Advice from a sage for a householder

I was remembering a story of a man, who was in search of a touch stone that could turn anything into gold. Once he picked it up, but unknowingly threw it away, and lost it for ever. It happens in our lives also. Moments come which touch our soul, inspire us, but we forget about them. Looking back, I find many such glittering moments, which are still now stored in my memory, and become a source of inspiration whenever I think of them. Long back, one such incident happened, when I met a sadhu in Allahabad who was hundred years old. From Delhi I went to Allahabad for a few days, and stayed with our family friends. It was a summer morning, and our friend suggested to have sadhu Darshan first, and then start our sight seeing. So next morning, we all got into a car, and drove towards Jhusi. Jhusi is situated just opposite side of sangam, which is a very sacred place. Sangam means Union. Three rivers Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati unite in that spot, and people from all over the world come to have a holy dip there. But very few people know about Jhusi, which is quite barren and rocky When we reached there, one old lady (disciple of the sadhu) cordially invited us, served us a cold drink made from fresh lemons from the garden, and comfortably seated us in a porch. Another disciple of eighty years old came and announced, sadhu baba will come and bless us after we had our lunch and rested a while. I was amazed to see their loving hospitality. I realized that their attitude was very different from ordinary householders like us. Selfless service was the path, which they followed always. THe eldest sadhu, who keeps always silent came to bless us after we had our lunch and rest. He came and sat erect on a slightly elevated platform in the middle. I was waiting for this moment to ask him 'Baba we are house holders, we have expectations from others, and when they are not fulfilled, feel very frustrated. That frustration makes me more miserable, please show me the way out." He remained calm for some time. Then he said a few words, which changed my life. He said three things. 1. Do not expect any thing from any body. 2. Do not criticize others and third 3, you have a human life, if you can do some thing good, do it. These words seem to be very simple. But if we think deeply, we find all miseries and conflicts have their roots in criticism and expectations. If we can uproot these two evils from our mind, then peace is guaranteed. Now I am in my ripe old age of 81, and try to apply his instructions in my life. I believe, spiritual people can see the house holders problems better, and can offer better solutions to us.