First part.
The general approach to solving anything is to identify the problem, figure out possible approaches to solve it, and evaluate the approaches on their (a) risk-vs-reward, (b) effort-vs-results or (c) competence-vs-weakness-of-the-individual factors.
Our evaluation of ourselves is necessarily tinged by how others see us. The evaluating part of us is a product of our environment. And surprisingly, our desires too are in many cases the effect of influence. We see others, we see them happy or sad, and we want the things happy people have and we reflect on others' sadness, somewhat gratefully, as lessons on what to avoid.
What we want first must be validated as something that we really want, and not something that we think we want. What is the difference? What we want must resonate with what we are, and not how we want to be perceived. What we are is found by going back to our childhood, before puberty (because that is when society starts exerting itself), and reflecting on our in-born traits.
"Am I true to my ten-year old self?"
Once we have some confidence in our desires and ambitions (even if it is the ambition to live peacefully, somewhat off the beaten track), we must:
(a) Understand what changes in direction that desire will require. The change will be painful, and risky. Is the desire strong enough for us to bear that pain? The path to wealth, for example, is a path of many failures before any kind of success, and we might have to give up the certainty of our daily existence to reach for something that currently seems out of reach.
(b) Understand what it takes to achieve our desires. Are we ready for that effort? Given our history of effort and persistence, does it seem like we will be able to pull through the effort? Sustaining a family requires adjustments and tenacity which a restless nature might find impossible to bear.
(c) Understand whether that desire is realizable, given our limits and circumstances. A 45-year old woman may want to be a mother, and it may not be easy to accept that her time has passed. But without that acceptance, one is destined to a life of futility and bitterness.
...
When trying to understand a human being and his situation, we have to bear in mind that the totality of his life is reflected in his present.
There are in-born traits, there are patterns established by experience, and there are situations which present themselves to a human.
Truthfully, I am yet to come across an individual who has radically changed himself as an adult and lived effortlessly thereafter as a transformed man.
Those who understand addictions know that an addiction lies dormant, and is never extinguished. It has to be overcome again and again by power of will and with the help and support of external angels.
A relapse almost always results in the addiction or the habit pattern being fully established all over again. It is not that the relapsed individual is more capable of understanding and restraint. The patterns of behavior that one finds, and resists, in oneself are deeper than the force of will and awareness.
At some point in one's life, one has to accept that "this is what I am". If "this is what I am" is not going to lead to "what I want", then a struggle is inevitable and there will be a life-long inner conflict. That is by no means a negative. It just means that one has to live with all three: "what I am", "what I want to be" and conflict.
Giving up on "what I am" is impossible and is a denial of reality. Beware of those paths which make you doubt and deny yourself.
Giving up on "what I want" is resignation. Beware of those who decry desire as evil.
Wanting to avoid conflict, or in other words, suffering, is delusion. Beware of those who peddle the snake oil of a life free of suffering.
An adult lives in internal conflict between various drives, some of the past, some looking forward into the future. Shyness versus loneliness, lack of ambition versus insecurity, misanthropy versus the desire to be liked and admired, laziness versus the desire to be athletic, ...
Self-acceptance does not mean that one stops improving. It only means that improvement will also have to be accepted as a life-long struggle. Perhaps the process of improvement can be so sustained and persistent that it becomes a habit, but the unimproved self lies in abeyance, un-extinguished. Watchfulness will be forever necessary.
As we age, it requires more and more energy to take new paths and to take new risks. But it is by no means impossible.
As long as you are alive, you can choose. Radical choices in later life require more courage than those in youth.
But there comes a time, when after having analyzed ad-nauseum, and when fear is the only obstacle, one must take the plunge.
While failure might await those who do, regret definitely awaits those who don't.
The general approach to solving anything is to identify the problem, figure out possible approaches to solve it, and evaluate the approaches on their (a) risk-vs-reward, (b) effort-vs-results or (c) competence-vs-weakness-of-the-individual factors.
Our evaluation of ourselves is necessarily tinged by how others see us. The evaluating part of us is a product of our environment. And surprisingly, our desires too are in many cases the effect of influence. We see others, we see them happy or sad, and we want the things happy people have and we reflect on others' sadness, somewhat gratefully, as lessons on what to avoid.
What we want first must be validated as something that we really want, and not something that we think we want. What is the difference? What we want must resonate with what we are, and not how we want to be perceived. What we are is found by going back to our childhood, before puberty (because that is when society starts exerting itself), and reflecting on our in-born traits.
"Am I true to my ten-year old self?"
