Karma ‘Aradhana’

When the ancients coined this proverb, were they referring to the notion that happiness and
contentment derived from work could be equated with that of the gratification worship or prayer
granted? Or better still, were they implying that work done as sincerely and perfectly as possible
is worship in itself? If so, how is it possible? The word "work" means an activity done in order to
accomplish or maintain something. From such a perspective, any activity is work. The activity
done by a student and by a farmer, howsoever different they may be in terms of physical labour
and mental stress, can be labelled as work. If observed from a higher angle, even an ascetic who
has renounced all activities and sustains himself on air alone is working. So detaching oneself
completely from work is impossible. Work is always followed by a result, positive or negative.
Positive results ensure happiness. A student who works hard to score good grades definitely
desires it. We are glad if our hard work pays off and depressed if it doesn't. But no one wins
everywhere every time. No one loses everywhere every time either. Hard work need not pay off
always. Luck can sometimes take her to great heights with less effort. There are no hard and fast
rules either to ensure victory or avoid defeat.

In the modern era, people are taught by the society that only winning matters. Such an outlook
would only result in corruption, malpractice and ultimately the doom of an individual. Success
matters... Yes! But how we succeed and for what we succeed is important. Take a football match,
for instance. Both teams play to win. One team dominates through sheer skill, coordination and
beauty. However, the other team wins at the final decisive minute by foul play. But what did they
win? The game, yes. But did they win in playing good football? The answer is obviously no. The
same scenario is evident in many areas of the society. People have imbibed the wrong definition
of success. Does the success of a student come from good grades primarily? Does the success of
an employee come from his salary? Can success be equated with the end results or accolades?
The answer should be no. The ancients compared worship with work and not with results. It is
high time we began to view work from this angle.

How can we transcend our mentality of work to that of the ancients? Let’s see how :

Interest/Passion: The first and foremost factor is that we should be interested in it in the first
place. A work which when undertaken with interest automatically extracts vigour, attention, skill
and efficiency. Whereas, any work done without interest will be enervating. If forced by
circumstances to do something one is not naturally interested in, deliberately being enthusiastic
about it will help remove boredom and fatigue. Chances are that one’s confidence will be high
enough to tackle various situations in life.

Decision and Will Power: The next fundamental point we have to adopt is setting short term and
long term goals and being very realistic about them. Taking the right decision is crucial to
achieving the goal. Our will power will dictate how firm we are on the decision. Only the strong
survive. The weak perish. It is the law of nature.
Right effort: Right effort means spending energy in the right manner. Neither overexertion nor
laziness is acceptable. There is no hard and fast rule here since each of our threshold varies.
However, determining it isn't difficult. We should be aware of our strengths and weaknesses.
Lifting too heavy a weight will injure the body and lifting too light a weight won't help in any
way. However, the right weight can be lifted with focus and introspection. After determining it,
we should train oneself to finish a particular work or topic of study within a period of time. The
more we practice, the less time it will take next time. One could study a subject 8 hours a day and
still be behind someone who studies just two hours a day. It's not about working hard anymore.
It's about working smart and intelligent. We should develop a talent whereby a particular activity
can be completed sooner and efficient than our peers. Time management is the keyword here. We
should also polish ourselves. There is always room for improvement. The more we refine
ourselves, the more productive and unique will our work turn out to be.

Right environment: Any activity demands an environment will enhance our focus and help
maximize our potential. It's very difficult to concentrate in a noisy or unhygienic atmosphere.
Sometimes, people may create an unfavorable working environment. No matter how good we are
to others, there will always be people who hate us. Sometimes, it would be those who are close to
us who would be holding us back. This is an unfortunate truth. Getting rid of such negative
people is difficult but if we want to grow positively, then we need to make our stand and let go of
them. We should surround ourselves with positive people who will encourage us, motivate us,
support us, pinpoint our mistakes in a healthy manner and teach us how to rectify them.

Ideas: Come up with new ideas every day on how we can perform a particular activity better. Be
creative, innovative and implement new ideas into work. We should observe how successful
people do it and modify it into a manner which suits us the most. Integrate our own style and
creativity into it and form a new style. Implement it. If it works, great. If it doesn't, try again with
a new approach. Through trial and error, results will be more transparent.

Surrender :Last but not the least, whatever we do, focus on the performance and surrender the
rest to God. The message of Bhagavad Gita which is to work without desiring the fruits may help
us be free of anxiety and stress but not all of us can work without the desire to attain the fruits of
our labour. Hence it is necessary to view the message in its truest sense - We should act and
desire keeping in mind that the results are always dependent on the will of God or the higher
forces of this Existence. Such an attitude will wipe out both disappointment and excessive pride.

Thus by practising the above points in our daily life, we can enjoy work better which will
gradually elevate our outlook on anything we do to the status of worship.

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