What are good Roots? (1)
AN201710-01Good Roots need nurturing so that they do not rot
Good Roots is our foundation to handle success and adversities
Our lives can never be free from problems, obstacles and adversities. Simple problems like quarrels, mischief, addiction, etc. Normal obstacles like hostile environment, bullying, failures, betrayal, accusations, etc. Adversities like divorce, bankruptcy, war, life-threatening events, terminal illness, etc.
Just on addiction which most of us fall prey to such influence around us constantly. A few can rid addiction as easy as snapping our fingers; some need more time but many do not get over the addiction althogether. A few chain smokers can quit smoking immediately and a few drug addicts can quit and start life afresh but some always return to the temptations until health deteriorates beyond redemption. All of us are now addicted to our mobile phones for the various apps and entertainment at the expense of our vision and brain functionality (easily tired and slow in thinking and analysing). Those with good roots can easily catch the addiction and rid them without a hassle while some hardly realise they are trapped in an addiction that will slowly rot their body and mind.
Obstacles during young days. We are usually influenced by our surrounding people or things. If we are born in a family of smokers, most will be smoking at a young age. However, one can choose to quit when his underlying good roots help him to observe and reflect on the consequences of smoking. Human is different from animals because we can observe, reflect and decide to change with vigor, diligence and perseverance. This determination to put that change in our body, speech and mind makes human different and special. This is also why human is the dorminating species on Earth despite having the weakest body that cannot swim faster than fish, fly higher than birds, run faster than dogs, etc. Our mind with good roots or values may us superior. If our mind is overwhelmed with bad roots, we will be a feeble tree that cannot grow well and suffer disease and be attack by pests easily. This means that we are surrounded by bad influences constantly as there is not enough good roots to identify our weakness and move away from bad influences.
Adversities of war are unthinkable and is a disaster to mankind and Earth. Leaders with good roots or values will lead the world towards peace and harmony. It takes only just one leader with bad roots or values, to start a war and the world to suffer from the ripples of war. Why is war full of bad sins? Because war inevitably brings killing and and filled the atmosphere with hatred and intolerance. Similar, when kids are addicted to violent games with fighting and killing contents, these kids become intolerant and violent naturally because these bad roots are planted deeply in their young, naive mind. So explaining and enlightening young minds about the irreversible damages to sight and mind caused by addiction to games or videos, will help to safeguard their future.
Our success in life depends directly on our good roots. In school, students with diligence and perservance can focus to learn the basic skills for their future career. In our career, we work and learn diligently in our job to earn a salary to feed ourselves and others. In business, we build trust and integrity so that customers and suppliers can lay their trust firmly on us. Why do some very rich become poor? Most of the time, the culprit is Greed. A rich couple could get addicted to gamble and lost their private houses and life savings within 6 months. Speculation in shares and investments can cause rapid losses. Greed has blinded our good roots of honesty and diligence and let our ignorance take over the wheels, driving us into great losses. Ignorance will lie to us about our current circumstance and raise false hopes to justify the continuous pursuit of greed and driving the addiction even deeper. In short, all attachments and addictions have the shadowy hands of Greed and Ignorance.
A few bankrupted men can stand up and build their careers again while most failed. These resilient spirits have embedded good roots that rescue them from ignorance and greed. They can reflect on their current failure and compare them with lessons learned in the past that are stored like seeds in the mind. So when they catch on similar or same bad habits or influences, they can easily awaken from them and walk straight out of them. Some bad habits may not harm anyone but will plant bad seeds for our future.
So what are the good roots in us that we have to uncover and nurture. Maybe the following are some suggestions.
- Humility that let us stay grounded and not air-lift by success and subsequently crash down when fuel runs out
- Empathy to feel that all beings dislike sufferings and like happiness
- Gratitude to be satisfied with the basic minimum we have in life and treat the extras as blessings we borrow from future or God
- Self-reflection to see our mistakes and incessantly perfecting them for the better
- Diligence and perseverance to undertake hardship to accomplish good tasks without complaint
- Compassion to let us have continuous energy to give, forgive and help all beings
If one has the above good roots, one will be successful and happy with life regardless whether one is rich or poor. This happiness comes from an internal joy and security that nothing in this world can give. Besides, this happines keep our spirit buoyant and free forever because good roots help to steer away from bad influences easily and direct us on the right path that is free from sufferings.
CoolThoughts
