Self quarantine is providing me with an opportunity to watch TV and read. Though I must say that I was tempted to do both the aforesaid things when I was busy with my office work. Now that I have been advised to stay away from office work and have ample time for watching TV and reading, my mind is going towards office! Such wicked are ways of life and one cannot really help but go along.
As the title of this blog suggests, we have conditioned our lives in such a way that everything, including happiness, has become conditional. It’s always if preceding then, meaning fulfilment of condition precedent is essential for the aimed happiness. And this if-then syndrome is not only the guiding light for our future actions and outcomes, it also takes us into the pangs of guilt and regret over our past. If I had taken admission to X college, if I had got promotion in 1996 instead of 1997, if my daughter had settled in USA instead of RSA: it’s quite an endless list. And for future, if I get steady income after my retirement, if I keep good health, if I get to pursue decent second innings, if I have absolutely rocking old age: again the list is endless.
While the past is done and the present is just moving ahead, I will make definitive moves to save my future from this if- then syndrome. I want unconditional life, unconditional happiness and perpetual joy that’s not incumbent upon any conditionality. It will entail some serious work, but I am also serious post Corona – life is to be lived regally and unconditionally by staying in present.
If I am still resting my future happiness on the preconditions or specific events, then I will never be able to come out of this vicious circle!
Arvind Arya blog 
Very rightly said Sir. Directly or indirectly we tend to relate everything around us with if and then conditions. The mind has become so used to this that it is very difficult to come out of this viscous circle.
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Thanks Anjali- I appreciate your decision to take sabbatical. Very clear and without any if !
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Thank you Sir
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Wonderful .. Simply Amazing Sir.
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Every next level of our lives, will demand a new & different version of us , for sure .
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You are young but very matured
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As my late father used to say … “Seek No More than May Suffice”. This policy which may have worked in the olden days does not always work in real life. But you get the gist !
One thing I did imbibe was to consciously remove tension from my life – whether out of disappointment or happiness/ecstasy. That really helped to defer the heart attack , although it could not actually prevent it.
Happiness needs to be filtered out of life’s events, Like ducks take the algae / fish / snails and throw out the water,
Although this policy is not always easy to follow, it does work wonders when it works.
Get well soon Arvind..!
Best Wishes
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Lovely comments Dada! There’s so much to learn from you and your experiences
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