Congrats!
Over the last few months, you have accomplished all of what the Tree of Life had to offer. Here, in Level 3, you have:
Used environment as an ally,
Mastered your diet,
Overcome the inherent Resistance to action,
Accepted sacrifices on the way to action, and
Connected with yourself by walking
If you notice, the meta-theme of the Tree of Life and its Level 3 specifically has been action. Pure Act.
As mentioned in the Kodex, the aim of all of this was to uncover the treasures lying within you. Now, consider this final step as an opportunity to stitch them well into the fabric of your being.
Energy Flows
Have you ever been around kids or puppies?
Whenever a puppy starts acting crazy at home, or kids start having bad dreams or get agitated, the first suggestion is always to take them out, and let them play. Somehow, physical activity nurtures their psyche as well. But there is a difference.
As a puppy gets older, we still keep their activity levels high to keep them sane, with daily walks and games, but somehow the norm for humans changes. In fact, we have a whole generation of people growing in a sedentary lifestyle, consuming content with numb minds stuck to their screens.
You see, we all have a certain amount of energy within, and energy needs to flow. And there are only two ways: Either we give it a productive outlet, or it finds its own way out.
From this lens, doesn’t it seem obvious that mental health has been on the decline lately?
Today’s lifestyle has become consumption-centric, best defined by terms like binge-watching, binge-eating, doom-scrolling, etc. And the part that is stimulated the most is the brain. Even the proportion of compulsory physical activity in schools has reduced drastically compared to what it was a century ago.
Now we want you to connect three dots:
Stored energy
Mindless consumption
Minimal action
A mind devoid of action is free to run in all directions, present, past, and future. That doesn’t sound bad, right?
But wait, hasn’t evolution blessed our brains with a negativity bias to ensure survival? Oops!
A mind, running in all directions, connecting pieces of information about what could jeopardize our existence. The result is a brain going mad: more alert, less focused. In the words of Lao Tzu:
“If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present.”
Creation vs Consumption
Let’s do a thought experiment. Imagine, you get to choose a day of your life between:
Option 1: A free day where you need to do nothing apart from eating, sleeping, and watching TV.
Option 2: A tiring day where you need to work for 10 hours, eat, sleep, and watch TV.
Which option will you pick? Probably option 1.
But would your choice differ if you had to stick to one of these options for the rest of your life? Does “staying free just eating, sleeping, and watching TV” still have the same appeal?
Why, or why not?
The truth is that you will probably go mad living a sedentary life just consuming information 24x7 but not doing anything with it. In fact, even if you replace “watching TV” with “reading books,” the result will not differ.
It is not that consuming information is bad. It is the lack of creative activity that hurts us. Consume whatever you want, be it a trending show, or a new novel, but maintain the balance. Consumption sows the seed for creation. It paves the way for new.
As always, the Kosmik way remains the path of balance. Adopt the lens of creation vs consumption. Find your balance.
Whenever the balance starts tipping towards consumption, with long hours spent passively, it will manifest as fidgeting, anxiousness, or gloomy nostalgia. Take it as a signal to increase your creative engagements. On the other hand, whenever you face mental fogginess, tiredness, or lack of inspiration at work, take it as a signal to increase passivity. Take rest, go for a walk, watch your favorite show, and unplug from work.
Over time, you will find your balance of creation vs consumption.
The Dancer Becomes the Dance
Potential is the breeding ground for procrastination and Resistance. To act is to make a choice, and every choice means a “No” to a million other possibilities. In the moment of choice, if we overthink, we are crippled by the fear of “what could be?” and inaction ensues. We become a deer in the headlights.
We all have potential, but it is of no value until realized. It is only through action that value is created, a meaning is born. Our head can tell us a million potential scenarios, but only action can reveal the truth. We must act to know.
Action brings the mind to the present. The past and future fade away.
Action breeds flow. Flow breeds bliss.