The terrain of a mountain is rough, raw, and sometimes barren. It may fool you into thinking it’s unwelcoming, but as you lift your gaze over the horizon, you are ushered into a panorama beyond what your mind can imagine. The soft clouds caressing the mountain paths, the expansive range of soft peaks that almost seem an illusion is all there to fill your soul with wonder and inspiration.
Life, too, sometimes feels like that rough, barren unwelcoming mountain path. The struggles and experiences weigh me down. The more I resist and fight my fears, the more they inflate, chaining me down. Our goals sometimes fuel our fears, and we often wonder why. Why, for instance, would I aspire to become a teacher? To teach would mean facing every opportunity to speak in front of strangers and invite the fear of failing, of being judged for saying the wrong thing, or the fear of not knowing what to say. Why would I want the anxiety and rush before a class?
And this is the point where I’m urged to lift my gaze to look over the horizon. Our goals are our yearnings which Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita calls our dharma. We are asked to look above the limitations of our fears and step into the world of infinite potentials. Do I stop myself from experiencing the richness of life because of the fear of failure? What if teaching others is an opportunity to learn something new about myself and my potential every day? It is to invite new insights and awakenings.
And so what if I fail. I make failing an adventure much like hiking up the mountain. I fall and pick myself up again. I build strength, resilience, and a truckload of humility. And most importantly, I begin to throw away the facade of perfectionism and invite the raw, real authentic me.
Arjuna was riddled with doubt over his dharma when he saw his family on the battlefield. Yet it was the Lord who reminded him of his actual duty to his nature of being a Kshatriya, a warrior to uphold righteousness. And so he obeyed counsel and followed his heart.
The heart of a warrior carries many things: courage, bravery, focus, but what she holds most dearly is the spark to learn and keep inventing herself. She has faith in her potential that she will carry herself through no matter what. ‘The heart of the warrior’ holds the abode of Devi, and she is shakti.