Burying worries

One of the most painful challenges we face in life is tackling nagging worries and anxieties. It is next to impossible to overcome them altogether, unless we have full control over them, and it is an art to take full control of what makes us worried and anxious. One might think it is easier said than done, because there is hardly any soul on earth who does not go through anxious moments and come in contact with worries. No doubt, when they are not checked in time, they could lead to depression, and that could turn out to be fatal if it becomes chronic. I am no psychologist or psychiatrist to analyse the different reasons responsible for excessive worries and anxieties, but I would like to look at them from psycho-spiritual point of view. I might sound a bit too spiritual when I begin to discuss what Jesus has to say about worries and anxieties, but the point is Jesus had a remedy for this malady which haunts several men and women of our age.

Let us turn to the Holy Bible to see what Jesus says about these unfriendly allies to human beings. “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?” (Mt 6:25-26) … “Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil” (Mt 6:34). Jesus is addressing the problem squarely, and is it not heartening to realize that two thousand years ago, Jesus had known what our generation may be going through in an acute way! And what he tells us may not sound too profound, but if we give a serious thought to his words, we will realize that he has a serious point to make.

Jesus no doubt is making this part of the discourse in the context of dependence on God, or a superior being, if one feels the word God too intimidating. It does not require of me to tell that every human person is limited, and we have no other option than to depend on others to fulfill most of our needs and wants. Fortunately, the society we live in fulfill these needs, and there are certain other needs which we draw from our inner self. There are a few wants where we cannot look up to human persons; for instance a child who is too frightened of darkness may cling on to its mother, but when we grow into adulthood, we have to device certain mechanism to handle fear by ourselves, and in this case, we may believe and call upon God to stand close by, so that we would not experience fright. Similarly there are areas which are beyond the reach of human persons, and they are the ones where we need to look up to God for assistance.

Let me now explain the same concept from the perspective of the twentieth century ‘existentialist philosophy’. Here in this category we may recall the contributions of Jean Paul Sartre, Nietche, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and others. Confronted with human tragedies and predicaments, these men and women tried to find amicable ways of handling them, but not resting their faith on religious believes, but on reason and logic. Sartre might tell those who are excessively worried that they might find relief from them, only when they dare to take a leap into the unknown, and they put it figuratively as jumping into the everlasting deep hole. Is it too frightening? They are just repeating what Jesus has told the people, though here the terminology is somewhat philosophical, but the idea remains the same. Unless we are ready to let things go out of our control, we might still be tied to them.

Let me present an image for dependence on the superior power, or on God; to let things go out of our hands might sound too frightening, but it is only when we do it, can we find life bearable and meaningful. One may find safe and secure when his boat is fastened to the shore, and to let the rope go and let the boat move forward is too frightening, and anything could happen when the boat is in the middle of the river, but if one does not want to take the risk of letting things go, one might be stuck to where one was. To reach the other shore, we have to let the rope go free, and allow the boat to face the currents of the river and find its own pace and route to reach the other shore. Those who are worried too much are seeing the risks and dangers involved rather than the possibility of reaching the other shore by letting the rope go free. We shall come back to the topic again, to explain the art of letting things go.

Body and Mind

It is beyond all doubt that there is an inextricable relationship between body and mind; body can affect the mind, and the vice versa. Psychologists believe that many of the sicknesses are not merely physical, but outcome of problems associated with the mental makeup. We cannot however say that all sicknesses are due to mental framework of persons; for instance if a person is diagnosed cancer or tuberculosis all of a sudden, it cannot be related to the mind of the person, or the mental problems he/she is going through. The modern day ‘saviors’ may claim that they have solutions to all the problems of the world and of humanity, but their claim has to be taken with a pinch of salt.

One of the greatest and most severe maladies of the modern age is tension; there is mental tension, and there is psychological tension. As a matter of fact, psychological tension puts stress on the mind, and that has an effect on the body. We might think that the psychological tensions are created by the world or the people around us, but if we observe the evolution of tension or stress in us, we would realize that the psychological tension too originates from the mind, and that in turn affects the body. Stress may also be the one of the most dangerous diseases plaguing the executives, beuorocrats and those men and women who had forgotten to rest. Those who give priority to their work over their bodies are bound to face tension sooner or later.

Just because there is a fountain of energy in our bodies does not necessarily mean that we have to exhaust it at will. We might realize one fine morning that the body is drained of all energy, and we might find ourselves helpless. It is like exhausting the natural resources. We realize more and more that the loss of natural resources is irreplaceable and irrevocable. The energy lost is lost forever, and we cannot hope to replace it by going through the best psychological tests and most sophisticated medication possible. Therefore it is important that we do not exhaust the energy of the physical and the mental area, but use it sparingly. The body can provide all the energy we need to turn the world upside down, but it would do it only at its own time and its own place.

While trying to make the best of technology and modern advancement, humanity has forgotten to relax; most of the people who run from pillar to post to make both ends meet know only one thing for sure, that they have to struggle hard to make a living; they cannot afford to relax, because that would mean they cannot have a bank balance at the end of the month. We are stuck with the idea that every family should have a bank balance for future, and for unforeseen expenses, or for any eventuality. We are almost sure that we cannot be happy without money kept in reserve for emergency expenses, but the fact is quite the contrary. When we have some money kept in the bank to manage the unforeseen expenses, our options in times of emergency are limited. Think of the possibilities when there is no ready-made answer.

When the mind is calm, then the body is relaxed. It is not too difficult to check if my mind is overly preoccupied or calm. I can stop all the work I am busy with for a minute, close my eyes and observe my mind – listen to the self-talk that is going on. What are the thoughts which flood my mind just now? I can observe the thoughts as they come one by one in the screen of my mind. That will give me a clue as to what I am obsessed with. Or another exercise, when I am drinking a cup of coffee, I should be able to really taste the coffee and the sugar; if I gup it in a few minutes, and don’t even make out if it was sugar or salt that was added to the coffee, then I am sure my body and mind are tensed. I need to find some ways of bursting my stress, so that I may enjoy life and all that it presents to me and to others.