Death by a Thousand Cuts
By: Faisal Amjad
Tags: Depression, Personal Development, Spirituality, Mental Health, Soul

Stop listening to the media and tune out negativity

The famous scholar of the Islamic Golden Age, Ibn Sina once conducted a medical experiment. He put two identical lambs in two separate cages, and he placed a wolf in one of the side cages. The wolf could only be seen by ONE of the lambs and the other was placed out of sight.

Months after, the lamb who could see the wolf died out of sheer stress and fear, even though the wolf did not physically go near or even threaten the lamb. The other lamb that had not seen the wolf lived on healthily and in good spirits.

This experiment showed the power and effects of mental influence on our health and body. Fear, anxiety, stress and negativity does nothing but harm — even if we don’t realise the damage it is doing to us internally.

We don’t need the nonsense. Filter it out. You don’t need to always be plugged in. Take a social media detox. It’s killing you.

Feed your soul and increase your spirituality

Believe it or not, the answer actually insightfully comes from that beacon of wisdom, Mr Khaled again.

“One of my major keys is actually the master key: God. In my life, they’ve hid the keys from me, so I’ve overcome and weathered a lot of storms because of Him.” — DJ Khaled

What is the effect of bad news on our being, on our humanity, on our souls,, constantly bombarding us and beating our brains to a pulp? As it leaves us subdued, disillusioned, depressed and losing hope, I would argue that is also a key reason why religion and spirituality is under attack in today, as it is one of the only things left which gives people hope, which allows people personal freedom, and which sets out a model different from the secular model. More than anything, it heightens your spirituality, and nurtures your soul. When you have this, you have contentment, you have insight, you have clarity, you have energy, you have freedom. You come to life.

In this current system, it is not set up for the soul to be allowed to be nurtured, to thrive. Everything that is championed or encouraged is effectively eroding our own souls. So we must challenge. We must go the other way. Where they zig, we must zag.

What does good nutritious organic food do? It gives us energy, makes us productive, creative, healthy. What does GMO, fructose based processed food do? None of the above.

What does being taught about entrepreneurship, real money, the importance of being debt free and money management do? Keep us independent and free to make our own choices. What does being lumbered with debt, working for someone else do? None of the above.

What does keeping family ties ensure? You have protection around you, keeping you safe and secure. What does breaking them do? None of the above.

What does spirituality, religion and excellent, selfless moral values do? What does selfishness do?

What does chastity and marriage do? What does lust, pornography, following one’s desires etc do? You get the pattern here.

Ultimately, ‘they’s’ are at war with our humanity — but cleverly, letting us inject our own poison. We are attacking our bodies, our minds, our hearts and souls with our choices — with what we eat, what we do, with our relationships.

Spirituality is our way of becoming closer to God, the creator.

The opposite of spirituality is actually materialism — one feeds the soul, the other feeds the self. It is no coincidence that current status quo is that which promotes mass consumerism, mass gluttony, mass lust, has broken down family ties and promotes a ‘YOLO’, do what thou wilt, mentality. It’s because it feeds the self, which in turn starves the soul.

‘Materialism — the true cost’ by Nicky Cullen. Very apt.

We need to bring it back, to not be so self-obsessed, to do charitable acts for our fellow man. Eat wholesome food. Invest in people and your relationships.

Contribute in something bigger and greater than yourself

One of the greatest things that you can do in such times, is to channel your energies into a positive force. What change do you want to see? It may not lead anywhere but it is positive action, taking you forward and it will develop you. Fighting for a single cause greater than yourself can potentially tick all six of the human needs in one fell swoop. Efficient.

If you’re doing something you care HUGELY about, and you believe in its purpose deeply enough, you will tap into an inner resolve you didn’t know you had. And trust me, when all of these pieces come together, not only does your work move towards greatness, but so does your life.

Never stop learning

Now that you know the six human needs… one of the main ones is growth. When you’re dying, you’re not growing. So the opposite is also true. Always keep growing, learn, learn, learn and continue to benefit others with your growth.

Spend time in nature

Nature is therapeutic. It will keep your soul content. Trust me on that.

Don’t believe me? Okay, here’s the science behind it.

“Generally speaking, negative ions increase the flow of oxygen to the brain; resulting in higher alertness, decreased drowsiness, and more mental energy. They also may protect against germs in the air, resulting in decreased irritation due to inhaling various particles that make you sneeze, cough, or have a throat irritation.”

Pierce J. Howard, PhD, author of The Owners Manual for the Brain: Everyday Applications from Mind Brain Research and director of research at the Center for Applied Cognitive Sciences in Charlotte, N.C.

Negative ions are oxygen atoms charged with an extra electron. They are created in nature by the effects of water, air, sunlight and the Earth’s inherent radiation.

Photo by Jeffrey Workman on Unsplash

The more negative ions there are in the blood, the more efficient the cell’s metabolism process. On the contrary, the more positive ions there are in the blood, the slower and less efficient the cell’s metabolism. This causes the body’s cells to become weak and the body will tend to get sick more easily and aged faster.

THAT’S why you feel great when you go to the countryside or a forest or the beach or a waterfall. And why you might not feel so good in the home — positive ions are everywhere in a house — particularly as they are often generated by technology. The more screens in the house, the more positive ions.

So in a nutshell, negative ions are positive. Go get more.

Don’t ever lose hope

Going back to hope — I would argue that hope is one of the foundational, fundamental needs a human being has. Hope is the seed within us, that keeps us alive. It allows us to dream of a brighter tomorrow. It allows prisoners of war to survive their ordeal. Hope is the thing that keeps the battered wife or stockholm syndrome victim going.

But sadly, as they say, it’s the hope that kills you. This is why we’re feeling down.

Because too often we attach this powerful emotion of hope to the wrong thing.

The answer isn’t to lose hope. It’s actually to keep your hope stronger than ever. Just to move it to a different source — that is bigger and greater than anything else.

The truth is, when we are looking to external means to fix our realities, that is symptomatic that a paradigm shift is needed. What we desperately need to do is to first understand that in a system that is not designed for your own salvation, we need to not play their game. And to build a new one for ourselves. To create our own systems, to work within our own communities and work together.

The most important thing we need to realise is that true hope actually lies within. With God. Knowing He will NEVER let you down. It’s the one thing that is certain, that has been promised.

That kind of certainty is powerful. A believer who places full trust in this promise will never let his head drop. He knows that in any state, when times are good he is grateful, when times are difficult he is patient. That’s it. It’s actually quite liberating.

Instead of looking for external saviours, we need to free ourselves from these rigged systems which are mere theatres of distraction. We need to place our hope in the one thing that will allow you to keep the hope no matter how difficult, or how dire things may get. That is God’s mercy.

That will always be a source of strength. That is limitless, it never runs out. And will provide solutions even if it seems impossible.

In times of difficulty, if you tap into this source and retain this hope whilst nurturing your soul— no matter what they do, they will never ever be able to defeat you or to make you this apathetic jellyfish.

You will stop bleeding to death.

You will become aware of what is your ‘salt’ and seek to avoid it at all costs.

You will recover.

You will thrive.

And most importantly, you will be authentic and congruent, and become who you were meant to be, again.