Can we reconcile inner peace and ambition?
Summary
- Embracing insecurity absolutely is the equivalent of being at absolute peace.
- Our drive for control and security is what has allowed humans to advance and is thus incredibly important to our future.
- As modern-day humans, surviving physically is no longer a challenge. We are privileged to be able to strive for inner peace & contentment.
- Peace can be achieved through the power of the mind alone. Contentment which may include living certain experiences or attracting a certain kind of partner may require some strife and struggle.
- The trick is to know when to stop and to be able to control the mode in which you live. Some forms of contentment just aren’t worth all the worry. We need to be aware of that. Most importantly, we must hone our ability to decide when to be at peace and when to strive for something (and for how long).
- Absolute zen nor constant striving are the sole answers in themselves. We must consciously embrace a balance between both.
Does what I’m doing make sense? Can life be better? If so, what can make it better? Do I need to achieve more and have more? Or do I simply need to think differently? At least, that used to be the commentary running through my head, like all the time. After 35 iterant, questioning and restless years living on our planet Earth, and after digesting a number of life philosophies including more recently Tom Harris’s ‘10% Happier’ but also those of Seneca, Jung, Popper, Kahneman, Gladwell, (David) Brooks, (Adam) Grant, Harari and even Buddha, I’m happy to share that I think I’ve cracked it. You’re welcome, I know.
So here’s my take;
In our modern-day lives, simple survival is alas not the challenge it used to be. We’re now privileged as the human species, and with the help of all our technology, to be able to strive for peace and contentment from a place of relative physical security. Sadly, the state in which most animals and reptiles find themselves and indeed, the state in which our nomadic, early-selves lived, ie. a state of constant flow at the absolute mercy of their immediate physical environment, is no longer an option for modern-day humans. As we’ve emerged from our proverbial caves, and ever since our Neanderthal ancestors started creating tools, our thinking minds have moved from a state of flow to a state of flow with a whole load of ‘thought pollution’ to boot. Said pollution encompasses insecurity, self-defeatism and self-aggrandizement as well as unbelievable creativity, insight and love.
Pollution is perhaps too negative an adjective. Our human sapiens’ thinking mind has driven us to become the dominant species on Earth and who knows, perhaps soon other planets too. Indeed, our ability to reflect and problem-solve, to jointly believe in institutions, hierarchies and religions that exist purely in our collective psyche, are the reasons we have become so successful as a species. It is only unfortunate that our ability to think so widely has led us away from continuous flow-states (and thereby inner peace), and opened up our minds to a whole variety of neuroses, anxieties and idiosyncrasies that accompany our other, more positive traits.
However, fear not, the main perpetrator of our anxiety and source of superfluous thoughts ie. that voice in our head, otherwise known as id or the ego, can be silenced if recognized for what it is; just a voice in our heads. The ego is not all-knowing, nor saintly and certainly not rational. Yet our conscious brain takes our internal dialogue so seriously. Why is that? How many times have our fears been unfounded? Our predictions of future experiences based on hypothetical outcomes which are no more than fantasies? Our judgements so quickly altered once additional facts come to light?
In our modern-day lives, a quantum of peace and the ability to create it within ourselves, not only has the potential to make us happier but more effective at what we do too. Peace can be achieved quite simply no matter the situation; we must quieten the ego, control it and listen to it less. For again, it is flawed, and certainly not all-knowing.
Indeed, silencing our thoughts, and embracing a flow-state, is in some ways equivalent to ‘letting go’ and accepting come what may. In doing so, we revert to our animal selves, at the mercy of our natural environment and with no conscious control over our destiny. Instead, we live and embrace the future, whatever it will bring. Such a state is referred to as the ‘wisdom of insecurity’ and happily, is the founding principle of Buddhism. The technique mastered initially through the practice of meditation can just as easily be used in daily life once well practised enough.
Herein lies the crux; in Western society (and indeed modern-day society) we are expected to quickly heal our wounds and mend our deficiencies, so we can get on with achieving our goals. In striving so hard, and so continuously for success, we absolutely lose the inner peace our nomadic ancestors achieved just going about their day. However, achieving contentment as well as inner peace will surely require at least some striving, some ambition, and doubtless, some anxiety.
So how do we reconcile these conflicting modus operandi?
The trick, I’ve learned, is the ability to consciously balance the mode in which we live. Some forms of contentment just aren’t worth all the worry. Therefore the ability to decide when to be at peace and when to strive for things (and for how long) allows us to consciously maintain balance in our lives without turning into stress-balls or zen-zombies. The balance should be our choice alone and no one has the right to judge us for it. We cannot all be robe-wearing monks in Nepal searching enlightenment but equally, we cannot all be exhausted workaholics driven by our ego, which let’s face it, will never be fully and completely satisfied, ever.
Taking the concept of inner-peace and flow-state even further, what better way than to engage in activities which not only allow you to achieve your goals in life but also leave you in state of peace during the process. These will be activities which you truly enjoy and where you feel completely engaged. They are hard to find and it will be essentially impossible to maintain such a flow state continuously while undertaking them. However, throughout your career, it is certainly worth bearing in mind which activities do this for you the most before deciding on your next move.
To conclude, absolute zen nor uninhibited striving for success is the answer. Neither can represent the whole story for most. Instead, we must embrace the balance between them, and develop our ability to choose when to alter modes. Peace can be achieved by anyone under almost all circumstances. Contentment through success in modern-day society, though important, will be harder to come by and we must be vigilant as to how much inner peace we sacrifice to achieve it.
