Beauty Parlor For the Soul - Duty

We are all here with a purpose. The 'grand plan' unfolds itself in due course of time. Whether you like it or not there is a duty to perform and a role to play in life. At every stage of our lives and through every situation, we are expected to perform a certain duty. Sometimes it is spelled out and sometimes it comes naturally. However, turning your back on the duty you are expected to perform seldom results in any good, for yourself and others in the peripheral. As a student, your duty is to absorb all the information being imparted and apply it successfully at examinations. As a wife your duty is to balance the home and work, if you are working, and ensure that the children are well looked after, with or without the help of your spouse. As a husband, it is your duty to provide for the family, with or without your spouse's support. As an employer, it is your duty to ensure the well-being of your staff, while applying collaborative energies towards profitability. There is always a duty.

Once you identify a duty, it is important to apply your energies towards the task at hand, with focus and understanding. You have to be sensitive towards the ones dependent on you while performing your duty. As a husband, you can't bring home the salary and throw it on the kitchen counter, expecting the bills and everything related to be taken care of, without personal involvement. As a wife, you can't simply ensure that the children are bathed, fed and educated and the home is clean; you also have to play psychologist and help the children deal with peer pressure and look into timely repairs the home may need from time to time. As an employee, you cannot just meet the daily targets and leave for the day; you also need to add quality to the environment and take on additional responsibility when and as the employer deems fit or suggests.

The master visited his ailing mother. She was dying and had sent word to him. She wanted to spend the last few days in the company of her enlightened son. The master could not deny the joy of home-coming. Leaving the eldest disciple in charge, the master set off towards the east. He reached the quiet village in the evening. His mother's smile told him how happy she was to see him. His relatives were there. The whole lot of them. All there to share in the grief of her ailment and inevitable death. The master spent a lot of time listening to them. They wanted to talk about this that and the other. The older ones sat around him morning and evening, while the younger women of the family completed the daily chores. So many of them to be fed and so many things to be taken care of.

In the afternoon of the third day since he had come home, he was sitting around his mother's bed with the young women. In course of conversation, one of them asked him about the little bundle he tied around his waist. She had observed him protecting it and taking it with him even when he went for a bath. The master smiled. He told them that it was a treasure and he would give it away before he left home, for the hermitage. He promised the women that the lady with the most beautiful palms would get the treasure. He would personally decide the winner. His mother smiled and turned, before giving into a deep slumber. The target set by the master was three days and the women could not conceal their excitement.

The declaration was enough to bring out the creams and lotions and polish. They pampered themselves silly every moment and kept comparing the results of the investments made in the quaint little store down the street. However, the work began to pile up. His fifteen year old niece was put 'on job' by the older women. There were only three days and so much to do. The little one scrubbed and cleaned and washed. She wanted her mother to get the treasure. The third day approached quickly and the women eagerly sat around the master in the room where his mother lay. They began holding their palms out and asked him to pick a winner. The master called his niece closer and said, "This belongs to you for a duty so well performed. Yours are by far the most beautiful palms".

Irrespective of the consequences, every duty should be performed conscientiously and in the right spirit. Expectation blinds us towards the manner in which the duty is to be performed. Bearing the responsibility of providing for the home and expecting that you can call the shots and behave in whichever manner you like with your spouse will only make the home a battleground. Doling out salaries and expecting your employees to tolerate your tantrums will only make the office a trip to hell each day. Duty with sensitivity is very important.

"Yours are by far the most beautiful palms".

Everything that needs to be addressed gets taken care of, whether or not you respond to the call of action. In the presence of reluctance and neglect, you simply have to live with the consequences. It is far better to identify your role and perform it to the best of your ability. Perform a duty because it is carved out for you and not because of some outcome that your expect.

Try the all-natural manicure with the skin softener called duty.