Shishir Regmi, Pokhara 
In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway, then hid himself and watched to see if anyone would take the trouble to remove it. Some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it as they loudly lamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but no-one did anything to remove the obstacle. Then a farmer came along carrying his load of vegetables. On approaching the boulder, he laid down his burden and tried to move the huge stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. As the farmer went to pick up his load of vegetables again, he noticed a purse lying on the road exactly where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king congratulating him for being the only person who had taken the trouble to move the stone.

The farmer learned what many of us so often don’t – that behind every obstacle there is an opportunity. Behind every cloud there is a silver lining, and behind every negative situation, there is always benefit. We can all remember times in our lives when things seemed really bleak. However, if we reflect back on those situations, we may just notice the benefit filled in them that were not apparent to us at the time. The challenge, however, is to stay positive in the moment and not after the event. If we would stay positive, we will find that everything that comes to us in our lives is actually ‘architected’ to perfect us. The right people are there, the right conditions are there, and most importantly, just the right issues with their exact intensity are there to create the perfect circumstances for our personal growth. All we need to do is stay still and open for the learning.

A sculptor takes a hammer and a chisel to chip away at the wood or marble, and at the end of his efforts appears a beautiful statue. Life is very much the same. Every knock and bang helps to chisel us towards our beauty and perfection. We need to embrace the lesson and not fight it, or the chisel may mistakenly make an unfortunate end!

Sometimes our old belief patterns, rigid forms of behavior and negative, critical inner voice do not allow us to distinguish between the problem and the prospect of a few way of learning. Anger or hopelessness will not allow us to see past the obvious to the potential beyond. With meditation we learn to get to a higher place where we can see the bigger picture. We gain the power to face our problems, which offers us a different perspective on the issue. Next time you find yourself in a situation that seems to be a real fix, try and take moment to find the benefit in what you are passing through. And once you do, you will have liberated yourself from the bondage of feeling helpless and out of control. More than that, you would have learned a valuable lesson in the school of life.

Let’s look at the positive in everything that happens around us and to find the benefit – for there surely is one. Life will continue to chip away at us, so do we choose to allow it to make us, or break us? After it all, you will be proud to admire the statue that you have become!