ANSIEDADE: Reflexões filosóficas - Lúcia Helena Galvão de Nova Acrópole

Hello, welcome to my home once again, it's an honor to have you. Today our little chat is on a very practical and topical subject: anxiety. Let's look at it from a philosophical perspective. I know that this is a subject on which there is a multidisciplinary team dedicated to studying it, all over the world. Because of the level of suffering it brings to a large part of humanity. I'd even say all of humanity, at some point. We all suffer from anxiety. And sometimes it can reach a pathological level. And then it becomes a factor of great

suffering. Now you see, those of you who already follow me know that. I'm a philosophy teacher in the classic way. The idea is that we pass on principles for reflection and experience. To make it practical. It's not just speculation on this subject. Because at the end of the day, we don't live by what we eat, but by what we assimilate. And so it is with teaching. It doesn't add to us when it's simply an accumulation of information. But when it is brought and absorbed into our lives. I hope our chat today brings you something, that's

useful, that generates insights. So let's go. Reflections on anxiety, from the point of view of philosophy. I like etymology, anyone who knows me knows that I always start with etymology, I really find this very useful. Knowing what the words mean. Well, anxiety comes from the Latin angere, which means to squeeze, to suffocate. It has a lot to do with breathing, doesn't it? It suffocates us, it distresses us. And before that, it comes from the Proto-Indo-European ang which means narrow or painful. In other words, a narrow and painful passage to something that lies in the future,

in the other, in ourselves, in life. Often projected with the idea of the future. Something we will have to confront. And we don't feel prepared for it. And all the pain that comes from that. All the fear that is generated in this process. Good... One of the things we talk about a lot, I've talked about this in a few other lectures. Sometimes fear is given an excessively sinful role. As if we should get rid of it, or it were possible. I've had the opportunity to read it in the past, in my research, books such as

Caesar's Commentaries: On The Gallic War by Julius Caesar. The Art of War by Sun Tzu, and I've never heard of any human being, even great warriors, who weren't afraid. The problem is the way we position fear, in our society. Fear doesn't need to be placed in front of us, holding us back. It can be placed behind us, pushing us forward. It simply signals, that you're going to go through something new. So keep your eyes peeled. It's a wake-up call. It's not a stop sign. It's a drive carefully sign. So what is there today that really

paralyzes us, indeed, is the fear of being afraid. Which is what we call panic. We don't know how to deal psychologically with the sensation of fear. Then we go crazy, we lose our lucidity. Because we're not comfortable, we don't know how to deal with this warning that fear gives us. Many people instead of running from what scared them, consciously walked towards it. Hence they achieved great overcomes, achieved great things. So fear is not supposed to stop us. This fear that follows anxiety is more like panic, than actual fear. It's not having psychological support, to live

with the feeling of fear. Which in a way will always accompany us. Where is there no fear in nature? Where there is a being with some degree of consciousness, there is fear. And we're not going to get rid of it. We have to learn to live with it in a healthy way. So anxiety is also very much related to this pathological fear. That panic. Not knowing how to deal with the feeling of fear. Another important thing to look at, is the relationship between anxiety and expectation. Our historic moment, puts the expectation of something as the

only motivation to make man walk. As if it were that drawing of the donkey with the stick and the carrot ahead. I mean, you always have to be looking for something that isn't here. It's further on. It makes us have present moments that are totally absent. And a focus on the future, which, if not achieved, is highly frustrating. So it's an element that empties the present moment, which is the only thing we really have. And it generates an expectation totally focused on the future moment. Stimulation through expectation. Is it really a good form of motivation?

Can it really make people happy? Because happy people are actually productive. They produce the best they can produce. Which is themselves. They build complete men. And by example they build people who are moving more and more towards fulfillment and completion. So that's an element I'd like you to keep there. Nurtured expectation, as a serious anxiety factor. Nowadays, children sometimes expect, since childhood, they're already expecting the entrance exam. a public competition, being selected for a particular job, or a certain university. I mean, anxiety is being pushed further and further towards childhood. Sometimes it's a concatenation of

schools that already have a system, that looks like an entrance exam. I mean, an anxiety that's always projected onto the achievement of something that isn't here right now. It will be in the future. And it makes these little robots tremendously stressed. One thing I always talk about, especially in my study technique course. I really like this subject, which is the story of the intrinsic goal. What is the intrinsic goal? When a young person picks up a book to study thinking: This subject is terrible, very boring! But what I'm going to achieve is really good. Which

