Enjoy the freedom to do what you please - 3

The frog on the boil

By hindsight, all of us can justifiably claim to be ‘wiser.’

In the midst of a crisis, there will always be some who will claim that they had seen it coming.

Be that as it may, what stopped them from raising the alarm earlier on?

Welcome to the syndrome of the ‘Frog on the boil.’

During the 2008 sub prime lending crisis in the US, everyone expected the ‘home loan’ bubble to burst any time but continued to disregard the forebodings. They persisted with taking ever larger exposures thinking they will be the exception to the rule. Unable to size up the true dimensions of a reality, a few played excessively safe or while the majority were reckless in their choice. When the bubble did burst eventually, it spared no one.

Quite like the frog on the boil, some of us may be caught up in a maze.

For a while, we can blame the fate or the circumstances. We can hope for things to get better.

Eventually, we are compelled to realize the futility of holding on to options and choices that may have lost their relevance.

When is patience not a good virtue?

We reach a point of inflection.

A point of no return.

Where lies the secret to detecting that point of inflection?

It lies in the power to make a connection with the inner self.

At that moment, we let go the meaningless props we had mistaken to be our source of support.

We realize how much of an impediment they have become.

We restore our sense of ‘balance’ by connecting with the anchors within.

We learn to weather the storm by our own devices.

For Ram the internal anchor lay in his mastery of the science of numbers.

Dharam realized the significance of robust health above all else. He let go of the idea for IPO.

Suket, summoned the moral courage to do what had to be done, as always.  continuance in the job did not really matter any longer.

If that were so simple, why does it take a crisis to precipitate such a frame of mind?

The catalyst for fresh thinking lies in feeding the mind with challenges it needs to learn afresh to solve.

Intriguing?

Not really.

Research on the plight of prisoners of war, illegal immigrants, jail birds and stowaways show that they never surrender to the challenges thrown at them.

Instead they connect with the anchors of freedom, justice, equality or what ever value they hold dear to themselves and launch them afresh.

They do not wait for advice.

If any thing they defy the establishment, embrace the adversity and deal with reality.

Are you surrounded by insurmountable walls around you?

It is time to break free.