Have you ever thought that beneath a great victory lies a stroke of small yet profuse efforts? In our aspirations to achieve and our eagerness of being victorious in the countless endeavors of our life, we often forget the efficacy and the outcome of our small actions. We loose sight of the incremental advancements that we make while enroute to the destination of success whether in job or business, in acquiring knowledge, in relationships, or when making a social call. What we chiefly remember though is the grandeur of the triumph. But we seldom look back at those myriad moments of tiny feats that like a bridge of faith, hope, and positive intentions passage us to progress.
Let me take you back to the epic of Ramayana that narrates making of the ‘Rama Setu’ by the ‘Vanar Sena’ an unforgettable saga. To rescue his beloved wife Sita from Ravana’s confinement in Lanka, Lord Rama was determined in his mission to cross ‘Sethusamudram,’ the sea that separates India from Sri Lanka. The Lord’s heroic army of monkeys thus constructed a massive bridge or ‘Setu’ that ultimately became a platform to reach the final destination. It is said that the width of the bridge was about two ‘yojnas,’ each of which were eight to ten miles long. Hence, one by one thousands of monkey heroes jumped in joy all across the forest to fetch gigantic stones, logs of wood, and reeds to initiate their cumbersome voyage. These courageous and dedicated monkeys broke many rocks and trees and dragged them away to the sea. They filled the ocean’s core with a heap of elements. Some were huge while others infinitesimal. Few other monkeys brought peaks of crags while others drew up long strings to keep the rocks balanced in a straight line.
With immense energy and industry the monkeys build just enough leagues of masonry that could help the lord and his army to cross over to Lanka. Each day after a surmountable work, the monkeys celebrated the sweat of their chores. Instead of feeling low and doubtful of success, the monkey army glorified each day as a threshold to progress. Their enthusiasm in completing each masonry league brought them an opportunity to behold the fruition of their labor and realize that success was at close quarters. The monkeys’ perhaps was an optimistic army that believed in commemorating every fraction of their journey of building the bridge with a leap of joy.
We are the modern day ‘vanaras’ and our life is like an ocean. Our every small success or step is like a bridge of diligence, which ultimately becomes the brick and mortar of a larger mission in our lives. It crowns us with a resolution to achieve bigger goals in life. By recognizing each diminutive success, we thus leave a humble impression on ourselves and on others for a stronger foundation in life.
