Discovered that I can say No. To those who got used to an obliging me, I can say "No more." It makes for a happier and more peaceful me which benefits all including the "no" receivers. Work in progress - making peace with unrealized potential in myself or others close to me. I once watched a movie in which a refugee from eastern Europe is in another's country's grocery store for the first time. She sees the bread, drink and fruit displays and simply starts to load everything into her shopping cart with both hands, almost tripping over herself and others in the process. Her "guide" gently tells her that she only needs to take what she needs for the day or week. And the food will still be there in the store next week. He goes to the next aisle. She goes back to her frenzied loading of the cart. He comes back, and their conversation gets funnier after that. I rue or used to rue any opportunity or potential that I or others do not utilize fully. One day I will reflect upon why that is so. For now, I am making good progress towards being at peace when such waste happens. Nice thread, Viswa.
In my experience, absolutely yes. There is a primal satisfaction in pushing the limits of your endurance. The joy of achieving something by relying purely on your physicality is indescribable. My semi-educated guess is that it has to do with our hunter/gatherer ancestors. Pushing ourselves to the brink physically was a biological imperative for the survival of our species. It's no surprise that exercise triggers a cocktail of pleasure inducing neurotransmitters in our brain. Hiking, climbing mountains, being in the wilderness light up ancient neural pathways that have become dormant due to our urban lifestyles. Our over-protected, over-nourished bodies crave communion with nature. Physical exertion is the ultimate form of mindfulness. When I'm hiking up a 70 degree incline, my mind and body are working in sync, focused only on the next breath and the next step. There is no room for rumination or idle worrying. We weren't made to live in constant cycle of stimulation and distraction. Our hyper-connectedness is driving us crazy. It's only when you walk out into the wild with no cell phone signal that you realize how badly you needed to disconnect.
@Rihana, Look how much I gained from all the feedback I have received so far: 1) I can say "No" 2) Don't sweat the missed opportunities 3) What kind of commitment is needed to stay healthy both mentally and physically 4) Spelling the words backwards is best way to teach someone or remember words well 5) How much effort could be put in to maintain friendships/relationships 6) Easier ways for anger management 7) How minimalism can transform a person 8) How listening to the sound advice is a learning experience 9) Why patience is an important trait 10) Do and learn from the mistakes than procrastinating. I can related well to saying "No". Especially, a generation back we were never trained to say "No" for anything. We were taught to be polite and don't be on the face to anyone. We thought saying "No" is a sign of being aggressive or impolite. That is how the habit of indirect communication and passing the message across through other means, etc. came into existence. Saying "No" is a very important trait one should have and you have rightly highlighted the importance of it. I am a big believer that if an opportunity is lost, something else will unfold if we were destined to get on it. Potential is in the repository and can always be used in the next phase of our lives. Who can predict the reasons? There could be timing for everything to happen. Viswa
@Gauri03, Thank you for sharing your deep insight into hiking and connecting with nature. I hear from my business partner about hunter/farmer analogy a lot but in a different context. He used to explain my early morning enthusiasm and his late night explosive ideas as reason for our being hunter and farmer respectively. I have no doubts in my mind that we all need to change our lifestyle to connect with the nature and other people. Quality time spent in those activities add more value to our lives than electronic gadgets. Gadgets instead of being an enabler have become an addiction. We have been predicting time in the ancient life by seeing the position of the Sun and we used to see the animal behavior and the cloud formation to determine change in the weather instead of looking at the phone to see weather conditions. There is no better place to learn than the nature to understand right living. Viswa
T Sir, hunger induced irritation is a universal affliction, common enough that they made up a word for it. The "hungry angry" condition described by Viswa is called being 'Hangry'. There is an old Hollywood movie called The Little Shop of Horrors in which a carnivorous plant with a ravenous appetite demands over and over "Feeeeeeed me!" My husband likes reminding me of that when I get hangry. : )) My solution is the same as yours, a bowl of fruit with cheese or nuts. Works like a charm. For anger not precipitated by hunger I have a quick mantra to divert the mind towards tranquility.
