Sanity

It is a common belief that sanity is the common denominator of a normal society. The attributes conferred to being sane are defined as the natural delimiters of social behavior. In this context an ‘option list’ is presented before any one who choose to be social, from which he could possibly opt those attributes with which he identifies himself the most. On a progressive scale, this starts from being a kid and would take him through his entire life, or may be till a stage in life where one finds himself above any and all of these confinements.

Most of us could see these pictures if they have the courage to make a time travel. My folks wanted me to pick just one chocolate at a party I attended when I was two. Then I was asked not to make shabby noise when in a crowd, had to keep time tables to study mathematics and history when I liked literature, had to do engineering when I preferred arts. I was told that I could not share a friendship with the some kids in my block, not to speak to my closest girlfriend for more than 10 minutes at a stretch, and the day I went out with her for lunch was a disaster. Once a grown up, these restrictions may not be imposed on by others, it would be self imposed. I might decide that I would just have a single plate of chicken at the buffet, or just limit to the first drink I take; and now with my wife and kids special care should be taken when dealing with ladies! :-)

I don’t wish to imply that this is/was the same with every person. But in one way or the other each one of us has had restrictions imposed on us. I even do not wish to say that all of the restrictions were bad. I just wanted to make a note that some of the restrictions make no sense under many circumstances.

One may not need any ESP to understand that this opinion would be criticized to a large extent and that many arguments may come against it. I would say that all of it could be explained by the attribute, ‘hypocrisy’. I have heard most of us say out loud that ‘one of the most cherished things in my life is the time I spend with myself.’ This statement could be rephrased as ‘I prefer my loneliness’. What I always felt is that loneliness is the most feared state of life by any person. I know a person who commented, “I’d rather die than be alone”. Another who would not dare to ogle a women or speak to one freely but dreams of sleeping with every good looking lady he ever saw, and many who say, “Work or no work, I need my breaks and vacations” and would spend night outs completing the next project.

Now coming back to the question of sanity, the fundamental definition of being insane is to act or behave in a way different from the majority of the crowd. Have you ever noticed that usually we also cross the fine line between being sane and insane? But we own a mind which would prudently return us to our original state and this ability of ours is what I call being sane.

We need one another to lead a healthy life. What is important is that we culture an ability to accept others as they are within ourselves. This would give us the ability to visualize an issue in many different perspectives which would help us identify the different attributes of our behavior. Once we get this figured out, the world would be a lot better to live in.

“Know yourself to live better.”:-)