Extract from the book ” The Divine Romance” by Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
Worry is a psychological state of consciousness in which you are caught in feelings of helplessness and apprehension about some trouble you don’t know how to get rid of. Perhaps you are seriously concerned about your child, or your health, or a mortgage payment. Not finding an immediate solution, you start worrying about the situation. And what do you get? A headache, nervousness, heart trouble. Because you do not clearly analyse yourself and your problems, you do not know how to control your feelings or the condition that confronts you. Instead of wasting time worrying, think positively about how the cause of the problem can be removed. If you want to get rid of a trouble, calmly analyse your difficulty, setting down point by point the pros and cons of the matter; then determine what steps might be best to accomplish your goal.
If you have no money, you feel forsaken; the whole world seems to be going backward. But worry will not provide a solution. Get busy and make this determination: “I will shake the world to get my share. In order to keep me quiet, the world must satisfy my need.” Each person who has performed some work, even clearing away weeds, has done something worthwhile on earth. Why shouldn’t everyone receive his just share of the earth’s bounty? No one need starve or be left out.
The present money standard will go; remember what I say. Money creates a desire for power, and too often it makes the possessor heartless to the sufferings of others. Accumulation of wealth is all right if the wealthy person also has the desire to help others in their need. Money is a boon in the possession of unselfish people, but it is a curse in the hands of the selfish. I used to know a man in Philadelphia who was worth ten million dollars, but it never gave him happiness; it brought him only misery. And he wouldn’t even buy a ten-cent cup of coffee for anyone else. Gold has been given for our use, but it belongs to no one save the Divine Spirit. Each child of God has a right to use God’s gold. You must not admit failure and give up your right.