Similar to many other depictions of a Universal God, Viracocha, the creator worshipped in prehistoric Peru, had the sun as his crown, and a thunderbolt in either hand. But he was peculiar in an aspect: from his eyes descend, in the form of tears, the rains that refresh the life of the world.
In single imagery, Viracocha’s tears capture two profound truths:
World-discrediting insight: “Life is suffering”
World-begetting affirmative: “Life must be”
Viracocha stands fully aware of the anguish of his creatures and roaring wilderness of pains, yet he goes on to supply life to life. The seminal waters of the life that he gives are the tears of his eyes.
In a world where seemingly happy and famous people like Anthony Bourdain and Robin Williams ended their lives with suicide, we are walking on thin ice. There is a struggle that each of us goes through almost every day. Something makes life great suffering. Causes can be infinite, but all of them seem to be a case of “What came first, the chicken or the egg?”
For now, let us focus on the egg (or chicken), which is, “What can you do about the suffering?”
As you explored empathy earlier, did you feel that it is a natural skill? Beyond the initiation, you are somehow your own teacher. It is just a matter of deepening your sensitivity. If you have ever felt happy or sad, you know when someone else feels it as well. We are all the same after all.
As your empathy deepens, you start to see the underlying suffering in others’ lives, and this gives rise to a desire to change things. Every interaction now comes with a choice: to make the world a better place or not.
The Change Starts With You
From Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, you know that stability (or control) is a fundamental human need. And if life is full of suffering, then gaining control of life must be a humongous task, a continuous challenge!
Søren Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher, once said that life requires a leap of faith. This is profound, considering the world-discrediting insight life is suffering. If you take an action for the first time against suffering, you need to have faith in it. Even if you are following the footsteps of those who have done it before you, you are still showing faith in them. And if your faith is strong, you will take the leap.
So, we have suffering + leap of faith. But as always, there is a problem!
Unconsciously, everyone knows that suffering is a part of life, and goes on with life standing up to its challenges. But the problem lies in the way people try to overcome their sufferings. Under complexity bias, people often overlook the simpler things that can make their lives better and instead jump to more complex things, like societal hierarchy, and religious order.
If you want to grow a beautiful plant, do you only wipe its leaves? Hopefully not. It requires more attention in the soil and roots. The same is the case with the world. Yes, you should try to solve big problems, but never undervalue the impact your own small changes can make. The best part of small changes is that you have more control over them than the bigger issues. How does this work?
We learn by mirroring others. Every human looks up to someone else, consciously or unconsciously. From a child learning to talk by mirroring elders to an adolescent dreaming of becoming an astronaut. Sure, one can have multiple role models as well for different aspects like physique, behavior, and intelligence. But this implies that the world works in feedback loops, and we form the links of this loop. This means that not only do our surroundings impact us, but the same is valid the other way around. Our choice to change our corner of life affects the ones close to us as well, and then their close ones, and so on, ultimately impacting the whole loop to a certain extent. If anything, this has only got easier as the world becomes more connected with the internet.
And this leads us to the easiest change you can make.
Use Your Magic
Mother Teresa once said, "I will never understand all the good that a simple smile can accomplish."
Smile is a universal sign of warmth. From a metropolitan city to a tribal village, a smile is considered good everywhere. Is it not magical how a simple expression, devoid of words or actions, means the same to all? Smile’s magic is mutual. It lights up both you and those you smile at. And smile is infectious – smile breeds more smile.
Above all, once you empathize with people you come across every day, you will see that a smile is one of the best things you can offer. In a world where all of us have our own struggles, your smile is a wave of care and love, free of any judgements and questions.
For instance, your cab driver might be working to get money for her child’s operation, or the waiter taking your order might be struggling with depression. The list is endless, but if your smile can make a difference in these lives, should you not use it more often?
Frankly, there is no reason to not smile. And when you smile at others, do it without expectations. Do it because you can. It is a leap of faith with the lowest risk. Even in the worst case, if the other person does not respond to your smile, at least you benefited yourself! 😉 How?
Have you noticed the good feeling you get when you smile? Thanks to the feedback loop that you explored with power moves in Level 1 earlier. Researchers tell these common benefits.
Enhanced mood: Smile releases mood booster hormones like endorphins and reduces stress-causing cortisol. A British study even quantified this boost to be equivalent to eating 2000 chocolate bars or receiving 16,000 pounds of cash
Attractiveness: Smiling people are perceived by others as more competent and attractive
Longer life: People who smile more are likely to live longer