Our future is shaped not just by how many options we have Gita 09.06

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Our future is shaped not just by how many options we have but also by how well we choose among the options we have often we tend to lament that we don’t have any options that even if we want to create a brighter future for ourselves that this option is permanently closed for us for example if we live in a particular country where may be a particular career option is not so viable then we start feeling oh this option is permanently closed for me, somebody wanted to join, enter into a particular elite institute or a particular elite company and they just couldn’t get the job over there and they feel that option is never available for me because of particular limitation and thus they feel deprived, disempowered, distressed however more defining and certainly more empowering than how many options we have is how well we choose among the options we have ultimately life is nobody in life is given unlimited options even the wealthiest persons don’t choose the skin color they are born with, they don’t choose the IQ level they are born with so everybody has certain limitations so rather than resenting our limitations we can focus on revisiting those limitations as providing us some options within them so how much we have control over that is determined by our past karma but how we use whatever control we have that is determined by our present karma that is in our power always so even if certain options are ruled out for us that doesn’t mean that our future is locked and sealed if we use whatever little freedom we have we can grow and that is the mood of responsibility with acceptance the Bhagavad Gita points to this dynamic when it says that यथा आकाशि सितो दित्यम् वायू सर्वत्र गोमहान् तथा सर्वाणी भूताणी मत्थाणी निथ्यपथारया that actually just as the wind exists within the sky similarly all living beings exist within the jurisdiction of God’s will that the wind determines the sky determines the area of the movement of the wind not the specific movement and now if the wind kept resisting, resenting that oh i cant fly to the moon no, on the earth it can fly a lot. Similarly rather than resenting what we can’t do, if we focus on doing what we can, there are limitations no doubt, but there are options within the, there are options within the limitations also.
So rather than looking at the options we don’t have, we focus on the options that we do have. And every small option when chosen well, can contribute to creating a better and better future for us, till ultimately we have a rich future, far far better than what we would have had, if we had kept resenting and regretting what we don’t have. So empowerment comes when we look at what we do have and use that well.
And even in a terrible situation, we can make the terrible situation hellish by being resentful, irritable, or we can be, we can make it less terrible by being purposeful and thinking, what can I do the best in this situation? How can I be my best in that situation? And small things like that can contribute to making significantly better changes. Thank you. Hare Krishna.