With the pandemic of Covid 19 raging attacks in waves on mankind many realisations surface. As a medical professional we have closely seen the cycle of birth and death over the last three decades of life.But the situation that has emerged from this biological warfare is different. We have soaked into the fact that death is just one step away from life.
A colleague who worked with us yesterday is covid positive today and tomorrow he walks into heaven.The shudder, shock, despair and anguish at that moment is just not possible to sink into. Each soul honestly thinks that “God I hope I am not the next”
Despite all this, if and when one tests positive, the grip of uncertainties is unsurmountable.But for those who sail out to good health the gratitude also is unmeasurable.
With all this happening around, now at this stage in life some realisations have got engraved in my attitude towards life.
I realise that we travel in life with a lot of extra baggage which actually makes life painful.We should mould ourselves to throw away *Pride. *Expectations *Desire *Ego *Pain of hanging on to grief *Fear *Anguish *Knee jerk or spurt of the moment reactions *Jealousy *Comparison of our blessings with others *Unrealistic goals *Tendency to hold on material memories of life with pain. *Worries about tomorrow.
Instead let’s learn living in the moment with humility, grace and contentment.
Just as decluttering our closet makes room for new things and distributing unused material often brings a smile to many. So also it is with life. The moment we shrug off desire, ego and expectations we feel contented with whatever we have. We just never feel the urge to compare our lives with anyone.
When we stop grieving about our losses, we tide over fear and can control anguish.Our personality then becomes pleasant. Such people radiate peace and tranquility. This stage is difficult to achieve because grief, fear and anguish are our survival instincts. However our ability to overcome all this comes from faith.If we can start to believe that everything happens for a reason. That reason is usually not perceivable now but it makes life brighter in future.This faith helps to cultivate patience to wait and watch. Inturn we become peaceful.
A peaceful person is never jealous or unhappy over anything he does not pocess. Such people are actually happy in the real sense of the word.This happiness is not transient or dependent on the changing scenario of life.
If one can rise above fear and anguish we can also perhaps tame anxiety.The constant fear of tomorrow is a huge burden that most of us carry. That’s also perhaps a survival instinct that makes us work productively and positively today. But if this concern for tomorrow rises morbidly we get gripped in fear and anguish.
The reality of life is in today, more so in this moment. Let us learn to be thankful for this moment that we are alive and healthy with whatever limitations if any but not crippled.The moment we throw away our morbid concern about tomorrow, today feels very comfortable.Trust in doing good and right at the moment. That’s all we can do for tomorrow’s security.
Another very important virtue for good living is never to react at the height of anger, grief, or even happiness. Those are the moments in life when even a genius tends to be biased.When we are not in a balanced mental state our reactions can never be stable.Those are the moments that often leave us with regrets.
The other piece of heavy baggage we sometimes unknowingly carry is “Pursuing unrealistic goals”. If something is not within the bandwidth of ones resources of intellectual or financial capabilities, the pain of running after it will make us tired and unhappy sine dine.
The worst form of pain is perhaps trying to compare ourselves with others. As we all know that every person is actually fighting his own battle.Some people fear the storm while others dance in the breeze. If we trust in destiny and believe in resilience for situations beyond our control we can realise how much we can soak.
There is always an unexplored talent in every person which surfaces only in crisis.It’s universal to panic as the first reaction. But time always proves different. Only after the rage of the storm calms down can we realise how well we withstood the wind, water, hail, waves and fear. So just hang on, use your intellect and physical capabilities. We always land up where we ought to be.In realtime our resilence and ability to fight is always more than we gauge.
MAN IS MORTAL.
Life is never all rainbows and spring.In reality seasons are not timed the same in everyone’s life.When your friend is honeymooning you may be lamenting the demise of your spouse.But when the same friend is struggling with the perils of parenting you may be in bliss of solitude. So perhaps the mantra is hang on or keep moving.Have faith, whichever destination you reach is your predestined fate.
If we can cultivate calmness everything just falls to wherever it should.
If we can accept the good and the bad in preassigned slots of our soul we can face the wind or the breeze with the same calm and we land being a contented peaceful soul.
So the bottom line of life is as and when possible without any compulsion throw off extra baggage and travel light.This attitude can make us feel easier to hang on and find peace even in pain and calmness even in the storms. For life goes on as long as it should.
by
DR M P DAS