I was giving a bath to my 2 year old today morning, and he was playing with the water in the tub. He would put the plastic mug in the bucket of water, get some water in it, and then throw it around or on himself. Then he would refill the mug with some more water, and throw it around. It was fun to watch the exhilaration on his face every time the water was splashed around. His laughs were pretty loud & emphatic every time.
And then I decided to tease him. So I took the bucket away and poured a huge chunk of water into his mug. And then what happened was striking ! Due to the sudden weight of a lot of water, the plastic cup almost fell off from his hands. He barely managed to cling on to the now-heavy cup of water. After a futile struggle, the cup fell down, the water drained away and the incident was over. But my mind kept thinking about it. Isn't it true for all of us?
We, as human beings have a limit to every aspect of us, be it intellect, physical strength, mental strength, riches, skills, stamina, whatever we can think of. We all try to grow and achieve more than we have today. And the growth happens gradually (for those who really work for it). But inside of us, we keep wishing for growth to happen at the earliest possible. Body builders want muscles bulging out in weeks, weight-losers want instant weight-loss, people keep buying lotteries every day hoping to strike it big, school students want to finish school early and get to college — whatever be our goal, we want to get there quick.
But if we receive beyond what we can hold, then our plastic cups would fall down. If we do not have the ability to hold together what we receive, then we would not be able to retain it even though we get it rightfully. There are countless stories of lottery-winners who turned bankrupt pretty soon after receiving their winnings.
Revered Pandurang Shastri Athavale mentions many times in his discourses that one of the names of God is "One with a thousand hands". If such a God were appeased, and decided to give us gifts with a thousand hands, we would not be able to bear the gifts that we would receive. And similarly, if he decided to take back with a thousand hands, we would nothing left."
The point is that before asking for or wishing for anything, we need to check whether we are capable enough for what we are asking, and if not, then the gift will be a curse instead than a blessing ! We would rather have a little water in our cups and enjoy the bath, than get a bucketful and lose all of it ! And when we have just enough water to play, then it is always refilled by our Father so that our play goes on!
