THE POWER OF SUBCONSCIOUS MIND

As an entrepreneur, I had witnessed many ups and downs in my life. Life of an entrepreneur is indeed very tumultuous, particularly when he is a first generation person in business and that too, in a competitive business like IT System Integration. As I tell others in a lighter vein, an entrepreneur dies a thousand deaths. Some of the downturns in business can be so heavy that it would be very difficult for one to come back to normal. The feelings at those times can be very frustrating. However, at all such times I had never felt like quitting and in spite of the odds, I persisted, but with more vigor. I had come to realize that this is the life I always wanted, however good or bad it may be!

How does one come to such a strong committed feeling despite the many ups and downs? This is something that I want to write about. To explain this, let me go back a little to some of my earlier experiences.

Being from a village and from a middleclass background, I grew up in an atmosphere of limited opportunities. I was never exposed to many bigger/higher things in life and therefore I did not know of the options available. However, two thoughts were embedded in my mind. One was that progress in life is possible only through education. This understanding was drilled into me by my mother. The other was the habit of reading. In those days I would read anything that I could lay my hands on. Books really opened life up in front of me. While reading, it was indeed blissful to imagine that I was one of the characters in the story. My thoughts would wander and those were the moments I truly enjoyed in life.

Even during my childhood, I knew I would be doing plenty of traveling. I also knew that I would not be tied down to mundane office jobs in government departments, while everybody in my village was scouting for a government job. How did I know that I am going to travel a lot, even as a child? That was my strong subconscious mind working. And how did the subconscious mind know? Yes, it was fed by my dreams, encouraging thoughts and inspiring feelings.

Having lived more than four and a half decade, I am now fully convinced that it is your dreams and inspiring thoughts that make you what you are. How true is the adage; ‘I think, therefore I am.’ You think positive and you become good. If it is negativity that you court as a companion, then you will find life to be very difficult.

Here I would like to cite some instances of positive life responses. After completing my studies, I had joined a company based in North India for a sales job, which required me to extensively travel the length and breadth of the country. My travels would take me not only to cities, but also deep into the villages across the country. Very often, these travels were accomplished without any prior planning. Predominantly, I was traveling for situations such as tender openings, negotiations, payment collections, etc. A single trip would normally take minimum two weeks. I would travel during the night and work during the day. Most of the traveling used to be by train. In the early eighties, with limited trains and no automation, getting reservations at short notices were almost impossible. So, on many occasions I would be standing on a railway platforms with an unreserved ticket in hand, to board the train for an overnight journey. In most of the instances that I remember, I could travel in reserved compartments, sleeping on the berth. How did it all happen? Then, I used to think of it as luck. Now I am fully convinced that it was the result of the action of a strong positive subconscious mind, which evoked positive life response.

In the later part of my life, there have been some incidents that go to prove the strong impact of the subconscious mind. In 1998, I was hospitalized with Steven Johnson Syndrome, which was caused by the reaction of a medicine that I had taken (of course, based on the doctor’s prescription). With more than 20 per cent chances of mortality, I saw my skin, particularly on the abdomen side that included private parts, getting automatically cut and going dead, as the reaction was taking place. It required two major lengthy surgeries and more than 45 days of hospitalization to bring me back to normal. However, during that time, never did I suspect even once that I would die, even when blood was gushing out of my body as the result of skin rupturing. How could I confidently survive? I believe it was purely the result of the positivity of my thoughts.

More recently, while traveling with three of my friends, our car met with a major accident at Salem, Tamil Nadu, right in the middle of the night. Due to our driver dozing off, our car veered to the right, hit a culvert, overturned and fell into a marshy pond, some 25 feet deep. On waking up, we found that the car was completely upside down, deep in the slush with water gushing in! The first thought was that of impending death. But soon, somehow, I knew that I had to get out and I was sure that I would escape. That feeling got entrenched in my mind. It was indeed a miracle that four of us were able to come out of an overturned submerged car without a single bone getting broken! The next day, after seeing the mauled up car in the pond, everyone was asking, how many died? The very first feeling on meeting with the accident was fear. The fear of death! If it had stayed, I am sure I would have been dead! I solely attribute my escaping the accident to the feeling of confidence that came into me. The rest was pure technicality.

Coming back to entrepreneurship, I was able to face the difficulties as well as the frustrations with the same perspective that I had while facing the above events. Yes, we encounter difficulties and they are a part and parcel of life but that should not make you lead a meaningless life. I have always been very confident of my life and future.

With all kinds of experiences, Life still goes on. I do live a decent, eventful and joyous life. I am part of not only an entrepreneurial body, but also professional associations and social organizations. I have come to be known to many, and am able to chip in a thing or two for the needy. Some of my friends, who know my past, look at me and say, “God has been kind to you.” Yes indeed. God had been very kind to me. But it also is due to my positive, confident and powerful subconscious mind.