Rid your mind of distractions to reach your goals

A king was travelling around his kingdom with his entourage. During one such travel, he had to get into a boat to cross the river. He got into the boat with his minister, a few other staff and his pet dog. This was the dog’s first experience of travelling in a boat and hence it was very restless and was jumping up and down, and not letting anyone sit in peace.

The boatman was greatly troubled with the dog’s action as he was concerned that the boat would sink due to the rapid movements of the dog and the panic it created among the passengers. He was too terrified to let the king know about it, not that the king did not know as he could see the panic on everyone’s faces but he himself was not too sure what he could do to calm the restless dog.

Now, seeing the panic on the boatman’s face and the discomfort of the king himself, the minister decided to step in and help ease the situation. But he knew that the dog was the king’s favourite pet so he had to make sure he had the king’s permission to do what he knew would calm the restless dog.

He went to the king and said: “My Lord! If you allow me, I can make this dog as quiet as a pet cat.” The king was very happy and told him to go ahead. The minister, with the help of two others on the boat, picked up the dog and threw it into the river. The dog started to swim desperately to stay afloat. It was now dying and struggled for its life. The king was shocked by the minister’s action but chose to trust him.

The minister then dragged the dog back into the boat. The dog went quiet and sat in a corner. Everyone including the king was surprised at the changed behaviour of the dog. So, the king turned to the minister and asked: “At first it was jumping up and down. Now it is sitting so quiet. How?”

The minister said: “No one realises the misfortune of another without tasting trouble. When I threw this dog into the water, it understood the power of the water and the usefulness of the boat.”

Turn your mind away from distractions: The mind is flexible, adaptive, coherent, energised and stable. It can easily be choked if not directed away from distractions or negativity. Tune your mind to positivity.

The end of the caterpillar is the beginning of the beautiful butterfly: When your mind and your senses are aligned, your being evolves beautifully, just the way the caterpillar transforms itself from a scruffy cocoon to a beautiful butterfly.

You are as strong or weak as your mind is: A strong mind can embrace prosperity and adversity equally, weak mind caves in easily. Control your mind, before it takes control over you.

Sriram Bharatam is the Founder & Chief Mentor of Kuza Biashara Limited, a capacity-building organisation coaching youth & SME owner across Africa. He can be reached @Sbharatam or [email protected].