A fragile mind, burdened by irrational fears and unresolved emotions, struggles to find clarity
Bill Maher writes, “Suicide is man’s way of telling God: you can’t fire me, I quit.” But do brave men commit suicide? Fear, anxiety, emotional upheavals, unpleasant feelings, panic attacks and phobias are all symptomatic of a fragile and delicate mind. It is an expression of an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger or pain.
A fragmented mind is invariably a victim of irrational fear. Such an individual is unable to distinguish between what is logical and what is not. People suffer from extreme or irrational fear or aversion. This is nothing but what is called phobia (the Greek word for fear). A contributor to the magnification of fear is our pent-up emotions. These emotions are not based on a rational or scientific thinking pattern. We end up reacting violently or irrationally rather than responding in a coherent and clear-sighted manner. Humans should be prudent to ponder that if left untreated this situation can become mourning regalia.
A person can suffer from psychosomatic illnesses, loss of appetite, self-deprecatory behaviour or even schizophrenia. This has a multiplier effect in the form of morbid thoughts, persecution complexes and even hallucinations. An element of fear is perhaps required, because then we can patrol our fences. However, this needs to be distinguished from false bravado. Such an attitude will only be tantamount to mere filibustering or posturing. The brain is an organ and the mind is our intellect. The power of the mind needs to be magnified and enhanced to conquer fear. The mind is a movie theatre where the soap opera of our life is enacted.We play, rewind and rerun an enormous number of movies. These are based on our idiosyncrasies and quality of thoughts. Thoughts are impacted by the kind of food we partake in (Tamasik, Rajasik, Sattvik), the company we keep and the amount of rest we take.The quality (guna) of food has a bearing on our disposition and approach to life. Tamasik food makes us sluggish, Rajasik food makes us feverish or anxious in disposition and Sattvik food makes us feel calm.
The first two lead us to fearful situations.If we are closeted to individuals who have a negative thought process, we imbibe such attributes and evince such a behavioural pattern. “Man is known by the company he keeps” is a very old adage and so is “man is born free but always is in chains”. Suppose we have inspirational friends and achievers in our orbit, we will tread such a path.It is cardinal to have adequate physical and mental rest. If we are rested, then we are at peace and do not complain or quibble. Then we are physically and mentally alert and high-yielding. In our minds, we need to keep space to just dump the garbage that disappears into the recycle bin, never to appear again.
We need to pursue passions, hobbies, indulge in sports, participate in extracurricular activities, avoid negative company, take up initiatives, practice meditation, keep the mind occupied, footslog on the treadmill, go for long walks, go for treks, and read autobiographies of entrepreneurs and achievers.Others adopt the spiritual path by practising pranayama, learning yoga, undertaking the Art of Living course or observing the breath through the Vipassana technique.
These holistic techniques metamorphose the mind to be in the present moment and overcome fear. To conquer fear, we need to log out of our comfort zone so that the virus of fear does not enter our operating system. And if nothing works out, one should surrender to the Divine and feel grateful.
(The writer is the CEO of Chhattisgarh East Railway Ltd. and Chhattisgarh East West Railway Ltd. He is a faculty of the Art of Living; views are personal)