Monday Musings – 21 – Meaning & Purpose

Image for Monday Musings - 20 - Nala & Damayanthi

Happy Independence Day for all my compatriots.

Independence means a lot and the interest of the country means a lot to all the countrymen. Let us celebrate the 75th Independence Day with fervor.

 

I ended last episode with the story of LOVE & HOPE of Nala and Dhamayanti

True Love prevailed over twelve long years of misery and separation. HOPE will bloom even if it is after a long time for those who were determined and who don’t compromise their beliefs during their misery.

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.           
Henry Ford

In our story, Nala struggled for 12 long years losing their kingdom, forced to leave behind all their wealth, separated, cursed to take the shape of an ugly hunchback, etc. But he endured 12 long years of struggle confidently with hope. 

Nala, grew wiser through his misfortune and ended up ruling his kingdom after the long struggle with such wisdom that he was recognized as the greatest of the kings of his time.

Are you the kind who curse the fate for your misfortunes?  Are you the kind who often end up thinking “Why should this happen to me?” This episode is for you.

Everyone must face ups and downs, positives, and negatives. If you expect life to be always hunky-dory, you are living in fool’s paradise. Your luck or misfortune has nothing to do with your fate, It is to do with YOU and YOU ALONE. “I am the master of my fate” said William Ernest Henley in Invictus

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
–  
Invictus

Why did Nala go through such a long struggle? Was it a stroke of fate? It was not because he married Dhamayanti. He was the reason and it was there very clearly in the story.

Nala succumbed to the temptation of gambling and lost his kingdom. Thus, he is the cause for his downfall. But he did not lose hope from one failure. He persisted for 12 years, learning the tricks of the game in that process to win over after 12 years. He made his counter choice very well.

You are the master of your destiny. You can influence, direct, and control your own environment. You can make your life what you want it to be.
Napoleon Hill

When going through a tough time (how much ever longer it could be) remind yourself that: It won’t last forever. You’ll overcome it. You’ll become a better person. You will live a better life. Your story will inspire others like that of Nala’s story

When times are difficult, remind yourself that no pain comes to you without a purpose. Your option is not to wail over the pain but to understand the purpose and work towards the purpose.

Your search for a meaning and purpose in life will enable you to endure the struggles.

What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him.
Viktor Frankl

Nala endured his 12 year struggle because he nurtured a meaning and purpose for his life. Strong mutual love between Nala and Dhamayanthi gave them the strength to endure the struggles.

Viktor Frankl was an Austrian psychologist who was captured and sent to concentration camps by the Nazis. He suffered the ignominy of losing all his family members, excluding his sister who managed to immigrate to Australia, in concentration camps, had to endure torture in concentration camps for 3 long years. He survived all these to realize that his desire for ‘Meaning & Purpose’ helped him endure the bad times at the concentration camps. He developed legotherapy based on his experience in concentration camps and wrote a best selling book ‘Man’s Search for Meaning‘.

Nala’s story is showing us the same ‘meaning and purpose’  from a story set in previous yuga.

Management and Leadership Topics covered in the previous posts

  1. The right attitude — Ch 1Ch 2  Ch6 Ch10  Ch11  Ch14  Ch15  Ch18
  2. Governance — Ch 3  Ch4  Ch7  Ch13
  3. Leadership — Ch 5  Ch 8  Ch10 Ch14  Ch15
  4. Management — Ch 7  Ch13  Ch16
  5. Intelligence & Wisdom — Ch 9  Ch10  Ch11  Ch14  Ch15  Ch16
  6. Happiness & Success — Ch10  Ch14 Ch15  Ch18

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article belong to the author. Bhogya.online is neither responsible nor liable for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information in the article.

 

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