A few days back I had gone to see a skin specialist because of an itch. Well, it started with just an innocuous scratchy feeling on my leg; to which I didn't pay much attention to, thinking it will go away soon. However, a week passed by but the itchy sensation did not show any signs of letting up. The more I scratched, the more it seemed to be developing in to a ugly witch..oops itch.
Through out that week, every evening after work, I kept on airing my itchy woes to A. Making light of the situation made me feel a little better or so I thought. But even after a week when the itch refused to die down and instead started growing, we knew there was a glitch. We realized that it was time to ditch the 'ignorance is bliss' state and pitch my woes to a skin doc at the earliest.
Finally, there I was, sitting with the doc and providing her with my irritable 'under the skin' experience of the last one week. It was a total derma drama unfolding in her cabin, where I was just short of going down on my knees and pleading her to 'save my skin'.
She patiently heard me out, took a long look at the reddish patch on my leg and proclaimed with an air of 'thick skin', "Hmmm... well, this is nothing but a simple case of a dry-skin situation. After the age of 35, our oil glands beneath the skin start to deplete. These are the same glands which keep our skin moisturized and healthy. But when they deplete, they make our skin dry and hence the itchy feeling."
Wow, I could not believe my ears on this scin-tillating revelation. Just a case of dry skin, this was good news to my ears!
Then came another discovery. She asked me, what time of the day did I normally get the itchy feeling. I told her that every evening when I was home, back from work, invariably I would start getting the itchy sensation.
Then she revealed to me as a matter of fact, that the itch seemed to be more prominent and perceptible in the evening because my mind at that time of the day, was more relaxed and free of any preoccupations. At office, it's engaged in work matters, busy thinking, stressed, providing instructions to self and hence does not even acknowledge the itch. It is completely ignored, as if it is not there at all. As simple as that!
Within ten minutes she was scribbling down my prescription note. A medicated cream and allergy tablets to be taken for a week, that's it and I was packed off!
Back home, I was reflecting on what was just revealed to me. The itch even though it existed through the day, but felt only in the evening. This is so because the mind, during the day is preoccupied and busy. And only in the evening when it's relaxed, acknowledges the existence of the itch. And the more I thought about the itch, more I am tempted to scratch the skin and further aggravate the situation.
Then I suddenly remembered the 'Placebo effect' frequently used in the medical world. It is a remarkable phenomenon in which a placebo -- a fake treatment, an inactive substance like sugar, distilled water, or saline solution -- can sometimes improve a patient's condition simply because the person has the expectation that it will be helpful. Expectation plays a potent role in the placebo effect. The more a person believes they are going to benefit from a treatment, the more likely it is that they will experience a benefit.
I was just looking at both the scenarios. In both, the mind plays a very important role in making us feel better; whether in my situation wherein my mind was too busy to acknowledge the itch (during the day) or the case of placebo effect, where the mind has positive expectations and believes that the offered treatment will be beneficial to self.
As I was reflecting on this not so new or eye popping discovery, my thoughts took me to yet another truth in life. And I have discussed this with my friends who have a similar experience as well. So many times have we in the past, wanted some good things to manifest in life whether for us, or family or friends. We had thought about them strongly and then never thought about it again. Until of course they actually became true!
All this happened because the thoughts then prompted us to take certain persistent actions which eventually led us to our ultimate aim or goal which we had wished for so strongly.
In a nutshell, all these were manifestations of nothing but our mind! Whether in the first case where my mind was so busy in the day that it did not acknowledge the existence of the itch or the Placebo effect when the mind chooses to believe that the medicine will cure or provide relief and it does or when our mind strongly wishes for something to happen and it truly manifests in life. In all these cases, it's our mind which is the window to our reality.
Moral of the story:
Whatever the mind can conceive, and believe, the mind can achieve!
It is no wonder that Gurus of the Corporate and Spiritual world, acknowledge GRIT as the number one factor for a person's success. Grit that which is not physical prowess, knowledge or experience oriented but derived from inner mental strength.
Someone smart said, "Gritty people believe, everything will be alright in the end, and if it is not alright, it is not the end.”
