Keep What Is Yours

Keep What Is Yours
I have been traveling with the message of hope for people—that you exist, that you’re alive, that you’ve been given something that is so precious. I tell people that what they have—not what they need to achieve, not what they need to create, not their need to climb a mountain or swim an ocean—but what they have is the most beautiful thing.
For most people, the hardest thing to understand is that they already have everything they could possibly want. On one hand, there are desires, expectations, aspirations. We are told, “Do this, do this, do this.” Remember when you were young and your mother or father would tell you, “Study! Study hard so that one day you can become something”?
I understand the intent behind that statement. The intent is that parents want their children to succeed. But it also implies something else, which is: you are nothing. And that is simply not true.
I don’t really want to tell you that your mother was wrong. I want to be able to say that your mother was right. And maybe she was right about everything, except for that one thing—you are something. Not only that, but you are, in fact, something divine. And so, my message brings hope—not just making something up to give you good news, but real hope.
What is the reality? The reality is that within you the blessing of breath is coming and going. What does that mean to you? You judge yourself by what you have accomplished. You judge yourself by what you think your world is. Everybody is proud of something. There are mothers and fathers who are proud of their sons and daughters, children who are proud of their parents—and it goes on and on. Everybody’s proud of something.
But go beyond the expectations. Right now your bucket is full of ideas. It’s your bucket, but it’s full of ideas. And these ideas are not yours. It’s your bucket, so if it’s full of ideas, at least they should be your ideas, right? But that’s not how it is. It’s full of other people’s ideas.
We buy into the idea, “That’s how it is.” In this life, it’s important to put in your bucket only that which is tried and true—and good enough to bear your stamp. Only what you want to put in, not what somebody else wants to put in.
You think this only happened when you were young? No, it happens every day. You walk around with that bucket and people keep chucking things in it, keep chucking things in it—every day. That’s why this bucket is full of nothing—nothing that will help you.
What am I saying? Just walk this life on your feet, not somebody else’s. Understand its value for yourself, not because somebody else said this life is valuable.
What is really yours?  I’m only pointing this out because I think you should take care of it. What is really yours? This breath that just came, is really, really yours. It didn’t go into someone else. It came just for you. From the workings of the universe, something stirred, and this breath came exclusively for you. That’s yours.
So, are you going to keep what’s yours? Or only keep what’s borrowed? People who keep borrowed things end up without anything. Because it was all borrowed, one day it will be taken away. Those who keep what is truly theirs will be rich beyond belief. Keep it. It brings with it life. Live it. It brings with it joy. Grab it. Fill yourself with that joy. It brings with it hope. Squeeze out all of it. This is for you, and you get to keep it.
Prem Rawat

www.wopg.org