The Time to Repair a Roof is when the Sun is Shining

 

When American President John F. Kennedy popularized the quote – “The Time to Repair a Roof is when the Sun is Shining,” he wanted USA to build a proactive economic infrastructure in good times to prevent future economic breakdown. Later, many further interpreted this same quote in terms of bringing political reforms in line with people’s aspirations; social reforms to break the rigidity of regressive practices; legal reforms to make inclusive justice; other infrastructural reforms to cope up with climate change, disasters, defence, technology boom, etc. – All these reforms undertaken in times of stability to avoid future crisis, just like how one must repair the roof in the sun to prevent leakage in the rain.

While even regular physical exercise as a repair to bodily ailments is a common interpretation, mental health aspects often go unnoticed. In this fast-paced world order, the fact that the mind can sustain huge wear and tear on restless exploitation is seriously neglected. As a result, efforts to heal the mind are neither undertaken nor are timely, thus, leading to surging psychological issues.

In this essay, we are going to explore why, when, and how the mind must be repaired and reformed.

Why Repair?

Life is a dynamic maze which poses – continuous questions that need to be answered, frequent challenges that must be overcome, and evolving puzzles that require adaptable solutions. While this creates an illusion that life is complex, in reality, it is not, when we realize that all answers come from one place – The Mind.

Mind is the place where thoughts emerge, interact, unbecome, and evolve. These thoughts are what are often being celebrated as solutions to living crisis. However, just like how an un-repaired roof itself could collapse besides leakage during rain, an unchecked thinking and unhealed mind can bring catastrophe; just like how the negligence to correct unethical conduct in child leads to morality breakdown in adulthood besides mental drain out. Thus, the periodical maintenance and repair of mind at the right time becomes necessary.

Repair when Sun Shines

When it comes to mental health, the timing of the repair and maintenance becomes crucial. While unwarranted delay might cause mental breakdown, excessive resting periods could slow down the cognitive process. That is, stress management must be done as soon as possible before burnout. This is because burnout might lead to consequences ranging from frequent anger outbursts to permanent self-termination of life – suicides. The suicide of the chartered accountant Anna Sebastian in 2024 was a firm reminder of such an extreme burnout.

On the other hand, over-resting in the name of stress management is also not good either. It will not only make one’s mind lazy, but also leave it feeble. That is, mind will perform at its best only when the stress is proportional to mind’s pressure handling capability. Below such a threshold, the mind feels less motivated to think critically, and thus, leading to boredom and stagnation. So, when the time to handle massive decisions comes, the mind often crumbles on facing such a challenge. Those are the situations that expose the vulnerability of a mind that is always in a comfort zone.

The timing of repair and maintenance also applies to ethical conduct. In reality, rarely all ethical values are universal. They are subjective and contextual, i.e. differ across time and space. In that way, one must continuously think and rethink ethics according to the context and apply it wisely as per situation. Thus, maintenance of mind includes periodical introspection of our decisions and realizing our mistakes. However, excessive introspection of all decisions risks indecisiveness. If introspection is completely absent, it risks dogmatism due to rigidity of value system. Thus, the maintenance must be at a correct interval and frequency.

Repair Smart under the Sun

Whether it is mental health or ethical conduct, both are related to the mind which houses thoughts and expectations. Thus, both issues get solved by the reformation of the mind.

People assume happiness or stress as a product of environment. But, if that assumption is fully accepted, then it is same as blaming the rain for the collapse of the roof. While rain can certainly affect the integrity of the roof, it is the job of the roof to endure the rain. Similarly, it is the job of the mind to decide on whether being joyful or strained, not the external circumstances.

So, reforms of the mind involve changing one’s perception. Perception means how we make sense of our environment. It is subjective, i.e. different people perceive the same situation differently. For example, take any two different people. While one is satisfied with certain amount of wealth, other feels it is inadequate. The issue here is not about the outer world, but on the inner perception. So, if one can repair their perception of the world, then happiness is right within them. The smallest reform one can do is to practice minimalism and contentment. If one works on reducing expectations in life, s/he will certainly be less disappointed.

