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"Obese Mindset"

Running and walking are normal for human beings. We have been running for ages. However, think of a person who weighs 150 Kg. Running is a dream for such a person, and walking will also be quite difficult. What if the world is full of people with an average weight of 150 Kg? Talking of walking and running would be a utopia. Everybody would agree that we should run, but the moment someone starts running, one would fall flat on his face. 

That has probably happened to spiritual talks. That's why people feel that spirituality is a post-retirement pursuit. Our lives are so full of fear and we have forgotten to live fearlessly. We instill fear and insecurity in the minds of young kids. We keep taking sessions of the young kids studying in 9th and 10th standard and students, in general, are so full of fear of scoring less in examinations. In fact, they are quite sure that such fear is essential for their growth. It's like somebody taking painkillers regularly and getting convinced that painkillers are essential for his survival. In almost every aspect of life, fear has taken over love. Fear is being spread by the vested interest. Spreading fear of bacteria is necessary for the sale of soaps and hand sanitizers, fear of death for the sale of life insurance, fear of diseases for the sale of health insurance, and fear of rejection for the sale of beauty products and designer clothes. 

The whole society is driven by fear. People having huge amounts of wealth are equally fearful of losing their wealth. People in the highest positions of power are also equally fearful of losing their positions. People are afraid of any and everything. Every day we are creating more fears by getting indulged in the material world. The more we take pleasure in the material world the more we are afraid of losing what we have. People who have somehow been running in the race for material wealth and have accumulated wealth are now afraid that their kids will have to run the same race and therefore they put a lot of pressure on their kids to make it to the best colleges so that they live their lives comfortably. 

In a society full of obese people, we have lost awareness of the joy of being slim. The few thousand cells of the tongue get undue attention and the trillions of the cells of the body suffer. Similarly, for the comfort and pleasure of a few million cells of the body, we get so obsessed with this material world that our whole being becomes full of fear. We fail to understand that if we are not able to open our mouths and speak what is right even after reaching the best of the positions if we do not appreciate what life is after having the whole of the wealth of this world, and if we are not able to behave well with the fellow human beings and give them fair treatment, probably whatever positions, wealth, and knowledge we have accumulated in our life are just like that extra weight that takes the joy of running and walking away from us. We have not made any progress in life. Spirituality is very practical. It is all about living with freedom, love, and compassion. We just need to come out of the "obese mindset". Healthy living is normal. Living with freedom, love, and compassion in this world is normal. We can live with cooperation rather than competition. 

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