Once we have some confidence in our desires and ambitions (even if it is the ambition to live peacefully, somewhat off the beaten track), we must:
(a) Understand what changes in direction that desire will require. The change will be painful, and risky. Is the desire strong enough for us to bear that pain? The path to wealth, for example, is a path of many failures before any kind of success, and we might have to give up the certainty of our daily existence to reach for something that currently seems out of reach.
(b) Understand what it takes to achieve our desires. Are we ready for that effort? Given our history of effort and persistence, does it seem like we will be able to pull through the effort? Sustaining a family requires adjustments and tenacity which a restless nature might find impossible to bear.
(c) Understand whether that desire is realizable, given our limits and circumstances. A 45-year old woman may want to be a mother, and it may not be easy to accept that her time has passed. But without that acceptance, one is destined to a life of futility and bitterness.
...
When trying to understand a human being and his situation, we have to bear in mind that the totality of his life is reflected in his present.
There are in-born traits, there are patterns established by experience, and there are situations which present themselves to a human.
Truthfully, I am yet to come across an individual who has radically changed himself as an adult and lived effortlessly thereafter as a transformed man.
Those who understand addictions know that an addiction lies dormant, and is never extinguished. It has to be overcome again and again by power of will and with the help and support of external angels.
A relapse almost always results in the addiction or the habit pattern being fully established all over again. It is not that the relapsed individual is more capable of understanding and restraint. The patterns of behavior that one finds, and resists, in oneself are deeper than the force of will and awareness.
At some point in one's life, one has to accept that "this is what I am". If "this is what I am" is not going to lead to "what I want", then a struggle is inevitable and there will be a life-long inner conflict. That is by no means a negative. It just means that one has to live with all three: "what I am", "what I want to be" and conflict.
Giving up on "what I am" is impossible and is a denial of reality. Beware of those paths which make you doubt and deny yourself.
Giving up on "what I want" is resignation. Beware of those who decry desire as evil.
Wanting to avoid conflict, or in other words, suffering, is delusion. Beware of those who peddle the snake oil of a life free of suffering.
An adult lives in internal conflict between various drives, some of the past, some looking forward into the future. Shyness versus loneliness, lack of ambition versus insecurity, misanthropy versus the desire to be liked and admired, laziness versus the desire to be athletic, ...
Self-acceptance does not mean that one stops improving. It only means that improvement will also have to be accepted as a life-long struggle. Perhaps the process of improvement can be so sustained and persistent that it becomes a habit, but the unimproved self lies in abeyance, un-extinguished. Watchfulness will be forever necessary.
As we age, it requires more and more energy to take new paths and to take new risks. But it is by no means impossible.
As long as you are alive, you can choose. Radical choices in later life require more courage than those in youth.
But there comes a time, when after having analyzed ad-nauseum, and when fear is the only obstacle, one must take the plunge.
While failure might await those who do, regret definitely awaits those who don't.
2 comments:
Very nice article. Can't agree more.
What we want first must be validated as something that we really want, and not something that we think we want. What is the difference? What we want must resonate with what we are, and not how we want to be perceived. What we are is found by going back to our childhood, before puberty (because that is when society starts exerting itself), and reflecting on our in-born traits.
"Am I true to my ten-year old self?"
# I think this is easier said than done, and more difficult than it seems at first. I am thinking of myself as a ten-year old kid: I loved reason, logic, deduction, science- perhaps, that is why I chose science (medicine) as a career. In a country such as India, this is a very difficult and subtle concept to understand because career paths are rigid and defined. Nepotism enjoys a stronghold in almost every field in India especially in politics, the film industry, and sports (junior level mostly). There is an added influence of parental and peer-pressure. I know of a girl who became a Chartered Accountant just to please her dad but ended up studying fashion-designing after becoming a qualified C.A. Barring a few Indian parents, none encourage their child the right to think freely and uninhibitedly. What about the innumerable IIT graduates who change career paths and end-up pursuing an MBA, and enjoy successful and happy careers after that?
*When trying to understand a human being and his situation, we have to bear in mind that the totality of his life is reflected in his present.
There are in-born traits, there are patterns established by experience, and there are situations which present themselves to a human. *
A truer statement has never been spoken. In conclusion, I would say that when conflict arises, when there is disharmony and distress and angst one must turn inwards and think and reflect and ponder- " Why am I doing this? What is the source behind this desire? Am I being influenced by society? Am I being true to my 10 year old self?" If one is happy and enjoying one's work, I would ask one to keep going.
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