Look Inside, Not Outside

There is a gentleman who is getting ready to go out one night on some chore. He has his car keys in his hand, and just as he gets into the living room, there is a power failure, and the whole house plunges into darkness. As he tries to adjust to the dark, the keys slip from his hand. He scrambles around trying to locate the keys and quickly realizes that it is futile. It is too dark Inside.

Just then, something clicks inside his head. He looks out through the window and notices the street light is shining bright outside. “I am not going to struggle to look for the keys in this darkness when there is light outside. I’ll go out and look for my keys outside in the driveway under the street light”. He gingerly opens the door of his house and goes into the driveway. He starts looking for his car keys under the glare of the street light.

Seeing him moving about, his neighbor comes along and asks, “What happened?”

” Well, I dropped my car keys, and I am looking for it.”

“Oh, ok, let me help you find your keys.”

Both the neighbors start looking for the keys. After a few minutes, the friend asks, “excuse me, but where exactly did you drop the keys?”

“Well, I dropped them in my living room,” our hero responds.

“What? You mean to tell me you dropped your keys in the house and are looking for them here, under the street light, it doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well, it didn’t make sense groping around in the dark house for my keys when there is light outside!!”.

You must be wondering what a silly story this is. But pause for a moment and reflect. Isn’t this precisely what many of us sometimes do? Facing a problem, difficulty, or a struggle of any sort that is INSIDE us, we look for a solution OUTSIDE, thinking its easier.

Maybe you are not at peace because of some mistakes you committed or you are not happy with some relationships or you are stressed with problems at work. What do you do? Instead of owning up to the mistake, you try to protect yourself. You bitch and gossip about the very relationships you are struggling with. You immerse yourself in your work, thinking that the stress will go away. You look for answers in the wrong place and wonder why you are struggling to find them, just like the elusive keys.

Most problems are sorted when you acknowledge that the problem may be with YOU. Accepting this simple truth is hugely empowering. The keys to unlocking most issues are always inside you.