I AM READY!

KAMLESH PATEL tells us how to feel confident about ourselves and get ready to face unexpected changes

Life often brings us unexpected changes and challenges that repeatedly test our resilience and adaptability. We need to develop the confidence that, ‘Yes, come what may, I am ready to face it.’

Sometimes we lack this much-needed confidence in ourselves.

Why? The first thing is preparation. When we have put in our hundred percent and done the necessary preparation from our end, we feel confident. Did Arjun lack confidence while shooting his arrows? His arrows never missed their target. That was the kind of preparation he had put into perfecting the art of archery.

Another thing that comes in the way of confidence is our focus on the result. We fear how the result is going to turn out. We doubt our ability to meet the desired result. When we find ourselves swimming in this mire of unregulated thoughts and feelings, our confidence takes a toll, and the results appear to recede further away from us. To drop the fixation on results, we have to focus on the present and do the best we can at this moment.

Another reason for us to lose confidence is others. When we start focussing on others, we compare. This has a direct impact on our confidence levels. Whenever someone outperforms us, our confidence  dwindles, and when we are able to perform better, our confidence increases. In the second scenario, even though our confidence does increase, it is only transitory, because the moment someone else does better than us, our confidence plummets again. The best approach is to compare ourselves with our own previous version. When this is our reference for comparison, we are always going to feel motivated to do better and better. While we go on preparing ourselves, putting in the required effort, and steering clear of anticipation of the result and comparison with others, how do we develop the confidence required to face the different curveballs that life throws at us? We must first connect with the Self. When we are connected within, in harmony with ourselves, we find the confidence to make life decisions with clarity and conviction.

Meditation is a beautiful tool to dive within and harness our inner potential, strength, and confidence. To a meditative mind, everything appears crystal clear. One is able to develop the ability to discern and choose with wisdom.

While this harmony within helps us stride forward with confidence, it is still, to some degree, imperfect because of our tendency to worry about the future.

How to handle this? Whatever we can do, we must do with dedication, sincerity, and commitment. If we drop all that is not in our control or scope of action, our baggage of worries will significantly reduce. When we are thus continually working and honing ourselves, our attention will move away from unwarranted thoughts and worries. As the famous saying goes, ‘Energy flows where attention goes.’

When we do the best we can, with all our dedicated efforts, a sense of contentment dawns. The acceptance of ourselves, our life situations, and our sustained efforts to better ourselves lead us to the seed of contentment. This seed grows into a tree and eventually there is infinite contentment that is present, along with our continuous effort to better ourselves

When this tree of contentment blooms one day into a forest, and our hearts carry this peace, tranquillity, and joy with who we are and who we have become, we truly feel confident.

One way to accelerate this process is to make our hearts purer, getting rid of complexitiesand impurities. The Heartfulness system offers a method for this: the Evening Rejuvenation process, also called the Heartfulness Cleaning method. As you make your hearts and minds lighter and purer, everything becomes simpler and joyful. Confidence is a by-product of a highly refined existence. ■

The writer, known to many as Daaji, is the Heartfulness Guide.