All are equal

Story contributed by Preeti Ramakrishnan

Once there was a fight in Anita's kitchen. Salt and sugar were fighting for superiority. 

"I am simply the best creation of God," said salt. 

"I make food so tasty that man can't do without me."

Sugar got angry with salt. It felt that it was the best. 

"I am much better than you," said sugar. 

"What sweetness I bring to every dish," it said with pride.

Sugar and Salt were so boastful that all the other ingredients in Anita's kitchen were now fed up. 

"What do they  think?" asked tamarind to pepper. 

"Just because I am sour, does it make me less special?"

Pepper felt that salt could not do without it. Coffee powder was angry at sugar for not giving it any importance.

All the spices in Anita's kitchen were very agitated too. 

But there was one spice, Turmeric which was very quiet. 

"Please don't fight dear Salt and Sugar," requested Turmeric. "Each ingredient in the shelf is important in it's own way," said Turmeric with a smile.

Sugar and Salt looked at Turmeric and mockingly laughed at it. "So you are going to tell us what to do and how to behave,"  they asked very angrily. Turmeric calmly replied that all ingredients were useful and nothing was superior or inferior.

Suddenly Anita's son Rohan entered the house crying. Anita was worried. 

"What happened?" asked Anita. 

"I was playing football when suddenly I fell down. My wound is bleeding profusely," cried Rohan.

"Who will help him now?" wondered the ingredients. 

Anita then reached out for Turmeric powder and said, "Don't worry my son. Turmeric will stop the bleeding immediately."  

Soon Turmeric stopped the bleeding and Rohan was happy again. 

But now there was silence in Anita's shelf. Salt and sugar realized what Turmeric had said earlier. They became aware of the fact that everything has value and good qualities and that everything was the same in nature's eyes. 

They thanked Turmeric as it was not only a great healer but also a wonderful Teacher.

Loving oneself is not selfishness

"To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance," says Oscar Wilde. 

Taking laws of attraction to another level is self-love. Loving ourselves attracts more love. As simple as that. But why is it that we don't practice it often? Because most of us confuse self-love with selfishness. Unfortunately we have been conditioned from childhood to think that to put oneself first amounts to self-centredness. What is the thin line that divides both? "Self love" spreads by including others too in the process while "selfishness" is loving one's own self at the exclusion of others. 

Ignoring the conditioned mind, let's start listening to our heart. Without procrastinating anymore, let's start practicing to love ourselves right now. Healthy self-love means doing things which adds quality to our lives.

Having confidence in ourselves, being kind to ourselves by binging on that chocolate once in a while, not feeling guilty when we take a much needed break to watch a movie occasionally, treating ourselves with a health spa when required, patting our own back on a success, taking responsibility for failures without remorse, be willing to accept help when offered, accepting and honoring our emotions when we feel like crying, accepting compliments gracefully, forgiving ourselves whenever we commit a mistake, being gentle and compassionate to ourselves. These are only small beginnings. 

One word of caution though about this life-long romance. Knowing where to draw the line. Else we would end up like this woman who loved herself a little too much.

A woman was lamenting that she had gained weight. She'd made her family's favorite cake over the weekend, she reported, and they'd eaten half of it at dinner.
The next day, she said, she kept staring at the other half, until finally she cut a thin slice for herself. One slice led to another, and soon the whole cake was gone. The woman went on to tell her friends how upset she was with her lack of willpower, and how she knew her husband would be disappointed.
Everyone sympathized, until someone asked what her husband said when he found out.
She smiled. "He never did. I baked another cake and ate half!"