REBOOT : RESTART : LIFE 2.06

Cool Heads..Warm Hearts !!!

Life in 2020 has taught me one of the many things. The minute my pompous head thinks it has aced it all, life would throw yet another curveball that has me spinning. We are working in truly unique times. We are bravely entering uncharted territory. Struggles for travel to college have been replaced with Struggles to login for class. Traffic has been replaced with Internet congestion. Rules of daily existence have changed and so have our own individual selves.

Somewhere, this year has forced all of us, regardless of age, to look deep within us and introspect. It has given us a chance to reach out to people without actually reaching out to them physically. It has actually taught us the rule of equanimity has become all the more important to us today. We have all learnt to accept this rule and started applying it to our inner selves and start a process of healing.

However, an important aspect which can’t be ignored is this equanimity is as much required to be outbound as inbound. More so in current scenario, where we are changing jobs, meeting new people, onboarding fresh responsibilities virtually. A time when the quintessential elements required for a companionship have been replaced with virtual meetings and virtual hangouts. Each day comes with a new challenge and questions our thought process and decision making. The “when” and “how” hound us and we are eager to peek into future searching for solutions. Paradoxically, the times when coping strategies are vital, they can become marginalised. It is essential that we all recognise that in unique times like these, nurturing equanimity is what we all need. 

In Buddhism, equanimity (in Pali, upekkha; in Sanskrit, upeksha) is one of the Four Immeasurables that the Buddha taught his disciples to cultivate.

Self-possession, Assurance and calm composure need to reflect in our attitude even more so today than it has ever been before. We need to first understand our own selves that it’s not the difficulties and worries that stop us from being moving forward, it’s our habit of over identifying with them, that chains us to a pillar.. Critical is to identify and recognize them as a phase. Once we understand it, it’s time for us to do the same for people around us. 

People in our professional course classes, whom you have never met in real time. People who have bought together in these testing times and now spent virtual 8-10 hours communicating with each other. Be there for them. Be a navigator to their ship and help traverse the trepid waters. Respond and manage each other with cool head and a warm heart. Care, kindness and appreciation need to be in our daily dictionary more than ever, because time can only tests us. Failing out or winning over is our prerogative. We either push each other towards a collapse or form a chain of humanity and equanimity and save each other from an apocalypse.