Role of Confusion in our Lives

I am confused. What is the confusion you may ask and my answer would be, ‘Aren’t you confused?’ These are confusing times indeed. Confusion is in the air. It is contagious. What makes us all so confused? We, the people, who have lived most of our lives with clear, analytical approach on every subject under the sun! We, who work out various permutations and combinations and predict the trends in every area of our lives! It is not about us and our capabilities anymore. It is the ‘times’ that are changing. No, longer are we able to predict anything with any certainty and that is what is causing this great epidemic of confusion. We are zapped out of our wits.

The weather, the economics, the politics, or the job scenario; nothing is as it used to be. There are job freezes, de-hirings, salary cuts, bonus freezes, cost cuttings and resultant insecurities. Most institutes are seeing poor placements. Even the so called ‘premier’ institutes can’t ensure plum placements. The bubble seems to be bursting. One thing follows another and the Domino effect gathers momentum.

So what do we do in these uncertain times? What are the choices that we have? The solution seems simple enough to me. We just need to understand the confusion and find the silver lining hidden in it. If you have read the Chaos theory, you would know that confusion can be very deceptive. Out of confusion great creativeness takes birth; which brings about clarity.

What is this clarity we are looking for? It is the clarity to move forward and take the next step. They say a lot of clarity results after churning the sea of confusion. So let us churn this sea and find out for ourselves.

We must start from the premise that confusion is a platform from which we can have greater access to wisdom. Confusion hampers our habitual way of thinking, which is a blessing in disguise since our habitual thoughts tend to block our wisdom. When these habitual thoughts stop working, a new door opens for us. It is like when our brain can’t figure something out, it goes nuts!!! We have been programmed to think that our brain must figure everything out. After all that is its’ job; to understand things. When brain stops doing its job, we kind of stall. If we stay in the flow and stop fighting or resisting this ‘stall’, we can easily transition from brain based intellectual logic to deeper soul wisdom.

Wisdom is an advanced and elevated thought form. It arises from a place where there is no active thinking, a place where mind stops its habitual function. In fact, there is no mind anymore. Have you heard of meditation? Do you meditate? For those of you who are used to meditating, this place would be familiar. In this place you do not think; you just let the thoughts come and go like ever drifting clouds on the vast blue sky. In this non-thinking place you connect with the wisdom within.

Does all this sound a bit spooky to you? You are not alone in this. From the time we have started understanding things we have been told that thinking is a master skill. In the Seventeenth century Rene Descretes so profoundly proclaimed, ‘I think, therefore I am.’ We never questioned this proclamation. We resonated with it. Now is the time to question it, because as I mentioned earlier, the times are changing now.

The time has also come to question the very basis of our education. The word ‘education’ is derived from the Latin word ‘educere’. It means to draw out or bring forth. What does our education system do? Does it draw out wisdom from the students? No, instead it tries to fill the students up with information. I do not wish to start a debate on this subject so let us leave it for now. Let us simply accept that we have worshipped ‘thinking’ for far too long.

I am not condemning thinking per se. It certainly has its place. But is it the only tool we have? It is like a tailor using only a pair of scissors, or a carpenter using only a hammer. Where will it get them? They will be able to do some tasks but all their abilities won’t be put to use. The same thing applies to thinking. We have many other faculties besides thoughts. Let us put them to use now.

Actually the fact is that we do use these faculties ‘unthinkingly’. When we day dream, we often tap a deep wisdom by default. Similarly in the moments of confusion wisdom surfaces to reveal an answer or an insight! No amount of thinking could have brought this up. Have you ever experienced a time when you couldn’t remember something even after thinking hard about it? And then suddenly many hours later when you weren’t even thinking about it the memory came back to you in a flash. How does this happen?

Learning how to ‘not- think’ takes some time and practice. It is the same with any unused skill. Non-thought is a feeling as opposed to a word or words. Let me give you an example. A beautiful scene such as a sunrise or a sunset or any other object of beauty often takes your breath away. Take notice, invariably in that moment you are in ‘non-thought’, as though the beauty has also taken your words away.

Yes, breath and thoughts are deeply connected. Try holding your breath for a while. Observe your thoughts while you are holding your breath. Are you surprised to note that you can’t think while you hold your breath?