While timely introspection of our value system is another mental reform, the nature of introspection determines its actual effectiveness. Empathy is the best tool for self-introspection. While what is right or wrong is based on our existing values, empathy teaches us to think about them from others’ perspective. If all start to think from other’s shoes, then one might hesitate to harm others for their self-interest. Everyone must start to self-introspect value system through an empathetic lens, before taking any decisions. This will not only remove any bias and prejudices, but will make justice more inclusive for all.

The best psychological repair for a stressful mind is spending time with mind or self. Even if one is engaged in selfless service, self-service is a necessity to sustain such an altruistic mindset and action. Because, how can one serve if the instrument of service, the mind, is torn? So, periodic rest and recharging of mind must be done to prepare for upcoming harsh work weathers.

While the rain cannot be controlled, at the least, throwing of stones on others’ mental roofs can be prevented. That is, we must stop imposing undue pressure on peers in the name of expectations, toxic motivation, and competition. While they might help one to grow to a certain level, beyond limits, they knowingly or unknowingly crush one’s peace of mind. So, family, peers, employers must encourage one to push beyond limits. But such encouragement must remain healthy and reasonable, not turn into obsession. Thus, reasonable motivation can prevent substantial roof damage and maintain sustainability.

Mind is the biggest roof that must be repaired when sun shines to face the harsh rainy times. Such repairs must not only be prompt, but also be smart in order to prolong psychological wellbeing and adapt morality according to the circumstances. Thus, societal prosperity will be possible only if mental revolution occurs because – “What you see outside, is a reflection of yourself!”

Let me know in the comments about your perception of my views on mind. Do comment below!

You cannot step twice in the same river

 

Life is always represented as flowing. This means that it is ever moving and never static. This dynamic nature of the life makes its permanence disappear, i.e. every moment in this life is unique. So, one will never experience the same moment twice – may be a similar moment, but never the exact same ones. This beautiful universal truth is captured by a famous quote of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus – “You cannot step twice in the same river.”

In this essay, I will attempt to explain this beautiful universal truth – decoding why the river-like life changes every moment; how this change affects one; and finally, how one can sustain and endure such change. 

Let the sail begin!

Dynamic life

Life consists of two constantly interacting variables – self and non-self. Here, the ‘self’ denotes our mind and the ‘non-self’ denotes the environment. The dynamic interaction between our mind and the environment is what makes life flow like a river.

In the theory of relativity, Albert Einstein proved that matter is equivalent to energy. So, when one matter encounters another, the energies get transferred. While science limits interaction to energy transfer, Indian Vedic philosophy extends it to formation of imprints. Since the environment is made up of matter, every interaction between the mind and environment leads to energy transfer, which in turn, leaves mental imprints called Samskaras. So, one is never the same at any two points of time. Just like how the river never contains the same water!

Such mind-environment interactions are without a pause, ever happening. Thus, loads of new Samskaras are generated every moment. These new Samskaras in turn, constantly alter the mind, giving rise to new thoughts. These new thoughts rewire our perception of the world, i.e. how we evaluate a situation based on our internal value system. This perception is what is often reflected as behaviour, i.e. our response to a situation. Thus, the altering of mind involves a change in our perception as well as our behaviour.

While these alterations of mind can lead to short-lived mood swings, the prolonged exposure to a specific environment can change one’s perception & behaviour substantially. For example, a girl from a patriarchal family might believe that she is a subject to be controlled and any share of power with her is an act of kindness. But, after the exposure to an egalitarian college environment, this perception changes. She will expect more share in power, not as a matter of kindness, but as her in-born right, as a matter of natural justice. This shift is marked by the change in her internal value system, which went on from expecting chauvinistic sympathy to demanding her ingrained right.

