We live the whole of our lives in mental stories. During our childhood, one or more stories looked very attractive. Life will be amazing if we get a lot of money, or life with a friend would be wonderful. Our parents' generation had different stories. They created many stories, mainly centred on social validation. Our children have quite different stories, mainly about getting settled abroad, having fun, and enjoying themselves. We have seen the falsity of many such stories. Rich people are often depressed and tense. The best of friends turn into the worst of enemies. The same couple who would vow to die for each other would levy all sorts of unpalatable allegations while standing in the court of law during divorce proceedings. People become like objects. So long as we possess them, they are very good and nice; but the moment they move apart, we somehow want to damage them so that they are any longer usable. As if they do not have any existence of their own.
We have seen the hidden cost of social validation. The more we try to please society, the more we are deprived of freedom. The more we consider the view of society while making decisions and the more it tries to dictate the terms. We buy the comfort of society standing with us in the moments of crisis at the cost of our freedom. That feeling of society standing with us in the moments of crisis is also another story. In fact, we have to fight our own struggle. Had it not been the case, why would there be so rampant depression in society? Why would people not be able to share their pain? Because that social support is available only as long as we comply with the rules of society. That's why most people share their deepest secrets with society. That's why there are so many inauthenticities. Maintaining that farce of social image is far more important than being authentic.
We have seen the stories of fun and enjoyment turning into disasters. The present generation is getting more and more addicted to liquor and drugs, and we have seen the ill effects on their bodies. The effects of a sudden spike in sugar on our bodies have been very well documented. These spikes of pleasure and fun also have a similar effect on bodies. We are in a state of high in one moment, and the very next moment, we feel broken and sad. That spike of pleasure can't continue, and the body has got used to that high dose of pleasant sensation. That's why whenever that high dose of pleasant sensation is not available, we feel depressed.
We constantly experience the falsity of our own mental stories and the mental stories made by so many other people. Yet, we keep falling into their trap. Different things in this world keep attracting us. Something attracts us, and we make a mental story around the same, make efforts to achieve that thing and get disillusioned just to believe in another story that looks more attractive now. To the best of my understanding, the problem is not with the availability of so many stories, but rather the problem is that we have not tasted reality ever. We have never experienced the joy of living in the present moment. While walking, our mind is full of thoughts regarding office work. While working at office, our mind is full of personal problems. After going to mountains for a fun trip, we are desperately looking for the WiFi. We are never fully aware in any moment. We behave as if we are slaves of our thoughts.
Being in the present moment is very fulfilling. I realised this morning while walking with my childhood friend that when our brain is free of the baggage of all these mental stories, we have created since childhood, our observation increases exponentially. Our experience of walking is very rich. Similarly, when we discuss, when we dicuss with a fixed mindset, quite often discussions turn into debates. There is hardly any learning. On the other hand, when we have dialogues with an open mind, the experience is so rich. Since a fixated mind never gets to experience what it means to be fully aware in the present moment, that's why it becomes desperate to get that joy. Out of desperation, it makes many stories and lives therein. The more we stay aware in the present moment and the more we realise the value thereof. Thus, the first and foremost thing we need to do ourselves and also tell our children is to be in the present moment fully, without any baggage of mental stories and experience life in its entirety. Once we have that experience, we will learn to discriminate between reality and story.
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