Random Forays | Perspective can alter life’s landscape

A person who is compelled to live in penury can hardly be expected to ponder over global warming, which hangs on our heads like the sword of Damocles or the perils and pitfalls of societal degeneration.

In the figurative room of our minds, each one of us is treated to an exclusive view, which determines the lives we will lead. Some life choices are foisted on us, others we choose ourselves.

To extricate oneself from a particular way of thinking often requires mental toughness and immense determination. (Shutterstock)

A person who is compelled to live in penury can hardly be expected to ponder over global warming, which hangs on our heads like the sword of Damocles or the perils and pitfalls of societal degeneration. Similarly, a well heeled, privileged individual cannot be expected to keep worrying about where his next meal will come from. Thus, our life situations determine our world view and this cannot be expected to change beyond a point. Yet, two persons in a similar situation might envision diametrically opposite perspectives, if their minds are quite dissimilar. The mind tells us what it wants us to believe. Although, we own the mind and should be able to direct it to a particular direction, it usually has a mind of its own!

Thus, we tend to become habituated to particular patterns of thinking and thought. We develop distinct behavioural patterns which are conditioned by our thought processes. And such trajectories might lead us towards the quality of our existence or the lack of it. The entire landscape of our lives would change if we were able to rise above the intricacies of daily challenges and see the bigger picture. Some people do contrive to do so, by will power or compulsion, while others are compelled to lead narrow-minded lives simply by habit.

To extricate oneself from a particular way of thinking often requires mental toughness and immense determination. A labourer who has to feed his family and keeps worrying about his daughter’s impending wedding cannot be expected to envision his long-term future. His whole life revolves around these necessities. But someone who is reasonably comfortable in life cannot allow himself to indulge only in the basics. A shopkeeper with a steady flow of income could probably rise above the single-minded quest of making an extra buck by perhaps taking time out for yoga and meditation.

A tunnel vision to attain one’s materialistic goals is understandable but there is a beautiful world beyond the tunnel, which is beseeching us to open up our minds a little more. The shopkeeper might also try out music classes or even cha-cha-cha tutorials, if he somehow manages to think differently.

The need to broaden the horizons of our thoughts is what I am really hinting at. We cannot confine our existence to meeting day-to-day needs and sorting out relationships. There has to be a larger meaning to our sojourn on this earth!

Ultimately, the goal of life has to be to seek happiness for oneself and for others. If we develop in ourselves a sense of empathy for those in need and do something about it, we will stop focussing only on our own comforts and life will find new fulfilment.

Connecting with nature and the great outdoors is a great way to ponder over the real meaning of life and the eternal query: “Who am I, and why am I here?”

To not even ask this all important question, over a whole life time, is to live a life of routineness and banality. Health and happiness being the overall objectives of any human foray on this planet, we must seek permanent answers to the imponderables of life. Raising our game is the way forward.

Even to attain outstanding levels in our careers we need to reinvent ourselves at intermittent intervals. It is only by enlarging our perspectives that we will be able to outpace those impaired by lack of imagination.

Not for nothing does the view from atop a mountain appear truly eye-catching. The effort made to climb up the hill becomes worthwhile the moment we scale the peak.

Time to assess the direction, in which we are headed. Time to make necessary course corrections. And to ultimately realise that it is the inner life, a life preferably led with peace within, that will change our perspectives and make this sojourn truly worthwhile!

vivek.atray@gmail.com