Take Life As It Comes!

Shataayur  Vajra Dehaaya

Sarva Sampat Karaayacha

Saarvarishta Vinashaya

Nimbakam Dala Bhakshanam

The meaning of above shloka is

"Let my body remain strong, like a diamond,
for a hundred years; O Lord, give me wealth
and prosperity; with the prayer that all the
bad in this world be destroyed, I eat this
mixture of neem buds and jaggery."

Bevu-bella-(a mixture of neem and jaggery) is the essential part of Ugadi celebrations. As mom placed a spoonful of bevu bella in our hands, she asked us to recite the above shloka followed by a prayer “Dear god come what may, good or bad, highs or lows, happiness or pain, give us the strength to take life as it comes with a smile.” We were too young to understand the significance of her words, but right from childhood we repeated this prayer after her on every Ugadi festival.

When you're born human you have to live your  share of good and bad times. In this Life time we make the best memories and the worst one's too. Life comes with its own challenges and one important lesson we learn is that hardships are inevitable. As humans we have to live our share of bad days as well, we can neither blame life nor hold anyone responsible for it. It is these values given by mom that gave us the strength and determination to brave all the odds!

Acceptance is very crucial for a balanced approach towards life. There are times when we fume in frustration, why is life so unfair? Why do we have to go through troubles when we have done no harm to others? It is very obvious for such thoughts to bother us every now and then. The only way to find inner peace is by accepting things the way they are; which helps to cease the conflict between our mind and the heart.

Comparison is self- destructive and mom always said that by comparing ourselves to others we disrespect life. Each one of us is unique, our lives are meant to be different and the day we realize this we will never crib or complain. Being thankful is one of the greatest values we learnt from her. 

It is a parent who helps a child adapt to the ways of the world. The values they impart and the lessons we learn are priceless. We may not realize the significance of their words but one fine day we will know their importance and learn to respect them for everything they did for us. A child sees the world through the eyes of the parents. Of all the gifts life has given us the greatest of them all is MOTHER!