Suppose somebody who can lift a twenty-five-kg weight tries to lift a fifty-kg-weight – they will injure themselves.

We too similarly hurt ourselves when we try to become over-productive, being impelled by the mode of passion. The Bhagavad-gita (14.12) states that the mode of passion injects us with insatiable desire for worldly things. Not only does one desire overwhelm us, making us obsess about fulfilling it, but also too many desires overpower us, making us do too many things.

Most of our stress arises because we are over-scheduled, overworked and over-burdened. Being stressed, we rush through important things, doing them either improperly or even incorrectly. Consequently, we often have to redo them, which aggravates our stress – not just because we have to fit those things into our already-packed schedule but also because we feel choked by irritation and resentment at ourselves, at others and even at the world at large. Yet passion keeps us so captivated that we keep craving and slaving for worldly things. Overall, our material obsession makes us increasingly spiritually blinded.

We are souls on a multi-life journey of spiritual evolution. This evolution is meant to culminate in loving absorption in Krishna, our all-attractive Lord and source. That absorption alone can provide the fulfillment we seek externally – seek through pain and seek in vain.

When we prioritize connecting with Krishna internally through our bhakti-yoga practice, we feel inspired and guided to contribute externally for doing justice to the talents and resources he has given us. Our mood of service helps us assess our capacities realistically; we accept that we can only do as much as we have been endowed to do. And Krishna, seeing our sincere service attitude, often increases our material capacities as needed.

By thus keeping Krishna first, we can harmonize our material contribution with our spiritual evolution.

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