Pain & pleasure

I could call back now when I was studying grade five, every time when I was about to board the school bus, I used to have a rational motive, plainspoken and lie that I suffer from stomach ache shamelessly. My papa knows me very well and despite all my stupid reasons he would nudge me into the bus and wave his hands at me with a smug glow in his face.

Have you also suffered from this "School bus stomach ache"?

Well, you are not alone! 

Many at times, I hear the alarm buzz but, I hit the snooze button few times and eventually ask my mom to wake me up & rush to the school without having my breakfast! Now if this too describes your morning routine? Oops, you are not alone!

So often I take an oath that in order to stay healthy I should workout & take healthy foods. It actually sounded simple enough in words, but I then discovered that it wasn't as easy as taking the oath. I would make up my mind not to eat the panipuri & pastry but the moment I see it, all my discipline would go for a toss. 

If these are also your thoughts, you are not alone!!

Well! I'm neither talking about eating right nor about exercise nor undergoing regular health check-ups. I'm touching off your mind about what you believe!

Life can be navigated by two indomitable forces called "the pain" & "the pleasure".

The inherent nature or instinct is to avoid pain and embrace pleasure. Only on these forces, we determine what actions we take on a daily basis. Okay! let me be very simple to you.

For the pleasure of staying in bed every morning, we ignore the wake-up call. At the same time, to avoid the pain of punishment that we are bound to receive when we go late to the school, we eventually get out of bed.

For the pleasure of eating, we enjoy the butterscotch Icecream. To avoid the pain of being overweight, we end up on a binge diet.

But the fact is about how our beliefs and activities get to associate with the pain and pleasure.

Say, while you think of a fad diet, raw vegetables, less food and damn workouts we associate pain with that activity. But when we think of having another scoop of Icecream, we get to associate pleasure with that activity.

So, now where the problem exists?

I leave the answer to you.

And if you ask me, I would say, after all, it's just a matter of reprogramming your mind!

(PS: I'm an ECE engineer:P)

With smiles...

Swathi Mohan

(Investing myself completely in the art of living)