Tension Free Life for 2018 -Part 9 Mind Game

Virtual tigers are in the individual's mind frames. What is real to you? It is not things that happen around you or within you. What is real is what you think about the things. Even though plenty of things happening around you, you automatically and selectively pick up few events that are of interest to you. Rest of the events will be discarded by your filter. This is a selective attention. Even then the selected events will not get into your mind as they are. They are coloured and projected to the mental screen how you wanted that to be. This colouring is based on the life experiences and individual faith & value system. So, it is a kind of double filtering process that happens automatically.

Because of this double filtering process, the mind thinks in a certain way. Since these filter and tint are different for different persons, the mental projection for the individual's is different. Hence, they think and act differently for the same incident. As said earlier, what one thinks that is what is real to him and hence, he acts differently than others. If he thinks that the incident present in front of him as a threat then it is one hundred percent threat for him even though in reality the incident is absolutely safe. Simply, because what one thinks that is what is real to him.

The entire system then follows the cues of his mind and responds accordingly. If one feels the event is a threat then automatically stress response kicks in followed by the whole array of the physiological and psychological cascade of responses. This can be easily explained in the context of a dream which many of us would have experienced at least few times. Let us assume that one gets a dream where a tiger chasing him. The body reacts to this thread by pumping up his heartbeat, increase the level of sweat gland, increase the breathing rate and so on. Even though the threat is not real but still the body reacts as if the threat is real. If one instantly comes out of the dream to his consciousness, he can still feel those rapid changes and the body reactions clearly.

This is how sometimes when the filter and glasses that are used for the projection into the mental screen are not perfected then probably one may live completely in a kind of a situation similar to the dream state. He thinks the event is a danger while in reality, it is completely safe.

One may end up spending the entire life unrealistically if the mental projection glasses and filter are not perfected 

Tension Free Life for 2018 -Part8 VIRTUAL TIGERS

Unlike our primitive ancestors, we live in a very safer world now. We have proper shelters, food, and other basic necessities which the ancestors were deprived of. Modern day men are completely out of threats from the wild animals. Modern day needs/problems such as financial situation, children education, office work, house renovation, road traffics, income tax etc now turn out to be the virtual tigers. Any of the above listed necessities might kick in the stress response because of the two causes of the stress that we mentioned above.

The stress circuit which worked in the primitive times and the one that works now in the modern days are one and the same. Only the big difference between these two scenarios is that the time duration of the threats. In the wilds, threat stays as along as the tiger is in your vicinity. Threat vanishes the moment tiger disappears from the scene. In this case, the thread amplification is larger but the duration is lesser. But, now this virtual tigers are not as big as the threats of the wild but constant nagging troublesome issues always sitting in the back of your mind. So, the threat amplification is smaller but the duration of the thread is longer now.

When the virtual tigers (threats) are repeated very often then there will be multiple stress responses leading to chronic stress. Chronic stress is the cause for multiple lifestyle diseases such as migraine, hypertension, anxiety disorder etc.

The stress circuit which worked in the primitive times and the one that works now in the modern days are one and the same.

Tension Free Life for 2018 -Part7 CAUSES

Often at times, the task in hand demands more energy than what your resource capabilities are. It demands more energy and it depletes your resource capabilities. On the other hand, you may expect a particular favourable result out of your action but in reality the result happened to be hostile. Both of these situations create doubts, worries and fear in you. Eventually, the stress response kicks in because of the worries, doubts and fears.

So, two common causes of stress are

1.            Task in hand demands energy far more than one’s resource capacity

2.            Result of the action is not in favour

Tension Free Life for 2018 -Part5 NATURAL RESPONSE

The primary need of all the species on the planet is to stay safe and protected. Human species are the weak animal by nature. They can’t fly like birds and run like rest of the animals. In the woods, they are exposed to all sorts of threats from different predators. Because of their weakness and threats posed by other animals, they developed flight/fly response to the external threats.

Stress is a flight/fly response which provides the sufficient instantaneous energy that allows them either to fight with the animals threatening them or simply, run away from the place of the threat to a safer place. Either of these demands energy to cope up with the situation.

So, stress is a natural response to stay safe and protected. How the skin protects the body from the external surrounding, stress protects you from the external dangerous ambience.

The stress response is part of the evolution and is a source of evolutionary energy.

Two points are worth to remember in this discussion.

a)            Firstly, it is an automated natural response based on the demanding situation.

b)            It is an instant boost of energy for a very short period of time which dies off after a certain period.

In the woods, if there is a movement in the bushes then the brain is programmed to naturally fear, worry or doubt to assume the probable presence of tiger/lion behind the bushes. Fear/worry/doubts are the trigger points for the stress response.

But, unfortunately, in the modern days, the same stress response which is supposed to protect and safeguard us is causing all kinds of modern lifestyle diseases. This is really ironical.

How the skin protects the body from the external surroundings, stress protects you from the external dangerous ambience.