Each waking day of the modern era, we aim to be happy. Instead, we play catch-up with a dash of insanity!
Why do I say this?
1. Most of what we build, buy, and do in the hope of convenience and comfort pushes us to the edge of our patience.
Consider the era when we would look for a phone booth and wait in queues to make international or local calls. The medium and quality of communication have changed many folds now with digital devices.
But convenience has pushed our patience to the point where we lose it entirely on not finding a phone charger, not finding parking for our cars, losing reception on the television, or when the beers don’t chill in the refrigerator soon.
You name any modern-day technology, and you will find the dichotomy of its utility.
As things improve in our ecosystem, we expand the definition of our problems to invent more problems than eradicate them.
2. Surveys and research on happiness suggest that we were happier in the past when everyone around us was an equal. When there weren’t layers of status created by wealth or materials. The studies say that our joy and grief come from what people around us do and buy rather than what we do and own.
It pivots on our neighbours, friends, relatives, and even strangers on social media. When people say they miss the old times and the fun, they aren’t suggesting a hard life in the present. They were not exposed to people and their lifestyles back then for comparisons as they are now.
3. The concepts of chaos and uncertainty are murky. We anticipate the world to revolve on our terms and our definition of risk and gains. When that goes array, we panic and forget that things that have never happened always happen.
We misinterpret the probability of disasters. We only factor in the one-in-a-million risk without considering the hundreds of such one-in-a-million risks. It is, therefore, natural that every year, we can encounter one from those hundred unlikely events.
The probability of another pandemic, a market crash, a government collapse, or floods due to climate change may be extremely low. A one-in-a-million-probability. But the likelihood of one of them occurring from all is much higher. That probability could be one in hundreds. We don’t know which risk might occur and when?
No one saw the pandemic coming, and it ravaged lives. Eighty percent of top stock analysts forecasted a market crash in 2023. There was no market crash. In fact, 2023 was the best year for markets.
When the analysis turns upside down, it adds up to the anxiety with the unseen events.
The causes listed above are among many that impact our sanity. And we dangle on the threshold of losing our minds daily with things like,
- Stuck in traffic
- Failing to close a sales deal
- Our kid has missed an A at school.
- The maid hasn’t arrived for work
- The waiter spilled some curry on our whites.
- A market crashes
- Losing a job
- A colleague’s promotion at work
You get the gist now. They are meaningless events that cause significant pain.
Today, we have drifted into a zone where we want to be accurate. We create opinions, argue with our brothers, and agitate on religious beliefs, hinging on our accuracies.
But we forget that accuracy can still be uncertain. Ask the financial or economic experts about this. They can predict with great accuracy but are never certain.
We rendezvous with some level of insanity daily with this understanding of accuracy and correctness. One bad day with the probability of experiencing everything bad at once, or even a few, will ultimately test our fragility. But can we turn anti-fragile when we are mindful of the points?
For now, though, it seems we want to be the King and Queen of happiness but have ended as the Joker of insanity.
About the writer
Roshan Shetty is an author, corporate coach, and consultant. He trains corporates on Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Change Management, and Wellness.
His book Shift Left on Emotional Intelligence and skills required for the future is available on Amazon worldwide.
Learn more about his work at www.roshanshetty.com. Subscribe to his YouTube Channel, Roshan Shetty, for life hacks on well-being.
I realized this about 10 years ago. So now I live on a communal farm, with only the necessary modern conveniences. No longer being in the know has done wonders for my mental health.