Take Your Medicine

That which in the beginning is like poison tastes like nectar in the end.
(Lord Krishna, Bhagavad Gita)

How do you feel about spring cleaning? We guess very few people like cleaning their houses, we aren't any different. Yet, everyone likes the cleanness, tidiness and order after we are done cleaning. Take fitness as another example. Few people enjoy the torturous feeling of exercise and would rather sit on the couch instead. Yet, once we make a routine of going to the gym, running or doing yoga, what a beautiful feeling it is afterward. Same with meditation and eating healthy food.

All these investments in your health, relationships and personal well-being seem like torture while you are doing them, but the good feeling after we have reached our goal more than compensates for your effort. You feel good about yourself, uplifted, joyful, and full of energy afterwards. Always try to have an eye on your the mission and it does get easier. You may find for yourself that visualizing your goal is in fact half the journey.

The same principle applies when it comes to all the tasks and problems that come your way.  You feel good and proud of yourself when you are able to develop all the necessary skills and strength to move the stones out of your way.  A Tao traveler has to work as hard as everyone, yet, we probably carry less resentment with us. When problems come our way we have learned the hard way that all obstacles are there to help us succeed. As the German poet Goethe once said, "Even with stones that others put in your path you can build well." How true!

A new year has just started, so why don't we work on our resolutions together. Develop all the habits that you think are beneficial for you. Perhaps most importantly, start focusing on all the activities that you love doing and the people you truly care about. Perhaps that is all a spiritual path is really about, a rediscovery of love. Love for things, for people and for yourself.  Focus on the love for your body when you exercise and eat healthy food; focus on your love for God when you meditate, and the love for people you care for when you think about your professional goals. See how you grow and strive when you give yourself all this life-giving nutrition. That which is bitter as medicine in the beginning is sweet as nectar in the end.  Enjoy!

By Christian and Su Zhen