high things in life, be it within or without, they all require a price to be paid. They all require that you toil and face difficulties and suffer blows. But why will you suffer blows if you have been convinced by the environment around you that you anyway do not deserve to reach the top?
So you will say, the top is anyway inaccessible to me. I need to reach someplace in between. So I will take the shortest kind of route possible and the most economical medium possible.
When you know who you really are, and when you know that your potential is unlimited, then there is Self-love. Then you do not want to deprive yourself of what you deserve. And then you say, "I will pay whatever price it takes. I will not settle for something mediocre". But mostly, our misfortune, if I may put it that way, is that the mediocre society turns its own kid into mediocre products, right?
The kid is heavily dependent on the society, for information, for upbringing, for culture, for conditioning. All of that comes from the society, and the society is in itself never something of excellence. Therefore, it does not cultivate values of excellence within its kids. And the kid is made to believe that a normal kind of, as they say, 'run-of-mill life', that's all there is. In fact, if you try to think big then you are shown down. You are told to stay within your limits, no?
The result is then a drop in Self-love because there is something within all of us, remember this very clearly, that can fall in love only with absolute excellence. With anything short of the absolute, you will find yourself short of love. That absolute is also what has been sometimes called as the Truth or Liberation or even God.
That's the reason why religions have existed since ancient times; because something in us just very madly loves the absolute. It cannot live without the absolute.
In more personal terms, that absolute is your own personal possibility. Most of us do not love ourselves. In fact, if you look at the way we behave and take decisions, you will find that in a hidden way we hate ourselves. We are anti-life.
We do things, don't we, that harm us? Somebody keeps on smoking. He knows smoking is bad, still he keeps on smoking. Somebody knows he must work hard and study or something. He does not do that. What is it? What is it?
Somebody continues to bear in an abusive relationship and never drops out. Why do we do that? We keep on eating all kinds of unhealthy stuff. Why do we do that? Are all these things indicators of self-love? No, they are indicators of Self-hate.
Why do we hate ourselves? Because we have refused our highest possibility to ourselves. Whenever you will do that, you will hate yourself your entire life. Whenever you will refuse the highest to yourself, you will become guilty in your own eyes and you will not be able to forgive yourself for that.
And how can you love someone who cannot even be pardoned? How can you love someone who is guilty of a very bad crime? So we don't love ourselves. We don't love ourselves.
If you don't love yourself, why will you want to give yourself the best? Are we together on this? If you don't love yourself, why will you want to give yourself the best? You will settle for anything normal, usual, mediocre.
You will say, "But you know, this is the way the world is. I am an average bloke like everybody else". You can find some kind of false peace in calling yourself an average person, but that will be an inner death. Inwardly you know what is it we all live for? We live for excellence. We live for the absolute. That's what the human birth is for. To attain the absolute.
Instead, if you have convinced yourself to stay mediocre within then it's death because life is for the highest. Anything lower than the highest, life is the same as death. Are you getting it?
So, choose your company with great discretion. Do not be around people who show you down. Be very clear. Be with people who ruthlessly prod you on towards betterment, who mercilessly bring out your shortcomings, and who never allow you to believe for a second that you are destined to live a mediocre life.
They'll say because you must be excellent, therefore, all your mistakes must be exposed. That's the kind of people and books and environment you should choose. Inwardly, whenever you find thoughts of weaknesses dominating you, push away those thoughts. Do not allow anybody to dominate you including your own thoughts. If even your own judgment is that you are a weakling, reject that judgment.
You might be beaten, and when you are beaten, accept that with honesty and courage. But if somebody tells you that it is your destiny to remain beaten and fallen, push that person away.
“Yes, I have fallen and I won't hide the fact that I have fallen. I am courageous enough to boldly admit that I have fallen and it's such a bad display on my part. Surely, I am cultivating some nonsense within - the reflection of which is this fall. But if you are telling me that I must limit my life itself, that I must give up on the potential and the possibilities that life has to offer, then sorry, sorry, sorry... If I have to live in mediocrity, then I’ll better not live. If I have to live in bondages, then life is not worth it”. Getting it?
See, it must be confusing because I am saying both the things - on one hand, I say, you have to be very honest about your mistakes. You must know that your mistakes reveal the fact of yourself, so they can't even be called as mistakes. On one hand, I am saying that you must really know how ugly your face has become. And how weak your inner self has become.
On one hand, I am saying that our fact is weakness. On the other hand, I am saying, our potential is greatness. Both these have to be remembered at the same time. If you remember only one of these, then there will be problem.
Remember both of these. “Yes, I am down and out at this moment and I’ll honestly admit that. But equally I will always remember that each human being is born for greatness”. Greatness is my destiny. Never compromise on that greatness, never compromise on the destiny you are born for. Remember this, always! Does tha