is going to university, getting a good job. Do you realize that knowledge becomes a hindrance? Knowledge is one of the things that most qualifies human beings, becomes an obstacle, which if it could be overcome, if it could be circumvented, would be better. So if someone offered him this course at university, or that job, without needing that knowledge, so much the better, why would I want that? But imagine what kind of human being regards knowledge as a hindrance? That's one of the things that most characterizes us as human beings, knowledge, which becomes wisdom. It becomes the

possibility of an effective response to life, it humanizes us. Realize that everything in life that has value, has intrinsic value, and not because of what you can achieve. I like to play that game in my classes. Imagine you're talking to someone, and they tell you: - I'm so in love! Ah... but why are you in love? What's special about the one? Did you see how well he earns? Have you looked at his paycheck? How wonderful! What kind of love is that? What would you say? That's not love. That's an... investment. That's an emotional stock exchange.

Or I'm very fair! Why is that? Because that person will benefit me later. That's personal marketing, that's not justice. Love has value in itself, justice has value in itself, kindness has value in itself, because otherwise it's hypocrisy. The things that are most valuable in life are worthwhile in themselves, and not by what you're going to get out of it. So that's the story of the intrinsic goal, is one of the elements that takes up the value of the present moment. Even though there's nothing afterwards. But it's good to learn that. Even if there's nothing afterwards,

it's good to love things and beings the right way. The way they deserve to be loved. The way I deserve to love. The after is a natural consequence of the present. It's what Kant said "the ideal is in the future, but it is not an object of desire, it is a reference point for direction". And you achieve the ideal by creating ideal moments. The sum of ideal moments reached the ideal. The sum of empty moments doesn't take you anywhere great. No one can imagine Leonardo da Vinci anxiously painting the Mona Lisa. What will I get

out of this? What a bore. Let me finish. That's absurd! Beautiful things, things that touch us, were made with intrinsic purpose. And if we had the intrinsic goal, that is, giving value to the thing itself, and not what comes after, you realize that by then we'd have given anxiety a good beating. Anxiety comes from empty moments. Mechanical moments, working towards something really good, which is never here. This is what Kant called the categorical imperative. There is a hypothetical imperative. I do, if I do such and such a thing, I will gain such and such a

thing. A conditioner. The categorical imperative, I do because I must, because I'm human. that this is what is expected of me, in the scheme of nature. And I'm fulfilled by doing it. Can you imagine a student like that? A student who you open any book, on anything, in front of him, and he says: If this has come into my life, it's because it has something to teach me, so let me take the content of this, and see what I can learn from it. For life. Ah, but then I'll pass the entrance exam. It doesn't matter,

even if I don't pass. But I learned something that was useful. Because if this has come into my life, it's because it has something to teach me. Someone who has an intrinsic interest, in two hours, studies more deeply and effectively, than people who study disinterestedly for ten hours. Absolutely! To value what we do, enriches, unfolds time. Makes life reach its maximum possibilities. And it's a powerful enemy of anxiety. Continuing, I've brought you a poem, which is one of my favorites. I resisted a lot, but I couldn't stop bringing it. Because it's not that well known.

It's by a Greek writer called Konstantinos Kaváfis and it's about Ithaca. This poem is perfect! Because it shows the journey to Ithaca, the brilliant one, the one that was the goal of Odysseus, Ulysses in the Odyssey. The important thing is not to get to Ithaca itself, but the way you make the journey. And that's perfect. Look how beautiful it is, how is it worth stopping to illustrate somehow with some beautiful poetry. If you set off one day for Ithaca, hope the road is long, full of adventures, full of knowledge. Neither Lestrigons nor Cyclops, nor the

choleric Poseidon intimidate you. They will never stand in your way if your thoughts are lofty, if a subtle emotion your body and spirit touch. Neither Lestrigon nor Cyclops, nor the brave Poseidon will you see, unless you yourself carry them within your soul, if your soul does not place them before you. Hope the road is long. Numerous will be the summer mornings on which, with what pleasure, with what joy you will enter a port for the first time to run the stores of the Phoenicians and buy beautiful goods: mother-of-pearl, coral, amber, ebony and perfumes of all

kinds, as many delicious aromas as there are. Go to many cities of Egypt, pilgrims, to learn, to learn from the learned. Keep, all the time, Ithaca in your mind. You're predestined to get there. But don't ever rush the journey. You'd better spend many years on the journey and land yourself on the island old, at last. Rich from how much you've earned along the way, without expecting riches from Ithaca. Ithaca gave you a beautiful journey. You wouldn't have set off without it. More than that, she can't give you. Ithaca hasn't deceived you if you think it's

