It is said that our mind is like a piece of paper caught in the wind. As the paper swirls, sways and pirouettes to the whims and fancies of the unpredictable wind, so does our mind to the flurry of deluging thoughts pervading our intellect. It is very difficult to pull ourselves free from such contorted situations, which derides our ability to control the mind and our thought process. Our mind should not be like the candle flame which flutters even at the slightest whiff of a breeze. It should be more like the ever shining stars, up in the skies, unperturbed by the distractions around. To have an unwavering mind, we first need to learn to understand its subtle nuances. We need to develop/ improve our concentration prowess and learn to streamline our thought process.

The world renowned motivational speaker and author Mr Robin Sharma (of "The Monk who sold his Ferrari" fame) says that the easiest way to develop concentration is to simply stare at the seconds hand of our wrist watch for 2 minutes and think about nothing else. He called this technique "The Two Minute Mind". This is supposed to help us in building our concentration muscles considerably. It is said that the average person does not even spend 30 minutes in a month in total silence and tranquility. We need to find more time for ourselves. Sit in total silence and stillness for atleast 10 minutes in a day, cogitate on what is important in life and focus on our life's mission/ vision. Silence indeed is golden.

As the Zen master once rightly said "It is the space between the bars that hold the cage".

We all possess the faculty of concentration but for majority it is instinctive and automatic and not conscious. Even a lion or a tiger will gather its strength by a moment of absolute stillness before it springs upon its prey. This instinctive automatic concentration power is embedded in every living being. But until we gain control over our mental and spiritual forces, we cannot attain the level of complete concentration. When the scattered mind is gathered together, it will act like a powerful search light through which we can explore our latent potential and powers. The more we learn to use these hidden forces, the more proficient we will be.

Always remember that "The weakest living creature, by concentrating its powers on a single object, can accomplish good results while the strongest, by dispersing its effort over many chores, may fail to accomplish anything. Drops of water, by continually falling, hone their passage through the hardest of rocks but the hasty torrent rushes over it with hideous uproar and leaves no trace behind".

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