Hari OM
The next text which will guide the
Choose-day posts is "Tips for Happy Living - jIvnsUÇai[
/jiivanasuutraani", by Swami Tejomayananda (Guru-ji). Choose-days writings
are here to prompt deeper thinking on the choices made on a daily basis and
seek to provide prompts for raising the standard of one's thinking and living.
This text composed in format of Sanskrit traditional teachings, speaks directly
to this purpose. As ever, the full text may be obtained from CM Publications - or your local centre
(see sidebar).
Each 'Choose-day' we will investigate the process by
which we can reassess our activity and interaction with the world of plurality
and become more congruent within our personality.
Having
determined that goals are necessary in order to give a point to our endeavour,
how should we go about setting goals?
Dvividham
hi lakshyam praathamikam charamam ||8||
Two-fold, indeed, is this goal - the immediate and the
ultimate.
Goal
Setting
Setting
the right goal is important. Understanding of goals helps us to do this.
Subdivision is required. We can talk in terms of intermediate goals and
ultimate goals
Intermediate
goals can be further divided. ;
Immediate goal - what we need to do today or
in the near future. These may be
otherwise considered as 'simple' or 'starter' goals. Often we lose ourselves in
planning for a great future, but at the cost of our present. Taking care of the
here and now is very necessary in order to underpin the future. A well-planned
daily routine gives us time to utilise our present.
Short-term goal - is what we plan to achieve
within, say, the next two to four years.
Long-term goal - that which we want to gain in
the next five to fifteen years.
In
our childhood and youth we are great at the short-term goals (for example - our
schooling choices) and we can be very idealistic about our long-term goals, but
are often neglectful of staying in the moment, dealing with goals which play a
part in daily life. Instead, they fall into indulgences and distractions
As
adults, we become too busy battling with the present that we tend to only plan
ahead with regards to the purely material; finance looms large and we can lose
sight of the dreams of our youth.
As
we grow into our elder years, the concerns are only for the immediate and
short-term.
Goal
for Every role.
We
play many roles in our lives. For every role that we play in the present and
shall play in the future, we must have a goal. What type of a son, student,
spouse, professional, parent, citizen or grandparent do we wish to be? What
should we do to achieve that? We usually make plans and work hard only for
achieving professional goals; those are easy to define. We do not empower
ourselves to become ideal citizens or spouses. Some only put forth efforts when
relationships are on the very of breaking.
Ultimate
goal.
Everyone
seems to have a different goal in life. However, are they really different? Is
there something common in them? Do we all not want to be happy at the end of
the day? The doctor, the actor, social worker, the banker, the builder,
street-sweeper… all want the elusive thing called 'happiness'. Glimpses of it
are had from time to time, but for it to become a permanent state of being is
the dream of all. Yes, it is the ultimate goal of all, irrespective of their
age, nationality, religion, class or colour.