brain – An Aura of Fleeting Thoughts

Hello there! Does your present life look like a burial ground of your memories every time you speak or do something? Well whether it is or it isn’t this article is just for you! As we age, no matter how fine tuned your brains is, it will start to play these magic tricks which take you along a guided tour of your memories- whether you want it or not and whether these memories are sweet or not! Join me here to understand how this impacts us and what is there that we can do about this, if there’s really anything that we can do and how can we use our memories to create an empowering present rather than be knocked down by them!

Each one of us has our own unique superpower and in the case of a few, that superpower happens to be the astonishing feats that their brain can achieve by replaying incidents and images from the past- with vivid details bordering on being outright spooky in a few cases! Any psychologist or a psychiatrist will be more qualified than me to share with you how memory helps and harms and what role it plays in constructing the person who we become- both in reality and in perception, but this piece is slightly of a different take on the same subject, it is about how even in day to day conversations and approach that we take- we relentlessly keep on going back to this memory bank (many times for no real reason) and that in fact ends up going more damage to us- especially when it doesn’t serve any purpose on our today or the fact approaching tomorrow! Let me explain!

What does your normal day look like? how many times during your day do you end up conversations referring to, “it was good then”, “this is what was done then”. “this is how it should, because that’s how I had seen it or done it”, “that vacation was great”, “that person is an idiot”, “those people are awesome”, “that family, that colleague, that friend, that cousin and so on and so forth”! You see, through the day at least once you will end up touching one of these chords- well there’s nothing wrong and right about it as long as it starts to interfere into what you are doing today! Sure enough if you are relying on your experience or learning to accomplish something, that still makes sense because here you are tapping into your memory cells to empower your today, the problems start to manifest, when you pluck the chords that don’t serve your present and neither seem to serve your future any time soon!

Sure enough, you would have had a great vacation, sure enough you would have had great colleagues and friends in life- but the only valid and golden questions is – how is any of that empowering your today? or how does any of it hold a promise to empower your future? If you have an answer- that they do- than hold on to those memories like your life depended on them- because these are not only your memories but, the tools that have the power and influence to shape your today and tomorrow. Everything else that you have stored in your brain and what you are able to recall- is pure waste of energy! Trust me, given the size that your brain is and the amount of tasks that it needs to get done- to just ensure you stay safe in a dumb world that we are living about it, it will only help the brain if you make a choice to weed out all that unwanted clutter from your memory bank and allow your brain to be that bit free to ensure it doesn’t get exhausted thinking about matters that really don’t matter!

Like with all else, the quality of memories that are recalled and that are stuck with you, go on to define the quality of your today and the arriving tomorrow! As long as you have un-serving, self-centric memories from your past (which perhaps stir up cautious to self-doubting tendencies) you will find those memories which border on being nightmares impact and dictate your ability to embrace the world as it really is- simply because your ability to perceive the world accurately gets fogged out by the overbearing presence of these nightmarish memories of the past! How many times have you said, “People from”xyz” are “abc” because you had a bad experience some time back?”, How many times you have made generalized, sweeping statements about people, religion, culture, vocation, orientation and what not- without really being bothered to know what the reality really is- just because your one experience made you feel that way!

Similarly, when you have empowering memories that added value to your in the past and show the promise to do the same in your today- those memory tires than constitute to add that vital touch of magic to further your shine in the world that you live in your today! Consider this, if you remember how you made a great mock-tail when you were in college and when you are able to spin the same magic at your daughter’s wedding reception- how does it feel for you and everyone- WOW right! That’s what meaningful memories are all about! This is how the magic of memories should be put to use, by not allowing them to bury you into your past but by rather allowing you to stay liberated in your present and by keeping you hopeful about your future!

As long as your memories are harnessed with the thought that they serve some purpose in your present or in the future, it’s best to have them buried away lest they come back to bury you in the present that you exist! Many problems manifest from this space of harnessing misplaced memories and these haunting memories in no time turn into nightmares and eventually begin to consume all the islands of calm that you may have within you and around you, because frankly no one really cares what happened in you past- you see even your boss doesn’t care of you were the beast employer last year or five years ago, if you are screwing up now and making it embarrassing for your boss “in the now”- that’s a good enough reason to fire you and get some peaceful sleep!

