Maintaining Perspective

There are many times in life when the days blur together, and each minute feels painstakingly long but there seems to be no time. I have found this to be especially true when I spend weeks with long hours and no days off since the turbulent environment makes it difficult to ride the waves without losing perspective. Losing perspective means forgetting the big picture, and feeling like one aspect of your life encompasses you as a whole. For many people this will be their work, but for some it can be other things like raising children. When I find I lose perspective, the veil of falseness rises over me and I am encompassed in anxiety. I start to feel like my work is the world and my role is my definition. More-so  I think the adversities that stack up make it seem like there’s no time to sit and reconnect which is the very think we need in that moment. 

This arena we play in, maya, is one that most of us lose because we feel that the game is more important than the reality. We don’t even wake up to the reality because we become so confused in daily anxieties and tasks. Over the years I have worked on this and found many ways of grounding myself to maintain my perspective. My kara is one of them. When I look at it, I am reminded of my Sikhi and my roots. It reminds me of everything we as a community have gone through and fought for. I also found that morning paath is an important aspect of maintaining perspective. It helps us to remember why we came here to this life and what we are doing; it prepares us for the battle of the day. I have found in the evenings that working on my Sehaj Paath (reading a couple of pages from the Guru Granth Sahib Ji) has given me a great way to maintain my perspective. It reminds me what is useful, meaningful, it reminds me who and what matters and what doesn’t matter. When we live in fear, anxiety, or helplessness, it means we are trapped in this game, in this loss of perspective. Maya has disillusioned us away from our connection to God, from our journey, from the recognition that God takes care of all of us. Our mindset becomes that of the sheep instead of the lion. Even on days when we are struggling with our mindset, if we give a daily dose of medicine, it is our only way of fighting it and from making it worse. It is like when people say they cannot focus enough on simran to do it- the solution to that problem is simply doing more until you do build the concentration and until you can do it. For example, on days when my mind is racing, I found going to the Gurdwara, even if I'm having trouble paying attention, will give me a little dose of medicine that I need to stay on track. Usually I am able to walk away more connected and realizing that I am not the roles and titles that have been placed upon me in this life, I am not this body. The perspective of our connection to God allows us to be resilient and overcome adversities. It is the very foundation of Chardi Kala. At different times in our life different methods may work to reconnect us. Sometimes it may be reading books, other times it may be kirtan, katha, sitting in Sangat, chatting and learning from someone in Sangat, attending camps, or reading history. We must all find these tools and ways in our life to maintain our connection to God so we maintain our resiliency and ability to overcome adversity. We are all inherently spiritual, whether we recognize it or we don't, because we need that connection to survive. I think that it is a blessing that we have so many ways that our Guru Ji guides us through those spiritual awakenings.