Introduction
For us as human beings, our relationships with others matter a lot. Right from an early age, we are bound by so many relations. Right after birth, we become someone's kids, someone's grandkids etc. We acquire some relations right from our birth and some of them we acquire later in our lives. We get to choose our friends, life partners, teachers etc. If the relationship is good between two individual's then it is as good as friends forever. If it does not work at all then enmity develops. Till our last breath, we are always bound by relations. However, we forget the most important relationship of our life. We forget that we have a relationship with ourselves and thus we can either be our friends or turn out to be an enemy. An individual who conquers himself, who has risen above everything to the highest level of his consciousness is his friend. An ignorant individual who is simply unaware or does not believe in this concept and has not made a conquest of himself becomes his own enemy.
Self-mastery
A person who has mastered himself will always remain detached during times of tragedy whereas the other person who is not detached but has knowledge about everything, has possessed almost everything may lose control. He loses it because he did not have it. Master of self-has control over oneself and thus never loses self. It is the wisdom that will help self-master to remain happy whether he is in a state of slavery or freedom. If we want to enjoy almost all the blessings that our life promises to us, we have to raise ourselves from everything. Self-realization is when absent, failure strikes its effects very easily. Shortcomings blow away our blessings. Obstacles seem like the one which can never be crossed. One who has mastered himself knows his inner strength and will be able to cross all the hurdles. The person who is not aware of inherent strength will never trust nature and thus gives up easily by saying that he is not suitable or well equipped. He has judged everything from the surface and not dig anything inside. He has tons of possibilities but never digs upon them and loses hope.
We can be friends as well as foes
Welfare is hidden only when one learns to control oneself. We have two kinds of nature. On one hand, we can be very weak, unstable, always at fault, hopeless etc. On the other hand, we can be conqueror, victorious, majestic, invincible, glorious, successful etc. When we have a clear picture of ourselves, we are with our higher self. When we do not achieve higher self, we involve in self-depreciation. We criticize ourselves, let ourselves down and this is because we do not trust ourselves and have got no faith in ourselves. The mind has to be clear. Distortion of any sort in it makes us our own enemy. Any work regardless of whether it is simple and easy or whether it is very difficult and time-consuming if started with full confidence, courage, right attitude with almost no fear will be completed efficiently. If the same work is started with unwillingness, doubt, fear, depression, no sort of faith or trust, no matter how hard one works on it, it will be a complete failure. This itself proves that we ourselves our own friends as well as foes. If we want then we can rise above all the difficulties and make impossible things to become possible and if we want then can even turn out an easy task in almost a disaster.
Self-realization
We are responsible for indulging ourselves in depression and unhappiness and also throw this burden on others by blaming them. If we do not wish to come out of this vicious cycle of being unhappy, no matter what efforts are made, we will always be unhappy because we tend to love our sphere and will become fond of it. It is in our hands whether we want to escape and rise ourselves. We and only we have the power to rescue ourselves. Without the will and firm determination, this thing is not possible. Self-awakening is very essential. Awakening is actually an eye-opener. It helps one to raise oneself and never ever lower oneself. However, this sort of self-realization is very essential. If a person realizes it and is in the path of progress then soon his welfare is surely guaranteed in mere future. Thus, one has to master oneself.
Get rid of ignorance
Well begun is half done. If we begin work with dejected mind then we head towards failure and act like our own enemy. One can just stop for a moment and check to understand how much evil impulse they are carrying in their heart. When anger, lust, pain, hate, greed etc conquer us along with other intense emotions, we become our enemy. These evil characters destroy our soul. It is left to us whether we want to master them or let them overpower us. Anger is such an evil character that can destroy everything we have which required so long to build up. It not only causes harm to our relationships with other souls. First and the foremost person it affects is we ourselves. Whatever we give, we get it first. It is we who are creating anger and thus we will be the first ones to face its ill-effects. Similarly, whether it's lust, greed, hate or any other evil character, we will be the first ones to go through the adverse effects which they are imparting. They destroy finer part of our self. Ignorance is the main cause. Knowledge and wisdom rise a person above his lower self and that person will become his own friend and the person who does not conquer his self but allows his lower self to possess himself will become his own enemy.
