How Real Are We? The 30 Days Challenge

Journal for 15 Minutes Every Day — Journaling allows you to regularly separate the real from the imagined, making the unreal less fearsome and stressful.

We often underscore the power of awareness and the impact it has on expanding our consciousness.

Let me give you an example.

Imagine that I have handed you a rod. I will ask you to test its strength by bending it at the middle, and see if you can break it.

So, imagine holding the rod in both hands. Feel its weight, adjust it so you’re holding it center. Now bend it, slowly increasing the force.

Now, please, answer me this question: Did the rod break or bend?

That depends on the material of the rod, right? If your rod is made of a malleable material, it will bend. If it’s brittle, it will break cleanly in two, or even shatter into a hundred shards.

Now, if you had a definite answer to “will it bend or break?” then you imagined the rod in detail, without me giving you any specific details — its material, its shape, color, and length.

Next, you imagined exerting a force, which you believed, would cause the expected result.

As a result, you ‘saw’ it either bend or break. Although you may claim that you simply imagined it, I will argue that the experience was more real than you believe it is.

You saw the details, because you created them — and during that moment, you lost connection with your surroundings. In a way, during these moments, you collected all of your consciousness and being within yourself.

And therein lies the power of human mind in creating realities within our reality.

Are We Devolving? What’s it Like Being a Gold Fish?

We have allowed ourselves to evolve in the modern society by developing the capacities needed to function properly in the Age of Information.

For instance, we have developed the ability to block and filter out information without actually developing control over our minds (think of filtering ads from our peripheral vision while reading and skimming content online).

As a result, while we may have become apt at filtering our skimming through content, we have actually reduced our average attention spans to 8 seconds.

That’s less than that of a gold fish.

So, on average, most of us cannot maintain focus or form a coherent thought for more than 8 seconds.

This may seem counterintuitive given that throughout our daily lives, we are constantly observing and analyzing — obtaining the data and examining it for deeper explanation and meaning.

However, ironically, we often forget to apply this concept to ourselves.

We have become inept at observing and mindfully examining data about ourselves for deeper meaning and explanations. Hence, when it comes to introspection, we have become a gold fish — in terms of being unskilled in the art of focusing on our inner selves.

As a result, we allow our ‘selves’ to remain malleable to the structuring and restructuring by the social structures, the cultural narratives, the corporate and celebrity norms of ‘being’ and living — and the ever changing judgments levied on us by our peers and people around us.

Hence, most of us are not real. We are lost in the void of the present era.

Most of us are unable to move towards an expanded conscience or allowing our souls to absorb the wisdom of the era and grow older.

And the only way to become more real is to step outside of this realm and its many dimensions.

This is only possible by taking an introspective journey into ourselves. However, before we can do that, it is essential that we become independent, internalizing our source of motivation and strength.

Becoming Real — The 30 Days Challenge

Becoming real is about becoming grounded in reality, becoming more mindful of your thoughts and emotions, easily let go of distracting and negative thoughts, and becoming more forgiving and kind towards yourself.

Here are the three habits that you should inculcate for the next 30 days, to realize yourself.

1. Journal for 15 Minutes Every Day — Journaling allows you to regularly separate the real from the imagined, making the unreal less fearsome and stressful. As Mark Twain rightly phrased it “I’ve lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.”
2. Just Be Kind — Be kind, and then kinder, until compassion blossoms within you — for others and for yourself. Think of a past mistake, a failing, or hurt — and forgive yourself. It may take a while to do so, but continue talking to yourself, with compassion, until you are able to forgive yourself.
3. Become Mindful — We live in a society where people lack emotional intelligence and are unable to control their own minds from wandering off with any distracting thought. Overcome this by meditating at least 10 minutes every day (increasing it to 15 in the last 10 days).

All the best!