poor. You have become wise, a man of experience, and now you know what Ithaca means. I think that's very beautiful, and I think maybe, poetically speaking, the secret to killing anxiety would be to find out what Ithaca means. I mean, we have a goal, a human one, but that goal is achieved with stations and ports where we anchor well and make the best of the trip. It's like a train journey, where you stop at each station and visit all the sites, take in everything beautiful, imprint it on your memory, imprint it on your soul, and

get back on the train and continue on your way, without haste, savoring every step of the way. You'll arrive at your destination so rich, you won't expect anything to be there. The journey has already given you everything. The journey has given you the chance, Ithaca gave you the chance to go through your experience brilliantly. That's the brilliance of Ithaca. It's the shining one, not because it shines, but because it's like a beacon, lighting your way. A direction reference, and a beacon. That's a goal. It's not an object of desire, it's a point of direction. And

it's always achieved when you bring the ideal to every step, to every moment. Savor life. It's also a powerful antidote to anxiety, perhaps the greatest of all. I would like to distinguish an important element: expectation versus hope. Expectation has a lot of fantasy in it, that it causes us such anguish, that we can't put our imagination, our creativity to work. We enter a fantasy field of possibilities. Hoping for spectacular resources, hoping for a lucky break. It doesn't give us the lucidity necessary for good planning, for the use of creativity. Understand that expectation, stress are situations

of very high emotion. Emotion is usually the antipode of reason. If I'm very excited, very emotional, very possessed by desires or passions, I don't reason. And when I'm very lucid, with a very calm mind, emotions are usually sober. So expectation alters emotions in such a way, that it doesn't put us in an ideal state, to conquer things, to conquer the path, to overcome obstacles. It puts us in a situation of fear, of urgency for results, of constant instability. In other words, it's a terrible state of efficiency. It takes away from us the best tool we

have for achieving goals, which is lucidity. So that's not what hope is. Hope is not just waiting. Hope demands creativity, will. Hope brings all the tools together. And it attacks, armed to the teeth, as they say. Using everything it's got. Hope requires willpower and creativity. Expectation often demands only fear, anxiety and nail-biting. It doesn't bring out the best in a man, therefore minimizes his chances of achieving a good result. We have an absent present with expectation. And as at any moment in life, the only thing we have is the present moment, we end up living

an absent life. Waiting for something that might not even be that good. Ithaca is rocky and dry. The best thing it gives you is the chance to make a rich journey, and reach it with an armful of fruit. So that's an important consideration to make. And the other interesting element that we have to realize, is that anxiety is so limiting, that it often doesn't see things itself. It sees what you've projected onto things. It's the famous story about the citizen who got a flat tire on the side of a road, and when he went to

check, the spare tire was empty. He saw a little house and went there to ask for help. But halfway there he started thinking... but this man is going to say: -Why didn't you check your tires before traveling? I'm going to say: -I did but they didn't work properly. He'll say: -Why didn't you look for someone who worked properly? - No, but that's not it. I tried, but I couldn't. - No, you're irresponsible. -I'm not irresponsible at all. - No, you're not careful. In a way that when he arrives at the door, the man opens the

door, he says: - You're the irresponsible one, what do you think of me? In other words, we project so much in anticipation, that we pour over reality, the facts, the worst that could happen. We build the road to our failure. It's that person who says: It works for everyone but me. We often come up to someone and say: - I've already tried to talk to this guy but it didn't work. And this person comes up to us and says: -Leave it to me, I'll go there. And the same thing, the same subject, she goes and

get it. Because she goes in clean, without expectations, willing to listen to what the other person has to say. There is an ancient oriental fable, which says that a man went to a lake, and there were no fish in it. Then he took a big barrel full of fish, arrived in the middle of the lake, dumped his fish, and stayed there catching what he himself had taken. So if they were very small fish, if they were bad fish, it's because that's all he took. We kind of do that in life. We don't see what's in

the lake of life. We already take our expectations and dump them there. And we only reap what we ourselves create. Mentally as expectation. There is no possibility of the new. And we build a path to failure. Expectations tend to be very negative. When it's not fanciful from a positive point of view, it's often a negative expectation, of a closed door, of a no. Which already practically predisposes the circumstances, to give you what you came for, what you took. Something I find interesting, which is something that happened very recently, the day before yesterday. Which I found

interesting. The 2018 World Cup final. Between France and Croatia. No Brazilian was looking forward to it anymore. It wasn't much of a problem for us anymore. And several people I spoke to, who watched that game, made observations to me that they had never made in other games, where Brazil was involved. Interesting technical information, about how the two teams played, without devaluing either of them. A more technical observation of how the game actually went. In other words, people were much more lucid, to evaluate the soccer sport, because they had no expectations. I found that so interesting.

