Focus on yourself and Not on Others – Secret to Self-Motivation by Swami Mukundananda
if we find our motivation from the praise of others then their criticism can demotivate us let us try and be inwardly motivated when we are inwardly motivated then the effect of what people say will not be there upon us once in one city the people set up a race of france and the race was to jump all the way up the hill it was a very steep hill and the people lined up and the frogs started off but the people were saying he will never do it they just cannot do it and one by one the frog started falling off but one frog continued and continued despite all of the criticism that he was receiving and finally this fraud reached the top so when the other frogs met to find out his secret they found out that he was deaf he had actually thought that they are cheering him on [Applause] people will always tell you all kinds of things there is the law of the garbage truck one passenger he got into a cab and as the cab was about to start another driver screeched out of the parking lot this guy had to slap his brakes so it was obviously the other car’s fault but that driver screamed at him and this cabbie just waved blissfully and the car went off so the passenger was most impressed he asked the cabbie that he screamed at you for his own mistake so were you not disturbed by it the taxi driver said sir some people are like garbage trucks they are full of so much of rubbish that they go around spilling it upon others so what they spill is not about you it’s about them we have to learn to be indifferent to all of this [Applause] if we find our motivation from the praise of others then their criticism can demotivate us let us try and be inwardly motivated find an inner aspiration and when we are inwardly motivated then the effect of what people say will not be there upon us so let me complete this answer with one more story the buddha one man came to him and started criticizing him and hurling the worst kind of libel upon him for one hour this went on and the buddha was non-currently listening so after one hour the man got exhausted the buddha asked his disciples give him something to eat and something to drink so that he again has the energy and again he starts off so this man was very impressed he said that i said so much to you and it did not impact you in any way you did not even say that what did i do to deserve this so the buddha said look when you give something to someone and he doesn’t take it with whom does it remain and the person who has given it so you gave all this to me to take it or not take it was my option i exercised it it’s all with you so if we can insulate our personality in that manner then we will be free of the statements of everyone else thank you swamiji there is an external world made from earth water fire air and sky and there is an inner world within us our thoughts values beliefs ideas attitudes as we progress in this mind management challenge we are embarking on a journey within ourselves we are discovering tools and techniques to adorn to ornament ourselves from within [Applause] you
