Finding Nemo ... oops, I meant Navin ... has been a fascinating experience. Not that he was lost (any more than the rest of us are), but I didn't know the life thinker side of him and his eagerness to let others benefit from his evolution.
Thus, some interesting thoughts posted by Navin and the ensuing discussion resulted in an insightful chat with him a couple of Fridays ago, and this blogpost is an elaboration of one of the frameworks Navin suggested - almost literally, as a "napkin sketch." In his humility, he calls this universal wisdom that has no ownership - just that I must have gone to the bathroom while the universe enjoyed such wisdom ;-)
In a framework that can turn a management scientist on, the premise is that you live in memory or in thoughts built on memories - and this influences your behaviors, actions, and attitude towards life. On the (horizontal) time scale, you may divide your thoughts into the Past and the Future; on the (vertical) effect scale, you may divide your them into those that are uplift you and those that drag you down. You can find yourself constantly in one of the four quadrants and that has its respective effect on your energetic state of being.
If your dominant narrative is Reminiscing or Daydreaming, it can be an uplifting experience; if it is Regret or Anxiety, it can drain you down. Being seldom in awareness of the present, you can find yourself out of synchrony with life - that you are auto-engaged in the Regrets or Anxieties - a consequence of the natural conditioning of self-preservation.
Trying to force yourself into Reminiscing and Daydreaming can bring with it narratives of regret and anxiety.
The strategy, therefore, is to let go of the narratives that drag you down - in totality, in acceptance, and without shame. Then, you find yourself in balance in the center - with a state of awareness. The narratives don't disappear - it is just that we learn to be centered and awake/aware in an effortless way.
More Fridays with Navin can result in a sequel to a 2000 bestseller, and it could well be called Fridays with Navin!
2 comments:
Well written and profound. The second last para is the operative one. But how do you let go? First step is to give up tagging the thoughts. (Regrets. Anxieties, dragging down, lifting up Reminiscences, Day dreams are all labels or tags.) Just observe the thoughts.
Its not easy, but its possible. Doing so is in fact the highest form of meditation/yoga.
Once you do that a chain of transformational steps happen instantaneously. You are no longer at the source and so are disentangled from the effect of the thought. You are in the Present!
There is no past or future, dragging or uplifting. It awakens the true Self - the who you are. I call it the Moorti Within, you refer to it as Centered Self. But the experience is bigger than any words we may choose to label it with.
It's a great life!
Nice!
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