"In the end we only regret the chances we didn't take."
A few weeks ago, I was doing a training program for our devotees at our ISKCON center in Siolim. My theme that day was to highlight the need for devotees to find their hidden potential. I was explaining, how important it is for every devotee to feel successful in life; how the growth of every organisation depends on the growth of the individuals within the organisation. I explained to them, how in the name of growth of the organisation, we can't overlook individual growth - both are interconnected.
One devotee asked me a very intelligent question. He asked me, "What does success mean?" I told him, "Success, doesn't mean to become successful in the eyes of people. It doesn't mean name, fame or any other external things." I told him that, "Success means to feel that you have done your best, that you have lived up to your full potential. Others are not the judge of our success but we ourselves are." I concluded by saying, "The ultimate test of success is, when one is on one's death bed, he or she shouldn't have any regrets that "I didn't live up to my full potential. I could have done so much more." Rather, one should feel, "I have lived life fully to my potential and I am dieing with pride in my heart and not regrets." That feeling is the feeling of success." Mahatma Prabhu, a senior disciple of Srila Prabhupada, puts this succinctly as, "Don't enter the grave with music still in your head." What it means is that, whatever, we want to do, we need to do it while we are still alive. And because we don't know when death will strike us, it is all the more important to go and chase our dreams now and not postpone it.
The joy of finding one's talent, one's niche, one's potential and then getting better at it, is a joy that everyone should experience. No one should be barred from it - it is everyone's birthright and everyone's sacred duty. We all are uniquely created and we all have a unique place in this universe in terms of our contribution. We just need to find it. As Mark Twain's famous quote goes - "The two most important days in life are - the day you were born and the day you find out why." We all need to find our "Why". That's one part of self-discovery and an important part as well. We can't neglect it. This "Why" is our Sva-dharma - our God ordained duty.
Whenever some devotee would go and ask Srila Prabhupada, "What should I do, what service should I do?" Srila Prabhupada would invariably have the same answer. He would counter question them, "What do you want to do, How would you like to serve Krishna?" He always encouraged devotees to think, strain their brain and do something that they really liked doing. He wanted independently thoughtful devotees.
With now knowing what is success and the need to achieve it, it is our scared responsibility to act now and become a success for us, for the world and for God. Wishing you all the best in your journey to success - the world is waiting for you. Don't keep it waiting too long.
- Achyut Gopal Das
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