Getting addicted to life
How can one get addicted to life? I think the most successful among us are able to find the sweet spot between their emotional and rational passions. That makes them addicted to life. Success never comes without consistent hard work. One cannot work hard consistently without motivation. Motivation will come when you feel and think for the same end goal.
Life for humans has two sides — the emotional and the rational —embodied by the two sides of the brain. For success in an endeavour, the basic premise is to discover the truth and then endeavour accordingly. The scientific way tells us to gather evidence, possibly though experiments, and then draw conclusions. In reality, a hard enough problem does not always allow such a thorough analysis. At some point, we have to make certain assumptions, because data may be unavailable/inconclusive.
At such moments, rational methods reach their limits. Intuition or emotions then can help us make progress. Mathematicians like Ramanujan wrote theorems solely from their intuition, only to be proved right years later. Can scientific methods enable us to find such truths? Maybe, but they have their limits.
Emotions generate powerful instincts, and they should not be ignored. Coupled with our rational impulses, emotions can pave the path to progress. However, it is often said that emotions cloud judgement. Similarly, logic demands shutting down emotions. I would argue that these two facets of our lives need not be opposing in nature. There is a sweet spot somewhere between a conflagration and a quiet murmuring ember that will do the trick. I have seen people channelling their anger into productivity. That kind of controlled anger can give you more focus and motivation. Yoga teaches this very kind of harmonious act. Negative emotions like envy and pride can be channelled into positive forces.
The in-harmony individuals will use these seemingly opposing forces to achieve great feats of human endeavour. Those are the ones who are addicted to life. Those are the ones who dream and create.
