Fear is the most fundamental emotion in our lives. Nothing stands before fear. The moment we feel the earth shaking under our feet and our brain makes sense that there is an earthquake in our locality, the best food we are having at that time, the most comfortable home we are staying in, and the best Netflix series we are watching, nothing matters, and we just run away from everything to save our lives. "Jann hai to Jahan Hai". We encounter the same fear in hospitals when we get admitted to the emergency room or ICU and see people dying and suffering from serious diseases; we feel that fear. When we sense a crisis in a close relationship, we feel fear. When we see a crisis in office, we get afraid.
How do we handle these fears? We try to get some external support. We try to find a flat in an earthquake-resistant building. Of course, that flat will be more expensive. So we try to earn more money so we can afford one. We try to earn money to buy a safer car. We try to make the relationship work, take the other person's nonsense, and not react, just to keep the relationship going. We buy health and life insurance. We work on our immunity and join the gym. We listen to what the boss says, even if it's unreasonable, and keep the office running. Do all these things actually help?
No. They don't. The crisis comes in some other form, from an unexpected source. We suddenly develop a disease, get into an accident, face litigation, something goes wrong at the office, or something backfires in a relationship. The better we manage the external ecosystem, the more likely we are to experience those crises. Death, old age, diseases, moving apart, loss, dispute, and allegation are all realities of life. Nobody can be immune to these. So, what do we do? Do we just stop worrying? I think that's not possible. First, it is hard to close our eyes to danger. Even if we could, that would be sheer stupidity. In moments of danger, we require complete attention, and closing our eyes to the situation would be quite dangerous.
But have we ever examined why we feel these crises when they happen? We have seen so many deaths around us since childhood; so many people have fallen sick; there have been so many divorces; people have faced bankruptcy; people have been admitted to hospital; and we have visited them in hospital. How do we respond to such situations? A few moments of sensitivity, and then what? Then we try to calculate how the same crisis will not happen to my family and me. How do I find that uncommon factor so I can find mental comfort and not be affected? All the time, we are busy just isolating ourselves in a safe chamber. Let the entire world disappear; only my family and I should stay safe.
We don't realise how stupid and self-detrimental this behaviour is. Sensitivity can't be selective. Awareness can't be selective. If we are aware, we will see the pain people around us are feeling. We will try to work for them. We will feel the pain when people waste their lives in mindless pursuits, when doctors treat their patients like commodities, when the system mistreats somebody. When we become insensitive to all these things, we become oversensitive to the things we identify with. Of course, when we take a microscopic view, we cut off attention to other things and become overly attentive to what's on the slide. In that state of oversensitivity, even a small disturbance seems quite disturbing. That becomes the source of our sorrow, and it has no end. The more we try to control, the more things slip out of our hands. It feels as if nature is trying to teach us a lesson, and we are reluctant to learn it. The tussle continues till nature has its way. After all, nature will not leave us until and unless we grow to overcome all our fears.
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