The 10 truths behind living your #OneLife

Source: https://www.thepossibility.in/living-happy-life-forever/

When I first talked about #OneLife around 6 months back, there was a huge level of interest on the topic. Hundreds of people wrote back on the relatability to the same. While most were around relationship breakages or career confusions, the overarching philosophy of #OneLife, I strongly believe, is worth looking at for every single person.

To demystify what this #OneLife is about, I am starting with the fundamental premises that I have put together (culled from the first article and some more), after a lot of reading, researching on happiness, listening to the learned folks on the subject etc. While this is by no means comprehensive, this is a good indication of the way I live my own life now, and what I purport to talk and spread possibly for the rest of my life!

Here are the 10 underlying principles -

1. It’s just ‘One life’ for every one of us! (Despite what the holy books say, there’s a reason why no one remembers their ‘past lives’ in any religion) Live your ‘One life’ to your full potential. Live without any regrets. Do what you want to do. Whatever you do needs to be right for you. (yes, it sounds slightly selfish, but there are counter-balancing points later on)
2. Evolution is the only fact. And we have evolved to the present moment — so that is the ultimate truth. The past is just baggage. The future is up in the air. Everything other than the present moment is imagined. So do not revel in the past or worry about the future. Alternatively, do not brood over the past or fantasize about the future. Focus on the present moment. Breathe. Do. Absorb the surroundings — whatever you are doing, wherever you are, and leave aside the devices! (except when you are reading this article :)
3. The mind is the most important part of our body. Its power is limitless. The human potential is limitless once the power of the mind is unleashed. And whatever you say is the ‘heart’, at the end of the day, is also just your mind playing tricks! The mind can handle any situation — ups and downs, wins and losses, and come back strong! When the mind is put to good use, it can even rewire things hard-coded by evolution. And sure enough, open up your mind to read the rest of the ‘One Life’ underlying philosophies!
4. There’s a million options out there — people, jobs, places, cultures, views, media, pretty much everything! And desire is good. (Sorry, I don’t subscribe to the ‘leave all desires’ philosophy — it’s too boring in this rich world!) Otherwise there’s no way to live life to its fullest. But beware of desire getting into an addiction! Or into the ‘fear of missing out’ (FOMO). Desire is great to provide a direction towards the path to take, and drives the process towards that path. But since there’s unlimited options out there, if one door closes, another almost always opens (albeit with some effort and time). So use your life to try a lot of different things and don’t be too consumed by only one thing for too long! (counter to much expert advice around building expertise, which is not necessarily in line with technology and pace of disruption)
5. Life however has no real purpose. (Your ‘true purpose’ is a story invented by motivation gurus and corporations) It’s like music — you only experience it, and reaching the ‘end’ is not really the purpose of the music composition! Experiences can be filled with happiness or with pain. There are no successes or failures. Everything just contributes towards making you better and having a rich experience in life. So while you can have a desire to succeed (and that drives you towards utilising your potential), attaching happiness or sadness to that event itself is an activity that has no real benefit (and Buddhist philosophy / Zen is a master at dealing with this subject). And more so if it’s an external event, like a political battle or a game, where you have no real control of it!
6. Life will always be a mix of the comfortable and the new. If it’s only the former, you will never discover the richness of life. If it’s only the latter, then our mind (due to evolution) will lack the comfort that it needs sometimes when too many things are changing. Every aspect of life needs this balance. If you are evolved enough to say ‘new is comfortable’, then the entire world opens up and attachment to anything can vanish! Whether it’s new or comfortable in any aspect, take that decision with as much choice and independence as you can! (more on choice and independence in the 4S framework in the next article)
7. The universe works on positive energy. (Energy as a concept is so abstract, only the really learned or meditative can experience it well! Or of course, influence of substance!) So be good. To fellow humans and the environment in general. Be respectful. Be sincere and honest. Never steal. Do not harm. There’s a ton of diversity — so difference of opinion is fine. Don’t take anything too seriously to have to fight so much as to cause bodily harm or mental wounds (even to your ‘worst enemy’, if any). That’s the only basic code of conduct that you need to follow.
8. The biggest skill that differentiates humans from other animals is our storytelling capability (reference ‘Sapiens’ book) All institutions that we live by are human-made. That includes religions, corporations, law, marriage, etc. So don’t get attached to them. Do not judge others who do not subscribe to your thoughts. Everyone has their own story to where they are today. At the end of the day, even concepts like religion etc. which are subscribed to by billions are just stories that are only 3000 years old while humans have been in existence for hundred thousand years more. (And I promise I won’t judge or fight people who diss this #OneLife :)
9. Everything in life is temporary. We come in with nothing. We leave with nothing. Material possessions, people, titles, everything goes to dust at some level. We are a tiny speck of a duration (~80 years) in humankind that’s 150k+ years old or the earth that’s 4.3 billion years old, or the universe that’s 13.8 billion years old! So don’t get too attached to ownership as a concept given the temporary nature of your life at the first place.
10. Finally, your life is only for you to live. Everyone else is a spectator at best. Parents. Kids. Spouse. Best friends. You can treat them with care and love but they are *NOT* going to live your daily life — your thoughts, actions, happiness and pain are your own. So realise that and start living your life right now! Irrespective of how old you are. Or which life-stage you are at! Cause time is just running away…

So I hope you are liberated enough (at least a wee bit!) to consider living your #OneLife! Unshackle the brain. Don’t judge! Explore the rich options out there. Be positive and respectful. And don’t get attached to others view of success or what you should do! Be happy! And live to your potential in this #OneLife.

P.S: And rest assured, this is also just another human-made story :)

P.S 2: If there’s any more critical underlying philosophies, do leave them in the Comments section.

P.S 3: These are more the underlying philosophies and not really a framework to live the #OneLife by. My next post will talk about the 4S framework (consisting of 10 actionable points) to live this #OneLife by (and that’s taking off from my original post)