Perhaps the biggest mistake that people end up doing with their memories is that- they think others will be as excited as they themselves are and nothing could ever be farther from the truth! You see human memories are completely intimate and virtually second skin! They are only and only meant for consumption by the beholder of those memories. Thankfully, the way our brains are physiologically structured- it is often very difficult to narrate a memory without help of an external visual cue- consider this, say you want to describe that splendid Florida beach to your friend who has never been there- you can go on and on and even sing a song or write a poem- the other person is just going to end up thinking what an idiot you have been- it is only when you are able to share a snap or a video form that locale – will that person be able to relate, like, dislike, share a thought or an opinion and that if the person has a liking for the beach!- If the other person is a mountain or a plains lover- well you are toast and you can say bye bye to whatever fragile bond that you hold! This is what the magic of memories really is! They belong to the beholder and are for the beholder of the memories and do not call for participation of anyone else- unless they have been co-created by people with a singular thought for a purpose!

As one taps into their memories, sieves through them in the context of what empowers them and what harms them, it empowers an individual’s present once they are able to tap into the meaningful memories. This also helps to develop a sustainable charisma that goes a long way to help them navigate their world and better equips them to face their tomorrow!

I leave you here, for now, urging you to do a deep cleaning of your memory bank, weed out all that doesn’t serve you anymore, arrange what does and apply what helps so that you can empower your today on the foundation of your memories and not ever get worried about getting buried under their overbearing past from the past!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one, until then stay wise and stay safe!

The human brain is as amazing as anything there is in the universe! the only organ in the entire body, that can play the fool with you and offer you respite and nightmares in equal measure as you deserve them!This article is about trying to learn more about the human mind, the manifestation of intellectual fatigue and its’ about possibly learning to stop – when we must- because going about our daily lives with a tired and fatigued brain can cause more harm than you can ever imagine! This is about understanding how we end up possibly tiring our self (much of the time without a reason) and if there’s anything that we can do about- the tired brain and the manifesting intellectual fatigue!

We live in an era, where information is constantly evolving by the second, things change, contexts keep shifting and the mind is exposed to one new truth after the other, without any real time to explore the underlying causation and we are ever driven into a mode to course correct our approach to life, as we learn new things about the situations around us and this loop is driven more tighter by the intrinsic urge of “wanting to get control over our now” and this is the space where all complexities begin to get created and this is where simple things end up being complicated and we begin to add unwanted layers to existing problems- which at many times are nothing more but a passing phase!

The last two decades, have seen a literal explosion when it comes to access to information, knowledge and resources. As humans, we always have been aware of and as societies we have always strived to gain the upper hand when it comes to dominance of knowledge. Go by the number of patents files, the copyrights, the IPR’s all will tell you the same story- the urge and desire to dominate and control knowledge empowered bu human ingenuity which is propelled only by a fit mind- which is not tired and never defeated! This is where we arrive at a fundamental paradox, the abundance of information and knowledge causes intellectual fatigue at the one end while the same resources end up creating innovators and ingenious scientists among us- so what’s really happening? How can the same contextual set of information create two different results- one productive and progressive, while the other being withdrawn and regressive? The answer to this lies in the simple trick of keeping your mind lighter and in- the- moment (NOW) at all times! Let me explain!

When our mind is glued to the onslaught of information with no sense of direction/ purpose, the endless onslaught does noting more than tiring up our minds. At the same time if we are training our mind to seek a specific bit of information/knowledge for a limited period of time and for a particular objective that has been thought about- the same mind operates like a de-cluttering tool and blinds out everything else and gets going to the specific area of what you seek! So like a fine blowtorch the mind is sharp, intense and focused on a small area, unlike being diffused and blunt over a wide area- not knowing what it is supposed to do! This basic difference on how we use our mind either leaves it eternally fatigued or keeps it razor sharp and alert at all times- waiting to be unleashed for the next assignment! So now you may want to know, how to avoid this fatigue in the first place? Do we necessarily have to be always be alert and aiming for some invention? Well no, you don’t have to slog that hard to ensure your mind is healthy and not fatigued! You don’t need to be racing for innovation marathons either, what you must do is- keep things simple and be in the now!

