It seems Donald Trump throws little salt over his shoulder after he eats…. if you look closely at Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper, you will see that Judas has knocked the salt cellar over with his elbow. Thanks to Judas Iscariot, spilled salt is associated with betrayal and lies. If you do spill salt, a pinch thrown over your left shoulder is supposed to blind the devil waiting there.

The world’s largest car manufacturer, Toyota, changed its name from “Toyoda” in the 1930s because the number of brush strokes was more auspicious in Japanese culture. Toyota Motor Corporation was founded by the Toyoda family. The word “Toyoda” uses ten Japanese strokes to write while “Toyota” uses only eight. Eight is considered a lucky number in Japanese culture. For this reason “Toyota” was chosen as the company’s name. And it has become a world-famous car brand.

From beginning humans have been superstitious. For the sake of getting lucky, for the sake of earning more money, we readily accept to do those small things such as wearing a ring, adding the extra letter in our name, hanging those wind chimers or crystals in our homes, offices just to bring the luck into our life…… Many people have lucky objects that mean a lot to them personally, but throughout different cultures and times there have always been objects almost universally believed to bring good luck. And really, there is no scientific answer why it works for some and does not work for others. It doesn’t matter if they actually work. I suppose it is like the placebo effect. And what is placebo effect? If you believe something works then it will! It’s a psychological phenomenon, in which the recipient perceives an improvement in condition due to personal expectations, rather than the treatment itself, which is also known as the placebo response.

The list of items of good luck charm – talisman, Feng Shui luck charms, Gold Fish, Money Trees, Laughing Bhddha, Crystals, Gem Stones, Coins, Buttons, Qaurtz stones, Red Envelopes…………..the list is big! Charms can be used to enhance the best directions for improving your wealth conditions, health conditions, prosperity in career, promotions, work, sleep, marriage, family, health and so on. Why these specific objects? This question has no answer. Almost any object can be used as a lucky charm. Little things somebody gives us sometimes bring great luck, and then we make those items our lucky charms. It is because of the favourable associations they make. Many souvenir shops have a range of tiny items that may be used as good luck charms. Good luck charms are usually worn on the body although there are exceptions.

You might be surprised to learn that about quarter of Americans are superstitious. Superstition is associated with gullibility. If we think about rationality of the concept of luck, it seems funny. But, a lot of people throughout history have made significant decisions based on superstitious beliefs of luck. It’s difficult to understand why large numbers of people choose to believe in an imperceptible, un-measurable power over their own rationality. Also, the belief in luck has little base in reality. But, then so many successful people are believers in the element called luck.

Is prosperity merit-based? Not at all, we see so many deserving people fail in their genuine efforts, while some undeserving people succeed. The truth is that, everything happens by cause and effect; it is all so difficult and complex to reliably predict success and failure.  Yet we should not stop trying putting in our efforts. If we really could understand what will work and what will not, I suppose life would be very boring. There is no real tangible or intangible thing called luck.

Finally, if those lucky objects help us feel secured, why not try those lucky charms! In a 2010 research on lucky charms, the researchers found that people perform better on tasks when they have a lucky charm with them. So if you’re lucky charm is boosting your confidence, have it. Positive and negative events happen all the time in human lives, both due to random and non-random natural and mock processes and even improbable event happen by random chance.

Giri and Hari were neighbors; Giri was a poor farmer and Hari a rich landlord. Giri used to live a very relaxed and happy life and he thanked God for fulfilling his bare necessities. He was always in a happy state of mind. He was relaxed. He never bothered to close the doors and windows of his house at night. He used to have deep sound sleep. Although he had no money he was peaceful. His daily requirements were fulfilled from his small piece of land.

On the other hand, Hari used to be very anxious and stressed always. He used to close all windows and doors of his house every night, due to worry and stress that nobody should steal his wealth; thus, he could hardly sleep. He was always troubled that someone might break open his safe deposit box and steal away his money. Deep in his heart, he envied peaceful and carefree Giri.

One day, Hari called Giri to his house and gave him a boxful of cash saying, “Giri, my dear friend. I am blessed with affluence. I always feel that I should share some of my prosperity with you, kindly take this cash and live in prosperity.” Giri was tremendously happy. He was joyful throughout the day. As night fell, he went to bed as usual. But, that night, he could not sleep. He went and closed all doors and windows of the house. He could not sleep because he started feeling claustrophobic. He got up many times just to see if the money box was safe. Thus, the whole night he was disturbed.

As soon as the next day dawned, Giri took the box of cash to Hari. He gave away the box saying, “Dear friend, I am poor but I enjoy my life and most importantly my good night’s sleep. Your money disturbed me so much; it took away my peace of mind. Please don’t misunderstand me, take back your money.”

Moral of the story is: Prosperity is in mind. 

Most of us connect prosperity to money and affluence. But the fact is we can either be financially wealthy, or mentally fulfilled. We don’t believe there is an inconsistency between different forms of “wealth.” The saddening part is we see them all working together. What good is financial wealth if we don’t use that to seek our own fulfillment as well as the good of others around us? How many times does the feeling cross your mind that you have to do good for your family, your friends and the society? And, what purpose would spiritual and emotional fulfillment serve if it only went hand-in-hand with poverty and struggle? Children of affluent people are generally supposed to be at low risk in most areas of life. People think that the rich and affluent can safeguard their kids from most seen and unseen problems. However, recent studies have suggested problems in several domains; particularly drug abuse, substance use, anxiety, and depression because of two main causes: pressures to achieve and isolation from parents.