It's true, I'm not expecting anything, I'm not rooting for anyone, so I watch the game. And by watching the game, I can examine the art, the well-constructed moves of both. Evaluating the quality of both. Evaluating the soccer sport. Without so much passion. And it's much more lucid. You can see details. Because when you have Brazil playing, Brazil has always played well and the other... got lucky, or whatever. Something went wrong. In other words, it's a very distorted view. It's proof that expectations take away our lucidity. It always does, that's interesting. I mean, it minimizes our

chances of success. Another thing that exists within society as well, we are used to, we'll talk about that in a moment, we have a culture of anxiety. It's an anxiety factory due to a series of factors. And that's one of them. The stressed one is considered efficient. A very heightened state of anxiety is stress. Which can cause another series of damages, can add another series of damages to anxiety. You can't imagine, for example, spending a month, two months, with a... waiting for an appointment to talk to a director of an important company. And when you

get there you find his desk absolutely clean, simply a blank sheet of paper and a pen. And all the attention on you. Without answering the phone, without talking to anyone, those ten minutes are yours. If you find this, you might be shocked. The expectation we carry is that a very efficient man must have papers falling all over his desk, the phone ringing all the time, the secretary interrupting all the time, why? We understand that efficiency is synonymous with stress. Which is crazy. The stressed man works in terrible emotional conditions, and also generates this stress in

the people around him. I mean, the team of a stressed man, is usually an inefficient team. It creates very poor conditions for efficiency for him, and for everyone around him. But we assimilated that idea. The person who is calm, quiet, paying attention to just one thing, is a slacker, has nothing to do. One of the many alienations and inversions that our historical time has generated. Everything in its place, And in its time and place, each thing reigns supreme. That's an efficient person. He gives his best to everything he sets out to do. Each one reigns

supreme in the territory he has marked out for it. So it's an element that also produces anxiety. Efficient people are stressed. They're not! I've never met an efficient stressed person. And I don't believe anyone has. Relationship with mistakes and failure. It's also a complicated thing within anxiety. Which is the unpreparedness to deal with failure. An eagerness to succeed, as if that were the qualifier of your life. I mean, the great qualifier of Ulysses' journey is to reach Ithaca. Nothing he did along the way has value. As we've already said, this anxiety for success and this

unpreparedness to deal with failure, makes man miss the opportunity to learn from all the elements that happen along the way. Imagine that, it's happened to me. I'm preparing to give a lecture. The process we have in New Acropolis is a voluntary process, we often go off to open a school far away. We start with a small room, a few chairs, we prepare a lot for a lecture, and at the time, no one shows up. Don't you think I've been there before? I've passed many times. No one appears at the time. The feeling is: - What

a shame they lost, because I learned a lot. In other words, what was done was a big gain for me. Too bad I couldn't share it, I couldn't pass it on. There will be other opportunities. I mean, the feeling of relationship with mistakes, with failure, is catastrophic for those who place all their satisfaction in the future moment. and not in the present moment. If the fruit doesn't come, everything that has been done along the way becomes worthless. And he who works consciously, regardless of the fruits: I've already won for what I've done. For what I've

lived, for what I am. For the path that has been trodden. I am worthy of Ithaca, even if there is no more Ithaca. Confucius said that man's greatest problem is not being recognized, it's not knowing if he's worthy of being recognized. In other words, not being recognized even in front of your own conscience. Another interesting practical example, that I've experienced a lot over the years, I've often given a public speaking course. Public speaking is very good for dealing with anxiety, folks. It's wonderful. It's impressive, the person sometimes has a well-prepared job. Of course, preparation helps

a lot. But sometimes has the techniques, has everything, but at the time you doesn't know how to deal with that fear, that arises behind the scenes, that never ceases to exist. Great actors at the end of their careers say that, that they still feel afraid before they go on stage. I've been giving talks for many years, I still have that fear. But being paralyzed by fear, is what we talked about before. Not knowing how to deal with failure. An expectation of success, that makes you fail. Because it limits your lucidity. I remember a fact that

I've told many times and I find it very interesting. When I learned to drive. That was a curious situation, because I drove very badly. I don't know how I managed to pass that test, because I drove very badly. So... A beautiful day, I was struggling with the difficulty of leaving the house while driving, because I didn't want to drive at all. I stopped and thought. What am I afraid of? How fast I'm going, accident only if I hit a turtle. It's very difficult for anything catastrophic to happen. So what am I really afraid of? Then

