Risks, what are they exactly? A gambler may be someone who is considered to take risks all the time, but he may not necessarily win all the time, and perhaps if he is particularly unlucky, he may end up with nothing. A stunt performer who does action movies, may not see his job as risky, although he may understand that there is risk involved, he has enough confidence in his abilities to not feel there is risk. Risk is something outside of your control - if you jump out off the top of a skyscraper without a safety, then you're going to die, if you run across a motorway blindfolded, you may survive or you may get hit by a car, but these types of risks are situations that you put yourself in, and whether you see them as risks depends on your perspective.
Bungee jumping is now included in the list of corporate team-building events - among other adventure activities - if I ran an adventure company, I'd certainly love to have some large finance corporations as my clients! I would sell them every adventure as a team-building activity to improve their staff qualities and other bullshit. The corporations are willing to spend money on these events because they believe that it builds relationships within the organization, enabling better cooperation, and teaching people to become go-getters! The idea that you can have everything you want if you put yourself outside your comfort zone is a complete falsehood perpetuated by the people that sell these theories.
Let's take for example the typical office worker, who works for a company with complete loyalty yet he hates his job and dreams of doing something else - we'll call him Bob. The company that Bob works for organizes bungee jumping, in the hope that the staff would learn to adopt the 'who dares wins' mentality and become more aggressive in work. Unwillingly, Bob under the pressure of his colleagues takes a jump, he experiences a few seconds of fear as he plummets towards the ground. Do you think Bob will be a changed man? He will most likely forget the incident and continue doing the job that he hates so much.
The idea of taking risks cannot be limited to the micro sense, but must envelope a macro sense of life and take on a grander all encompassing vision. The biggest risk that Bob could have taken would be to quit his job, and pursue his dreams, not someone else's dreams but his own - not a dream sold by an advert on television or a magazine, but something that will enable him grow to his full potential - mentally, physically and spiritually.
So how do we begin to do these tasks which will ultimately transform our lives? Firstly, for most people, their life will not change overnight - It requires patience, and the understanding that being on the path to our goal is better than not being on it. An object in the distance may be further than it looks, but when we change the way we think in terms of scale, then mentally we can bring the target closer to us. This is the first step in life transformation, and it is the hardest step, the choice to choose the way we think - once we change the way we think, then everything else follows without resistance.
The Buddha achieved enlightenment while sitting under a bodhi tree - once we align ourselves with the universe, we empower the natural spirit inside us - there is no resistance in being one with our environment, and when we move with the flow of the universe, we're effortlessly on the path to self improvement. But in order to be on the path, we have to learn to recognize what is real, and in truth, nothing is real, our desires are externally manipulated so that we become slaves to them and forget who we are. Most people, if they took a few minutes out of their schedule, to just meditate, and clear their mind, they can find their centre and their connection to the universe, this is where they find their strength, away from the distractions that destroy your individuality and creativity. The biggest risk in today's fast moving world, is to step outside of that box, the unknown which is really the core of your self and true nature. It's scary because we like to surround ourselves with what we know and understand, but many people do not really know or understand themself.
There is a Greek aphorism, "Know thyself", your strength lies in your self-awareness. Most people go through life as if on autopilot, letting the current of other people's ambitions and advertisements take them to places that they don't really want to go. Once you discover yourself through meditation, you can begin to see through all the control, and you become more efficient at being you - a more focused, stronger, and patient you. Choose the path of least resistance.
No comments:
Post a Comment