To feel prosperous the first thing to realize is that everything around us is a product of our mind.  All that happens in our life is also is a result of our own mind. This has been proven scientifically over and over again……….we don’t need tons of money to attract prosperity. We however need to feel prosperous in order to attract prosperity. Joyfulness attracts more joy. Happiness attracts more happiness. Peace attracts more peace. Gratitude attracts more gratitude. Kindness attracts more kindness. Love attracts more love. You need to work inside in your psyche. So, keep working within your heart to change your world, all you have to do is change the way you feel inside. All said and done, it is not at all easy.  Your feeling will determine whether you become poorer or richer.

The size of the house, its locality, how it is furnished etc does not matter; what matters is people who live in it, how happy they are together. Often, you find yourself lost in a mix of contradictions: beautiful, shattered; refreshing, frustrating; friendly, bitter; inspirational, small-minded; jealous, compassionate. As far as the ending feeling is positive, it should not bother you much. When you are surrounded with happy, cooperative and loving family and friends, the cheap housing, old vehicle, lesser known school from where you studied, unbranded clothes and accessories really don’t matter.

‘Prosper’ means living according to one’s hope. While wishing someone prosperity we are saying that we wish they will achieve the future they are hoping for. Abundance in life is not about what we have and how much we have. It’s not about what we get. It’s not about what we claim. Ultimately, abundant life is about what we receive as a gift from the Lord. Abundance is manifestation. It’s not a sin to be rich. And we should not forget that while dying we are neither rich nor poor. Furthermore, it’s not important to only count how much we have received, but it’s equally important how much we have given. At the end of the day, perhaps that is how we know we have an abundant life; when we have shared our life with others. When we have enough of the blessings of God when we have forgiveness, peace, love, grace, wisdom, etc. to share with our others, and then actually do it; that’s when we truly have prosperity in life.

Every article/object in our house has a place to be kept. We have tendency to preserve objects/papers/medicines/newspaper for some cuttings/books/showpieces/clothes/gifts year after year thinking that some day it might be of some use to us. We pile up cupboards, shelves, racks and showcases in our homes with so much that at times we forget what we have and how much we have. And, when we need something, it is difficult to find it in the mess. In fact we waste our precision and valuable time in messing up our surrounding. Therefore, clutter not only blocks energy, but causes inconvenience and wastage of space and valuable time. Basically, clutter can be defined as the things or possessions that we don’t use any more which get mixed up with things of our everyday use.  Some people have habit of keeping possession of broken items that need repair, spares which are accumulated for a potential breakdown, unfinished craft work, and unwanted gifts.

Think about this: clutter prevents the free flow of energy. There’s no reason to be enclosed by things that don’t work, that we don’t need any longer, or things we are no longer going to use.  Clutter represents postponed decisions and the inability to move forward in life. Clutter brings with it a sense of disorder and confusion. When you have stored clutter remember, nothing new comes into your life until you make room for it. That means you need to start clearing out the old stuff you are holding on to in order to make room for new things to flow into your life. Try it out – give away your old belongings to people who would use it or click them on your mobile and sell them off on OLX or some other similar websites.

Everything you own should have its value in your life, either because it’s useful or attractive or because you just love it. And, make place for it. Every item needs a place where it ‘lives’ or is kept. Setting things anywhere or randomly creates confusion. You can’t keep your car keys   on kitchen platform and sugar container in sitting room. Let your car keys, house keys, cupboard keys live in a bowl or on a hook by the front door. You never lose anything when you put it where it belongs to.

It is important to maintain a standard of cleanliness in each room of your house at all times. If you leave clothes that are to be worn the next day without folding them neatly, anywhere, then you are getting them dirty and crumpled.

Every room in your house has a purpose; for example, your kitchen is a food preparation area and not a storage space. Make space for the appliances. Keep the clean after use. Make space for pots and pans. Make racks for keeping them. If you don’t have enough space, hang them along the wall. Keep knives and scissors in a drawer. The idea here is to weed out what you’re not using, and then put similar items together and in the best places. When your home is tidy, it’s easier for you to concentrate on tasks at hand. Like a neat kitchen allows you to concentrate on a good cooking and a neat bedroom aids in good sleeping. I think, keeping a tidy home shows you care about what you live in. It projects your personality and mentality above all.

It is always better to clean up and organize things on a daily basis. The more you postpone, the mess accumulates and it is a huge job to clean up all at once. So make a practice of doing the work in segments till it is done. Doing cleaning work for a whole day is ok or working 10 minutes a day of putting things in place – what is logical – you decide. Clean does not mean ‘sparkling’ effect, it means there aren’t piles of junk and clutter strewn everywhere.

A truly clean house just feels better; it creates a tense-free, easygoing atmosphere in house. Clutter, dirt and messes have a way of making us tense, discontented, worried and anxious.  A cleaner and neater house inspires rest, relaxation and happiness. When you are rested, relaxed and happy, you will be more open to positive experiences. You might be surprised to find out how much your happiness, health and prosperity levels can be improved simply by keeping your home clean at all times. Although, it might take some time to get used to make it a habit and let me tell you, it’s worth the effort. When you think of dust and dirt as signs of stagnant energy, it becomes very clear why it should be removed from your home.

There’s a saying that success is just the accumulation of good habits. I think it is so true. The more you do to help yourself to succeed, the more successful and prosperous you’ll become. Having a tidy home gives you tidy mind and it helps in making a successful career. A successful career gives ability to go and buy what you like when you want it; this in turn brings happiness and feeling of abundance.

For the swachh bharat abhiyan to succeed, it important to understand that cleanliness and prosperity is connected. A clean country will go a long way in building a successful country. I would therefore advise all to support the and take seriously the swachh bharat abhiyan

]]> https://drvidyahattangadi.com/cleanliness-and-prosperity-is-connected/feed/ 0