The constant pressure to like/comment or wave at something over the social media space, that urge to contribute to opinions and pass judgement over the seemingly innocent cups of tea- creating half baked views about people and things (who really don’t care who you are and your views anyways don’t make a damn difference), instances like these and many more such episodes end up feeding our minds with an uninterrupted supply of intellectual garbage- and once your input is compromised- needless to say the output will be of a similar order and in the process ends up damaging the equipment- your brain! Remember that old saying- Watch your thoughts, they become your words- and watch your words for they will become your actions and so on and so forth- basically what you think and what you focus on thinking is what you will end up becoming and if your thinking is cluttered and tiring- you will never have an ounce of enthusiasm left to even pick the next grocery bag- forget about leading yourself or teams or organisations! Cluttered minds- are often the most tired ones’ not because they have been constantly at work- rather they have been grossly abused and put to action and think over- almost everything and anything that is around except what is relevant! This is the real reason why our minds get tired or fatigued- It’s not by doing what we want to- but more often it is by doing what we don’t want to , need to or are forced to do- the way we don’t want to!

Tackling Intellectual fatigue can be done by a simple process of alignment! Once you learn to align your thoughts and your approach to the contextual settings around you, with a definite purpose and you have clarity in how you go about your life- automatically the needless clutter will vaporize and you feel lighter and will surprisingly find that your mind too feels energetic! As you create a routine to stay focused to the purpose driven approach that you have and as all your thoughts and actions align to this approach- you will see – you won’t have time for gossip, that social media presence (which never really produces any worthwhile results) and hence with lesser non-productive stuff to deal with, your mind has enough energy left at all times to rise to the occasion and perform at things that really do matter and contribute to the alignment that you have chosen! This approach however must not be mistaken akin to someone to get serious with life- no way- this is about – creating an approach wherein you are aware and invested in your present time- so that you know how much of what to soak in and what to let go and what time- this ensures you have a lighter mental baggage to carry along at all times and as you travel light- you can adjust and harness the power of your minds as the situation at the hour demands form you!

At the workplace intellectual fatigue can manifest from areas and dimensions beyond one’s control, it could be as simple as doing what you don’t like- too easy or too hard or it could be the over riding manifestations of other people dynamics that play out- which seem to continually overplay and dominate the focus or approach that one plans to take- all these or any of these overbearing circumstances can make one feel mentally tired and eventually this reflects through work- lack of focus, mistakes, arguments, etc etc and this often results into the individual being ejected form the system! The way and perhaps the only way to arrest Intellectual fatigue from cropping up at the workplace is – having the right minds at the right places- (not right people). You see, we live in a hyper dynamic work arena and even if we were to have the right people but with the wrong minds- that is more than enough to trigger the fatigue syndrome and if we are speaking about close knit teams than this intellectual fatigue is as infectious as it can be! Sure enough you will be able to replace the old people with new minds across the team levels but you will still not know what hit you- because you will think you always had the right people- the only problem being you had the right people for sure but not the right minds at the right places!

The human mind, is amazing and in a way has a mind of it’s own! The fact remains that a tired and fatigued mind- doesn’t help anyone- nor the owner, neither the people around, a vibrant and energetic mind is always ready to pull off the incredible even in adverse times and provide respite to one and all for a greater good! This is the fundamental truth and the reason why we need to take more efforts to ensure we don’t end up tiring our precious mind for mindless things and the digital garbage that lies strewn across the digital landscape! Use your mind like it should be! If it’s a precious gift that you have, use it like one, if that’s the most potent weapon that you have, use it like one, if that’s the hope you have for humanity and the society you live in- use it to further that cause! Remember the mind is never fatigued when it is used with purpose and direction, it thrives & improves with challenges/ uncertainties and risks; it begins to experience fatigue when the surroundings are unbecoming and too junked for it to exist and operate!

I will leave you with my thoughts here; do think, if you experienced intellectual fatigue and what was it like- and why was it! I am sure whatever that reason would have been, your mind would have helped you to steer away from that clutter to ensure you keep progressing on a path of self- empowerment through an alert and vibrant mind!

Ciao for now, I will be back soon with another article, time for a coffee break! The mind needs one!