Leave the driving to Greyhound

This line was phrased by my brother, Dr. Anurag, in one of our conversations on surrendering to Thy Will. It’s easier for us to accept someone else being on the driver’s seat when we are in a train or a plane. In a car though, I for sure, am a back-seat driver or I tend to hold the window sill as if that is really going to protect in case of a crash or a bham (as my little one calls it)

Leave the driving to Greyhound implies we surrender and we trust. We accept that He knows what’s best for us and we walk on the path without resisting or doubting. We let our will align to His will.

In Hindu scriptures we talk that God has two kind of children – one that are wise and that can take care of themselves and ones that are child-like and need Him to take care. For the wise children, God pays less attention. For the child-like ones, He is always there protecting and caring. From Pushti-marg Vaishnav mindset of servant or lover mentality we don’t want to be a further botheration to God. However we want and seriously want to feel His presence. Does that mean we should be like His wise children? Or can I be the child-like devotee without being annoying? Whatever type of devotee, I am at a moment, I need to remember to “leave the driving to Greyhound” and accept all that He has designed for me to experience.

You drive

And I’ll ride

Wherever you take me

Whenever you take me

However you take me

You drive

And I’ll ride

I know and

I trust

You know the path

And you know the destination

You drive

I’ll ride

I promise

Not to be a backseat driver

Not to question your judgment

I promise to accept

You drive

I’ll ride

In surrender

And in love

Cut it out!

The thought of this chapter is inspired by the serial “Full House” spoken by the character Joey. The thought is further built up by many books too, one of them being ‘The man who sold his Ferrari’ by Robin Sharma. The crux is that if I begin my thought chain of blaming somebody, complaining or dwelling on something negative, I simply should “cut it out”. Don’t encourage it. Don’t let it grow. Consciously and cautiously let me “cut it out”.

As we may all have noticed, and I certainly have, negative thoughts are a rabbit hole. Whether its fear, whether its finding faults or whether its plain gossiping. At the end, I feel it leaves me with a lower mindset, a grumpy mindset. The key is “cut it out”. Its weird how both complaining and gratitude work and how they spread into everything. I start complaining about something little and very soon I find faults in everything – the sun is too hot, the traffic on the roads is too loud etc. Very soon it starts depicting itself on your demeanor. If instead, I foster the sense of gratitude, it develops and pretty soon I am thankful for everything – a new day, a nice warm day, activity depicted by traffic on the road and liveliness within.

A different thought is if you are feeling negative, be in the feeling and get out of it. It’s the opposite idea of “cut it out”. Somehow I can’t relate to that fully. “Cut it out” is what I feel is my mantra. As I catch myself grumbling, I focus on the mantra and try to dwell on happy thoughts. The more I “Cut it out”, the more I feel closer to my true self. Thanks Joey!

What’s on your “Cut it out” list?

Finger pointing

Complaints

Pettiness

Cut it out!

Holding it on

And on

Greed and anger

Cut it out!

Temptations

And lethargy

A dullness

Cut it out!

“I” am right there

Cut this veil out

And let me in

Let me in

The $10M check

The $10M check

The inspiration for this story was from one of my favorite actors Jim Carrey. I love the scene from the movie “Bruce Almighty” where Jim Carrey becomes God for a period of time and realizes the responsibility that comes with God’s power. He soon realizes, only God can handle it all and in the scene he says “I surrender” and is run over by a truck. The humor and trust get me every time! It eventually leads to getting his girlfriend and his job back.

The $10M check is his personal story where he wrote himself this check for “Acting services” and believed it would materialize in time. And it did! He believed and visualized and put his heart and soul into it. He believed with total intensity and integrity. His beliefs made the Universe believe!

I would divide this into 3 things – a belief, action and Grace. In the world of acronyms I would call this a BAG – Belief, Action and Grace. A bag signifying the journey you are about to take! It starts with a belief, a vision, a thought. Isn’t that how the Universe was born? Then comes action, not just passive action but deep seated, intense, active action to make it happen and finally its grace. The $10M check then materializes! It’s interesting that at this stage it requires even more belief to acknowledge that it was your belief in yourself that was the first step to be here.

I sometimes sell myself short. Self-doubt and ‘not being good enough’ may haunt me too. The first step of believing is the key. The $10M check works out for the ones who “Don’t stop believing”. Believing not only happens for the $10M check but for health, for love and for Him.

What is in your BAG?

I believe

In this vision

A dream

And a reality

Of the future

I believe

And I act

For this dream

To make it happen

I believe

And grace showers

My dream

Realized

In a new form..

I believe

And I surrender

To Thine Will.