the speaking tree - How To Overcome That Insecure Feeling
Deepak M Ranade
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Most people feel insecure about something or the other at some point in their lives even if they are otherwise accomplished individuals. To feel insecure can have gradual but catastrophic consequences in professional, personal and social domains. Insecurity is the manifestation of misplaced anxiety . Anxiety more often than not is about loss of a person, position, wealth or health, for instance.There is evidence that anxiety disorders are characterised by an exaggerated neurobiological sensitivity, a cognitive bias, warp in information processing.
Repeated activation of anxiety elated neural circuitry like the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, autonomic nervous system (ANS), and inflammatory response promotes hronic inflammation through structural and functional changes in the brain.
Such neurobiological responses could lead to stress and chronic inflammation. This culminates in degenerative diseases of ageing with a much earlier onset and greater prevalence in anxious individuals. There have been many instances when as medical doctors we encounter young, otherwise healthy individuals suffering a heart attack or even paralytic stroke.
Insecurity is directly proportional to the degree of attachment. There is an an ecdote about Osho being asked by a person about the fleet of Rolls Royce sedans he possessed.Why would a spiritual being like him need material luxuries?
Osho counter-questioned the person, “You have an expensive sedan too. How would you feel if someone brushed against it and damaged it?“ The person responded by saying that he would get very agitated and upset. Osho re plied, “Therein lies the difference. Even if I were to wake up tomorrow and find my entire fleet missing, it would not matter one bit to me.“ Indulgence is not the disease. Craving for it and fear of losing it is. The monk need not sell the Ferrari. He just needs to get rid of attachment to it.
Insecurity feeds and thrives on attachment. All spiritual advice talks of developing `dispassionate indulgence'.Spirituality is not some kind of depravity. Detachment is much more than selfdenial; it is not merely a phenomenon of total non-indulgence or abstinence.
Fast-paced lives expect rewards like fame and fortune in quick time. Increasing competitive mindsets, an obsessive compulsive disorder to succeed, desire for position and hierarchy in an increasingly corporate atmosphere make the individual far more susceptible and insecure. Insecurity predisposes one to premature responses that are damaging.rsons are labelled as being Such persons are labelled as being edgy or hyper. Sharing space with such people is exasperating and unpleasant. We are familiar with psychological indices like the emotional quotient and intelligence quotient. Likewise there is also a `security quotient' that is unique to each individual. Secure individuals have a palpable undercurrent of contentment. There is a specific satiety centre located in the hypothalamus that determines each individual's appetite and the quantum for its satiation.
The debate is eternal as to whether contentment is an obstacle to ambition and achievement. Being passionate about one's work is a blessing but not if all attention is on the result to the exclusion of everything else. The embers of insecurity are doused only by the waters of contentment. Contentment is a vital ingredient of the `feel good' factor which is critical to physical as well as mental well-being.
Post your comments at speakingtree.in The Speaking Tree is also available as an 8 page newspaper every Sunday for Rs 3. Book your copy of The Speaking Tree with your newspaper vendor or SMS STREE to 58888.
Repeated activation of anxiety elated neural circuitry like the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, autonomic nervous system (ANS), and inflammatory response promotes hronic inflammation through structural and functional changes in the brain.
Such neurobiological responses could lead to stress and chronic inflammation. This culminates in degenerative diseases of ageing with a much earlier onset and greater prevalence in anxious individuals. There have been many instances when as medical doctors we encounter young, otherwise healthy individuals suffering a heart attack or even paralytic stroke.
Insecurity is directly proportional to the degree of attachment. There is an an ecdote about Osho being asked by a person about the fleet of Rolls Royce sedans he possessed.Why would a spiritual being like him need material luxuries?
Osho counter-questioned the person, “You have an expensive sedan too. How would you feel if someone brushed against it and damaged it?“ The person responded by saying that he would get very agitated and upset. Osho re plied, “Therein lies the difference. Even if I were to wake up tomorrow and find my entire fleet missing, it would not matter one bit to me.“ Indulgence is not the disease. Craving for it and fear of losing it is. The monk need not sell the Ferrari. He just needs to get rid of attachment to it.
Insecurity feeds and thrives on attachment. All spiritual advice talks of developing `dispassionate indulgence'.Spirituality is not some kind of depravity. Detachment is much more than selfdenial; it is not merely a phenomenon of total non-indulgence or abstinence.
Fast-paced lives expect rewards like fame and fortune in quick time. Increasing competitive mindsets, an obsessive compulsive disorder to succeed, desire for position and hierarchy in an increasingly corporate atmosphere make the individual far more susceptible and insecure. Insecurity predisposes one to premature responses that are damaging.rsons are labelled as being Such persons are labelled as being edgy or hyper. Sharing space with such people is exasperating and unpleasant. We are familiar with psychological indices like the emotional quotient and intelligence quotient. Likewise there is also a `security quotient' that is unique to each individual. Secure individuals have a palpable undercurrent of contentment. There is a specific satiety centre located in the hypothalamus that determines each individual's appetite and the quantum for its satiation.
The debate is eternal as to whether contentment is an obstacle to ambition and achievement. Being passionate about one's work is a blessing but not if all attention is on the result to the exclusion of everything else. The embers of insecurity are doused only by the waters of contentment. Contentment is a vital ingredient of the `feel good' factor which is critical to physical as well as mental well-being.
Post your comments at speakingtree.in The Speaking Tree is also available as an 8 page newspaper every Sunday for Rs 3. Book your copy of The Speaking Tree with your newspaper vendor or SMS STREE to 58888.
