Keep calm and then keep more calm
During a Clasico match last season, a very short conversation took place between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Spanish, obviously, being the lingua franca on the field.
CR7: “What’s up?”
M10: “I am at peace.”
The word used by Messi was tranquil. It could either mean “peaceful” or “I am at peace” — the verbal equivalent of waving a white handkerchief during a corner kick. I’ve followed football since 1998 World Cup and religiously after 2002 World Cup and fanatically since the advent of the Internet but not many moments have managed to etch themselves on my psyche the way the above exchange did. When two greats confront each other, ego is bound to bruise. However, in the company of these gentlemen, all we got to watch, and lip-read later, is the assertion of calm.
Welcome to the topic of yet another blog post that might make you wonder, if it isn’t much to ask for.
A couple of weeks ago, we tried to establish that trust is the most important thing in the world. By thing, we were emphasizing the abstract nature of being, not absolute. Me trusting the sun to come up tomorrow isn’t the same as me trusting my spouse to return home tonight. My relationship with my SO can’t be on the same plane as my relationship with the most powerful entity in the solar system.
It’s all about equations.
Today, let’s shift our attention to the most essential part of our existence: our relentless quest for peace. Before understanding what peace is, let’s reiterate what it isn’t. Peace is not happiness. Many a times, we get our hands on happiness and blissfully assume that we are peaceful. Worse still, sometimes, we get our hands on money to buy ourselves some comfort before affording to mistake comfort for happiness. Imagine the rabbit hole of ignorance we can find ourselves in if we can’t differentiate between comfort, happiness and peace.
When a mountaineer decides to climb the mountain, he is happy about the adventurous prospects that lie ahead of him. While climbing he is far, far away from comfort. Finally, when he reaches the top, what he experiences is the SI unit of peace. He can’t possibly express what he’s feeling at that moment. That moment is much bigger than he’ll ever be. And it’s fast fading away. He has to get down too and go home.
The rest of us, on the plains or coasts, have to fetch our meanings with whatever we have at our disposal. Our desires play a significant role in our understanding. Let’s say, you want to own XYZ and after months of working hard, you get it too. A sigh of relief leaves your body at this moment. After all, you are free from the burden of wanting to own XYZ; that thumping feeling of pushing oneself in all manners possible. Perhaps, you even thought it will bring you happiness. Only time will tell whether it does but for a brief moment, you did experience peace. This was before you moved on to your next summit.
