The Underlying Stress

I can still remember clearly the pain of losing dear ones to death. And then, there were other crisis – close friends and relatives threatened with terminal illness. Apart from having to deal with the fear of yet again losing them to death, there was the despair of being helpless and not knowing what best to do. These emotions soon progressed into aversion when these loved ones seemingly gave up and sank into depression.

As if these occurrences are not bad enough, there’s the day-to-day stress – of having to meet all kinds of expectations, of having to conform to social norms and to fit in, regardless of how one felt differently at that time. It truly stretched and strained one’s emotional health.

These led me to retreat inward and question further on the purpose of life and its values. I struggled with such questions. I realized I really didn’t understand much about life and myself. That began the spiritual journey and I was fortunate to meet my present teachers who taught me all about understanding the mind, hence, life too.

Every incident is a lesson. Crises are lessons too. Nevertheless, we shun crisis generally, so much so that we never really take a good look to understand how it affects the mind. What are we so fearful of? I find this kind of exploration – to observe the scary mental states – a very important facet in understanding the uncertainties of life.

By such education of getting to know the mind-scape better, the underlying stress is noticed. We normally think we’re fine until crisis strikes, but hey, the stress is almost every moment – underlying – brewing!

Over time, when there’s more understanding of how the mind operates, life can be embraced fully, inclusive of its uncertainties. There’s now an underlying confidence instead of fear – an indescribable quiet freedom mixed with stability – a rare kind of love that does not need a reason or dependent on any subjects.

In grace,
Nancy
22 June 2021