One old lady was in her home when the doorbell rang.  When she opened the door, she discovered a 5-year-old girl at her doorstep, with a beaming smile on her face.  The lady asked, “My child, what do you want, ask?”  The little girl replied, “Aunty, we are building a 30-crore rupee hospital in this locality, and I am selling pencils to collect for it.  Will you purchase these pencils from me for one rupee each?”  The lady smiled, “Selling one-rupee pencils, you wish to build a hospital for 30 crore rupees?”  The girl said, “No aunty, I am not in it alone.  See the boy on the other side of the street—he is also selling pencils.  We are doing it together.”  Isn’t it a moving story?  This little girl was finding such happiness and satisfaction in doing something worthwhile and meaningful.

Earlier, we had talked about how by becoming good, we feel good.  On the 14^th day of the Happiness Challenge, let us discuss about how we do good to feel good.  All of us have the urge to do productive, meaningful work.  Consider an anecdote — there was a lumberjack who used to slog it out in the hot sun, cutting trees to earn his living.  A psychologist conducted an experiment.  He went up to the lumberjack and said, “I am offering you a job at twice the salary on my lumberjack farm.”  The psychologist explained to him the nature of his duty.  He was to take the axe and keep on hitting a particular tree with it, but he was not to hit it with the front sharp edge, rather, with the round backside.  He asked the psychologist, “The tree will never get cut if I do this.”  The psychologist said, “Never mind.  I am paying you for it.  Why should it matter to you?”  The lumberjack said, “All right then.”

He started off hitting that tree repeatedly with the round backside of the head of the axe.  After three days, he brought the axe to the psychologist and said, “Sir, here is your axe.  I resign.”  The psychologist said, “I was offering you twice the pay, why was it not enough?”  The lumberjack said, “Sir, I need to see the chips flying.  Merely hitting it like this has no meaning for me.”  In the same way, we all wish to see the chips flying.  We wish to see our efforts creating a difference in some way or the other in this world.

Watch this interesting video by Swami Mukundananda –

Of course, we are all blessed with different talents.  That is the nature of this world.  No two leaves of a tree are alike.  Similarly, no two human beings have the same exact biometrics.  And our temperaments and talents are quite varied as well.  Let us make it our endeavor to manifest the talents and abilities that lie within us.  Let us not die with the music still in us.

We know Michelangelo, the great sculptor.  He created 11 masterpieces, however, he started work on 44, and the ones that remained incomplete—they present a sorry sight.  So, let us not die with the music still in us.  God has blessed us with our own individual unique talents and skills.  Let us utilize them and exert ourselves to put them to good use.  When we start doing the best we can and alongside we try to be the best we can, we then realize that by being good and by doing good, we naturally start feeling good.  That is the secret of happiness.

Over the last 14 days of the Happiness Challenge, we have reached this one station, but that is only in theory.  We now need to discuss how to implement it and practically access and reach that state in our life.  Now, let us think about the special talents and skills that we possess and how to utilize them in the best way possible.  That may be by enhancing the quality of our work, or the contribution we do to the others, or the service we offer to God and Guru.