One way to maintain sanity above the uncertainties of life, is to have a higher purpose. A purpose, which would make us believe that all that is happening is irrelevant and just another route to the place that we intend to reach. Lack of purpose can be tiring, because, one will then have to justify every action. It's terrible to be in a position where we dont understand ourselves, and we dont see, the purpose anywhere close by.
This has always been the concern with complexity. There is a way of living one's life. The straight way. Its like an "IF THEN" statement in an algorithm. If this is done, then one will be happy.There is certainty about the way, life can be. Even when it is uncertain, there shall be explanations what caused the change in landscape. Because in the land of straight logic, there is a reason for everything, and a justification for every action.
For those who give the space for complexity, unhappiness has its own forms. Was it Tolstoy who said, "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. "
Well, its not an option either to live the way one wants.
You are designed to be of one of the kinds. You are programmed either to question all the straight methods, and increase complexity. Or you are made to look at life like a logical flow of events, such that, for every deviation, there is a solution or a reason.
I come back to purpose. For the complex creatures, purpose is a possible way out. But, finding one's purpose, is a complex process by itself.
Or there is something even better.
A dear friend, introduced me to the concept of Nirvana. The beauty of Nirvana is that, it can neither be the purpose nor the destination. Its nothing. If one can understand that, the irrelevance of the complexity would be so liberating. Then, even purpose can be viewed with detachment. Detachment is the word. To complexity, to action, to purpose, and to one's emotions. Its not about not knowing what one is feeling. Its about knowing , and not getting affected.
I know very little, to write about Nirvana. The closest I came to, was when I read
Siddhartha. A spiritual journey, that one can travel only by listening to oneself. Quoting Siddhartha,
“It was the self, the purpose and essence of which I sought to learn. It was the self, I wanted to free myself from, which I sought to overcome. But I was not able to overcome it, could only deceive it, could only flee from it, only hide from it. Truly, no thing in this world has kept my thoughts thus busy, as this my very own self, this mystery of me being alive, of me being one and being separated and isolated from all others, of me being Siddhartha! And there is no thing in this world I know less about than about me, about Siddhartha!”
Isn't it obvious, that this journey, can be one of the roughest ride, that one can embark?