Dealing With Change

Human behavior is so unique but also so diverse; so common, but also so unpredictable. Consider why even after so many years of scientific advancement, psychology, among all the medical sciences, continues to fall more in the domain of interpretational wisdom than being a well defined science. Our mind is such a spring-board of chaos and wild imagination that it constantly urges us to change, to try new ideas. But we, do not want to change. It is a paradox that most of our socio-psychological problems stem out of our natural stubborn tendency to follow that one law of the Universe – The Law of Inertia. We so often avoid what we do not know. We do not want to know because that would change our beliefs. We do not want to change our beliefs because we see it as a threat to our well-being. We resist change. We fail to see that the Universe is a journey of transformation, of continuous morphing, of unending evolution, of constant change. As one popular quote goes, “change is the only permanent thing in the Universe’. But we, the common folk, are so slow to recognize and follow the right tide of change that by the time we come out of our inertia to encounter it, the water has already passed over our head, and we find ourselves being swept away by the tide that otherwise we were set to ride. We are helplessly inundated at a time when we should have been swimming ahead downstream favored by the giant wave. Fortunately sometimes, we do have tides that push us back to safe shores without even a bit of our deliberate effort. It leaves us in admiration for its power that, though beyond our control, been so benevolent to us. The irony is, whatever the drama, most of us are silent spectators who do not gear up to face change as it comes. We instead get tossed at the will of the Uncontrollable.

Out of every million of the human population, only one prodigy turns out to become a thought leader. Only a handful of the human race, play a pivotal role in transforming the society. Yet so often is it seen, massive social changes are initiated at an insignificantly small scale... just like the nuclear fission that makes a humble beginning with one tiny neutron; but given the critical mass, it can see such explosive growth that we humans could get wiped out along with a slice of earth! Such immense power at the mercy of so tiny a particle! Master that power and you have all that it needs to run a whole next generation! The point is, our future depends every time on how we recognize and deal with the most powerful ‘Agents of Change’, before it steers our civilisation without our consent!

Those few men and women who are set to turn around our social beliefs display such phenomenal speed in empowering human minds that we do not know when they would become a blessing or a boon to our existence. If that handful of change-agents are not content with Today and set out constructively, then we, the common folk, would be blessed. If otherwise, we would be cursed. Nelson Mandela and Bin Laden are the contemporary examples of favored and unfavored change-agents. But who takes over which of the fresh inquisitive minds remains a matter beyond the scope of our control. Only a sound moral, social leadership can guide the response of the masses onto the path of constructive growth and prosperity...

More on this in days to come...

With Luv,

Chiraag

The Universe Within

As we go about each day doing our daily chores, a thousand thoughts graze through the mind. We don't probably own them, for we do not know and cannot claim that they are the products of our intelligence. They just occur in response to situations and grow by our careful contemplation.... they open up a series of questions in our mind - sometimes inspiring, sometimes causing discomfort. But either way, these ponderings can serve as beacon lights to move forward in life; probably, they are showing some direction to apply our intelligence; persuading us to change our dead habits....

Most lessons on self management, our outlook about the world around us, our attitude, our intentions unto them are in response to our interpretation that come from the 'universe within'. Only it needs to be highlighted, deliberated and persuaded in one's own mind to be absorbed as new habits, to change our lives. The diverse topics that I intend to write on this blog are aimed at this objective.

YOU are no stranger to this 'universe within' that I am talking about. Every one carries a fraction of it inside one's mind – the power of imagination, the power of analyzing our interactions with the physical universe around us, the power of creativity, churning out ideas that can enlighten our lives.

Queer enough that the universe within does not fall in the realm of the three dimensions of the physical universe we know. The 'universe within' is indeed dimensionless! It occupies no space at all. Yet this infinitesimally small universe inside us unbelievably seems to prove its continuity and its expanse across minds through the spectacular similarity of human thought. On so many occasions, we humans think alike - unless some different streak of spontaneous thought sets in to steer our direction elsewhere. Some of those spark out brilliantly, igniting our imagination, enlightening our mind space.

I am no exception to this organization of the Universe within. But why do we have to keep these thoughts to ourselves? Why not know how many of us do think about the same questions? Why not know how much we think alike, thus fortifying our self confidence? Why not know if someone thinks better and build a better outlook ourselves? What if I give it a verbal shape? What if we try to strike a visual resonance among strikingly similar thoughts emerging in diverse minds? What if these streaks of light cluster together to shape a new group, a body, a culture, a neo-cyber civilization! A more enlightened tomorrow!

The Web has already started this process. We are only joining in late. There may be perverse critics who think the Web has made us lose contact with our neighbor. But they fail to see the fact that so many minds that yearned for silent interaction with the world out there, are finding an outlet to vent out their ideas and notions; to give, to share, to benefit someone else. While one door of our social interactions closes down, there are others that are opening. It would be wise if we do not try to force and break open the one that has shut close. Some other may be opening out into a Paradise...where we may have the pleasant surprise of meeting our neighbor again! Let's give it a try. Let's blog, let's express, let's impress, share joy and inspiration. Let's look for a purpose to live a meaningful life in the domain of this new expanse.

Fear not, friends! I won't be philosophical all the time in my blogs to come. Moods differ - and I do not really know what demeanor my mind would adopt in the days to come. But whatever I blog, the charge is not with me. The topics that trigger my thoughts come from somewhere else, from deep within. I hope, those streaks of light would converge at some point to make sound sense.

My task would be to make the 'generation-next' think through the world within about the world out there, about our civilisation and its defects, about how we can begin to set it right not necessarily through the massive exercise of mountain-moving in the society, but through the small first step of changing our mindset, thinking fresh and living it out without contamination.

Ever yours,
Chiraag