Note: Grit - Grit in psychology is a positive, non-cognitive trait based on an individual's passion for a particular long-term goal or endstate, coupled with a powerful motivation to achieve their respective objective.
Through out that week, every evening after work, I kept on airing my itchy woes to A. Making light of the situation made me feel a little better or so I thought. But even after a week when the itch refused to die down and instead started growing, we knew there was a glitch. We realized that it was time to ditch the 'ignorance is bliss' state and pitch my woes to a skin doc at the earliest.
Finally, there I was, sitting with the doc and providing her with my irritable 'under the skin' experience of the last one week. It was a total derma drama unfolding in her cabin, where I was just short of going down on my knees and pleading her to 'save my skin'.
She patiently heard me out, took a long look at the reddish patch on my leg and proclaimed with an air of 'thick skin', "Hmmm... well, this is nothing but a simple case of a dry-skin situation. After the age of 35, our oil glands beneath the skin start to deplete. These are the same glands which keep our skin moisturized and healthy. But when they deplete, they make our skin dry and hence the itchy feeling."
Wow, I could not believe my ears on this scin-tillating revelation. Just a case of dry skin, this was good news to my ears!
Then came another discovery. She asked me, what time of the day did I normally get the itchy feeling. I told her that every evening when I was home, back from work, invariably I would start getting the itchy sensation.
Then she revealed to me as a matter of fact, that the itch seemed to be more prominent and perceptible in the evening because my mind at that time of the day, was more relaxed and free of any preoccupations. At office, it's engaged in work matters, busy thinking, stressed, providing instructions to self and hence does not even acknowledge the itch. It is completely ignored, as if it is not there at all. As simple as that!
Within ten minutes she was scribbling down my prescription note. A medicated cream and allergy tablets to be taken for a week, that's it and I was packed off!
Back home, I was reflecting on what was just revealed to me. The itch even though it existed through the day, but felt only in the evening. This is so because the mind, during the day is preoccupied and busy. And only in the evening when it's relaxed, acknowledges the existence of the itch. And the more I thought about the itch, more I am tempted to scratch the skin and further aggravate the situation.
Then I suddenly remembered the 'Placebo effect' frequently used in the medical world. It is a remarkable phenomenon in which a placebo -- a fake treatment, an inactive substance like sugar, distilled water, or saline solution -- can sometimes improve a patient's condition simply because the person has the expectation that it will be helpful. Expectation plays a potent role in the placebo effect. The more a person believes they are going to benefit from a treatment, the more likely it is that they will experience a benefit.
I was just looking at both the scenarios. In both, the mind plays a very important role in making us feel better; whether in my situation wherein my mind was too busy to acknowledge the itch (during the day) or the case of placebo effect, where the mind has positive expectations and believes that the offered treatment will be beneficial to self.
As I was reflecting on this not so new or eye popping discovery, my thoughts took me to yet another truth in life. And I have discussed this with my friends who have a similar experience as well. So many times have we in the past, wanted some good things to manifest in life whether for us, or family or friends. We had thought about them strongly and then never thought about it again. Until of course they actually became true!
All this happened because the thoughts then prompted us to take certain persistent actions which eventually led us to our ultimate aim or goal which we had wished for so strongly.
In a nutshell, all these were manifestations of nothing but our mind! Whether in the first case where my mind was so busy in the day that it did not acknowledge the existence of the itch or the Placebo effect when the mind chooses to believe that the medicine will cure or provide relief and it does or when our mind strongly wishes for something to happen and it truly manifests in life. In all these cases, it's our mind which is the window to our reality.
Moral of the story:
Whatever the mind can conceive, and believe, the mind can achieve!
It is no wonder that Gurus of the Corporate and Spiritual world, acknowledge GRIT as the number one factor for a person's success. Grit that which is not physical prowess, knowledge or experience oriented but derived from inner mental strength.
Someone smart said, "Gritty people believe, everything will be alright in the end, and if it is not alright, it is not the end.”
Note: Grit - Grit in psychology is a positive, non-cognitive trait based on an individual's passion for a particular long-term goal or endstate, coupled with a powerful motivation to achieve their respective objective.
No comments:
Post a Comment