The first day of the rest of our lives

I recently began reading Y P Singh's Carnage of Angels, a fictionalized account of his own days in the Indian Police Service. I only finished the first chapter yesterday, but it was enough to make me realise just how difficult it has become these days for ordinary people living out their lives. It also made me think about karma, and how we don't really impart this aspect to our future generations. I think it has also to do with declining moral and religious values, where we think about ourselves and today first and others and tomorrow later.

So what does karma have to do with anything?

In all faiths, there is an underlying priniciple that you will pay for what you do, in this world or the next. Judgement day will judge you on your deeds and misdeeds, and you will be punished or rewarded accordingly. With this at the back of our heads, we progress forward through this world we live in.

But what happens when we forget that whatever you will reap, you will sow?

I think that a lot of it stems from not having your priorities right in this world. But what should your priorities be? We all leave this world how we came in it - with nothing. We may have touched other people's lives in some way, but we will all eventually pass away. So how should we live this life we have? Some very good views of this I reproduce below:

"There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life -- happiness, freedom, and peace of mind -- are always attained by giving them to someone else."- - Peyton Conway March

"Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny."
- Unknown

"To live without risk is to risk not living."- Pope Pius XII

"They who live have all things; they who withhold have nothing."- Hindu proverb

"Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace."- Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama), Indian philosopher and founder of Buddhism (c. 563-c. 483 B.C.)

Use your health, even to the point of wearing it out. That is what it is for. Spend all you have before you die; do not outlive yourself. - George Bernard Shaw

The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it. - Anonymous

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. - Buddha

"Achievement seems to be connected with action. Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit." - Conrad Hilton

I think that this is a good collection of thoughts on how to proceed further.

I like reading quotations. They put my mind at ease.