You are not Lost, You are just trapped in these 7 deadly sins of our Times!
Let’s look into each one of them closely
I recently felt myself committing to each one of them. Without wasting any time, let's dive into it and explore how these traits have been harming our lives unconsciously and what we can do to prevent ourselves from committing them.
SIN 1: The Allure of Never Arriving Tomorrow
Ever noticed how it is culturally accepted now to live in a far future that exists only in our imagination. I am a pro at this. What I miss when I am zoning out to wonderland is the person sitting next to me, the birds flying above my terrace, and the kids playing their weekly Cricket Match with a level of enthusiasm only witnessed in professional stadiums. Exercise? I will do it tomorrow.! That Skill up-gradation course for my current project? I will do it tomorrow. Making my Bed? I will do it tomorrow. Talking to Mom? Well, there is always tomorrow. The Confidence that I will see another tomorrow is only Ignorance masked in my inability to face today as it is. Why wait four more hours to do something that needs to be done now? It's the Allure of Tomorrow, which makes us fall behind in our Life. But it's not too hard to change.
The first step toward change is awareness.
The second step is acceptance.
Nathaniel Branden
SIN 2: The Allure of Comfortzone
Much has been said about the devils of being comfortable in one’s comfort zone. We as a generation were raised to chase this exact thing. I have been a student for a solid 21 Years of my Life. 15 years in School, 4 years in Graduation, 2 years in Post-graduation, and now finally, I have arrived here. I should be very comfortable now. But Life doesn't work like this. I studied for 21 years, so I could master a skill, which will make me enough money to pass my days comfortably. It's a story as old as time itself. At this stage in life, I am slowly accepting the fact, that after a point, these riches and money won't fulfill you.
It was always about learning the skill of turning every, meaningful thought into the action of service for the collective well-being of humanity.
If you just rolled your eyes at this, that's okay too. I was in your place too. Only much more lost and damaged. Comfort and Safety are myths. You can always get more comfortable and you can always get safer, financially at least. But the thing is it will never be enough. When you cannot sleep at night, it's the thought of- Who am I? Why am I here? What is the meaning of all this? are the kind of questions that bothers one’s consciousness often. Until and unless you answer these questions, you would not feel comfortable in your existence.
“You can choose courage or you can choose comfort. You cannot have both.” -Brene Brown
Sin 3: The Allure of Bad Company Slash Content
You become what you consume consistently on a daily basis. You are a sum total of five people you hang out with, regularly. We know all this. Then whats the resistance to the application?
The tendency to always go back into what is familiar is a plaguing human mentality. It drives us back to our comfort zone of familiar thought patterns and actions, to the point that, our growth is now stinted and limited.
Haven't you noticed that the kind of movies you watch, the videos you see on youtube, the quality of reels you like, the kind of conversations you have with your friends, and the kind of friends you have, collectively can shape you up in either good ways or bad? This conveniently brings me to my next point-
SIN 4: The Allure of Background Noise in our Lives
“We sit silently and watch the world around us. This has taken a lifetime to learn. It seems only the old are able to sit next to one another and not say anything and still feel content. The young, brash and impatient, must always break the silence. It is a waste, for silence is pure. Silence is holy. It draws people together because only those who are comfortable with each other can sit without speaking. This is the great paradox.”
― Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook
It is in silence we take our life’s biggest decisions. It is in silence our thoughts jump out of inner mental chatter, and stand in front of us, Raw, Concise, and Clear. In Hindu mythology it is believed, that Silence is Divine, and the Devil lies in Confusion. Clarity only comes once you stop thinking.
It's a counterintuitive phenomenon, but it works.
Just because you can run doesn't mean you will spend your entire 24 hours running. Similarly, just because You can think, doesn't mean you should spend your entire 24 hours thinking.
SIN 5: The Allure of Running away from Self Introspection
It is the hardest one to face, I believe. Aristotle rightly said, knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. But how to “Begin that Beginning”?
Start SMALL
Start with knowing one thing about yourself, preferably one Flaw, that has kept you from achieving something which was meaningful to you.
Start checking in with your body, and how it feels during a certain topic of conversation. Start with just one Trait and chase it till its source conception to get a glimpse into the idea of who you truly are? Why have you reincarnated on this planet? Which quality of yours benefits others greatly? For me, it's my writing, my empathy, my infectious bubbly demeanor, and my CAN DO attitude that has served my loved ones, greatly, in past.
We search for happiness everywhere, but we are like Tolstoy’s fabled beggar who spent his life sitting on a pot of gold, under him the whole time. Your treasure — your perfection — is within you already. But to claim it, you must leave the buy commotion of the mind and abandon the desires of the ego and enter into the silence of the heart.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything
SIN 6: The Allure of Being someone else!
You know Authencity will be a “Trend” this year when a morally ambiguous celebrity like Kim Kardashians starts talking about it. If the fakest lands of Hollywood can come to this conclusion, then surely we self-righteous humans, can reach the same truth. Mark Twain was right about comparison being the death of Joy. In a world where everyone wants to be like someone else, it is brave and courageous to hold on to that unique asset that makes you, YOU.
“If I were to ask you to open two novels, and compare the circumstances of each protagonist, asking you to chose who is “better,” you may find this ridiculous. You may tell me these characters have been forged in two different worlds, around different people, and they each have their own inherent purposes. They’re traveling different paths, and they’ll traverse their paths at different speeds, as their meant to. Great. So as such, never again compare yourself to another.”
― Daniel V Chappell
And lastly,
SIN 7: The Allure of Instant Gratification
I read a very interesting article published by Mumbai Mirror that is linked here- https://rb.gy/pojcod
It basically states that Individuals who seek instant gratification are at risk of substance abuse and obesity and many other issues. They also find it difficult to regulate their emotions and suffer from mood dysfunctions.
According to scientists, It has taken us Humans 6 million years to transition from Apes to Sapiens that we are today. Yet Tragically, we are addicted to getting what we want, NOW, AT THIS MOMENT, AND IMMEDIATELY.
Patience is Divine. Patience is how we have become what we are today and patience is the key to unlocking the desires close to our hearts.
“We want instant lunch, instant cure, instant miracles, instant salary, instant success — instant everything. This instant civilization, we have obsessed with, has made us grow a tad too impatient in virtually everything about life. And, of course, that doesn’t serve us so well.”
― Boniface Sagini
The Conclusion
The Word SIN is only used to stress the harsh negative impacts each of these behavior traits has on our Minds. In Reality, there is no Sin, and there is no Sinner. There is only the Seeker, some fast, some slow, but all moving collectively and consistently in the forward direction of life.
We just need to remember that being human is a constant process, not a fixed destination. All you need to do is be aware of why you are the way you are, and fix it if it is under your control, if not, just breathe, smile, and let it go!
With this, I bid you Aidue. Thank you for giving your precious attention to this article, I will write to you again :)
