Keep up your hopes

One of the highest aspirations of humans is to get a glimpse of the ultimate truth. We seek an intuitive realisation of the nature of the universe.

We also want to know God and whether the scriptures take us to the highest truth. At a psychological level, we want to fulfil our worldly responsibilities and grow spiritually without experiencing negative emotions like depression and anxiety.

Sometimes we feel that the world is a random place and is not governed by laws. It seems that the cunning and the crooked thrive. In such a situation, we want to know whether there is a God and whether He loves us and our family members.

Whatever be the situation, we cannot afford to give up trying to achieve our highest goals. We have to pick up our tools and continue working. If we do not want to make an effort for ourselves, we can perhaps do so for the sake of our loved ones.

Mahatma Gandhi said that our duty is to make a sincere attempt and it does not matter too much whether we fail or succeed.

For guidance in life, we need a set of good books to read from time to time. One of these books can be our basic scripture such as the Gita. Abraham Lincoln had about 20 favourite books which were his companions for life.

We would love to do many things before we die. These include getting our children settled, saving for our old age, and taking steps to stay healthy. Some of us may have a desire to travel around the world and discover new things.

But a stage comes in life when we realise that we cannot solve some of our problems. We will have to live with them.

Christina Rossetti said, “The road is uphill all the way.” Well, the way is not only uphill but uncertain if we want to achieve something significant in life. The good thing is that a rough road map is available in the form of good books.