To do something for our loved ones every time does not mean we are sacrificing. I have often heard people using this term, but in fact, no body sacrifices! It is our secret desire being suppressed by many external ideas. We get carried away, forgetting the desire within us. We pamper our ego and hide the fundamental desires rooted deep within us. We keep giving our loved ones whatever it is that pleases them.
We are all bound by love and respect. We care for these emotions even when they’re hidden deep within us. We distract ourselves from feeling these emotions because we are frightened of our vulnerability. We starve for respect. Most relationships survive because of deep-rooted desires. We possess some or the other desire, but we get so mixed up in situations that we never try to scratch beneath the surface of these desires.
We are happy with our worldly natures. In fact, we put nature on a platter and the world relishes ‘not-truth’. What we don’t see is that love and respect are the basic needs of a soul.
Sarla was the principal of a school. She used to wake up early every morning, finish her chores and rush to school. This was not the life she expected. In her heart, she wanted to be a housewife and look after her two daughters. She wanted to melt in the warmth of their smiles, to laugh with their laughter, hear their chatter and sit with her husband and have a cup of coffee together. But she had suppressed her hidden desires. Nobody forced her to do what it was that she did but she was doing it for sake of doing it and with dedication. She was loved and respected by everyone at her workplace. And yet, within her was dissatisfaction. However, she smiled and laughed and did her work dedicatedly.
One day, she felt a tingling sensation in her feet that started growing then to her fingers. She was growing numb, so she took medical help and she was diagnosed with diabetes. Her doctor advised her to change her lifestyle because rise of blood sugar is a sign of stress, lack of exercise or a faulty diet. This incident was a wake-up call for her and she decided to take a leave for the whole year.
She started walking, doing yoga, eating on time, taking proper rest, and did what her hidden desire commanded her to do. She was lively and happy now and was spending time with her daughters and husband. Every evening she had a cup of coffee with her husband. They went on a vacation. She was content with herself. Her medical reports showed improvement and after a year, she decided to quit and start doing fashion design as a hobby. She quit her job at school and sat at home, working as a freelancer.
This is how hidden desires work and how the universe conspires to bring out hidden desire in its own way. For her, leaving her teaching job wasn’t a sacrifice but an opportunity to give and take love and respect to and from her loved ones.