We were going to bed when all of a sudden the kitchen pipe broke; could be water pressure! The kitchen and drawing room were flooded in a matter of minutes! I was wading through water, draining it out with help from my family, when we all realized that the carpet was soaking up water faster than a sponge.

A 10 by 8 feet woolen carpet. Imagine the weight! It took three adults to pull, push and coax the carpet to the balcony where it was left out to drain and dry. Three days later, it required just two of us to bring it back in and one of us to lay it out.

Why am I talking about a carpet? Well, this incident brought fresh learnings and got me thinking. It is not often that a carpet points to the mind, but that’s exactly what it did.

Let me share three observations:

One: Our mind, like the carpet soaks up whatever comes its way. Negative and positive, reality and fiction, theories and facts. It never differentiates; it lets us pick what is right for us and use it the way we desire.

The more control we have on our minds, the easier it is to make the choice.

Two: When we let go or lose control, prejudice, judgement, speculations, opinions, views, cloud our mind. They prevent us from thinking straight, from seeing the bigger picture, from showing empathy, and from giving space and listening. When the mind has soaked up all that is not necessary, that is overpowering and that burdens us, we and people around us struggle to understand who we are. They struggle to manage us. We lose our identity. Sometimes it is for a brief moment, sometimes it lasts too long.

The idea is to empower our minds, to take charge and become emotionally stronger, so that we are the strength for people around us.

Three: There is always a solution, a way out. There is always someone who can help. It is never the end of the world; there are ups and downs, rising and falling, day and night, sunrise and sunset.

It is up to us to rise to the occasion, pause to think and then take action.

My carpet is laid out, shining like a freshly washed car and my mind is ticking!