WISDOM FROM SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

You Are Responsible For Your Own Happiness

If you are sensitive and your intention is not to hurt anybody, that is good enough. But sometimes in spite of you being so cautious, some people get hurt. There is nothing that you can do about it. Some people feel that anything you say will hurt them. You compliment them and they think you are taunting them. You give them an honest feedback and they think that you are cruel and rude.

So there are some people who are in that mindset, they may feel upset anyway.

If you invite them for a party, they are unhappy because they think you are showing off. If you don’t invite them then of course, they feel that you don’t care for them. What do you do! So, you don’t worry about it. They have to deal with their hurt.

From your side, you don’t use harsh words. From your side be courteous. From your side be caring. That is all you can do. Don’t worry about what is going on in their minds because there are millions of people around and their minds are all going in different directions. You have no say over it. You cannot make everybody happy.

If two people don’t like each other and you talk to one of them, the other becomes your enemy automatically! If you are simply talking to one person, that can irritate somebody else because you spoke to them. And that is what is happening in the world today.

What is happening in Gaza? If you show sympathy for Gaza, or say something about it like, 'Oh it is wrong, so many children are dying', then Israel will get upset with you. And if you say, 'Israel is right', then Gaza will get upset about you. What do you do? That is why in this world you can’t make everyone happy. You listen to your conscience and see that to the maximum extent, from your side you have no intention to hurt anybody. That is good enough. You cannot be a football of so many people’s emotions and feelings; what they feel, what they don’t feel.

There is a saying in Sanskrit, 'There is no giver of happiness of misery. You create your own happiness and you become miserable on your own, and nobody can stop you from being miserable'.