Never abandon the feet of the spiritual master

SB 10.87.33: The mind is like an impetuous horse that even persons who have regulated their senses and breath cannot control. Those in this world who try to tame the uncontrolled mind, but who abandon the feet of their spiritual master, encounter hundreds of obstacles in their cultivation of various distressful practices. O unborn Lord, they are like merchants on a boat in the ocean who have failed to employ a helmsman.

Lord Krsna's Lotus feet - the source of liberation

Rohini Devi speaks to Draupadi on behalf of all the queens rescued from Bhaumasura 

SB 10.83.40: Rohiṇī-devi, speaking for the other queens, said: After killing Bhaumāsura and his followers, the Lord found us in the demon's prison and could understand that we were the daughters of the kings whom Bhauma had defeated during his conquest of the earth. The Lord set us free, and because we had been constantly meditating upon His lotus feet, the source of liberation from material entanglement, He agreed to marry us, though His every desire is already fulfilled.

Lotus Feet of Krsna dispel the fear of worldly existence

 SB 10.85.19: Therefore, O friend of the distressed, I now approach Your lotus feet for shelter — the same lotus feet that dispel all fear of worldly existence for those who have surrendered to them. Enough! Enough with hankering for sense enjoyment, which makes me identify with this mortal body and think of You, the Supreme, as my child.

SB 10.81.40: Thus seeing how the unconquerable Supreme Lord is nonetheless conquered by His own servants, the Lord's dear brahmana friend felt the remaining knots of material attachment within his heart being cut by the force of his constant meditation on the Lord. In a short time he attained Lord Krsna's supreme abode, the destination of great saints.

From the purport:

Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī mentions that Sudāmā's last trace of illusion lay in the subtle pride of being a renounced brāhmaṇa. This trace was also destroyed by his contemplating the Supreme Lord's submission to His devotees.

Real Surrender by HH Radhanath Swami

Real Surrender
By H.H. Radhanath Swami Maharaj

The frustrations, the disappointments, the pains, the sufferings that come into our life is the love of God upon us, to purify our hearts, to bring us closer to the real standard of selfless service. We shouldn't react. When Krishna either does it through material nature or does it through another devotee or another living being, we should not respond by throwing thunderbolts upon Him. We should respond by bowing at the lotus feet in the presence of Krishna's mercy and by surrendering. Ultimately surrender means to surrender that ego. You can surrender all your material possessions, all your money. You can surrender your physical form to do whatever you are asked, but it is all incomplete until we surrender our ego to Krishna. And what does it mean to surrender our ego to Krishna? It means, "Krishna. You are enjoyer. I am meant for your enjoyment." We are striving sincerely to be the servant of the servant of the servant of our Guru and Sri Krishna. When Krishna sees our honest endeavor in this way, by His Grace, He frees us. And He will make so many wonderful divine arrangements to increase our sincerity, our humility, if we accept it with a grateful heart. There is no doubt that Krishna will lift us beyond this realm of Maya into the eternal realm of loving service.

Taking Responsibility

After Jarasandha was killed , Lord Krishna released the 20,800 kings held captive by Jarasandha.The kings recd the Lord's darshan and also spoke words of glorification to Him. They also offer prayers to the Lord and one of them is:

SB 10.73.9: O master, Madhusūdana, we do not blame this King of Magadha, since it is actually by Your mercy that kings fall from their royal position, O almighty Lord.

The kings had been imprisoned for many many years by Jarasandha. They had suffered a lot during their time of imprisonment and had also suffered the pain of being away from their kingdoms and their loved ones.

Inspite of this and the various atrocities meted out by Jarasandha the kings say in the above verse that they do not blame the King of Magadha for their situation and they accept it as the Lord's mercy.

From the purport: "

It is significant that upon seeing Lord Kṛṣṇa and thus becoming purified of their sins, the kings did not feel any mundane hatred or bitterness toward Jarāsandha, who had imprisoned them. Simply by seeing Lord Kṛṣṇa, the kings came to the position of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and spoke these verses, which show deep spiritual wisdom.

"

When we are in a difficult situation especially when it involves some people "causing harm" to us - it is extremely difficult to accept the difficulty as the Lord's mercy. I usually carry anger towards the persons involved in the situation and consider them to be the reasons for my pain and difficulty.

However, it is the Lord's mercy because through that difficulty Krishna is taking away from me all that I am attached to and all that is blocking me from His service. I must be thankful to Him as His mercy in this form is easing out my forward march towards Krishna's lotus feet.

Instead of thinking like that I am caught into thinking about how I have been harmed by certain people and how I want them to understand the pain I went through because of their actions.

Taking responsibility is liberating
Because of such a thought process I am carrying a lot of baggage of expectations towards those persons and am constantly feeling like a victim - remembering all the pain and all the time fearing their next action towards me.Such a thought process is not liberating or uplifting. It is rooting me down to material conceptions- it does not help me grow.

On the other hand if I accept the situation as a result of my own actions and as a part of the Lord's divine plan to lead me in the positive direction it will make me feel very light, happy and positive. I can at the same time still be watchful of the same people and their harm causing potential but not bog myself down with all the fear and the anger.

Takes Humility

It will take some humility on my part to accept everything as a result of my actions and also take responsibility for my feelings. Humility is difficult because it forces me to hold myself accountable for the situation. Blaming is easy - when I do that I don't have to hold myself responsible.

In my situation, everything that is happening is for my benefit- the difficult situations helped me become a stronger person- it made me realize that Krishna is our only shelter, that we cannot change Krishna's plan- that Krishna is more powerful than us. It also helped me understand people and the world more closely- it helped me see how weak people are and how they take shelter of unjust means to control someone in order to hide their own weaknesses.

Oh Lord Krishna please help me understand this in this way- Please help me see everything in my life as Your mercy - Please remove this covering , please help me overcome this thought process so that I can live a life of freedom in devotional service to You- please help me Krishna so that I can offer myself fully to You.

Please help this servant of Yours so that she can overcome her anarthas to serve you completely.

Intelligent persons abandon everything else to obtain the Supreme Personality of Godhead

Rukmini uvaca from the chapter Krsna teases Rukmini:

SB 10.60.38: You are the embodiment of all human goals and are Yourself the final aim of life. Desiring to attain You, O all-powerful Lord, intelligent persons abandon everything else. It is they who are worthy of Your association, not men and women absorbed in the pleasure and grief resulting from their mutual lust.

From the purport:

"In fact, only those who have given up all such material conceptions of sense gratification and have taken exclusively to the Lord's loving service can understand who their real friend and companion is — Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself."

Oh Lord help me follow in the footsteps of the intelligent persons mentioned her. Help me give up my attachments , help me give up my mundane expectations from people and relatives - those bind me down and block me in furthering my relationship withYou

Help me overcome bad habits that drive me to mundane sense gratification like the internet, like the dirty joy derived from gossip and criticism of devotees. I do not wish to be blocked by these in getting closer to You and serving You.

Please lift me from my past conditioning and habits that block me from performing unmotivated uninterrupted service to You. I wish to serve You and Your devotees , please help me to give myself exclusively to You.