Always Be Positive! By Sri Swami Chidananda

One of the favourite sayings of Gurudev, which he both wrote in his writings as well as quoted in his divine talks was, "Never despair. Never despair. Nil desperandum." And a poet once said, "Hope springs eternal in the human breast." Another poet said, "Tell me not in mournful numbers life is but an empty dream." You have come here to strive and attain. Strive on. Do purushartha. "Heart within, God overhead." Be strong. Be determined and plod on. If thus you do, you will get help from God. That is the meaning of "Heart within and God overhead." In your heart have the right attitude and plod on. Do exertion and then from God help will come.

There are two ways of approaching life. One is diffidence, lack of confidence, negativity: "I don’t think I can. It’s too difficult. I can’t." Another way is: "I can. Whether I can or can’t, how can I say unless I first of all try? Then only I can know whether I can or can’t." So to come to a foregone conclusion that I can’t is not rational. It is irrational. "Let me give it a fair trial. I will try my best." And if after trying your very best, you do not succeed in attaining the objective, I can assure you, you have not failed. Success may not be yours, but you have succeeded. You have fulfilled a human being’s duty.

Because you are made in the image of God, you are not a bundle of negativity. God is all that is positive, all that is auspicious, good and beautiful. There is no negativity in God, and you are made in His image. You have potential for all that is positive and positive only. You should not belie your divine nature. At every step, in all things, your life should prove your divine nature.

Therefore it behooves you to always take a positive attitude towards life. Always have a positive view of things, not a negative one. Have a positive attitude towards life, and in your daily life always move forward by taking a positive approach to life, never a negative approach. Then your heart is in the state that the poet implied when he said, "Heart within and God overhead."

And it is for such a heart that we should pray to Lord Karthikeyan or Skanda Bhagavan: "I have full trust that You will be my leader, that Your grace will be my guiding force and a leading light in my life day by day. So, with Your help there is nothing that I cannot do. With Your help, O Lord, all things are possible for me. And I will take Your help for granted because You are grace. You are love and compassion. You are ever ready to bestow Your grace upon all sincere seeking sadhakas. Being certain of this, I shall strive, having full trust that You will help where help is needed."

Therefore, of the two attitudes, a positive and negative attitude towards life, of the two approaches, a positive and negative approach to life, and of the two ways of viewing things, a positive and negative view towards all things, the wise sadhaka always takes the positive approach—which is the right approach—and never takes the negative approach which is the wrong approach.

Hope is a divine quality. Determination is a divine quality. It is a manifestation of sakti. Therefore, it is our duty to ourselves and to God to always keep our interior in a positive state. It is our duty to always take a positive view of things. It is our duty to always take a positive approach towards life, and it is our duty to always move forward keeping in our heart a positive attitude towards life and actions. This is the right attitude, and this you must adopt. And this will help you to succeed in your life!

This article is a chapter from the book Seek The Beyond.