So, if you wish to derive benefit from this confusion, learn to practice the art of non-thought. Break your addiction to words. Notice your feeling of confusion and instead of struggling to find an answer to this confusion just accept it. Let it be. Don’t analyze it. Be confident that in this fog of confusion lies the path to a deeper ‘knowing’. Expect this ‘knowing’ to help you choose your individual path. Feel the freedom of not knowing and dissecting everything to pieces.

Breathe and feel………..don’t think. During these challenging times your habitual thinking will kill your inner wisdom. Welcome confusion and uncertainty. Let go of your little restrictive view of life.

Discover the truth beyond the circumstances and EXPECT success!

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3 P's of Success: Passion, Perseverance, Patience

Do you know that the earth continuously spins at the rate of 700 to 1,038 miles per hour? That’s quite some spin!! Do you feel this spin? Are you sure you don’t feel it? Just as the earth spins on its axis and we, the people living on earth, don’t feel it, similarly the results of passion, perseverance, and patience are not always felt, at least not immediately.

Through this column, I keep encouraging you to dream, visualize, persevere, and carry on regardless of apparent realities. But the secret to success lies in carrying on, with your own convictions. We may not see the results as we work, but if we remain at it, it is bound to show up. In fact, higher we want to reach on the ladder of success, harder the process will seem. At times it can be very frustrating. Many people give up, before the results become visible. Are you one of those people? I don’t think so. You know how this system works. Don’t you?

Have you ever planted a tree, I mean a sapling? A sapling eventually grows into a tree when you water it regularly, and take care of its other needs. Can you see it growing everyday? I don’t think so. What happens when you don’t water it for a few days? Well, it just dies. Do you get the point? You need to have passion, perseverance, and patience, even for growing a tree; what to talk of ‘growing’ a grown up human being!

Yes, it is natural to feel deflated if you have not cleared any entrance exams, or if you didn’t get an interview call, or worse of all if you couldn’t convert your call into a seat. The way to combat this feeling is to put all your niggling self doubts to rest. Yes, you can do it. Give all your focus and energy to your renewed commitments. Keep re-visiting your original promise to yourself. What was your inspiration to begin with? Remember it now. That passion to invest in yourself will keep you moving forward. Your passion to do well is real. Trust it. Trust yourself. Trust the universe.

If you do that, and keep watering your sapling, you will see that the sapling will form a solid root system (the foundation of your success), soon the branches will form (your support network), and flowers will blossom. Very soon you will enjoy the fruit of this tree: your tree! Yes, the fruit of success does take its own sweet time. So eliminate ‘failure consciousness’, embrace ‘success consciousness’ and get going.

Have you ever wondered what creates ‘failure consciousness’ in the first place? Would you like to know how to step out of it? At times it so happens that we become overly entangled in our ambitions. We get wrapped up in the feeling that we do not have enough (enough money, enough job opportunities, enough growth avenues etc). This thought of ‘lack’ or ‘not enough’ sends stress chemicals to the brain. These chemicals bring about the programmed response of ‘fight or flight’.

The fight response makes you stay on but it puts unnecessary pressure on you; while the flight response makes you give up. Both of these responses don’t really help. So what is the way out? The simplest way out is to eliminate the trigger for these responses. How would you do that? You would do that by changing your thought process.
Negative thoughts deplete your energy. You already know about it. So refocus your attention upon appreciation of all your strengths and a clear evaluation of all the opportunities in your life.

It is very apt to remember what Buddha had said 2,500 years ago, ‘We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make our world.’ This saying holds good even today, in our fast paced competitive world.

With perseverance, you will soon start feeling successful. In any case, the real measure of success does not lie in outward trappings of our world. Your real success lies in the quality and quantity of ‘success feelings’ you experience. If you remain connected to your inner core, which gives birth to your passion and makes you feel good about yourself, there is no reason to feel low. There are many people out there in this wide world, who have all that you dream of, but they do not feel ‘successful’. Patience is the track that will take you towards magnetizing success to you.

Now that you know this secret, be consistent in your efforts. Question your beliefs about success. We all have hidden beliefs that run the show behind the scenes. Say if you have a deep belief that you must work harder in order to be truly successful, then that is exactly what will become your reality.

