Work in Progress

Rule 14: God is busy with the completion of your work, both outwardly and inwardly. He is fully occupied with you. Every human being is a work in progress that is slowly but inexorably moving toward perfection. We are each an unfinished work of art both waiting and striving to be completed. God deals with each of us separately because humanity is fine art of skilled penmanship where every single dot is equally important for the entire picture.

Why does Shamz say that we are ‘work in progress’ and what is the ultimate completion? In spirituality, it is said that souls come to earth to learn and slowly strive towards becoming ‘pure love’ or ‘infinite’ or ‘to be in a state of eternal bliss’ or maybe ultimately attain Nirvana. This process may take many phases, and many lives. It also can be hindered and accelerated by understanding that we are indeed the ‘work of art’ and that we have a purpose in this life. 

Even if we leave aside the spiritual part of being a ‘work in progress’, modern-day psychology says that a person’s character and personality keeps evolving and changes with time and experiences. Psychology, therefore, also puts great emphasis on working upon ‘oneself’ to deal successfully with the outside environment. One may think that Shamz is saying that God is busy working on us, then why am I talking about working on ourselves. To me, it's simple: He is doing the job through us. 

Also, important is to understand that no picture can be complete without us. We may be the tiniest particle of universe, but this universe is not complete without us. Imagine where would the world be if you were not around? The life story of so many people would be completely different without you. Imagine, how nice the world can be if all of us started working on ourselves consciously. Isn’t it a good enough reason to work on ourselves to be a better version of our 'self'? 

In one of the daily lectures of Vipassana meditation course, Mr.S.N.Goenka, founder of Vipassana centres, says that we are changing every minute, every moment and hence even the image that we make of the other person is not permanent. How true! When we think of ourselves we always feel that we have grown so much in past years and always look back at our own self in the past as inexperienced and immature. However, we keep having an opinion about someone else based on the experiences we had ten, twenty, even thirty years ago. 

The above might not be an example of a being as a ‘work in progress’ but it is a perfect example of what hinders us in going towards completion. The past grudges, beliefs that no longer serve us, experiences that are already over, convictions that have expired long ago, deeds which are already history. Most of us live in past glories or feel upset about the past painful experiences. Yet, the reality is that our experiences are just what they are: experiences. They are a thing of past and if we want to be a beautiful work of art then we need to move on and be the perfection that this universe is pushing us towards by living and creating in the present moment. 

In the world of spirituality, journey is the goal. Experiencing and enjoying the journey of life is one of the goals that we all need to focus on. As soon as we start perceiving the reality as it is, we accept it without judgement, comparison or bias: we start evolving. Then both fear and desire disappear. What remains is peace. Isn’t that important enough to work upon ourselves? I am continuously striving to become a better version of me. And believe me, it is not an easy task. It requires dedication and conviction. It also requires a change in perception, where meeting, understanding and accepting the self is the key to the start of the spiritual journey. Along the way, you start getting connected to the present moment, nature, and other human beings. All this contributes to a better way of experiencing life.  

My spiritual journey also started with understanding and accepting my ‘shortfalls’ such as anger, ego, judgemental temperament and lack of self-love. Slowly, I am being aware of my responsibilities towards my ‘self’ and others. Hinduism and common sense say that my first duty is towards myself and hence I take care of my physical health by doing yoga and my mental health by doing meditation. I try to be a better human being by being honest and sincere in whatever I do. I feel gratitude for what I have and try not to hold grudges against people who have hurt me in their ignorance. These are a few of the steps, I take to become a better version of me. And although these steps may look small, it has taken quite a lot of effort for me to love myself enough to take my health seriously or forgiving people who have hurt me. We are all humans and all the negative emotions are part of the ‘ego’ that we all mistake as our ‘self’. So, it takes huge efforts to work on ‘self’. Being considerate to others comes with efforts and being constantly aware of the ‘self’ and what spirituality tells, is an extension of our own self i.e. others, comes with continuous practice and restrain. 

Hence, improvements or progress in our ‘work of art’ can happen only when we work on our own self, fully realising that we are all being taken care of and our journeys are being monitored and steered towards completion. From the time I have started believing in it, life and its journey became easier for me. I highly recommend you to try it. Who knows how beautiful your ‘work of art’ turns out to be!