Let us take a 'mental shower' daily

- by KParthasarathi 25 Aug 2008
http://content.msn.co.in/MSNContribute/Story.aspx?PageID=4053f1e7-eeee-435b-8fb9-3c63db2c4e93

I do get motivated but off and on. It is never permanent. When I listen to a motivating talk by a professional, I decide to stay motivated and plan to do things differently. But I find in a couple of days that I have gone back to my old ways, mostly negative. Why is it, I ask myself, motivation cannot be permanent. Possibly it is not expected to remain so without some effort on our part.

I read a book recently comparing motivation to a bath. Bathing once does not remove the dirt permanently. We take bath daily to remove the accumulated dirt and bacteria with soap and shampoo. We come out clean, fresh and with fragrance depending upon the soap we use. But this lasts only for a short time. We take bath daily and even twice depending upon the grime and dirt we gather during the day. We wish to come out refreshed and clean.

But our mind gets dirtied daily with all negative and undesirable thoughts. We keep on gathering them layer upon layer without any ‘bathing’ to get rid of them. Motivating the mind is like a daily shower intended to remove the stinking thoughts in our mind and to replace them with fragrant positive thoughts. Nobody need ever reminds us to take the bath and likewise none needs to tell us that we should motivate ourselves. If we fail to do, the wrong attitudes harden themselves making it difficult to remove them easily

Let us resolve to take the ‘mental shower’ daily and exercise our brain in flushing out the unwanted attitudes by reading inspiring books of great authors, listening to lectures of people who can make a difference and spending time with positive minded good persons. This ‘mental shower’ would keep us focused on the right goals and make our lives worthwhile. kpartha12@hotmail.com