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The Evolving Conscious Mind...



A while ago I was scrolling through my social media feed as on normal days. While I was busy keeping my senses pre-occupied with this gratifying task at hand, all of a sudden I had a great epiphany. I was left beyond mere wonder upon making this crucial discovery and would like to enumerate more about it. A creative insight into what I would describe as the 'evolving conscious mind' or 'rational mind'.

Conscious thinking is what I would describe - a state of mind optimally attained where one is able to think rationally in the moment. In other words, adopt a clear lens in distinguishing between a truth, a reality and a fantasy. It is an aphorism to how we live our present-day lives right from our teenage years, to adulthood and finally the receding years of our lifespan. Conscious thinking in a more broad sense dictates the very choices we make, the decisions we take and more importantly how we choose to streamline the natural course of our existence on this Planet Earth.

All of us, whether we may choose to agree or disagree are constantly in the process of an evolving conscious and sub-conscious mind. This in turn is influenced by whatever events or circumstances we may have encountered at various stages of our lives. It also includes forces not limited to political beliefs, religious beliefs, cultural beliefs as well as the broad encompassing- national beliefs. 

In the beginning years of our existence, our surroundings are what shape the early beliefs about life. This includes our parents from whom we inherit our existence including the surrounding community. As human beings from the early times, we initially grow up inheriting these traits as a means of survival. It is what we would refer to as the 'survival of the fittest'. Our surroundings are what characterize our innermost environment. It is this innermost environment that shapes the way we think or perceive life and the things around us.

As we grow up and enter the early school years of our life, our value systems and beliefs are further shaped by the people whom we may encounter. This includes individuals not limited to educators, school-mates, bus-mates etc. It is these constant interactions that we have for the next 12 years of our life that go about further shaping how we start to perceive things and in the process, form a rational re-construction of life's realities. At this point, there comes a stage where we start to face a dilemma. This comes as a result of conflicting beliefs and values we have inherited from our families vis-à-vis what we have learnt from our educational environment. This in turn is further shaped by the educational system including the broad framework that encompasses it. At this juncture, it is imperative that we undertake a critical examination to evaluate the pre-requisites needed to thrive in the evolving world that we are destined for, once we complete our formal education. This is also the period where our mindset starts to evolve as we make a significant transition away from our primitive or primal instincts in order fit in with the needs of this ever-changing society.

Then comes in the collegiate or university period. This is interestingly the time where all the value systems and beliefs that we had adopted until school years, go haywire. It is also the time where we really start to discover the deepest truths of our lives and existence, some of which run contradictory to what we would have initially thought or ever imagined. This is also the time where we start to develop our critical thinking and reasoning abilities in order to help us trespass with the challenges of life before we immerse ourselves into the real world.

Next we have thrust upon us, the corporate world. This true world suddenly makes it's onslaught upon our lives and it is here that we really start to reason out with life's realities. We seek to make sense with how our beliefs and perceptions of life were shaped over the years. In the process, we also unlearn certain beliefs about life so as to fit within a broader purpose of our existence in the organization. We are also further shaped by the vision and mission of the organization, the culture including the relations that we forge as part of our roles in the firm. 

This cycle continues all the way till the time we grow old until we age out. In all the above stages of our lives, our minds our restructured or rewired to handle the challenges or adversities that come upon us as we move from one phase to the next. It is no doubt that when we reflect on our past circumstances, we find the challenges of the erstwhile time easier than we would have imagined. All of this adds up to a constant and continuous cycle of what I would refer as a constantly evolving - 'conscious mind'.

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Edited and published in Herald Goa on 3 Jun 2022 (People's Edit)



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