Rakesh Deshpande's Blog - Posts Tagged "lifelessons"
The Ghost in Our Lives
Thank you for choosing to read this article. If you like it, please share it with the people you care and love. It’s a fact that many of us tend to overlook the truth of life. At times, we just need a little push to get back on track and this article just does that. Be patient. Be considerate.
Everybody is scared. Some of us are scared of animals. Some of us are scared of others. Some of us are scared of insects or reptiles. In some way, these are all external ghosts that are visible to us. It is natural to be scared. It is natural to worry that you may be harmed or get killed. Nobody wants to be in any dangerous or harmful situations. Likewise, nobody wants to see their loved ones in any sort of dangerous or heart-aching incidents. But what about the ghosts that lie within us?
The ghosts that are inside us are invisible and stronger than the ghosts around us. These are so powerful enough that it can challenge and destroy your physical existence. It can damage your reputation. It can bring a lot of stress in your life. It can bring a lot of financial problems. It can damage your mental stability. As we change with changing technology almost every year, the certainty of new ghosts entering our lives are unquestionable. It is not new that people demand a course to develop and get trained in. You can consider any century known to human mankind. The ghosts were always available with them. The ghosts have associated themselves with every living organism on this planet. Certainly, more with human beings.
We possess different skills from one another. These skills help us access the new inventions based on our previous experiences, rumours, partial facts, and an unbelievable hope. The way we observe our problems are also different. An unhappy rich man hopes for happiness looking at a family enjoying their brisk walk and laughing, through the window of one of the world’s luxurious cars. A failed man who has his family by his side hopes for richness looking at a man driving one of the world’s most expensive cars. Our perspectives are different. We want something we don’t have. Sometimes, it is okay to feel that way.
There are several success yet painful stories already available for us. Problems existed before the invention of various technical solutions and they even exist now and will continue to exist in future also. However, these problems differ in the level of severity and occurrence. Managing huge data of a well established organisation was difficult back in the 1900s. Several methods were used to track the various increasing records. However, they were stored in some physical locations which were prone to get damaged. On the other hand, when a solution of managing databases via computers was brought to public, security was the major concern to ensure no data theft. Higher the visibility of the organisation higher the risk of security breach. Though we found an alternate solution to store large amounts of data, we also found a new problem with it.
We are good at patching things. We find a small troubling problem, we rather patch it temporarily instead of solving it. Who has time to solve these small problems which can be temporarily fixed very easily?
To be more precise, it is easier to yell at a stubborn teenager instead of trying to understand his or her perspective. It is easy to believe that his or her thoughts and needs are silly and useless instead of trying to understand his or her behaviour which is time consuming and as it doesn’t match your thought process.
We often forget that our mind processes what we feed it. If you feed your mind with so many negative thoughts, you will develop a negative attitude and eventually become a problem to your society. If you feed your mind with at least a few positive thoughts, you will develop a neutral behaviour and will be considered as a suitable fit to survive in the society. If you practice ignoring others when they need you, you will ignore your loved ones too. You might feel that you are supporting but actually you are not. If you practice belittling others for strongly disagreeing, you will belittle your loved ones when they strongly disagree with you over any rational discussions. You practice anything with others, you will action it with your loved ones too. As you ignore these problems, you will action it on yourself too.
Life is meaningless when there is no definite goal. As people differ in cognitive thinking, their goals differ. It doesn’t matter whether or not their goal makes any sense to others. People ridiculed and didn’t believe when the notable scientists and astronomers stated that earth is not the center of the universe. However, it is proved that earth is not the center of the universe. It is judgmental if you quote a goal to any monetary task or it’s equivalent. Goals can be anything which you aim to work for. Goals can be in any form or shape or format as long as you desire to fulfil it.
There are several success stories in various fields already that you have so much data available to read and learn from their plots. It is true that you can learn and try to implement what others have already done. It doesn’t matter what profession they belong to as long as you are gaining knowledge. While hundreds of people read thousands of books and work hard to fulfil their goals but the majority of them fail. They fail miserably. Some of them fail to start working on the ideas. Some of them fail to implement their ideas. Some of them fail to convince customers. Some of them fail to continue their ongoing business for a longer period of time. Why do they fail? What is the reason behind it? Do they lack in something? Don’t they have enough skills? What’s bothering them? How is it possible for a few of them to even start working on their ideas? How is it possible for a few of them to implement their ideas? How is it possible for them to get the customer’s attention on their products?
And it’s because of the ghosts that lie within us. Ghosts are everything which you fail to control. Your emotions can become your ghosts if you fail to control them. Your thoughts and actions are your ghosts which can challenge your existence and self respect. You can become a ghost if you fail to control your sensory organs and traits of being a human. It is absolutely fine to expect an explanation if you’re willing to learn. I question a lot. I can’t accept anything without questioning. I question my behaviour and thoughts almost everyday. It is okay to ask why is it so essential to control these ghosts? If these can benefit why should I doubt them? They lie within us, doesn’t that mean I own them? They lie within us, doesn’t that mean I get to decide when and where I should use them? Are these really ghosts?
Pause for a while and think about yourself. Try to recollect your actions and thoughts. Try to observe your thoughts and mental pictures which are switching abruptly and are clueless. It is alright to explore even if your thoughts are silly, meaningless, and stupid. Try to question them. Why do they exist? Why are you trying to understand them? Did you permit to create some silly or stupid mental pictures which are almost illegal or impossible to action upon?
