“The mind is what we use to perceive the world. We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are.“

As a society, it’s all too easy to focus on our external achievements and forget to assess whether we are happy with the state of our life.

We tend to take everyone at face value, equating what they have on the outside to how they feel on the inside.

We have mastered how to look successful, but not how to organize our lives so that we feel successful.

But wait! before moving forward you think, why did I choose this book?, because there are lots of books available in the market, end I don’t like to read the book too much, in fact, I don’t like to read any book at all. The story behind it, I heard a lot about guru Gopal das and this book from one of my classmate friends 🙇‍♂️, And I personally liked that particular person the way she speaks, the way she lives, and whatnot, in the first impression I had a crush on her, but that’s it nothing else, in a nutshell, I started this to read just because understand that particular person in general, So moving forward to our main topic what are some key takeaway from this book, and why you should read this book?.

Life’s Amazing Secrets is a story of two fictional characters (a couple), who seems to be really successful, and happy on the outside. Yet, as the story progresses we learn how misguiding appearance can be. I loved the analogy of the Wheels of a Car used in the book to talk about the four key areas of life. Our personal life, relationships, work life and social contribution.

The lack of the right pressure even in one wheel can slow you down in reaching your destination; the loss of one can be fatal.

He also compares the steering wheel to our spirituality. Let’s say we have the right pressure in all tires, and all wheels are aligned, but if we don’t have steering wheels in our hands, we will not reach our destination.

The book is divided into four parts like the four wheels of a car. It signifies that all four areas have the same importance and how we can find the balance.

1. Personal life
2. Relationships
3. Work Life
4. Social Contribution.

Personal Life

Growing Through Gratitude

Gratitude is not a feeling; it is a state of mind that can be developed, and it allows us to tap into a reservoir of unlimited positive energy. Those who are grateful are not only immune to distress but also gratitude on many different levels offering us unlikely solace in a time of great difficulty.

Press Pause

Pausing from time to time for reflecting and counting blessings and when we are thankful for what we have, makes us poised to receive more. You may consider writing a gratitude log daily, which is based on three principles of gratitude: recognize, remember and reciprocate.

Why Worry

You can easily understand by just seeing the below image.

Great! You understand it right? If not see it again.

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Relationships

What We Choose to See

What we choose to see in people determines our approach toward them. Gaur Gopal Das claims that they are five ways to look at people and he encourages us to aspire for at least Type four.

• Type 1 – A person who cannot see the good at all.
• Type 2 – A person who sees both good and the bad, but chooses to neglect the good.
• Type 3 – A person who sees the good and the bad and is neutral to both – difficult to find this kind.
• Type 4 – A person who sees both good and the bad, but chooses to neglect the bad.
• Type 5 – A Person Who Cannot See the Bad at All; They See the Slightest Good and Magnify It.

Correcting Cautiously

Many times we forget to invest appreciation and love into a person before we correct them. He suggests considering four questions before correcting anyone. Am I the right person? Do I have the right motive? Do I know the right way? Is it the right time?

Forgiveness

Relationships follow the principle of growing a plant: constant care is required so that one day, it blooms. There are no shortcuts. The most widely underestimated quality which can help us improve our relationships is forgiveness. Everyone is going through challenges concealed from the public eye, and we need the lens of empathy to be able to see that.

Work-life

Competition Crossroads

At work, we tend to compare and compete with others, instead of comparing and competing with ourselves. when ambition crosses the line of ethics and turns into greed, even reputed businesses can get involved in scandals as they vie for the largest piece of the pie.

Integrity & Character

Philosophy without good character is of little or no value. There are three aspects of spirituality in practice: Vichaar: The philosophy that we seek answers from. Achaar: The act on that philosophy. We must do it. Prachaar: The good conduct that is displayed to the world through those actions. We must practice it.

Social Contribution

Selfless Service

You can be completely selfish, completely selfless, or any of the combinations in between. Life is a journey from being selfish to becoming selfless. In order to be happy, we should shift our attitude from being an ice cream to a candle, from being selfish to selfless. This is shown through service.

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My thoughts about reading a book in general.

Previously I feel reading books is worthless, but yes! it helps you a lot, what I feel is that from reading a book you just do not understand the author’s purpose but at the same, you learn the small-small thing, and that teach you much more, it’s just like connecting the dot, you got my point right?.

if you read the complete book, you feel that you have lots of knowledge about that particular topic and you master the fundamentals, and that’s all we need.

But at the same time, it takes too much time to read as compared to watching videos and listening to audiobooks, in today’s world we all have limited time, but yes, in the end, it’s worth it. So choose wisely. That’s it.

Thanks for reading this complete blog.