He Gave Me Everything I Needed. What Am I Complaining For?
Posted: Monday, January 24, 2011
by Drunken Mystic
http://drunkenmystic.wordpress.com
When I asked God for strength
He gave me difficult situations to face.
When I asked God brain and brawn
He gave me puzzles in life to solve.
When I asked God for happiness
He showed me some unhappy people.
When I asked God for wealth
He showed me how to work hard.
He showed me opportunities to work hard.
When I asked God for peace
He showed me how to help others.
God gave me nothing I wanted
He gave me everything I needed.
- Swami Vivekananda
Whenever I read this poem, I am reminded of the numerous situations I faced in my life everyday and questioned the reasons for their occurrence. To be fair, I always thought why did I have to suffer so much and the answers were more difficult to come by. With every passing day, there was only a deeper resolve I had to make, “No matter how much I am pushed into negative situations, I will not lose my faith in God."
Each and every line of this poem is an eminent part of my life. Certainly, if I have prayed for strength, I have faced difficult situations to handle. There were many times when circumstances were complex and I had to make the right choices and all of them weren’t right. But, when I made the right choice I still complained that life was imperfect and when I got know that my choices were wrong, I learned from my mistakes and to be aware of my path and where I am treading so I do not fall into a pit.
I did ask God for wealth many a time and he showed me the impermanence of wealth and at the same time the meaning of hard work. He showed me the meaning of passion and he showed me the suffering of the poor. When I complained that I don’t have nice clothes to wear, he showed me people lying naked on the roadside and when I complained about not having a perfect house to stay, he showed me the people sleeping under the stars.
I complained that I couldn’t fulfil my desires to eat pizzas and lasagnes, and he showed me people eating stale food. He also showed me malnutrition, people living near the gutters, sleeping on railway platforms, and taxi stands. Everyday I cried that I have no peace of mind, and he brought friends and acquaintances to me to let me know they have problems too and they want to discuss it out with me. I realized that very instant that my problems are too small compared to what they are facing in their daily lives and I shouldn’t be complaining.
God has given me more than enough today. I have a nice home to stay, I get my regular meals and coffee, snacks when I want to eat and I have enough clothes to cover myself. Every moment I sit to eat, or even rejoice over an object of desire, I only think of the deprived and say, “I am fortunate enough to be enjoying this luxury. There is someone out there dying this very moment out of starvation, cold, malnutrition and sickness." I consider myself fortunate for what I have and I shall never complain anymore.
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Yes DM, what we need is far more important than what we want. Good article with a wise messageThank you for commenting David.
great read, and very true...agree too with David T. , above - what we need and what we want are not the same,..but unfortunately many people get the two confused.... enjoyed your work, thanks for writing, DaveThank you too Dave. Often many of us forget to realize to live with basic needs and crave for more and complain about what we don't have rather look at what we have already and be content with. :-) Have a nice day.
DMmy son, an archit.engineer by trade has been reading Thoreau,..and at the age of 28, he's ready to forget the cravings and return to "needs only" - I'm happy and worried at the same time....he wants to move to Monatana, and live in a cabin,...and take his wife and baby girl with him... I doubt they'll go...lol,. take care, Dave Potchak:-) It's okay to be worried as a parent. But remember that your prayers will always protect him. I wish the best for your son Dave. Take care too.
DM
Needs and wants... There's often such a huge gap between our real organic need (heart, body, soul) and our ability to want it! And were you really complaining (as in whining) or were you just aware of your discomfort and distress?I was really complaining a lot. I would say whining too, for years. :-) I realize now that things could have been a lot worse if I hadn't had a nice father who still cares a lot.
I liked the poem and you summed it up nicely DM. Don't be so hard on yourself. I think it's human nature to complain now and then, sometimes as we're doing it we know we have no real good reason to be complaining, we just do. As for need and want. I tend to agree with a few of the others who commented. Sometimes what we want is the last thing we need. Thanks for an interesting and thought provoking article.I realized a lot that I was being hard on myself, but always thinking what I have which somebody cannot makes me always be thankful to Him for having protected me so long. :-) Now I am content and happy just living the way life takes me. Thank you Brianna.
DM
Great article with a excellent message!!
Sometimes we seek for the wrong things.............. and tend to forget what we have is the best!!!
Danke schoen, Rika. You absolutely right.
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