WHATEVER IT TAKES

WHATEVER IT TAKES

“Luck favours the hard working”, that’s been my philosophy, and that’s what kept me working hard throughout my adult life. Even though I’ve been a work horse, luck seems to have eluded me like the plague. I’ve had bouts of luck from time to time, but nothing substantial to write home about. With most people, lack manifests in only one area of their life, but for some reason, it seems to have attached itself to me like a leech sucking on my blood. My lack of luck came in the form of an unsuccessful marriage, poverty, delays and health problems that I choose to ignore, until it became unbearable. When I turned 40, I had decided it was time to change my life around, I was no longer prepared to live a life of degradation and misery.

This was the year I was going to complete my studies, I had just 8 subjects left to complete my degree and I was determined to finish it no matter what happened. Nobody could have predicted that our world would be thrown into disarray by the covid-19 pandemic in 2020. While everyone else was panicking, I had resolved at the beginning of 2020 that I would complete my studies and not even a pandemic could stop me. Infact I had decided to take full advantage of the lockdown and was able to finish all my assignments in those two months that we could not leave the house.

Being interested in religion and spirituality from a young age, I decided to dive deeper into my own religion, and others. I studied the lives of some of the most successful people in the world, more importantly, their daily habits and any specific rituals they performed for success. What I concluded was that they all came from different religious backgrounds and  some were atheists. So, there are no full proof formulas and I would need to come up with my own formula if I wanted to change my luck.

Even though everyone that I studied had no religious beliefs in common, there were a few disciplines that most of them followed, it was up to me to choose what would work for me. I knew in order to attain great wealth the first step would be to improve my health, so I took out a gym contract and changed my entire diet to include more fresh fruit and vegetable. I now start my day with yoga, an hour at the gym and a healthy breakfast. I also noticed that all successful people have a positive mindset. Everyone had different paths to a peaceful and positive mind, so I decided to try meditation. It was very difficult in the beginning, my mind was full of chatter and swayed off in its own direction, so I tried chanting out loud with the help of a rosary for concentration.  My life as I knew it a year ago was a distant memory, I changed a few habits and was able to focus better, feel good and study without becoming tired.  In the year of the pandemic, I managed to complete my degree and achieve mental and physical health.

Despite all the positive changes that came into my life I was yet to see any sign of material wealth. I was applying for job after job with no success, not even a call back or acknowledgement of my resumè.   What’s going on I wondered, how is it possible that my e-mails are flooded with vacancies and I can’t even get an interview? I was desperate for my situation to change, I went from peaceful, to gloomy, to depressed. It was a cold and lonely  place to be in. Yet, I picked myself up once again and looked for a way out, at this time it was easy for me to choose the “left hand way”. Desperation can be dangerous and then there are the crafty who know when to pounce on the weak. Thank goodness for my faith in God, I again chose the religious way. 

I had been married to a Catholic for nine years, so I trusted and knew quite abit about the religion. Although I was no longer a Catholic, I believed that God was one and if I were to call with love and faith, then perhaps God would hear my plea. It was February and time for Lent, so I decided to give up some of the things that I enjoyed. During the time leading up to Easter, I had completed the reading of the Bible once again. Although I did not see any difference in my finances or job, I noticed it in the state of my mind. I was no longer anxious and depressed, the daily novenas and prayers had helped me recover.

In May Ramadan was about to start, it was that time of the year when muslims fasted without food or water from dusk to dawn (mind you, I was not even a muslim). I heard that this was the time in which God fulfilled wishes, so I decided to try it, afterall I had nothing to lose. It would not harm anyone else and I had read that there were lots of health benefits to fasting. I tried, it was difficult for the first few days but when my body became accustomed to the fasting, time seemed to have flown past, before I knew it Ramadan had come to an end. Besides the fasting, in that time I had read the Quran and learnt alot about Islam, if nothing else, at least I had learnt to be more tolerant and understanding.

In my quest for improving my luck, I had improved my life. I was proud of the fact that I was a Hindu, but, I thought I did nothing for the religion I was so proud of. It was common knowledge that European countries were embracing the Bhagvad Gita, they must have found some benefit it, it was time I embraced it as well. I had come to realise that it does not help that I was able to embrace every other religion and ignore my own. Being born a Hindu meant a whole lot more than doing yoga and meditation, we had volumes of scriptures that taught us about everything from, mathematics, to physics, philosophy, astrology and poetry. It was time to expand my perspective about the meaning of life, I did not know how all this would impact on my luck, I just knew that it would. Study of the Bhagvad Gita taught me how to handle conflicts, relationships and the ability to control my own mind and emotions. Desperation can lead to following the wrong path, throwing good money after bad and sometimes even hurting ourselves and those we love.  Sometimes we need to face adversity, to appreciate the things we seem to have acquired through luck.  Luck, my friend is for he who can grow through bad times and come out on the top.