Fighting the heat or waiting for the monsoon

The weather is quite pleasant in Delhi. Monsoon has arrived. A few days back, summer was unbearable. It was too hot. It appeared as if summer will never end. We were all making our best efforts to beat the heat by switching on the air conditioners and drinking a lot of water. But it appeared so difficult. 

That's what happens when we face difficult situations. The more we make efforts to find a solution, the less difficult the situation appears. All efforts appear to be in vain with no result and then suddenly the solution comes out of heaven.

Sometimes, I wonder whether the best solution is to work harder or leave. Somebody preaches this matrix:

Do you have a problem: 

No: move on

Yes: Do you have a solution:

Yes: work on the solution

No: forget the problem

It looks very easy. But the difficult part is that we do not know whether we have a solution to the problem or not. Sometimes, we believe that we have the solution and keep working on that while we actually do not have any solution. For example, in the case of many terminal diseases such as cancer, we keep giving treatment unwilling to accept that the body has deteriorated beyond repair. Some other times, we have a solution and yet we give up. For example, many kids who can do well in their careers, just give up on the hard work.

The same is the situation in spiritual pursuit. Sometimes we overdo in the pursuit unable to realize that not everything is in our hands. Sometimes, we underdo and do not work on the aspects of our lives that we need to work on.

I feel that the problem lies in our getting restless with the problem. The more we are fixated on the intended outcome, the more aggressive and restless we become. In this state of restlessness and aggression, we tend to lose focus on the ground reality. We get too swayed by the worries and anxiety of not being able to achieve the intended outcome. When we are not able to tolerate that pressure, there are two defense mechanisms. Either we give up on the intended outcomes to relax like a student giving up on hard work. Other times, we focus too much on the intended outcome that we get stressed and in extreme cases depressed and physically ill. 

If we work a little on our true nature, at least in certain moments, when we are sitting back relaxed, we will be able to reassess the ground realities to bring the balance back. This helps a great deal in reducing the stress. The more moments of awareness in our daily life and the more will be our capability to be aware on a real-time basis. In the first instance itself, we will not fall into the trap of fixations. Nobody is able to maintain the awareness of true nature whole day long in this difficult world. However, the more moments of awareness, the more fulfilling the life.