Sometimes, we don’t bother unless the threat is near us. We are bored paying attention to these routines so we rely on someone else. Many of us agree or not, but it is true that some of us don’t accept the fact that a mentally ill person can be treated. He or she can be trusted again. He or she can lead life like others do. It is a risk that these people avoid to consider. They know that a person who once failed to control his or her emotions cannot be trusted again. You can relate this to a betrayal. You don’t want to trust a person who betrayed his or her country or loved ones.
As I mentioned already that ghosts can be anything which you fail to control, these can be your feelings, your emotions, your thoughts, your resulting actions, your subconscious mind, your reasoning and logical ability, your common sense, and your environment. You fail to control any of these, you allow a ghost to raise within you. Your environment can trigger anger in you which further turns to a rage and can result in irreparable damaging actions. You fail to control your feelings, you end up hurting yourself more than you expected. You fail to control your emotions, you may jeopardize your relationships. You fail to control your actions, you risk your reputation and your respect in your community. You fail to control your negative thoughts reaching your subconscious mind, you will develop a negative attitude towards almost everybody around you. You fail to control your reasoning and logical ability, there are pretty good chances that you will get distracted from the path of law and truth. If you fail to control or challenge your reasoning or logical ability, it is much easier to distract you and suck you into any illegal or insane activities.
One of the easiest ways is to QUESTION your ghosts but it is almost impossible to question them on a daily basis. We want what we don’t have. We want what ideally we shouldn’t have. These “wants” are common because we don’t want to be considered as outdated or living below standards. Again, it is not impossible to question these “wants”. It is also true that we can’t do it on a daily basis. We can do it slowly. Can’t we? Can’t you at least try?
Question yourself when you feel like procrastinating your tasks. Question your thoughts which are often bothering you for any rational reason. Question your beliefs if they are not true to you. Question your environment if it is not safe or reasonable to you. Question your actions, if they are disrespecting or harming anyone else.
It is important and necessary to question yourself because it is that unquestioned thought which can turn a respectable human being into a notorious criminal.
Rakesh Deshpande
The Manipulating Mind
Thank you for choosing to read this article. If you like it, please share it with the people you care and love. It’s a fact that many of us tend to overlook the truth of life. At times, we just need a little push to get back on track and this article just does that. Be patient. Be considerate. Be thoughtful.
Brain is one of the greatest gifts to human mankind. It possesses a power to accumulate enormous amounts of knowledge. It is a source of ideas. It is a source of emotions. It is a source of cognitive thinking. It is a source of positive and negative thoughts. It is a reason behind your actions. It can make you a better person or an enemy to society.
It is certain that our ancestors understood the importance of its power as it is accountable for everything running within our body and holds us responsible for our action in our society. Every successful research on it has turned out to be beneficial to us. It holds a power which can make a man contribute to the betterment of society or be the reason for its destruction. Maybe, this is one of the reasons that myths exist. Scare people or force them to believe in something which is not true so that they can control the minds.
Thoughtful Question: Now, every known fact to us can be a myth as long as the truth lacks in evidence. Isn’t it?
It is not only a blessing but also a curse that we are aware of the tricks and the outcome of manipulating the minds of people. A lie if repeated and told to hundred people will be considered as a truth as long as you are good at persuading others. You can break someone emotionally if you know them personally. You can change your mood by manipulating your mind. You can change people’s belief by manipulating them. You can motivate someone to achieve which is regarded as impossible. There is no limit on how far your mind can take you.
We live in a strange world where there is a possibility of the existence of unbelievable things. One of them is mastering the skill of manipulating others. We have heard and seen that some people follow their myths or beliefs firmly. They don’t bother to question because they have a strong faith in them. This is one such example of letting others manipulate their minds. If you teach a child riding a bicycle is very dangerous and can lead to death and continue doing it for a couple of years, the child will stay away from bicycles and will share this lie to others. It wouldn’t know to question unless someone denies its beliefs. Such practices often tried on any individual who possesses less or no knowledge on the subjects, will make them weak. We are no different than a child in this case. We are a child when we encounter a subject which we have no knowledge of.
It is easy to manipulate almost anybody if there is a desire to accept a shared knowledge WITHOUT QUESTIONING THEM. It also doesn’t mean that our existing databases of knowledge are also accurate and that is the reason the research never ends. A manipulating mind with no weapons is much stronger than a weak mind with weapons that could destroy an entire civilization. It is not difficult to win in a fist fight but it is very difficult to gain control on your mind. A strong mind is a very powerful weapon one can possess. A strong minded person is often considered a fit to be ruler. A group or an individual who possesses an enormous amount of power to control their minds is considered fit to be a ruler who WILL not hesitate to take steps to protect his empire or his country.
It is essential that we learn to manipulate our mind before someone controls it and masters to manipulate you. One of the effective measures is to question your thoughts and beliefs which I often stressed throughout in my books. This will benefit you to be strong when things don’t favor you. You are succeeding when you realize that you are struggling to find alternate ways. This will help you to be on track when you are about to get distracted. This will help you stay focused on your goal despite your problems and issues.
At times, it is difficult to believe that a trusted person turned against you. You will be hurt and angry but it is their CHOICE to stand against you. It is obvious that anyone who let emotions control them is certain to involve in unethical actions which will ONLY worsen his or her situations and that is why, MANIPULATING the mind is necessary. However, manipulating your mind is a choice, YOUR CHOICE.
Everything we do in our life is based on our choices. As we possess both negative and positive thoughts, it’s our choice to act on either one of them. It is our life and nobody can take responsibility for it. It is upto you to decide whether to help others in need or to be selfish. It is upto you to work progressively on your dreams or quit and let people consider you as one among losers. The CHOICE is YOURS so are the OUTCOMES.