Become a friend of oneself
We all like our friends and always want to spend time with them. They always help us in various ways and always think good about us and thus we are fond of them. On the other hand, our enemies not only do bad things to us, in fact, also create bad thoughts about us and thus we always want to be away from them. We can very well choose with whom we want to spend our time and with whom we do not want to. The choice is completely ours. But how can we run away from ourselves? When we become our friend, welfare is definite but what if we serve as an enemy for ourselves. In such case, how can we get rid of u?. In fact, we cannot. We can get rid of others but we cannot get rid of ourselves. Whether we are trying to be our friend or acting as an enemy, we have to live with ourselves. We do not have a choice of running away from ourselves, but we do have a choice whether we want to be our friend or enemy. The way we avoid the company of other enemies and try to keep us away from them so that they do not harm us, in the same way, we should try to become our friend and not enemy. If we become our own enemy, we will suffer badly. If we need success and if we need to empower ourselves then we need to raise ourselves high from all the odds that we have, control all our senses as well as our lower self. Once we become our friend, we will be able to fight with all the odds and will become serene in both happiness and pain, heat and cold. We will always remain aware as we have reached complete awakening within ourselves which will give realization and that will be constant. This realization will teach that we are supreme self and not someone who is of low nature to whom pain, greed, sufferings, demoralization etc can affect. We are the royal kings and no matter what circumstances arrive, we will be always royal and thus we need to behave accordingly.
Gain knowledge and wisdom
We cannot expect our journey to run smooth and hurdle free. There will be hiccups, there will be obstacles. Fun is to cross all these odds and remain victorious. Lots of discipline is essential. Whatever knowledge we gain, we need to bring it to reality. Just learning it and keeping it stored somewhere in mind is of no use. We need to use this knowledge in practical life and gain actual experience. We should absorb it and use it in our day to day lives. Knowledge can be gained by anyone but wisdom comes only to a few great men. When this knowledge is brought into action, wisdom develops. Mind dwells but we have to control it, possess it completely. Once our mind is under our control, everything comes under control. It is a powerhouse of everything we do. It creates thoughts. Once we control our minds, our thought process comes in control. We can conquest our sense organs and master them instead of allowing them to rule over us. We become our masters and thus this helps us through all the odds. Such kind of person who masters himself can lead oneself and become a friend of oneself and the one who allows his mind, sense organs to overpower upon himself becomes a slave and is no less than an enemy to oneself.
Do not live in an illusion
Most of us today live in an illusion. We do not know what the art of living is. We feel that anger which we exhibit is actually a display of our strength and it shows how powerful we are. We feel that it is a must if we want our work to get done. We feel proud of ourselves when we control others and scare them. We have developed the same feelings towards excitement. Whenever a situation arrives, we believe it is normal to show emotions in the form of tears, pain, love, anger etc. One who does not show emotion is believed to be made of stone and considered heartless. We do not understand how much of fluctuations we are going through in a day and in our life when we react so vigorously to every situation. These are actually not the signs of strength but rather display weaknesses. The weak soul is one who cannot stand erect through all the odds and fluctuates through everything that comes in his life. The powerful soul is one to whom turbulence can never affect. To become powerful, wisdom is essential and only such souls can become one's friends.
Keep clarity
We are what we think about ourselves. We are the results of what actually we are in our consciousness. Same things manifest in our body as well as in our mind. Thus, our conscience should be clear. If it is filled with fear and doubts then we will be living in an illusion and confusion. If conscious is clear and fearless then we will be strong and powerful. Realization is essential. We gain self-realization by gaining knowledge. We have to connect with ourselves and once we do that then there is no looking back. Same consciousness has the ability to store good things. We need to be aware of what is been stored in our consciousness. The choice is really ours about what we really need to keep and store in our minds and what not. An enemy will always desire to continue his enmity, just the way it is running. If we want, we can continue to remain our enemy by letting harsh and hatred feelings to remain in our consciousness or else wipe them out as soon as possible so that we can become our friends. We are unaware of our capacity and strength. Once we realize how powerful we are, we will be able to use infinite capacity hidden within us.
Conclusion
Relationships are essential. They unite us with others. A special bond develops between us and others. This unity teaches togetherness and spreads love in mankind. However, if a person who has not established a friendly relationship with himself, how can he do it with others. A special bond with parents, teachers, friends, relatives, society etc is all essential. We all look after each other, care for each other and spread the love. But a friend within us will be able to do greater good than anyone from outside. In the same way, the opposite is also true. Enemy hidden inside us will be able to do greater destruction than anyone from outside. We can either make ourselves or mar ourselves. The relationship that we have with ourselves is very unique and it is the purest and most essential when compared with other relationships. Options are always in our hands. We need to decide whether we want to be our friend or serve as an enemy. Whatever we choose, we will be writing our destiny and it will be we who will create our personality depending on our choices.