I discovered that I was afraid of people thinking I was a bad driver. I was afraid of people's opinions. Ah, that was a wonderful discovery. I just walked up to the mirror and said, I'm a lousy driver. If anyone thinks that, they're thinking the pure expression of the truth. And there is nothing greater than the truth. So if anyone thinks I'm a lousy driver, they're telling the truth. They've already thought that! The whole world has thought about it. So now let me start doing things the best way I can. I don't know if the mind

normally blackmails us, with the threat of loss. What if they think that? What if that happens? It's already happened. I accept the loss. I accept failure. Now let's see what we can do in the best possible way. You realize that you've disarmed the anxiety scheme. And if, well, I'm going to carry on living. And I'll try again, and again, and again and again. Ah, that's good. All right then. Go. Now when we can't stand the idea of failure, makes the anxiety unbearable. And it really boycotts any possibility of success. So you see someone with a

wonderful job, lots to say, And they block themselves in a public speaking class, not even in a public presentation. A class in front of half a dozen colleagues. The weight of anxiety. Not being able to bear the thought of failure. That's something else that's interesting. It's the relationship between anguish and fear and precision and intelligence. It's interesting to realize, as we've said before that anxiety comes from angere which is the same root as the word anguish. It suffocates us. So it greatly limits our possibility of meticulous attention, every detail along the way. We are philosophers

at New Acropolis. One of the things that philosophy teaches is that every moment has symbolic elements, that can teach you something, so that you can follow the path better. Every moment has keys, has things for me to learn at this very moment, in this library. Details that are inserted in the present moment. If I dive into them and learn them, I go to a future moment much better prepared, like in fairy tales. Every ten steps a young hero finds a sword set in stone, an old man asking for water, who gives him a magical cape.

In other words, he's being armed along the way. Until he arrives prepared before the dragon. So this sharpening of attention, this skill, this observation of details, is impossible for an anxious person. He becomes scattered. He can't perceive the micro, the details, of the tools at his disposal along the way. And aggressive. Often the insecure is aggressive. The anxious is aggressive. Because his expectations, for example, those who practice martial arts know this. An anxious person who doesn't know how to deal with their own fear, for fear of being hit is the first to hit. In general,

the accidents that happen are not with the experienced and professional, are with the inexperienced. They're so afraid of being hit that they're the first ones to hit. And they hit hard. In other words, this imbalance, insecurity, anxiety, also arouses aggression. Today's culture works with anxiety on several fronts. And there are two that I think are important. First place: It's intimidating. If you consider the programming of human beings to deal with adversity, you have a set of things around you. Domestic problems, problems at work, traffic problems. Suddenly, out of the blue, you open the daily newspaper

and there are problems all over the world. So the human mind is sometimes so inclined to insecurity, that the fact that there's something dramatic happening anywhere in the world, seems to be happening now, here, at this moment. And it adds a level of drama to life, that you're often terrified all the time. And it's not that it's bad to be informed about what's happening in the world. But the problem is that the world is dual. As catastrophes happen, good things must be happening. But there is a tendency, a focus on the catastrophic. That unbalances man's

emotions. Who tends to look only at the negative aspect of life. So, I doubt that there isn't at this moment, in the same dimension that there are wars, conflicts, atrocities, altruistic people, idealistic people, people dedicated to a good cause. And it's very rare that we hear about it. So, this morbid focus that society has, and puts this amount of catastrophes in front of man, makes man feel intimidated. And this anxiety for survival. The survival instinct rises to a desperate level. It's as if all the catastrophes in the world were swirling around you. There are catastrophes

and there are also bright things. There are negative things, and there are good things. You have to pay attention, but not despair. Not panic. This diminishes our chances of overcoming adversity. Adverse situations, problems, are part of life. They're what take us to another level of consciousness. They will only leave our lives when we have learned what they came to teach us. I mean, at the right time. That's natural. Look at any living thing around you, they all deal with problems, every day. That's natural and part of the dynamics of life. But there's a problem, and

there's also light. There's also the aspect of love, there's also the aspect of solidarity, of fraternity. There is as much darkness as light in the world, the world is dual. This morbid focus unbalances too much. And the other element... is... the desire for constant possession. As you'd imagine, that's a pretty hackneyed argument these days, I know. But let's say, I don't know, twenty percent of humanity. I don't know the exact proportion, has access to high-end computers. Those twenty percent buy those computers. If they were very durable. If it was a technology that would last a

