Being Practical - 2

Being Practical - 2

Was the child who gave up the study of medicine and took up some other career happy? If his ambition was strong and was a deep desire from the heart, he would be unhappy all his life. But if it was a weak desire, a fad, then he would soon forget it and settle down in whatever he was doing. The same is true when we compromise, become practical in all other areas of our lives. Take Love, for instance. You are in love with someone, but your mind tells you that it would not work out, the person you love belongs to a different culture or socioeconomic status. You know that your parents would never agree to the relationship, for whatever reasons. You probably know that life would be a struggle if you married this person. So, you become practical and drop the girl or boy, and get married to someone whom your parents have chosen. You have acted very practically. But are you happy? If you were truly in love, you would be most miserable all your life. If your love was not true, if it was an infatuation or a passing fancy, you would soon forget it and get comfortable with your new life.

Being practical comes from the left brain, that half of the brain which is logical, which thinks rationally, which has common sense, which is cunning and calculative, selfish, and which knows which side of the bread is buttered. Love, passion, creativity, romance, dreams, purpose of life, intuition---all these come from the right brain. By nature, women are more right than left brain, while men tend to use their left brain predominantly. As a result, the things women pine and crave for are totally different than the things a man wants. While one needs to achieve a balance between both the sides, it has increasingly become a trend to rely totally on the faculties of the left brain, leaving behind many of the qualities of the right. While following the left brain and remaining practical might bring material gains and material comforts, true happiness, joy, harmony and purpose in our lives comes only from following the messages which arise in the right brain.

Make a conscious change today. Think from your heart (right brain) and follow its emotions. You might not become rich or powerful, but you will surely become happier and more passionate in life. The balance in our world is achieved by equal contributions from the right and left brain. Predominantly shifting to left brain consciousness and becoming more and more practical will only see the world pushed into more and more imbalance. Materialism will take a strong upper hand, and qualities like love, compassion, empathy, altruism, warmth, passion and romance will slowly go down the scale, eventually tending to disappear from our lives and from the world.

Om Namah Shivay