How long before I breakdown?

Apparently for a conventional automobile it is 200,000 miles (for well-maintained car models will reach 300,000 or more miles total.) or when the car age reaches around 12 years in the United States as per an auto insurance company article. How about me and you? Would it not be nice to know of any danger lurking?

Apart from wishing that human (medical/term) life insurance companies can tell when is "my" next stress tune-up is due, what else can I do! As a coach, I see that mental meltdown is becoming compulsively visited common place this century. Worse yet, some knowingly walk down this self-destructive path by being a workaholic! We all seem to be on self-help - ordering home-delivery from the convenience of work-from-home desk - some modern-day designer illness listed in the picture above. No need to go to a warzone or be veteran anymore! Anxiety, Nightmares, Guilt or Shame are old news! So how to change this?

Choosing a well-built make and model can help extend your car's longevity says that article and adds routine maintenance, quickly completing small repairs, regular washing, and careful driving habits also make a difference. What about you and me? We ought to get a dashboard to count down for regular maintenance to breakdown or better yet, let's find ways to hack/bypass it!

Mental health focus

Eating well, exercising, avoiding injuries and accidents at workplace and from fun activities both outdoors and indoor are all essential to staying reasonably healthy and fit especially in this post-covid world. Taking time out for meditation, yoga, relaxation, relationship, community building may sometimes seem, in this fast-paced, ever-changing globe, a luxury when it is not! Mental health is a focus for functioning well in this knowledge economy even when you are not in an imaginary or real rat-race with a chatGPT or other future artificial intelligence.

In a 2021 study, nearly half of Americans surveyed reported recent symptoms of an anxiety or depressive disorder, and 10% of respondents felt their mental health needs were not being met. While it can affect the mental health of anyone, some people are more likely to be affected than others, says the report.

Similar to automobile industry, where in 115 years since the Ford Model T was produced, with half the life expectancy (100K miles with minor overhauls every 10-20K), so has human longevity, due to vaccines and immunizations, has gone up. Prolonged Stressors, also known as chronic stress, have also kept up, which has health consequences and results in "maintenance/downtime" needs.

Self-check: Do you look forward to Fridays / have Monday blues?

While it is typical to have preferences (weekdays vs weekend), the degree to which one likes and dislikes (considered polarities) is pivotal. Imagine, liking inhalation and not caring so much about exhalation - this is silly. Similarly, each week has workdays/times and rest days/times - I am stating the obvious and yet our choices (wants and don't-wants) can impact neurochemistry, biochemistry. How often do we go through our work place/day/situations with equanimity?

Ever green = less/no burnout?

It is common to expect moving parts to break down more in general. The electric vehicle has limited moving parts, whereas the gasoline-powered/hybrid vehicle has hundreds of moving parts. Fewer moving parts in such "green" cars results in less periodic maintenance and hence more reliable even when they have similar mileage span and years expectancy. Agree with this theory?

Mindfulness-based interventions like meditation practices can similarly help many of us to turn our innards green. Research shows that amongst working professionals, compliant participants reported reduction in stress levels, anxiety and even depression after a few weeks of practice. Less burnout in mind and body can result in less breakdown can be the corollary.

So, can we upgrade ourselves? The answer seems to be obviously "YES"! More important question is this: Are we using our existing body and mind fully and correctly? Automobiles come with users' manuals but for humans, we have misplaced it in many places, so effectively it does not exist coherently, or we haven't read them. With human knowledge and wisdom already in our midst accumulated over 10000 years, can we avoid burnout to breakdown as well as enhance how we function efficiently and effectively to meet the challenges of current day, is a worthy quest. Are we up for it? Where to start such a journey!

Life, Liberty and Pursuit of?

Just as automobiles are meant to go places, we all have freedom to go to any place, pursue any purpose or chase whatever our dreams are in this life - for after all, we generally subscribe to "you only live once" (YOLO) motto. Wealth, Power, Success, Pleasure are goals generally deemed worthy of pursuit. Some, occasionally, have chosen, esoteric goals of immortality, knowledge and so on.

What you and I pursue is a matter of individual choice - personal preference and no one has any business dictating to another the proper use of free-will. I do however submit, that one should not waste pursuing something that one already has as a matter of common sense. It is futile to go looking for your body (or even mind unless you have lost it!) and such may be the case, if you pursue happiness. Consider this. When you were a child, how happy were you! I was (lucky me!). I agree some of the households or other circumstances can rob humans of that joy early on, but would that be an exception rather than rule? In any case, don't take my word for it, try it yourself. Set a goal to pursue happiness and see if you get there - I found it to be a like chasing shadow. Happiness is not a mirage though as we know when are happy. It is just that we want to be happier than yesterday or another person or ... We explore happiness in installments rather than looking for it in abundance or we tend to attach it to objects, things, positions. Such a pursuit can entrap us in vicious cycles surely but fret not!

In our day-to-day existence, we may go through the 6-state cycle called out in one of human manuals called out in YogaSutra We act in an enlivening way which results in happiness. We want to hold on to this and this creates desire. Desire triggers actions that are not enlivening, leading to unhappiness. One then regrets this, condemns the negative tendencies and returns to the enlivening way only to repeat the cycle! So, one goes round and round this circle endlessly and gets caught there. Thus, the regenerative solution is to break 6-state cycle.

Easier said than done

Remember when you first learnt to drive an automobile? I learnt in a stick-shift and not an automatic. Too many things to remember and do correctly for the car to move. It was frustrating but when we got the license the joy was pulpable and the places we got to go were real. So it is, when you know how to pursue happiness inside. I am not against pleasure, power, money or other success measures that we strive for, ethically, efficiently and effectively. We talked about equanimity in preferences and in taking actions earlier, similarly we have to remember that in the world, results of our actions are not always our doing. For example, I can love someone, the other person may not reciprocate. You can apply for a job, but you may not get it. It is not about fairness always or even predictability. Can we live with those rules of engagement? Not like them and, trying to change is an option always. Try it - who knows you might find a better highway (hope it is not a shortcut and the car breaks down). Good luck.

Would love to hear from you on your challenges or suggestions for me. Let me know if this works for you. It is neither a hack/bypass I found and over time you can dashboard it even if you pay sufficient attention to this awareness and reflect on the action taken to see if they are enlivening (life-giving vs life-diminishing!).

Thanks to my teachers Raghu Ananthanarayanan and Prasad Kaipa as well as others in Institute of Indic wisdom to help me explore the inner landscape via the right manuals and experiences/programs.