Who doesn’t like to see a child smile? As a parent, there is no doubt that you would want your child to conquer all difficulties and emerge as a stronger person. At some point in your lives or the other, you must have also tried giving books to your children (read daughters) so that it can guide them to become a better person or at least so that they can pull themselves out of difficult situations. But since when has the love of books been determined by genetics?
You may be a bookworm. Have a deep understanding of what is good and bad for your daughters. But at times they won’t feel like following your footsteps. I think we have a solution to this problem!
With Kaash phool (Saccharum spontaneum) and Shiuli phool, which translates into Sanskrit as Prajaka, blooming and paving a way for Ma Durga, why not take a cue from the goddess itself and teach your daughters about the qualities that will help them live their life beautifully?
Here are five lessons that we all can learn from Ma Durga and teach our daughters.
1. Believing In Self
The term ‘Durga’ itself means ‘beyond defeat’ or ‘the invincible’. Like the goddess, you can also tell your daughter to believe in herself and take charge of your life. There is a thin line between being naive and being stupid. Therefore, it is foolish to let anyone else drive or manipulate your life. Take suggestions from people around you, but always follow what your heart says.
2. Being Compassionate
Goddess Durga is fearless. But she is also the epitome of love and affection. Being kind is a virtue, which people often see as a kind of weakness. Muscle power is not everything and how emotionally strong you are, will help you to deal with adversities. Tell your daughter that the purpose of life is not to earn money but to spread love and happiness.
3. Staying Focussed
Teach your daughter that it is important to voice their opinions, but in the right manner. Check out any Durga idol, no matter how the artists decorate her, the Goddess’ eyes stand out always. The ability to understand what lies ahead and to be focussed on your goal is something we can always learn from her.
4. Having Inner Strength
There is no substitute to will power. The very story of ‘Mahishasura Mardini’ is enough to show us that when we are stronger inside, it automatically reflects on the outside. No matter how much people inspire you, guide you or motivate you, ultimately you have to rely on yourself to win the battle of life.
5. Ability To Adapt To New Situations
We all know that Goddess Durga rides the tiger. It is symbolic of the fact that we all have the ability to tame difficult circumstances. You can teach your child to be flexible like we do when driving a car. Adjust our speed depending on the traffic. Not always, we need to be fierce and fight everything out there, at times we can calm down and handle a tough situation beautifully.
6. When in Stress, Increase Resilience
How to deal with stress? By conquering it, always! Even if you are not a spiritual person, science will also tell you so that stress is equal to pressure divided by the resilience. Therefore, increase your resilience, whenever there is more pressure. Ma Durga has ten hands to hold ten weapons, which is symbolic of the fact that, you have to wisely respond to every situation.
While September 28 celebrates World Daughter’s Day every year, this year, Durga Puja celebrations will also start from September 28 and end on 8 October. How beautiful it is that every festival in India is symbolic of the fact that there is endless good in everyone and with little effort we all can become a stronger person.
Let your daughters bring out your inner Durga!