We like to think of our lives as battles. We sometimes win, sometimes lose. We don’t celebrate our defeats. We like to forget them as bitter memories whether we have learned any lessons or not.
On the other hand, we are very keen to celebrate our victories. These mostly relate our personal lives like performing well in studies, sports, job,etc.
If we ask anybody what is the most significant victory they have achieved, we can expect to hear something about their personal lives.
The sad truth is that the greatest victory we can achieve is conquering ourselves. Self-conquest is about controlling our thoughts and passions.
It is about speaking less, judging lesser and loving most.
We often act without thinking and think without acting.
Self-restraint and self-discipline are the greatest virtues because once we mastered these we can face any adversity with equanimity.
Conquering anger is very difficult; that is why most of us fail in this. Even the greatest of men and women have failed. Uncontrolled anger makes us commit the most atrocious crimes. We lose control over what we say.
Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”
Mark Twain
Conquering envy and jealousy is very difficult, but is essential for our peace of mind.
“Jealousy is jaundice of the soul”
John Dryden
We have the Big 5 personality traits called by the acronym “ OCEAN” – open-mindedness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism.
Even if we end up on the positive end of the spectrum in each of the above traits, we might face troubles in relationships and careers if we have not learned to control our emotions.
Vanquishing the inner enemies is more difficult than becoming successful and earning huge wealth.
A happy life is a peaceful and contended life which is only possible if we succeed in self-conquest.
[–]hennaojisan 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun - (0 children)
[–]shivashivashiva 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun - (0 children)