The Secret Role Model
Each one of us look up to someone as a child or for matter of fact as grown up too.
When I was a small child, I was very aggressive and always ready with my guns to fight evils of the society. So it made sense my role model was at first, Indian police officers. I grew up with an aim to become rough and tough police officer and thrashing negative elements and abolishing malpractices in the society.
The universe had different plans for me. After many twists and turns in the journey of life, I became a yoga teacher. But nevertheless, my purpose remains the same: eradicating negativity. Though instead of using force, it was by chanting mantras, meditating, helping people to choose the right path and removing diseases from the body through asana.
But how did I end up following this path?
Recently, I realized that I have been following my mother; that she is my secret role model.
She has been a house wife throughout her life. She is always on her toes, caring for her children, her near and dear ones without any concern for her own needs. Her pastimes are household work and even at the age of seventy, she takes interest in remote cars so she can play with my seven-year-old son.
She was not introduced to formal education but she is a lady of wisdom. Her ideas and thought about life, raising children and treating people are very progressive. She loves everyone and do not judge them by their deeds. Her motive in life is being good to society and not to worry about evils as nature will take care of it itself.
She gets sad too. Anxiety enrols her. She gets disturbed by better memories she doesn't know how to cope with.
But she's human; and she is no less than a saint to me.
Negativity hampers me a lot. I would get caught up in the stresses of small things like shopping, about how I dressed or all the things I couldn't control.
Yoga has helped me find different kinds of stillness that encircle me. I know if I take care of the present moment, the other things will ultimately be taken care of. The moments when I'm cooking, taking care of my son, my yoga classes have started to take the front seat.
But my mother taught me not to be anxious with the obscenity of the past and the worry of the future but to live in the present moment fully. Instead of getting worried about my 'to-do list,' I prefer taking action on it and do not blame myself or repent if something remains undone.
I have become as beautiful as a woman, who brought me into this world. My failures have shaped me into wonderful being.
With the grace of yoga and by following the footsteps of my wonderful mother, I have learned that it’s you and only you who is responsible for your happiness.
We create so much mess around us and sometimes get so involved in it that unknowingly, we fall in love with the chaos and it becomes so difficult to come out of it. This not only affects us but people around us.
There are some people who are strongly framed that they can nullify external stimuli however some get destroyed by it. And you can be one of those people. Just remember to stay firm in all calamities and find your own way to be happy.
By: Sapna Singh
Sapna is a yoga teacher and passionate about yoga philosophy. She is a mother of a 7-year-old and loves to write what she feels. You can find her on Instagram.
