Human beings have come a long way since ancient primitive times where the basic needs for survival is always a challenge day after day.
In a forest, they were surrounded by stronger and bigger or more powerful animals like lions and tigers. Every day, they had to gather food and fight for survival or being the lunch of the latter. The amygdala, a section of the modern human brain that is responsible for detecting fear and preparing for emergency events are constant reminder of our very long distant but not really forgotten past.
Most people do not face events as dangerous and acute as in the ancient times but we still experience similar emotions of the fight-or-flight response, in occurrences in modern living. The acute stress response, refers to a physiological reaction that occurs in the presence of something that is terrifying, either mentally or physically (though mostly the imagination of the human mind).
For a few decades in the 19th century, British manufactured goods dominated world trade. The Industrial revolution promoted the world’s first industrial and consumer-oriented society in Britain. It started to spread to other countries till what we know of societies and the world we live in today.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation” in Psychological Review. Maslow used the terms “physiological,” “safety,” “belonging and love,” “esteem,” and “self-actualization” to describe the pattern through which human motivations generally move. The goal of Maslow’s Theory is to attain the fifth level or stage: self-actualization needs.
Nowadays, more and more people are enjoying the luxuries of modern living and attaining higher echelons of social and business world. The “more is better” model is, if anything, stronger now than it was before the financial crisis. Yet, people are stressed out and not happy most of the times (feel like anything but heaven).
Anita Moorjani, best selling author of Dying to Be Me, is convinced that living in present time is Heaven On Earth – this physical life we are living right now! If we simply understood how it worked and what we needed to do to create that heaven as our reality. She understood that heaven is a state and not a place. Beliefs such as “We get what we deserve,” “Loving ourselves is selfish,” “coincidences are just that-coincidences,” are ingrained within us from birth, pervasive and influential, leading to generations of misguidance. The process, she explains, requires dismantling many cultural myths mistaken for indisputable truths. By freeing ourselves from these falsehoods, Moorjani asserts, we can leave fear, heartache, and self-imposed boundaries behind and instead live lives full of purpose and joy.
She said, “When you love yourself (unconditionally), and know your true worth, there is nothing you cannot do or heal. You yourself learned this when you defied all medical knowledge and healed end-state cancer. The cancer healed when you became aware of your worth.”
“Our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how the world works.”
Carl Sagan
In future posts, I will explore on “Heaven On Earth” in various facets of our busy and routine lives and how we could experience living life with purpose and be happy always.
As far as possible, I’ll tap on the wisdom and insights accumulated through the ages from past and present religious and thought leaders on the subject “Heaven On Earth, Anyone!”
I’m starting a Mastermind Group, with the aim of members achieving Zest For Life through the guiding motto of “Heaven On Earth”.
If interested to join the group, please drop me a line to reubeno@zestinlife.com, stating your aim and how the Mastermind Group can help you to achieve your fulfilling life goals.
Thank you for dropping by.
Reuben Ong
#Singapore Is Our Home