Want to be Happy?

Hi friends, I am a great admirer of Dr.Stephen Covey who is known as Management Guru. I am also a member of Dr. Covey community. Recently I happened to see an article by my colleague about Dr.Covey’s collections in our organization’s monthly house magazine. I thought when it is there in our house magazine, why it should not be in my blog. It was about his famous 90/10 principle. This principle says “10% of life is made up of what happens to you, 90% of life is decided by how you react.” We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us. I think this may be destiny. I firmly believe that as per karma theory this 10% is bound to happen. I have mentioned about this in my earlier post Is rebirth a reality or myth?. Remaining 90% is entirely a different story altogether. It is determined by your reaction to the inevitable 10%. You can make it happy one or make a mess of it. Dr Covey has given a simple example to illustrate his theory.

A family of 3 members, dad, mom and a daughter getting ready to start their day with a breakfast. Suddenly daughter knocks over a cup of hot tea on dad’s business dress. According to Dr.Covey, dad has no control over what has just happened but what happens next will be determined by how he reacts.

Reaction -1 : Tea splashes, he curses, scolds daughter,criticizes spouse. Daughter brakes down in tears, misses her school bus, he drove her to school, so getting himself late, tries to break traffic rule, caught by police , getting fined heavily, reaches office late with disturbed mind , returns home in the evening to face a hostile environment from both daughter and spouse.

Reaction -2: Tea splashes, he consoles daughter, changes his shirt, every thing goes smoothly for the whole day, also getting goodwill from his family members for his smooth behavior.

I think generally people with weak mind and less will power will react to such situations as per example-1 only. If one practices Yoga, remains mentally fit, then only he can exhibit reaction-2. To make both our body and mind strong, we should be in touch with spiritualism. Only a stress free mind can react to any type of situation in a positive way. In the whole Biosphere, only for human being God has given thinking power. Unlike other animals, we can think and then act. Our reaction should not be spontaneous. If it is so, then what is the difference between us and animals? We are the beautiful creation of God. The Creator has done his work perfectly. Now it is left to our own choice to remain beautiful or not.

Dr.Covey’s 90/10 principle may be incredible one, but to apply it in our day to day life, we need to make our mind strong which is possible through spiritual practice only.