Either willingly or unwillingly, all of us in some way, shape or form, are lifelong learners. Each new day and moment of each day presents opportunities to refine our thinking.
One thing I’ve been thinking about a lot in 2021 is how to practically apply philosophical concepts. The reason I say this is because of the hustle and bustle of life. “Practicality” reigns supreme and we focus on what gets us through, sometimes throwing anything deeper that we’ve read and contemplated out the window. And this is understandable. But I seek to live a philosophically reconciled life, rather than play out a conflict everyday.
So I’ve considered 2 philosophically important ideas and how I can apply them to my daily life. And please, accept my humble disclaimer that this is my construct that I share with you, rather than claiming it to be any more profound than that.
- Love. I used to watch my father look after his Ford Cortina Ghia with an absolute passion. In fact, he even had it resprayed. And I wondered, why doesn’t Dad just buy a new car? As a kid I used to help polish that car and apply Armorall to the dash so often that I had a right to wonder! All that maintenance. And now I get it, he loved that car and all that maintenance was his demonstration of that. I realise now, love is indeed a verb and maintenance is the doing that manifests love. Be it a relationship, possession, hobby, even your own body – to maintain a thing, is to show love. As a doctor, I’ll mention here that maintaining your health is a powerful way to show self love. I’ll mention here also that the emotion of “gratitude” has been touted almost as a modern day panacea to all manner of psychological woes. Great in theory, but spend time on the things you say you’re “grateful” for, otherwise you’re just blowing smoke. It’s no use being “grateful” for someone or something and neglecting those things. Maintain them.
- Surrender. This is a word used over and over by Eastern texts. It’s fascinating that in our daily lives we’re driven to “compete” to survive in many instances, yet delving into philosophy calls us to “surrender”. Indeed, surrender asks of us to see a oneness in all things, and surrender to that greatness of the universe. It’s practically difficult to “surrender” in the day, so I’ve aligned the concept of surrender with paying credence to the process of things rather than the outcome. The point being, I surrender to the process, and admit that the outcome is a mix of my efforts and luck (good and bad) bestowed upon me… from wherever it comes from. In business parlance, this would be “trust the process”, but I use the word surrender to the process and apply that concept in business and beyond. Call it irresponsible if you may, but it helps me tackle life without feeling undue pressure. As an example, many times when I’ve studied for exams I’ve not focused on getting the highest marks, but rather saying to myself that I want to think that no one tried harder than I did. This was my application of surrendering to a process then, I realise now that surrendering to the process…also helps you “let go” at night. Whatever your day has delivered you, provided you tried your best and lived true to your values, surrender to that process and close your eyes.
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This is where I’m going to stop. After all, it’s heavy stuff. But there you have it. Love equals maintenance and surrender equals a focus on process. I hope this practically helps you in your philosophical journey, as it has mine.
Dr Floyd Gomes – Managing Director, Atticus Health