This establishes the truth that – change is the only thing that is constant! But one must be wary of the nature of such change. While mind gets altered by interacting with environment, the outcome of such change is determined by the quality of that environment.

Mind the surroundings

There is a famous saying, “show me your friends and I will show you who you are.” On broader interpretation, friends are a vital part of environment. Since one is shaped by their environment, it becomes important to choose to live in a good company. Often miserable acts are done by those whose mind is narrowed by ugly companionships. In Mahabharata, while Duryodhana committed unforgivable deeds under the companionship of his uncle Shakuni, Arjuna was driven into the Dharmic path by his ethical charioteer Shri Krishna. It is just similar to how a river flowing through mineral rocks gets enriched opposed to mixing with sewage which gets it polluted.

Thus, the change that happens in life, despite inevitable, can be directed towards goodness if we choose our surroundings wisely. But often, it does not end there. Despite a healthy atmosphere, the interaction between the mind and the environment becomes crucial. For that interaction to happen in the first place, the mind must be “present in the present.”

Live the moment

Many either grieve too much about their past, or over-forecast their unpredictable future. But what they fail to do is to invest in their present. Investing in the present involves to leverage the past experience and live in the present fully without the fear of future. This does not mean to disregard the future just because it is changing and is unpredictable. But, to resist oneself from expecting a predictable future, and get ready to endure the change. This is what the Taoism says as – “Let it go, ride the wind.” It means not to resist the change but to travel along with it.

But, in a world filled with expectations and warnings about the unseen, this practice of staying in the present becomes challenging. In reality, one must have a goal in life. However, fixing that as the endpoint of the journey is not wise because it was set by your old self. Now that you might have changed along with the circumstances, your goal might need revisiting, and also resetting if necessary. This does not necessarily make the journey towards your previous goal useless. In fact, the experience from that journey was the very reason you might be successful in pursuing your new goal. Just think – would have Gandhi imagined that he would end up as a national leader when he started as an unsuccessful lawyer? Or was being a lawyer a necessary precondition to become a national leader? In fact, he wouldn’t have imagined his experience in South Africa would translate to Indian freedom struggle. All these events in his life unfolded just because he rode along the wind!

Life is an ever-flowing river filled with energies that interact constantly shaping and re-shaping one’s inner and outer space. This lets no one remain the same making change inevitable. Since such change is influenced by the nature of one’s surroundings, it forces one to choose their acquaintance wisely. Besides that, a healthy interaction between self & non-self is possible only if the mind lives in the moment riding the wind, embracing the travel, and further, re-determining the destiny in line with the flow. Summing up with what Bruce Lee had said – Be water, my friend!

Do not restrict your thoughts. Let it flow in the comment section!

Just because you have a choice, it does not mean that any of them has to be right

Freedom of choice, or simply called free will, is said to have been a defining character of human civilization since its beginning. And further, the political movements around the world, including the French revolution, Marx’s social revolution, women's movement, recent decade’s LGBTQ movement, etc., all had increased the amount of this freedom to choose one's way of life. While political movements provided with this liberty, the economic movements like rise of capitalism together with techno-globalization has increased the life choices via exposure and accessibility.

But such liberty also comes with a responsibility to make the right choice as just because one is exposed to many choices, it does not automatically mean any of them has to be right. Maybe, most of them could be wrong; sometimes only one could be right; while in other times, more than one could be right.

This essay will help one not only to make the right choice, but also will help to do so when more than one choice looks equally compelling. Let us begin!

Liberty comes with responsibility

In simple, one's life is the summation of choices made in one’s journey. While many choices in our life might be available, not all of them might be right. The karma concept of Vedic religion tries to explain this by stating that whatever is going to happen will be shaped by your present and past actions. That is, “you reap what you sow.”

Thus, it is important for one to choose right with pure responsibility. This can be explained with a simple example. If one chooses to save extra money in bank instead of spending on unnecessary sin goods like tobacco, wine, etc., such choice might come as a saviour in times of crisis. Just like how when people lost their jobs in COVID-19 pandemic, their savings helped them sustain and bounce back.

