Do you know what science says about doing unpleasant or difficult things? There is a part of the brain called the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) in the frontal lobe that keeps you emotionally stable,
gives deeper insight and makes you stronger from within. When you do things you don’t like, the ACC becomes strong. When you only do what pleases you, it stays weak. And a weak ACC means you emotionally yo-yo; up, down, you remain fragile and reactive. Think about how we raise children. When they throw tantrums and say, “I don’t want to do it,” many parents simply say, “Okay, don’t do it.” They mean well. But what they are doing, unknowingly, is weakening the child’s emotional brain. When children are pampered too much, they might grow into emotionally fragile adults. The bridge between ancient wisdom and modern neuroscience is not as wide as we think. Sage Patanjali said it thousands of years ago. In the Yoga Sutras, he speaks of Tapas or penance. Tapas is not self-torture, but willingly doing something that your mind doesn’t want to or agree to, because you know something better is going to come out of it. This may sound hard, but we are all already doing it in various aspects of life. Nobody loves going to the gym, but we work out. We don’t like eating something bitter, but we eat it. You sit on a bus for a long journey, with your legs hurting and your back in pain, but still you sit. That is tapas in daily life. And every time you push through what displeases you, stepping out of your comfort zone, the ACC grows stronger. What does tapas actually do? Penance eliminates impurities from the body and brings perfection in the senses. Look at the Jain saints, who walk barefoot, in summer and in winter, covering miles without ever seeking the comfort of a vehicle. Their senses and bodies become extraordinarily strong. Very few of them fall sick. Tapas is needed not for liberation, but to bring purity, strength, and clarity to your body and mind. Life is a combination of both challenges and comfort. If you are in your comfort zone all the time, you go into slumber, into inertia. Comfort becomes bondage. And out of that bondage come fear and anxiety. Your real potential simply will not come out if life is always smooth. On the other hand, if there are only challenges, you get worn out. But nature is made such that nobody’s life is only one or the other. Inch by inch, as you step out of your comfort zone, you will find your comfort zone is actually expanding. You come to a place where nothing really bothers you, where nothing is uncomfortable. Life beckons us out of our comfort zone, repeatedly. That is how we grow. Although it is painful at first, even that first leap eventually becomes comfortable. And, a really strong, wise person takes on others’ challenges and gives them comfort. An ignorant person takes others’ comfort and gives them challenges. When you build your own inner strength through tapas, you are not suffering for yourself; you are becoming someone capable of being useful to another. You are here not just to be comfortable. You are here to be useful to someone. Every time you do what you don’t like, you are building an unshakeable mind. And an unshakeable mind is the greatest gift you can offer the world. The author is a humanitarian leader, spiritual teacher and an ambassador of peace. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