lifetime, what would these companies do after these twenty percent have bought it? Would they close their doors? No. They have to make these people want something even better. Something even more modern. He has to make that whole generation obsolete, and generate a desire for something more modern. More cutting edge. That story we used to hear from our grandparents, that when they got married they would buy, our parents, sometimes bought a fridge for life. That we... the older children still saw the same fridge there. It doesn't exist anymore. It's a race for possession of what's most

modern, what is new. And all that remains. Everything is discarded very quickly. That's another anxiety factor. Because we feel the need to keep up with the pace of society. To be on the cutting edge, to be up to date. As if it were a terrible pejorative to say: - I don't have everything that's state-of-the-art. Everything on the market. I'm out of date. That's an unbearable pejorative. And also one of the sources of anxiety. I know these are much discussed arguments, but it's important that we imagine all these factors revolving around our heads. I have to

win such a thing, I have to work hard to get there, not to be here. I have to have such a thing, I have to know about all these things that are happening. This pressure, this pressure, this pressure, this intimidating, this distressing, this limiting, that makes the man, at a certain moment, have a much higher psychological burden than he can and should carry. And almost without lucidity. And that logically, very easily suggestible. A person at this level of panic is very easily suggestible. And then there's a whole universe of considerations, that don't really fit here

right now. There is another argument that is also quite old, which is that young man who wanted to reach the horizon, and at a certain moment realized that the earth was round and that the horizon was under his feet. I mean, that long-dreamed-of horizon is here, inside us and right now. What is the horizon we have to conquer? To live well now. Being body and soul in what we're doing. Being present in our lives. Having human days. The sum of human days will lead us to the human ideal, to fulfilling our function in life. To

be a sum factor for ourselves, and for humanity as a whole. There will always be problems and learning from problems. When they have nothing more to teach us, they will leave. Reviewing some useful advice: Intrinsic objective; Focus on the present; Savor life every moment; Hope; Learning from mistakes and failures; Justice: everything in its place and time, to avoid stress; Accept your own flaws; focus on the positive. We have to train the muscles of will. For those of you who have seen my lecture on will, I use an example that is very interesting. Imagine a funnel.

You enter a problem through several doors. You can only get out through one: Will. Determination. I want to get there. No matter what brought me here. It matters that I'm going out, and I'm going to get there. The anxiety, that desperation for already being there, without having to meet all the thresholds of the path, all the elements that allow you to successfully trace the path, it makes you a prisoner of the problem. Prisoner of the distressing situation, for life. Will requires imagination, creativity, lucidity, work, rhythm, identity. Will requires a man who is totally present in

his life. And making the most of its resources to propel it into the future. Will does not allow a man who has disconnected from the present to live in a future fantasy, and who does absolutely nothing, falls into inertia. Or falls into the despair of being afraid to do the path. Then... training the muscles of the will is also a very interesting way of combating anxiety. You might think it's funny. What do you mean muscles? Yes, muscles. Just like you train your body muscles. The will has to be exercised. Learning not to have rewards so

quickly. Not now, in a little while. In a little while I'll go to the fridge and get something. In a little while I'll have that thing. I'll check my phone, WhatsApp, in a little while. Learning to control this little day-to-day craving. Fighting to be able to extend this this despair, this anguish. Fighting to train the muscles of attention, of precision, step after step, without haste and without pause. That's training. We have to educate ourselves. We have to find that key to building a solid and inexorable will. Without haste and without pause. It's developed as you

exercise. We're a bit like children, we've lost control of ourselves. Our anxiety dominates us in such a way that when we think about it, we've already gone. We've already run, out of panic, out of desperation, after those things that somehow calm us down. So the development of a discipline to train our will more and more, developing the muscles of will is also essential. Will is lucid. Will works together with hope, but not with expectation. Will is creative and intelligent. And it propels us into the future. It paves our way to the future. Understanding how things

in nature work. That's another interesting thing too. The natural rhythm. The natural rhythm of the sun. No anxiety at all. It appears when it needs to appear, disappears when it needs to disappear. The natural rhythm with which the stars revolve around it. The natural rhythm with which the seasons pass. Flowers are not anxious. They open when they have to, spring, when the time is right, they bloom. Each thing in its place. It was Plato's concept of justice. Each thing in its own time. Perhaps the most effective concept for combating anxiety. Knowing how to find and

