All of us have fears. Fear of falling ill, fear of losing our jobs, fear of being insulted, fear of losing reputation, fear of an accident, fear of losing family members, and so on. Basically, we have a fear of undesired consequences and situations. That means we want "desired" consequences and situations. Why are we so afraid of undesired consequences and situations? Because we have not made ourselves capable of facing those situations.
Most of us are afraid of failing in the examinations, while many great scientists dropped out of school or never did formal schooling. Examples include Albert Einstein, who struggled with traditional schooling but made groundbreaking discoveries in physics, and Leonardo da Vinci, a polymath who excelled in various fields without formal university training. We are afraid of losing jobs, while many world-famous entrepreneurs left their well-established jobs to start their own businesses. Some prominent examples include Falguni Nayar of Nykaa, Ritesh Agarwal of OYO Rooms, and Bhavish Aggarwal of Ola. I personally know many individuals who started NGOs after the loss of their only child and contributed to the lives of many people in society. We have examples of Saint Tulsidas and Kalidas who were badly insulted by their wives, and after that, the entire course of their lives changed, and they became the greatest poets of India. The climbers try every year to climb Mount Everest despite knowing that many climbers have died in such attempts, and in fact, their dead bodies lie en route to haunt them, and still, they dare to climb.
Does that mean that these people had no fear? Definitely not. Fear is a natural defense mechanism of our body. Whenever we face any unpredictable situation, our body puts us on high alert so that we are more attentive and face the situation with greater awareness. Thus, fear has a functional role. The problem is not with the initial reaction of the body to the unforeseen situation. The problem is with the "loop" created by the mind. Our mind immediately thinks of the worst consequences and presumes that the worst possibilities will come true, and sends unpleasant signals to our bodies. Such panic sensations on the body send unpleasant signals back to the mind, and the mind becomes more tensed. Thus, the "panic loop" sets in. We experience many such "panic loops" at the office where bosses mistreat the subordinates and the subordinates develop "panic loops" and every time they have to confront the boss in a meeting, the "panic loop" sets in in anticipatio,n and slowly due to constant stress, employees develop helth issues. The same thing happens in relationships where one person bullies the other, and the person being bullied falls into a "panic loop," and every time he faces him, the panic loop sets in and slowly relationships turn into exploitation and torture.
Why are some people able to break free of the "panic loops" while others fall flat? To the best of my understanding, there is one factor that distinguishes the two categories of people. That is "focus". The people who break free of the "panic loops" focus on "action," while the people who fall into its trap focus on "outcome". The greatest example of the first category of people is Hanumana. He didn't know who was in Lanka and where Lanka was. Yet, he jumped to cross the ocean. He didn't know where Sanjivani Booti was, and yet did not take a minute to start action. Some people will say that Hanumana was God and full of all the powers, while we are ordinary people. What about Mahatma Gandhi? He did not know how he would fight against the almighty British, and yet he started his action. What about Columbus, who did not know whether he would ever reach India, and yet started to sail.
I feel that there are two ways of looking at any situation. We may presume that we "know" all the possibilities and weigh different options, and the moment we believe that the chance of achieving the desired outcomes is limited, we may enter into a "panic loop". The other way is to recognize that as soon as we take action, many new possibilities will emerge that are not visible right now. However, a person whose mind is fixated on what he knows will not easily move along the second path. That carries too much risk. In reality, entering into the "panic loop" is the biggest risk because it will soon paralyze the entire body. Our brains become fixated on our desired outcomes from childhood, making it challenging to choose the second way of living. That's why Hanumana is the greatest hero in the present-day world. Hanumana was not fixated on any outcome, and his complete focus was on action. He was so internally connected to Rama that he did everything for Him. In fact, Krishna tells Arjuna the same in the Bhagavad Gita. When Arjuna is worried about the consequences of his actions, Krishna advises him to focus on action and leave the results to Him. "Focus" on "action" is possible only when we have a "strong inner connection," and this connection enables us to explore different possibilities, even if they are quite different from the "desirable ones. " Hanumana is the greatest hero for the present generation, not because we offer some eleven rupee prasad in some temple and expect him to take the exam on our behalf, but because Hanumana's life can inspire all of us to shift our focus to "action" rather than "results" with a strong inner connection to "consciousness" and with that "strong inner connection" and focus on "action", we will explore different possibilities and will be able to overcome our "fears" easily.
Comments