Get Stronger Everyday

I have often seen people expressing their displeasure in carrying out tasks assigned to them. “Why should I do this?” “This is not my job.” “Oh, what I have been reduced into?”

My mother used to tell us, her children, “No work is degrading. As long as you are cooking food or cleaning vessels in your house, or mopping the floor of your house, or as long as you are cleaning the toilets of your house, you don’t have to feel bad. If you are doing these in someone else’s house, then you have to feel bad.” According to her, one must study well and become an engineer, doctor, or scientist. Household activities and other such jobs are meant for the uneducated. But I go one step ahead and believe that even if all the above-mentioned jobs are performed for a living (i.e. to earn money), there is no need to feel bad or ashamed. As long as we are not earning by cheating somebody or doing heinous crimes such as murder, etc., there is no reason to feel bad.

Everybody is not fortunate enough to get a good education and get into good jobs. In spite of all our limitations, if we can still hold on to values such as truth and honesty, we have nothing to regret, and I feel one may live with peace of mind.

In fact, what is more important is the attitude with which we perform the task. There is a beautiful story which most of you may be aware of. There was a saint who had mastered the holy scriptures and was revered by everybody in his neighborhood as a holy man. In the house opposite to his, lived a prostitute. The saint used to sit outside his house to meditate on God and would see the men entering and leaving the prostitute’s house. He would curse the woman and think what kind of life she is living. He used to put one stone every time he saw a man enter her house. In course of time, a heap of stones piled up in front of his house. The prostitute, on the other hand, used to see this saint with reverence and pray to God everyday to forgive her for the life she has chosen to live. When they died, the saint went to hell and the prostitute went to heaven. The saint was furious and wanted to know what crime he had committed. He was told that the number of his crimes equaled the number of stones of the heap collected in front of his house.

Never ever regret that you have been reduced to perform a low profile job. Remember, nobody can reduce you. Take it as a test from the Almighty. Perform every task that comes your way with the utmost sincerity. That sincerity will qualify you for bigger and better jobs. Here are the words of Swami Vivekananda:

            By doing well the duty which is nearest to us,

            the duty which is in our hands,

            we make ourselves stronger.

Get stronger everyday, both physically and mentally. Every work performed with sincerity and dedication takes us one step closer to the goal.


R. Padma