maintain your natural rhythm. One thing I always like to talk about is about a philosophical concept of discipline. Discipline is doing what is necessary to keep your consciousness high. One day I was on my way to work and I realized that when I was going at a certain speed, I could see the landscape, I could hear the birds singing, I could breathe the morning air. The ride was super pleasant when I was going at that speed. Ah, but if I ride at that speed, I'll be late. I'll leave early. But this speed for me is

a question of quality of life. I'll do what's necessary to adjust to the circumstances. Do I need more time? I'm leaving early. But I'll do what's necessary to keep my consciousness high. Accept the natural rhythm of life. We're not racing anyone. Not even with ourselves. We have to make sure we have a rhythm without haste and without pause. Inexorable. Towards our destination. We know this story of unbridled haste all too well, that the runner dies before the finish line. And the one who has a steady pace, a good pace, sticks to it until the end.

So, find our rhythm, because all of nature has a rhythm. you're alive because your heart has a rhythm. If it speeds up too much, you know it could be fatal. So everything in its place. Each thing in its own time. Doing what's necessary to keep your consciousness high. This is also a powerful element in combating anxiety. If I go along the path, observing the morning, whether it's a winter morning or a spring morning. Watching the birds, I begin to recognize their songs. Watching the people passing by in the morning. At last! A whole set of

beautiful things that we find along the way. So it's very difficult for me to arrive anywhere distressed. These morning trips to work have already given me lots of poems and chronicles. From details, simple, unassuming, that made me see a little of the magic of life. I mean, when you pay attention to life's messages, you do what's necessary so that your rhythm isn't affected, begins to fight anxiety. Start to be body and soul in the present moment. Maybe you know that in 2007 was made, a sort of test by the Washington Post newspaper, where they put

it in the subway, playing his violin, the greatest violinist in the world. Or one of the world's greatest. Joshua Bell. Even today it's difficult to get an invitation to a Joshua Bell concert. He had just done a concert with very expensive tickets and a packed theater. In the same city. They put him on the subway in the morning. He played three tunes. Disguised with a little hat, wearing a simple outfit, playing an eighteenth-century Stradivarius. One of the most expensive violins in the world. Him playing his violin to perfection, and it looks like seven people stopped

to listen. One of them seemed to recognize him, the others didn't even look at his face. You can imagine what the subway is like in a big North American city in the morning. The movement of people. Seven people stopped to listen to Joshua Bell playing the violin. How many times we must have experienced things as beautiful as this, and in our stress, in our anxiety, we don't see it. I don't know what the purpose of the Washington Post was in this test. But it's certainly a good test of anxiety, and what it deprives us of.

What it robs us of. Because as Konstantinos Kavafis says. There are things in the middle of the road as beautiful or more so than Ithaca. Itaca is not to be desired, it's for you to get there with your arms full of fruit. Along the way there may be Joshua Bell playing his Stradivarius violin. And we miss that because of anxiety. To get where? What greater wealth can we find? What about those who are anxious, driving their cars. To get where? What's so precious there? We lose precious things along the way. Like that puppy that runs

after the wheel of the car, and when the car stops, it doesn't know what to do with it. And then this contempt for the details of life. This insensitivity to beauty, to the pain of others, to every drama of existence that takes place with beauty, with pain, with tragedy, with comedy, all life around us. We're passing by. Ignoring Joshua Bell on the subway. The ever-present conscience, it's a fantastic thing, anxiety doesn't allow it. Anxiety projects you towards the future world and you become mechanized. You can't really see anything around you. Notice that one of the

elements that makes man calm, be him a speaker, be him an artist, is when he feels very well prepared. Why don't we prepare ourselves very well for life? We don't dive inside ourselves once we discover that the horizon is here. And we start thinking about circumstances, people. Start developing inner life. Inner life is the source of happiness. The inner life is where we prepare ourselves to understand people, depersonalize problems, don't think they're happening to spite me. Understand the human drama. Understand the limitations of the world around us, go into it prepared more to give than

to want to receive. Stay connected to the needs and opportunities for generosity that you find around you. Prepare yourself for life. I mean, developing your measure of wisdom, is also a fantastic factor in combating anxiety. In other words, one who prepares for life, for example, when I say: - I want to be generous today. I'm not going to be anxious about anything. I'll be aware to every moment, to the opportunity to exercise my generosity. I'm going to be fraternal today! I'm not thinking about anything, I'm thinking about this moment. Where's the opportunity for me to

be fraternal? And you'll find it, you'll distribute it. As Sri Ram used to say, leave your heart everywhere. And a path... Where humanity leaves its heart wherever it goes, what kind of path would that be? What kind of world would that be? Where the present moment has to be toasted with the best of what we have. In other words, prepare for life, seek wisdom, is also a powerful antidote to anxiety. Acceptance and curiosity about life's proposals. Not thinking we've seen everything, not thinking we have anything trivial. The Bardo Thodol, which is a Tibetan tradition that

I'm quite a fan, which is the Tibetan Book of the Dead. He says that life is entirely pedagogical, and if there was a moment in your life that had nothing to teach you, it would have already been taken out of your life. When we refuse to learn, it's like saying I want to die. Because a life that no longer has the possibility of learning, no longer has any reason to last. Nature simply does what it likes. When we refuse to grow and learn, there is no longer any point to life. So every moment is educational.

