Dose of Denial

Life becomes sweeter with a little dose of denial; if you satisfy all your desires, life begins to turn insipid. Deny yourselves many of the things your mind runs after and you will find that you become tough enough to bear both good fortune and bad.
- Shri Satya Sai Baba


My friend shared with me this thought quoted by our beloved Baba. I was not able to accept this and asked my friend why we should deny anything in life when we are anyways denied so many things by life. Why should we add to it?

After thinking it over for sometime, I interpreted that what it probably means is when we want something and don’t get it, we should learn to deny it, instead of running after it. It would make us tougher when we stay away from what we want most. It is difficult to follow but worth trying.

Few thoughts later, I also feel that the denial should not be done for basic requirements of life but for the not so basic requirements. Now if I want water I have to drink water sooner or later to survive I can’t deny it. However, if I want Pepsi badly, and I don’t get it then I can surely strengthen my resistance and by my own will refuse to have it.

Having said that, it should not be the case of sour grapes. Deny it without denying its worthiness. By doing this we can save ourselves from being miserable and as Baba says it will make us strong over a period of time. Thank you Baba and thanks friend for sharing this quote with me.