PEACE OF MIND

[Y V RAMUDU]

                                                       Peace of Mind

Once there was a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The King looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror, for peaceful towering mountains were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell and in which lightening played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all. But when the King looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest.

The King chose the second picture as the winner. ''Because,'' explained the King, ''peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart.''

Yes! This is true. In our life, we face so many problems. The problems might be different. But the result is same. We lose our peace of mind.  We want to be peaceful and try in different ways for that. 
Normally, we think that we can get peace of mind if we don't have any problems.  So, we try to run out of problems, which is almost impossible. But we forget that peace is not somewhere else, it’s in our own mind, and to be generated by ourselves, not someone else.

So, don't try to run out of problems. Try to maintain your equanimity despite of problems. Face your problems with a smile. Try to solve them to the maximum extent. Leave the result. Anyway, it’s not in your hands.

Why to lose your control for the problems which are unavoidable??  Remember one thing. There is not even a single person in this world without any problems. In fact, you are in a lot better position when compared to many of those who are leading pathetic lives.

There are people who have no food to eat, no water to drink. There are people who are physically ill.

There are people who are mentally retarded. There are people who are living their lives every minute with the fear of death.

If you remember that, you will know how small your problems are when compared to them.

Then, you can face all your problems with a smile. And most importantly, you get all the peace of mind you want.