Questioner: Sir, you always emphasize on total involvement in any task one takes up. But in our lives, we experience a constant state of flux. So, my question is, how to remain centered amidst all ups and downs, and remain involved in my task?
Acharya Prashant: The task has to be overwhelming enough. You cannot say that you want to remain fully immersed in any task amidst the ups and downs of life and all the changes and all the flux. That won’t happen.
You must have something utterly important at your hand. It must be something that is so overpowering, that it demands your entire energy, the weight of your total self. Only then will you be able to remain dedicated to it irrespective of all the distractions and all the movements around you.
So, the question has to be reworded. You have to be very clear about what your task should be. It’s a very common fallacy, you see. People often say, "I want to remain committed to my work, my task, or my profession, or my studies, or whatever... my resolutions, I want to stick to all these things. But I lose track, I start feeling distracted." And then their entire curiosity is about how not to get distracted. They would never question, "What is it that you do not want to get distracted for? What is it that you have picked up? What is it that you want to stick to? Why do you want to avoid distraction?"
See, look at the assumption in your question, what you are saying is, "There is something that I have picked up and I must stick to it, therefore I must not get distracted."