Why don't we attend all these classes? Why not live every moment with intensity? Anxiety robs us of that. It makes us absent-minded, scattered students, with a very low learning capacity. Precisely because of our anxiety to be good, we have become mediocre. In other words, instead of chasing, participate, integrate, savor every moment of life. Getting out of the house to enjoy life, with attention and a willingness to learn. Hope as a way of giving life another chance. Just as it always gives us new chances. So hope, not expectation. A new day has dawned, what will it

teach me? Realize that every time the day dawns, some poet talked about it, I don't remember now, that he said that the dawn of each new day is as if life were saying: - I trust you and I'll give you another chance. Why don't you give it another chance too? Hope is giving life a new chance, every day that dawns. I mean, that fresh expectation of a child going to the playground. It's not the same playground. Every day has adventures. There are wonderful things to see. Life is renewing itself, and we should be renewing ourselves

along with it. Realize that if you imagine life as a whole, based on certain ancient oriental traditions, for example, it was believed that life is an infinite spiral, never ending. If you reach a certain level, another horizon appears before you. It's an infinite spiral, so where to? All the points are equally important. In other words, a child learning to walk or hold a pencil, is just as great an achievement as the adult who graduates from university. Or the professional who achieves public recognition. These are achievements of equal importance. Any point along the way can be

wonderful, can be great. There's no end point. If we realize this, life as an infinite spiral, has no end point. So what are you looking forward to? For nothing. For emptiness. The only place you'll get to is right here. Arrive here with your consciousness, with the fullness of your powers of creativity, of imagination, of fraternity, of generosity. Here, at this moment. This is the point of arrival. If it's not here, it won't be anywhere. Because there's no end point. This perception is also very interesting, because it kills the main anxiety factor. Getting there. There's no

there there. It's only here. So it's an element that gives anxious people food for thought. Anyway... Anxiety comes from the latin Angere, to squeeze, to suffocate. Why don't we expand instead of squeezing? By expanding by integrating, we kill the main factor of anxiety. It restricts us, it suffocates us. Take a deep breath! Savor the air, savor the sounds, savor life as a whole. Sounds a bit synesthetic, doesn't it? But it is. Savoring all the impressions that the moment brings you. Extracting the wisdom that each moment brings you. Believe in life, trust. That's an interesting thing

too, which would give subject for a lecture, that I intend to give one day, about trust. Full confidence, in what the Orientals called Dharma. I mean, that there is a law in life. A meaning, a connection between the facts of life. And that I have to go like a child, finding out what's in the next package. There is no chaos, there is cosmos. If I believe in it, as the Indians say, i sleep in father's arms. I sleep in the arms of Dharma. I trust that life still has much to offer me. And no matter

how hard it is to open the lid of the box, I would find something worthwhile inside. But it will never be the last box. It will never be the last hard lid. And it will never be the last reward. The road is endless. And like a child, fresh, in front of the mysteries that life has to offer us, but confident that they make sense. And they lead us in that direction. Resting in the arms of the father, in the arms of the Dharma. That's it! I would like you to reflect on the ideas. They are

few, small, simple ideas that focus on one main idea. What are the objectives? What are the arguments that support the anxiety? You realize that they're false, we're running after nothing. There's nothing to achieve in such a hurry, that justifies us losing the present moment. We often stop to look at old photographs, I went through that recently. I realized that when I took that photo as a teenager, childhood, I thought it was a terrible photo. And now at fifty-four I look at her and say: - What a beautiful moment. Why didn't I enjoy it? Why did

I find it ugly? Why did I think I looked ugly in this photo? What a beautiful moment! Why didn't I taste it the way it deserved? There is nothing, no moment in life that is despicable to chase after a fiction, that distresses us and robs us of the present moment. Think about it. Remember we don't live by what we eat, but by what we assimilate. So let every new learning experience be an invitation, so that something of it can be assimilated into our lives. Thank you.