Go deep inside. Look at your old paradigms. What is it that makes you struggle more, work harder (not smarter), get stressed, and still be less successful? What can you change in your thoughts that will bring about a paradigm shift in your life? What new empowering beliefs can you cultivate?

To begin with, start relaxing more often. Appreciate all that you have in your life. Go and have that special experience, you have always denied yourself. Enjoy your wonderful body and your creative mind (these have been freely given to you). As you learn to feel good about yourself, you will notice that each day of your life will unfold itself in successful ways.

Your outer world is a place where you discover who you are. Your successes or your failures are an exquisite reflection of what is going on ‘within’ you right now. Remember, what you focus upon grows in your life. So keep your focus upon positive thoughts of success, and watch things change in your life.

3 P’s of success: passion, perseverance, and patience must remain your constant companions on this growth path. Are you ready to walk this path with a smile on your lips and hope in your heart?

Change your focus and EXPECT success!

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Where is your Focus?

The New Year has dawned; heralding a new beginning? But where is your focus? Are you celebrating the change or feeling worried and anxious about your future? I have been interacting with many youngsters and there are mixed responses. Some are feeling a kind of release from undue pressures to perform, while some are feeling more pressurized wondering about their social and personal future? Some are wondering if there is any point in pursuing a management program if there are no jobs even after attaining an MBA degree. Which side are you on? Please remember, now more than ever, ‘whatever you focus upon grows in your lives.’

Let us try and put all the recession related anxiety and resultant woes into proper perspective.

I have nothing against media. In fact it plays a major role in our lives. But it also tends to bring an overdose of negativity into our lives. Listening to some doomsday stories, even the most courageous amongst us becomes fearful of future. So may I request you to minimize your news viewing to the bare essentials? In stead read stories of entrepreneurs who didn’t go looking for a job, or chucked their high paying jobs in order to follow their heart. Perhaps it is your time to do that. An MBA degree will come handy in equipping you with the right tools for entrepreneurship. Each one of you will not only employ yourselves, but many others. Does recession stand a chance in face of such determined individuals?

Do not react or defend your stand. Take a good look at the reality. Weigh your options and just follow your heart. There are many positive, wonderful, and loving things out there that you can put your focus upon. Now is the time to ask, ‘What can I do for you?’ to your self and all other significant people in your life. Some of what you undertake now may open new avenues for you. You never know! After all you didn’t even know about recession just four months ago or did you?

Take into account all the wonderful natural talents and innate gifts that you possess. Don’t say you have none. Each one of us is blessed with our unique talents. This is the time to polish them and encash them. Yes, you can do it! You will not only survive; you will flourish, during the recession and far beyond it. Have faith in your self, now more than ever! Focus on the results that you desire and take appropriate, inspired actions to move forward.

Some of you have more free time now. How are you using it? Are you investing it in upgrading your most precious holding- you, yourself? Are you focusing more on your creative talents? Use this time to cultivate new skills. How about developing your intuition? A very important tool in these times!!! An investment in yourself is the best investment in these times of stock market crashes. Ask yourself, ‘What can I do to develop my natural talents in order to use them to make money, help myself and help others?’ The answer will come. Yes, it will.

Investing in yourself will also reduce your anxiety levels. You will stop talking about good times and bad times. All times are ‘opportunity’ times for you. Just because everyone around you is anxious doesn’t mean you need to follow their example. Reduced anxiety will help you stay focused on your long term goals. Show yourself in a new and different way; soon others will also notice your resolve, strength, and happiness. You can do nothing about the outward panic but you can sure calm the panic inside you. Yes, you can!

This is the time to separate the wheat from the chaff. Keep company with people who harbor positive thoughts and positive outlook. Such people will inspire, encourage and support you. Let the birds of a feather flock together and fly out to achieve their dreams.

Take time each day to enjoy yourself. Remember joy begets joy, while sorrow begets sorrow! Look for small things in your daily routine that can make you happy. Celebrate each little ting and enjoy each step forward. This is a sure shot formula to win over these recessionary times.

This is also the time to put your ego aside and ask for help. This help could be in the form of an advice, support, or suggestion. Welcome all help. Ask for it and receive it.


“One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And, the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility."

--Eleanor Roosevelt

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