The free will vests us with a responsibility, that gets magnified when an individual is devolved more power. Just as quoted by Uncle Ben (from Spiderman), “with more power comes more responsibility.” Take in the case of king Ashoka, who was once a bloodthirsty conqueror with the powerful army in the world. Being in such a powerful position, he had many choices including expanding his territory and influence through iron and blood. But he chose to do so with Dhamma (peace) instead. He wanted to conquer people's heart through Buddhism. That responsible choice of such powerful king was the reason for peace for decades in his empire.

In the modern multipolar world order, it becomes the responsibility of the powerful countries to help others in distress. India illustrated this in 1971 war with Pakistan. When the Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) approached India for help, India at least had three options – One, to push-back the refugees as India was not a signatory of 1951 refugee convention. Two, be a bystander by letting Bangladesh suffer. Three, save Bangladesh from Pakistan. While all three options were available, the first two choices, despite India had the right to make, weren’t the right ones to make. By choosing the third option, India not only restored peace in Bangladesh, but also exemplified to the world the responsible decision making.

While the above simplified examples create an illusion of one ethically right option, this is not generally true. In life, often one is compelled to choose between more than one equally right alternatives. That is where one wonders, what to choose?

What if…. all choices are right?

This situation is called an ethical dilemma. The paradox that lies in these ethical dilemmas is that since all the options are equally good or convincing, choosing any one will lead to compromise of the other. That is, one good comes at the cost of the other good!

It is similar to a zero-sum game, where one's gain will affect others. So, no choice is entirely good or bad, and often lies in the grey area leading to dilemma. And such dilemmas are very routine for a policymaker. Take in the case of construction of dam. Here, the policymaker must choose between three options (to keep it simple) – national development, tribal welfare, and environment protection. Choosing one will lead to the compromise of the other.

This is where choosing only one option between black and white isn’t infeasible since all are equally important. While utilitarian perspective will compel one to choose based on majority benefits, that is not the right option certainly as such trade off will lead to later problems like Naxalism, climate change, etc. Here is where the choice must include blending of all options, and simultaneously minimizing the harm for all the stakeholders.

This can be achieved by conducting environmental impact assessment (EIA) and social impact assessment (SIA), planning the compensatory afforestation (CAMPA), before the project. Besides minimizing harm through these mechanisms, it is also necessary to maximize welfare by distributing benefits through tribal rehabilitation & welfare program like JANMAN, etc.

In the above case, not only were the choices blended to grey, but also our value priorities got reshuffled. Initially, the justice was seen from a utilitarian perspective, i.e. benefits for majority, which was given the foremost priority. But the right choice not only shared the benefits among all, but also minimized the harm to the minorities. This shifted our value priority from majority benefits to equity-based justice, upholding the true essence of democratic justice!

In an ethical dilemma, an individual with wavering mind cannot choose the right alternative. It is necessary for the mind to be calm and composed just like how Shri Krishna preached in Bhagavad Gita – Yoga Samatvam Uchhate (Equanimity is Yoga). Only at such state can the self-introspection be effectively done, reshuffle value priorities accordingly, and then make an assertive choice.

Besides equanimity, one must also muster the courage to face the consequences of one's choice, just like how Jesus Christ did. He got crucified (nailed in the cross) for choosing to propagate the truth and love through his teachings, and he graciously welcomed it. He not only took the responsibility to choose the right path, but also withstood political retaliation, forgiving them for it.

The unimaginable power of free will in the world of abundant choices comes with an undeniable responsibility to choose wisely for universal benefits. In an ethical dilemma, an unshakable mind must look inside and re-order the value system before making the right choice. And such right choice is not devoid of negatives; but demands us to face the consequences with a grit, helping us become a wise & a resilient leader – leading not only the self, but also the world!

For the sake of democracy, let us debate. Do comment your views below!