Why are we like this?

Yoga Chitta Vrithi Nirodha

Last couple of days I have seen few things which elevated my mind and some that made me realize, why cant we stay in that state all the time. there were fluctuation of feelings, emotions driven actions, advise others and get advised as well...

We too had a very blissful celebration of "Gowri and Ganesha Festival", and the fun part was my niece who had come home. She is almost 3 years old and can take all your wits down with her logical thinking.Oh... well let me not go in detail...

Point is, as a kid she is playful, always in joy, even if she cries its momentary. So were we, when we were ykids! But now, most of the time juggling between good times and bad times, pressure and relief, happiness and sorrows, lost and found! Ever given a thought why we are like this?

Answer is simple. We grow in growing world! From being a kid, who has no worries about future and no memories from past,  to elder who has all responsibilities of future life with a broken platform of past. this is because as we grow, our thinking capabilities gets broadened and also complicated. A proper nurture to our thoughts helps us to see less problems, or even No Problems at all!

I read this at one of my friends place.
Watch your thoughts, they become your words
Watch your words, they become your actions
Watch your actions, they become your habits
Watch your habits, they become your CHARACTER!

adding to that..

Watch your character, because it defines YOU...

So everything starts with what we think ha? Generally it is said that, a depression or an unhappy state of mind is due to too much thoughts that are related to either the Past or the Future and too less (=Zero... most of the time) about the Present tense!
"Oh S***! I shouldn't have done that, Now, what do i do? imagine if it never happened, how fantastic it would have been! Oh I'm so screwed"
this might be a common way of thinking about situations. That is normal, but if this thought pertains you like forever, you are just re-living a situation that should have gotten resolved long back if you had acted right!

A friend of mine who is complicated enough to become an example of.
Here what happened. He, unfortunately had a bad experience with his exams and studies and was a failure. So that is not a big thing, happens to many people. He thought, and thought too much about it and went into a cycle of depression. he chose the usual wrong path which he assumes is the right solution for his Problems(depression). Perhaps that over-thinking and wrong solution has made him so ignorant about his capabilities. Even now a simplest situation cannot be handled by him proving himself to be a loser again.
As friends we cannot discourage/hate/neglect/unfriend such a person just because he is problematic in matters like financial/relationships/work efficiency etc. as such thing demotivates and demoralizes the person. Instead we should try to make them realize about themselves. In his case that is what I'm doing and I realised it is not the "thoughts", it is its generator - the MIND, where the core problem is!

This often reminds me the epic situation faced by Arjuna during the battle of Kurukshetra, which i believe is the root cause for the birth of "BHAGAVADGEETHA", where Lord Krishna counsels him to upraise him to his feet and face that very situation, which could have had been what today's generation call "Mind F*****"! (sorry using it)
As i have said, thoughts are generated by our mind. A healthy mind generates constructive thoughts. But how do we keep our mind happy, how do we know whether it is happy or not? Mind's activity is uncontrollable, unpredictable and unnoticeable process of perception and reflection. << if you are thinking you cant help it, you just do not know the word "meditation". Of course there are a thousand methods of it, but important thing is to do it! In Bhagavadgeetha, Krishna advises Arjuna to practice YOGA in 3 forms, Karma (yoga of  performing services), Jnyana (yoga of gaining knowledge) and Bhakthi (yoga of spirituality).
By serving others, you feel proud, you are happy, your mind is happy. By gaining knowledge of interest, you feel satisfied, you are happy, your mind is happy. By practicing spirituality, you feel delighted, you are happy, your mind is happy.

The great Sage Patanjali says "Yoga chitta Vrithi Nirodaha" which means "Yoga is the cessation of fluctuation of the mind" the inner meaning of this phrase is not that it.
Read on to know more... http://www.omalpha.com/pat.html
Yoga not only helps us to control our conscious thoughts but also helps to cease unwanted subconscious ideas involving our existence in past and future, that grow up and impact on our conscious deeds.

The most incalculable advantage by meditation is concentration of mind or you can say "No distractions!"
You must know the scene from "Kung Fu Panda 1", where Master Oogway speaks to Master Shifu and says "Our Mind is like this water my friend, when it is agitated, it is difficult to see, but if you allow it to settle, answer becomes clear"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNBM5uwc50s < watch from 1:15 to 1:35!

That is what required by everybody today. Instead of over thinking about "what have i done?" or "what will I do??" if allow your mind to be at present and calm, answer becomes clear.

So what are you going to do now? :D